thought

We thought to choose among more options would make us freer. The “choice paradox” has made us more unhappy

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White or blue shirt, coffee or tea, peach jam or raspberry, car or public transport, meat or fish, cinema or afternoon on a terrace, wine or beer, potato tortilla with or without onion. A study He estimated that we take Between 10,000 and 40,000 decisions a daybut our brain prefers not to make it too complicated. The paradox of the choice is its personal revenge that makes, The more options You have to choose, less satisfactory is the choice. When choosing becomes a problem Currently making decisions has become a Unexpected stress source and discontent. The funny thing is that this phenomenon is produced by having Too many options available to choose. The choice paradox explains why, despite having more alternatives than ever, those decisions are less satisfactory for those who perform them and experience greater anxiety after deciding. This phenomenon, studied and popularized By psychologist Barry Schwartz, he reveals that the abundance of options can be a psychological trap. As he says, “instead of becoming happier, an abundance of options tends to block, frustrate and cause the persistent feeling that it could have chosen better.” This paradox affects all aspects, both in personal life with everyday purchases, and Important decisions in the professional or work environment. A study Of the psychologists Sheena Iyengar and Mark Lepper showed that consumers were less likely to buy when they had to choose between 24 jam flavors than when they only had 6 flavors. Alternative overload not only complicates the decision, it also reduces satisfaction with the chosen. A study jointly carried out between different US researchers revealed that, although the variety in the election tends to be considered as a positive option, the excess options actually has negative connotations Emotional since it takes the brain to two states. The first state is a Excessive comparison effort of elements that generates a greater mental burden at the time of making the decision, and then moving to a state of anxiety and dissatisfaction at the doubt of whether the most accurate decision has been made. Something that people of success like Jeff Bezos They have had to learn To make your decisions. Maximizers and satisfiers: two styles of deciding A Psychological study Posted in American Psychological Association revealed that people They face decision making with two differentiated styles: maximizers and satisfiers. Maximizers always seek the best possible option, exhaustively comparing all alternatives before deciding. This group tends to experience more dissatisfaction, doubts and repentance, since “the process of looking for the perfect option can be endless and exhausting.” They are easy prey for analysis by analysis: Have so many options to choose from that they are unable to opt for one. On the other hand, the satisfiers are made up of an option that, although not fit in all requirements, meets certain criteria of sufficiency No need to analyze all possibilities. It is simply an option good enough As if to be the right, regardless of whether it is the “perfect.” The Research in this regard They have shown that satisfiers are usually happier and less anxious after making a decision, since they do not become obsessed with what they could have chosen and focus on enjoying their choice, while maximizing “tend to experience less satisfaction and more regret,” the authors of those investigations point out. Strategies to choose better The directors of large corporations, whose decisions depends on the future of thousands of employees and the money of their investors, must take into account this paradox when making their decisions. To avoid falling into the choice paradox trap, there are some strategies recommended by psychology experts. One of the most effective is to limit the number of options to considerfocusing only on those that really meet our personal needs or values. For example, it is one of the reasons that led Mark Zuckerberg to reduce the choice of your costumeslimited to a gray shirt and blue roofs. As Barry Schwartz points out, “by reducing options and focusing on what really matters, we can make more satisfactory decisions and live with less anxiety. “ Another useful strategy is to accept that it is not always possible to find the perfect option and that, in many cases, “good enough” is more than enough. Adopt a satisfactory mentality allows you to take most agile decisions and enjoy more about the result. This strategy is especially relevant in the business world, since dedicating too much time to make a decision It can lead to stop the company’s progress and let the competition take advantage. He world of technology And video games are full of examples of such decisions in which the decision has been made to launch a product that is already good enough, even if it is not perfect. The iPhone, without going any further, is one of them. In Xataka | Studying from memory seems good idea until you forget it. The Feynman method appeals to your understanding not to your memory Image | Unspash (Vladislav Babieko, Holigil 27, Victoriano Izquierdo)

We thought that gasoline cars were much cleaner than diesel. We did not have the effect of the sun

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For every 100 cars that are sold in Spain, just five are diesel. They are the latest data we have in Spain of registration, which reflects to what extent the diesel (despite having market niches in which It is still profitable) It has become an almost banished fuel in our country. And although it may be weird, it does not make 70% of the cars we bought were diesel moved. In fact, just over a decade ago. In 2014 the diesel lived his golden age. From its 70.06% market share It has plummeted. There are numerous factors that explain the rise and fall of diesel. For years, its price was so cheap (in fact it is still subsidized) than each buyer He poured liter calculations consumed For every 100 kilometers to know how long it would take to make investment profitable since they used to be more expensive motorizations. But over the years, emission regulations were drowning the diesel. Especially after the famous Dieselgate in which it was discovered that the Volkswagen Group (first defendant) and other companies trucan their emissions to offer data within the legality in the homologation exams to, outside them, contaminate more than allowed. With Euro 6, diesel were put much more complicated since 2015. For sample, the comparison between the demands made to diesel engines compared to gasoline and that You can read in this extensive article of Xataka in which all the normative change was explained: Limits for a gasoline engine CO (carbon monoxide): 1.0 g/km HC (total hydrocarbons): 0.10 g/km NOX (nitrogen oxides): 0.060 g/km HC + NOX (hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides): 0.160 g/km (approx.) PM (suspended particles): 0.005 g/km P (number of particles): 6×10^11/km (6×10^12/km for three years for direct injection) Limits for a diesel engine CO (carbon monoxide): 0.50 g/km HC (total hydrocarbons): 0.09 g/km (approx.) NOX (nitrogen oxides): 0.080 g/km HC + Nox (hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides): 0.170 g/km PM (suspended particles): 0.005 g/km P (number of particles): 6×10^11/km The problem is that, due to its own operation, A diesel is less pollutant in CO2 that a gasoline but expels many more particle emissions than They are very dangerous to the health of the human beinglike the Nitrogen oxides (NOX). Although the value was slightly higher for diesel, emission regulations were forcing manufacturers to squeeze the brain. With Euro 5 the particle filter. From Euro 6, the Adblue. These measures ended up banishing diesel engines of smaller cars. Well because they contaminated too much or because innovations to be installed in them It was more expensive both the product that did not make it viable. If we take into account the increase in the product, the bad reputation after the dieselgate and the innumerable statements On a rise in the price of fuel, now it is better understood The sudden drop in sales. All this explanation makes sense. Do you remember that Euro 5 forced to mount particle filters in diesel cars? And that with the Dieselgate the cars reflected some emission figures that were not real? A study now indicates something similar for gasoline cars. It is not that they are cheating, they point out that the emission regulations itself may not be enough to tell us how pollutants are our cars. A little effective particle filter In short, a particle filter is a kind of mesh that catches larger pollutant emissions before expelling them to the atmosphere through the exhaust pipe. Taking advantage of the heat of gases, the mesh takes temperature and burns the particles, reducing emissions. That is a problem in the cars that start and stop every time or those that do many kilometers by city because the engine does not give time to take the temperature enough to burn these particles and the filter ends up collapsing, causing a somewhat expensive breakdown. For some years, emission regulations have forced gasoline cars to also mont particle filters to get emissions not to exceed the allowed limits. However, as a gasoline engine works at a higher temperature, It is more complicated to fall into these types of situations. However, a study published in Science Advances He has pointed out a problem: they are not enough. The particle filter aims to reduce the Volume of fine particles that are expelled to the atmosphere, PM2.5. And they get it, according to researchers but that is not enough to ensure that their toxicity is lower. They point out in their study that it is not enough to measure emissions just after combustion, they should be studied how they behave once in the atmosphere. And how do they behave?: Bad. They point out that, once in the air, the experts expelled are exposed to sunlight and that they cause a series of transformations that make them remarkably more toxic to the human being. They explain in Phys.org that the modification of the particles caused damage to the human DNA and in cells that we find in our bronchi. It is what they call “photochemical aging” that causes particles to increase their toxicity generating “oxygenated volatile compounds, such as carbonilos.” In the article they point out that Dr. Mathilde Delaval, the first author of the study and researcher at Helmholtz Munich, says that “our study shows that we are missing a large part of the panorama by not considering How exhaust gases changeand become more harmful, after leaving the car. “ The study is partially financed by the European Union and in it they have intervened in one way or another universities and laboratories of Germany, Finland and Switzerland. Photo | Nursultan Abakirov and Romanov Nick In Xataka | Diesel or gasoline: what are the differences and which one is better to buy according to your use

Elon Musk turned an abandoned US factory into the most powerful supercomputer in the world. Nobody thought of the neighbors

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It would be said that Elon Musk has created A perfect circle Around what until recently it was an abandoned factory on the outskirts of Memphis. There has installed Colossusthe most monstrous supercomputer on the planet to boost AI to new limits and that it defines the future of cars (of Tesla). In order for the combo, it is complete to the richest type in the world, everything is in turn fed by the megabaterías of Tesla. A Win Win For Musk’s framework, although with a problem: the neighbors. A colossus … toxic. The story brought it This week the CNN. In the summer of 2024 Musk transformed an old abandoned factory in southwest Memphis into what he himself proclaimed as “the most powerful supercomputer on the planet.” The project, promoted by its artificial intelligence company XAIpromised to turn the city into a New Technological Mecca (The so -called “Delta Digital”) with Quality jobs and dozens of millions in taxes. However, for Botxtown residents, a mostly black and impoverished community that has lived with decades with Industrial pollutionXai’s arrival has meant a déjà vu environmental: A new source of pollution settled without clear permits, with an apparent contempt for public health. A computer that consumes. To feed “Colossus”, XAI installed 35 gas turbines capable of generating Up to 420 megawattsreleasing toxic gases Nitrogen oxidesultrafine and formaldehyde particles. The problem? Who did Without licenses of air required, welcomed to a legal exemption for temporary machinery, which according to experts does not correspond to it. The area already houses 17 polluting facilities, and various studies indicate that the risk of cancer in the area quadrupple acceptable levels For the EPA. Memphis also has the higher rates of children’s hospitalizations by asthma in all Tennessee. Realities. While the mayor of Memphis, Paul Young, celebrated the transformative potential of the project and anticipated more technological investment, local leaders such as state representative Justin Pearson They have denounced have been excluded from the process. The lack of transparency adds to an obvious regulatory collapse: an installation with the power of an electric plant operating without permits in the middle of a residential neighborhood. To this we must add the most recent thermal snapshots (image below) that indicate that at least 33 of the turbines They were operational in April. Following the controversy, XAI finally requested permission for 15 of them and withdrew 12, but, as CNN counteddamage to trust is made. Promises Project defenders say that “leading standards in emissions” will be achieved, but residents see the employer repeat: Employment promises well paid that do not specify (because the reality is that the data centers use very few), while the environmental load falls on those who have less resources to defend themselves. Plus: The story of Botxtown It is not new. Already in 2021, its inhabitants achieved stop a pipeline that would cross their lands, and in 2023 they closed A sterilization plant that emitted ethylene oxide. For them, therefore, XAI is simply the last chapter of a long struggle for the right … to breathe. Innovation or regression. It is the last of the legs to be treated with the controversy. XAI installation reflects a broader national dilemma than We have counted before on the rise of artificial intelligence and its real cost. Amid the enthusiasm for turning the United States into the “Global Capital of AI” (according to New EPA Guidelines Under the government of Donald Trump), the expansion of data centers Devoradors of energy advances without a serious evaluation of its environmental implicationsespecially in vulnerable communities. The unconditional support of the Executive to Musk, one of Trump’s closest advisors, coincided with the Weakening of environmental policiesthe elimination of ecological justice programs and a rhetoric that prioritizes economic efficiency over human health. The first “stone.” The contradiction seems clear: IA is promoted as the future, but it is fed with fossil technologies of the past, generating private benefits while the risks and damage are socialized. “If innovation chains you to fossil fuels, that’s not progress,” Keshaun Pearson remembereddirector of Memphis Community Against Pollution. Thus, residents fear that what happens in Memphis is just a general essay of what could soon be replicated in similar neighborhoods throughout the country. A tireless struggle. He counted An NBC report That in Botxtown, indignation coexists with fatigue. Many, such as Sarah Gladney (respiratory and resident patient to a few km from the installation), feel they live in a perpetual battle. The possibility of a second meginstalization of XAI, already projected in the city, only increases the sensation of siege. “It seems that we are always at war,” He underlined. A paradox, since while local officials speak of economic transformation, neighbors simply speak of survival. In the background, the collision between the promises of peak technology and the old reality of systemic pollution raises an uncomfortable question: Who pays the price of this digital revolution? In the southwest Memphis, the answer seems sadly clear. Image | Southwings for the Southern Environmental Law Center In Xataka | Musk has created the perfect circle: Tesla’s megabers feed the AI ​​that will define their next cars In Xataka | Some researchers have disassembled the batteries of Tesla and Byd. You know which one yields better and is much cheaper

We thought we had found a safe and sustainable alternative to oil derived. We have to keep looking

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Many years ago, long before “Do you want a bag?” and The new European plugsI got a small summer job distributing potato starch bags by Media Granada. The world had begun to account for the huge problem of plastic bags and prepared to The day later. In that sense, the potato starch was an extraordinary thing. First, because it was ridiculous, extravagant and left everyone out of play (a bag of what?); But above all because starch -based bioplastic seemed like a much more sustainable and renewable material. The issue is that we begin to discover that they have problems. What is a starch -based bioplastic …? Because, although potato bags will always be in our hearts, the true revolution of this family of products occurred when They reached the world of the container for food, disposable utensils, films to cover or even single -use medical products. … And why are they a problem? A newly published study in it Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry He has just shown how “animals that consume particles of this alternative material develop health problems such as liver damage and imbalances in intestinal microbioma.” That is, by Use the exact words of the authors of this study“Biodegradable plastics based on starch may not be as safe or beneficial for health as originally supposed.” Eat plastic. The researchers They compared three groups of five mice: a group (control) consumed normal feed; The other two groups that consumed foods with particles derived from the ‘biodegradation’ of starch -based microplastics. There are two because each one had a dose (low and high) calculated and climbing from the planned daily consumption for a normal human being. They monitored them, studied them and there the problems began. What did they find? In the mice that consumed high doses of bioplastics They presented Damaged organs (including liver and ovaries), problems when handling glucose and even deregulated genetic pathways. “Prolonged exposure to low dose of starch -based microplastics can cause a broad spectrum of health impacts, in particular the alteration of circadian rhythms and the alteration of glucose metabolism and lipids,” explained in the American Society of Chemistry Yongfeng Dengmain author of the study. Should we worry? Well yes and no. Obviously, the results of the investigation are peliagudos, but not alarming in excess. Actually, if confirmed, the results are very similar to those of conventional plastics. In addition, the study is small and the investigation is in a very initial phase. To put it in a summary way: we still do not know how much there are in these results. There is much to work, investigate and regulate. And, deep down, the most interesting thing about this work is not its provisional results. It is the need not to give anything for granted and take care of the movements that we are doing in the development of new materials. It is, in short, a reminder that everything remains to be done. Image | Raymond Petrik In Xataka | We have a new type of plastic, with the durability of traditional plastics and what is more important: recyclable

We thought that the olive oil sector was so broken that the olivers were losing 270 million euros. Is more than double

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When Jesús Cózar, general secretary of UPA Andalucía, gave a press conference saying That “the olive growers have stopped receiving 270 million euros in the month of March, or what is the same, more than 8 million daily, due to the current situation of ruin prices in origin,” many raised an eyebrow. That’s the milkmaid accounts, they said. Now a team from the University of Jaén, the University of Córdoba and the Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research and Training has calculated the alleged imbalance of the oil market and a clear conclusion has arrived: Cózar fell short. Market imbalance? In general terms, we can conceptualize the olive oil market as if it were a huge equilibrium machine: the final price of the oil arises from a balance in which many things intervene; But above all, the total stocks and the expected demand. If there is little oil, as happened in recent years, the price tends to rise until the demand fits the amount there is. If there is a lot of oil, it occurs just the other way around. Well, with that principle in mind, we can evaluate whether the market is unbalanced: that is, if the price is above or below what it should be. That is what they have measured. After weeks and weeks with the fly behind the ear, the Provincial Council of Olive Oil of the Provincial Council of Jaén requested a report on the current market situation. To evaluate the real situation, the UJA/UCO/IFAPA team has used a series of new computer analysis models of imbalances. According to your conclusionsthe price of the AVE in origin should be between 5.55 and 6.14 euros/kg. The fork is due to the fact that some data are still missing and the final production can reach between 1.29 and 1.5 million tons. What does this translate? Basically, the 270 million euros spoken by the Secretary of the Andalusian UPA are an anecdote: what the Spanish olive groves are ceasing to receive are 626 million euros. From October to March, the average price at source in these months has been € 4.49. That is, one euro below the minimum estimated price in the study. What is happening? They don’t even know. A few days ago, Juan Luís Ávila, the head of the Olivar de Coag sector He wondered “What is happening in the market so that prices remain artificially low.” In fact, he is preparing a complaint with the National Markets Commission and the competence to find out. Why is it interesting? Because All this situation (That arrives, remember, at a particularly delicate moment for the olive industry after years of crisis and hoping that this year would be resolved) is very complicated: it is still clear that, Despite the weight of Spain in the sectormarket mechanisms are easily alterable. And not even in contexts Where we have the “pan for the mango”there are useful instruments to have it controlled (or even know that everything is working correctly). Image | FERI TASOS In Xataka | In the middle of the largest commercial chaos, olive oil seems immune thanks to a factor: consumption in Spain

The players of ‘Gran Tourism’ thought that the RUF were the Porsche de Hacendado. They were the opposite

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The fancy It is an essential element in video games. It can be the theme, such as medieval fantasy of a ‘Dark Souls‘, but it can also be the relative to the fantasy of power in a game like’God of War‘ either ‘Civilization VII‘. The cars games They satisfy our fantasies to pilot the car of our dreams, unless your dream was to pilot a Porsche at 250 km/h in the most famous simulator of its time. Because there what breaks fantasy is something as earthly as … money. Luckily for years a brand went to the rescue of lovers of German sportsmen: Ruf. The problem. You are a young car enthusiast, buy the driving simulator on duty and discover that you can drive a Lambo, a Ferrari and brands of brands you didn’t even know, but not the one you really want: a Porsche. With the naivety of childhood, you did not imagine that a more ‘cheap’ brand that others were not in your video game, but at least you could be content with RUF. RUF cars looked like a tuning Porsche and it wasn’t what you wanted, either had their shield, but it served you. You thought it was like the ‘Pro Evolution Soccer‘When they modified the names of the players whose license belonged to the’ FIFA ‘saga, but you kept wanting to drive a Porsche and did not understand that the’ Need for Speed ​​’had the brand and’ Gran Tourism ‘no. Blessed (and damn) licenses. Because in video games, licenses are a blessing, but also a problem. Let’s go back to football sagas. While in FIFA we had Cafu, Rivaldo Oa Ronaldinho, in PES we had Facu, Ravoldi Ya Naldorinho. His gestures and faces simulated real players, but their names were, as little, original. The reason? The Japanese football saga did not have the licenses of real players, competitions or teams. And it happens with everything, really. We recently told you how there are extremely similar weapons to the real in shooting games, but many times the names are invented because The corresponding license has not been paid. And if we get into the subject of Royal Group SongsIt is a curious eggplant. There are games that have been edited through a patch to eliminate songs whose license has expired (‘GTA IV‘, for example) and others that have completely disappeared (‘Spec Ops The Line‘). Electronic Arts. It is as simple as, if you want to show a real person, a song, a weapon or whatever in a video game, those responsible for it must pay the brand. And this is something very juicy for companies, since they can promote their video game, precisely, with that license they have paid. In the case of cars, all brands included in a video game receive money for your rightsbut with Porsche he went one step further. At the beginning of the century, Electronic Arts was very strong in the field of driving with its saga ‘Need for Speed’. Before launching at night street races and cars modifications, in 2000 ‘Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed 2000’, a video game in which it should not be explained what Marca was the protagonist. The problem (for the rest of the companies)? That EA and Porsche signed an exclusivity agreement that lasted 15 years. Porsche 911 Carrera to the left, Ruf ‘YellowBird’ on the right RUF. Since then, the EA saga had Porsche cars that we could even modify, but in simulators like ‘Gran Turismo 2‘The mythical firm was not. In others like ‘PROJECT GOTHAM RACING‘ either ‘Forza Motorsport‘We also had Porsche, but this was the result of an agreement between Microsoft, Electronic Arts and Porsche herself. Now, why do you remember that you could conduct a Porsche 911 career in the ‘Grantu’? Very easy, because the Porsche 911 Carrera was in the ‘Grantu’. Well, more or less. The one that was Ruf, and a mythical model of ‘Gran Turismo 2’ was the RUF CRT YellowBird of 1987. Aesthetically, it was a Porsche 911 Carrera 3.2 and, precisely, what Ruf does in reality, outside Gran Turismo, is to modify Porsche cars in such a deep way that it is considered a totally independent brand. Porsche was created in 1931 and RUF In 1936 and what they do is build their cars on a bare chassis of Porsche, but using their own engines, suspensions, gearbox or body elements. In short: it is not a Porsche with steroids, it is something else At the legal level. The work is so deep that they are legally considered Ruf cars, not Porsche, and that is the reason why some games without Porsche’s license could have cars like the Porsche of our dreams, but without the shield or name of Porsche. What would happen to me and you will think that that YellowBird was the 911 race of ‘Gran Turismo 2’ with a different name and slightly different body because they could not have the Porsche brand, but as I explain, we were wrong: it was not a false car, but totally real. Happy end. That is why the RUF brand was in games like the ‘Gran Turismo’ or ‘Driveclub‘Instead of a Porsche that appeared in other sagas, next to RUF in case of’Forza Horizon 4‘. However, in 2016 the license agreement between the German firm and Electronic Arts expired, which allowed other racing games to incorporate the mythical German house. And a sample of the desire that ‘Gran Tourism’ had to have Porsche in its catalog is that the brand itself detailed The dozens of models in the latest installment of the saga … and that on the cover of ‘Gran Turismo 7‘Porsche VGT appears next to Mazda Rx Vision GT3. Now, we can pilot a 911 in almost any game, but those of us who grew up with RUF and ‘Gran Tourism’, we will never forget the mythical YellowBird. Images | Xataka, Porsche, Norbert Aepli, Gran Tourism In Xataka | It seemed an impossible enemy, it … Read more

There was a time when we thought the birds migrated to the moon. Until an arrow released in Africa fell in Germany

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Spring is a time that I always liked. Not for the Horrible processionarybut for the return of the swallows And, above all, of the storks. After a long winter, They return home to nest. Imagine the surprise if, one day, one of those stork appears in your locality with the neck crossed by an 8 -centimeter arrow. Stop imagining because that happened in 1822 in a German city. And far from being an anecdote, it became a key event to unravel the mystery of why birds They disappeared in winter. The doubt. Now it is no mystery and it is something that we learn at school since childhood, but not so many centuries, people did not know why, good at first, the birds were in autumn and reappeared in spring. Those Migratory processes in which even the smallest of the birds rEcorren thousands of kilometers without stopping They were not understood, which forced the thinkers of the time to launch hypotheses and theories that, in the absence of evidence, since they were accepted without further ado. One of the answers was evident. And it could be none than … Alien birds. That is what thought Charles Morton, a Harvard academic who, in the seventeenth century, suggested that the reason why some birds disappeared in winter was because they migrated … to the moon. Most likely you have raised your eyebrow thinking something like “impossible, they could not be so illusory”, but you have to put into the skin of someone who had no way to check the phenomenon and it was still an answer to a real mystery. Because what they knew was that they disappeared for months, but not the place they were going to. And as they saw the moon from Massachusetts, but not Colombia, because the answer was clear. But don’t believe it was the only crazy theory of the time. Aristotle, already in the IV AC theorized about the possibility of being transformed into other species or even shuffled over his hibernation underwater. Morton rejected this idea because it was too fantasy (not like his, of course). The arrow. Morton even calculated that the trip to the moon had a month away and another back, sleeping much of the time and surviving thanks to his body fat. The truth is that, in the absence of better theories, it was not bad (despite my jocular tone, we talked about the seventeenth century and the media they had). However, little by little the idea that these European birds were going to other places during the winter. And the definitive test was brought by a stork. A good day of 1882, north of Germany, someone shot a stork, who fell down and with a capital surprise for those present: he had an 8 -centimeter arrow through his neck. The question was no longer how I could fly with such a breakdown, but where the arrow had come from. Brava PFEILSTORCH. Thus, they took the body of the stork to the University of Rostock, where the researchers examined the projectile and concluded that it was an arrow belonging to some group in the center of Africa. As it was impossible, or tremendously unlikely, that someone launched something like that on European soil, the response became evident: that stork had traveled more than 3,000 kilometers from the point in Africa in which winter had passed and where it was killed in Germany. Baptized as PFEILSTORCHIt was dissected and preserved in perfect condition in the Zoological Collection of the University of Rostock thanks to its undeniable importance in the world of science and ornithology: it was confirmation to the suspicions that, indeed, migratory birds or became anything else, nor slept four months underwater or went to the moon: they traveled to the warmest places during the European winter. Clue. After Pfeilstorch (which means “Flechy stork” or “storks crossed by an arrow”), they found more specimens In Europe with the same characteristics: arrows stuck somewhere in your body. This is not so uncommon in large birds, which show great resilience to wounds that do not compromise flight or its basic functions. Once they are injured, if not seriously, the wound stabilizes and the bird can continue with its life. With the inclusion Of the rings on the legs of the birds by the Danish HC Mortensen in 1899, the researchers systematized the study of specimens to verify that those who flew from Europe before winter, disappeared and then returned, were the same. Thus, we can say that this arrow launched in Africa that landed in Germany was the first bird monitoring system, a coincidence that allowed obtaining the first conclusive data on the migratory practices of the birds. Images | Thula Na In Xataka | Modern cities have become authentic “headlights.” For thousands of birds it is a problem

We thought that oil was a thing of the past. But the oil companies that have remained faithful to raw live their golden age

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While the rise of renewables continues full -potato wind, as can be seen in projects such as GLOBAL RENEWABLE Watchthe big refineries are starring an unexpected return to the center of the energy stage. The commitment to hydrocarbons. Unlike other companies in the sector, French TotalEnergies did not turn completely in an energy conversion. Yes, he invested in renewables. Yes, he developed liquefied natural gas projects. But he never abandoned his base: oil and gas. According to Reutersthe company has increased its UPSTREAM production (crude and gas extraction) compared to the first quarter of 2024. Although oil prices are below the level of a year ago, gas sales have improved, and fuel production is returns to be profitable. Refinement in recovery. The situation is dragging the effects of a profitability drop that has affected the entire industry. According to the company, the profit margins in the oil refining in Europe have increased in the last six months, but there are still 59% below the levels of a year ago. All this is due to multiple reasons, such as a weak demand, the growth of New refineries in Asia and Africa, OPEC+ overproduction and Trump’s tariff war. Even so, as the news agency has detailed, Totalenergies has increased fuel production, partially benefiting from that slight recovery on the margins. The strategy. According to Ahmed Ben Salem, an analyst at Oddo BHF, among the greats of the sector, Totalenergies is “the most resilient in a weaker macro environment, backed by diversification towards liquefied natural gas and renewable energy.” And it is not the only one that has found a new balance between transition and profitability. While Timenergies clings to a hybrid strategy, its Anglo -Saxon rivals are also adjusting the course. BP, for example, has trimmed His green ambitions to focus again on hydrocarbons. Exxonmobil He has opted strong for carbon capture. Together, all of them seem to be converging in the same idea: crude has not yet said his last word. The paradox of the transition. In the decisive decade for climate action, refining recovery sounds almost to Anatema. Can the energy sector continue to win time with fossil fuels without losing the decarbonization train? This dynamic does not occur in a vacuum. As I know He explained The tariff war and the firmness of the OPEC+ to continue producing the barrels has caused a drop in oil prices, with the Brent and the WTI stabilized around 60 dollars a barrel. This scenario impacts directly on the refineries, which try to balance fossil profitability with the growing stark pressure. Image | Pexels Xataka | The US plan to reduce oil is about to derail what worked best in its economy

We thought we had solved the mystery of the giant “trees” of the Paleozoic. We couldn’t be more wrong

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More than a century ago, when the first known fossils of Prototaxitesintuition said that it should be the remains of a tree. Decades of study revealed to paleontologists that this fossil did not belong to a plant, so everything seemed to indicate that it was an immense fungus. Now a new study has reopened this unknown. Neither plant nor fungus. The study in question has revived the discussion About the nature and taxonomy of Prototaxitesprehistoric beings that so far the catalog scientific consensus as fungi. The involvement of “taking out” these beings from the evolutionary branch of fungi is that perhaps these beings belonged to an extinct and unknown branch of the tree of evolution. 400 million years ago. What we do know about Prototaxites For the fossil registry, it is that being trafficking with organisms that were alive towards the middle of the Paleozoic era, does Between 420 million and 375 million years. These beings had a more or less cylindrical structure, similar to a trunk and stood up to eight meters above the sky with a diameter that the subway could reach. These measures and their age make them one of the first large beings of those of which we have record in the fossil registry. The debate on the nature of these prehistoric living beings seemed to mid -2000s. It was then that an analysis revealed that the Prototaxites They did not obtain their carbon from photosynthesis, as is the case of plants, but obtained from other living organisms, as fungi do. Rhynie Chert. The new study that reopens the case It now contributes tests that this being did not belong to the kingdom of fungi and focuses on one of the known species of this genus, Taiti prototaxites. The team resorted to the fossils found at the Rhynie Chert site in Scotland. This site contains not only fossil remains of this species, but also of fungal species and others belonging to other kingdoms of nature. Similarities and differences. The new analysis of the fossils of this species ran into some similarities with fungal structures such as those that could be expected. However, despite having tubular internal structures similar to those of fungi, these tubes in P. Taiti They branched and linked in a different way from what they could expect. That was not, however the strangest detail. The analysis did not detect in fossils evidence of the products that are associated with the presence of chitina, a compound present in the cell walls of all contemporary fungi and that we know was also present in prehistoric fungi. They found that the chemical “firm” was more similar to that left behind by lignin, a polymer that we associate with vascular plants. The study has been published for now draft In the repository Biorxivso the standardized scrutiny of peer review has not yet passed. So what? This detail implies that we must extreme caution when drawing conclusions from the study we have in front. Even so, the signing team of the study outlines in this its conclusions, in principle preliminary. In his study, the team concludes that “the morphology and the molecular footprint of P. Taiti It is clearly different from that of fungi and other organisms preserved with it in Rhynie Chert, and we suggest that it is better considered a member of a group not described and totally extinct of eukaryotes. ” In Xataka | An amateur fossil search engine is behind a curious finding: vomiting of the dinosaurs era Image | Іщн

We thought they were the red color in a galaxy he indicated that he was dead. There are those who believe we are wrong

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A simple and useful way of knowing if a galaxy is old or if on the contrary it is full of new star formations is in its color. The rule is simple: the most reddish galaxies are usually older; The most bluish, young. Young and red. Now a researcher at the University of Missouri has raised a third waythe possible existence of reddish but still alive colored galaxies, that is, in the process of forming new stars. Among other implications, this could mean that our universe forms even more stars than we thought. Red or blue. Galaxies are usually categorized according to the color of their stars. Blue stars usually shine with more force for less time, so when the blue tones predominate we know that new stars are still forming. The stars with warmer tones resist more so when a galaxy dies, that is, when it stops creating new stars, these more reddish stars are what remains. However, there is something that escapes us in this hypothesis. According to Charles Steinhardt, author of the new study, this model raises certain inconsistencies, for example in the ratios between stellar masses and masses of black holes, and enters the initial mass functions of red and blue galaxies. What if they are not dead? In An article Posted in the magazine The Astrophysical JournalSteinhardt raises the existence of a different category, red and young galaxies. The key would be in the fact that in these galaxies, the stars formed would be of less dough and that therefore, also the youngest would shine with reddish tones. “The red -star formants mainly produce little dough stars, which would make them look red despite the permanent births of stars,” Explain in a press release Steinhardt. Birth and fusion. One of the keys to this hypothesis is in the post-stallid galaxies (Post-Starburst). The galaxies can go from being young stars producing to lifeless galaxies in two ways. The first, through a slow and natural evolution; the second, after a burst of stars (Starburst). When two galaxies collide, the subject of both meets, accelerating the accumulation process that gives rise to new stars. This makes the galaxy go through a stage of rapid stars formation, a stage that leaves the galaxy without fuel. In his hypothesis, Steinhardt raises the possibility, that some of these galaxies have been forming red and small stars from the beginning, and not being the result of a burst. This possibility would imply, Explainhave to reclassify some of the galaxies we know. More stars. The new hypothesis postulates that red galaxies continue to create new stars which in turn implies that our universe produces even more stars than those we believed. “The existence of these galaxies can mean that the universe has formed a significantly greater number of stars than before,” Steinhardt defends. The galaxies are complex formations and we may still notice important details about them. Details such as the details of their life cycles, adds the researcher. In Xataka | The James Webb has found a galaxy when the universe was 330 million years old. Hide an entire enigma Image | Este/Hubble & Nasa, J. Kalirai, A. Milone

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