traffic

The private jet of the emir of Qatar is so large that it altered air traffic in Palma to check the runway after landing

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Palma de Mallorca lives the same routine every summer. Millions of touristsqueues at check-in and a heat that hits from the first hour. But last summer there was one flight that was more talked about than any other. Just like counted the Persian Gulf press, the event did not occur due to a breakdown or an emergency landing, but rather due to the simple fact of landing at Palma airport with a plane of enormous size. A plane that, despite the fact that its owner considers it “his private jet”, is so large that it forced almost all air traffic in Palma to be delayed just to verify that it had not left marks on the asphalt of the landing strip. A landing that stopped the airport. The private jet of the Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thanileaves its mark on all the airports where it lands. No wonder, its size and weight tests the operational capacity of the infrastructure, to the point of elevating its category from a regional airport to one with international capacity. as it already happened with the small airfield of Sardinia. On this occasion, the gigantic private jet took land at the Son Sant Joan airport, near Palma de Mallorca, at the beginning of last summer. The Spanish controllers association told it in its count in X. After landing, they said, “a runway check is carried out in case any type of dirt had been introduced.” In reality, what is inspected is that the runway asphalt has not been damaged during the landing after the impact of the 400 tons it weighs. This review is part of the mandatory protocol for aircraft of this size and leaves the runway that has been used closed for several minutes. During that time, controllers can only use one of the airport’s two runways, and nearby taxiways are left clear as this behemoth of the air moves toward its assigned parking lot. A “private jet” that needs half an airport to itself. We are talking about a Boeing 747-8, the largest version of the historic jumbo jet ever manufactured. According to the Boeing dataits wingspan reaches 68.4 meters and its length exceeds 76 meters. These are figures for a large commercial aircraft with capacity for up to 531 passengers, but in this case, its use is exclusive as a private jet for the Emir of Qatar and his large entourage. This makes it, de facto, a kind of flying presidential palace. Its imposing size means that very few airports in the world are prepared to receive such aircraft normally. Palma, despite being one of the busiest airports in the country During the summer, due to its influx of international flights, it achieves this, but with special maneuvers every time one of these giants lands. A single plane turns the airport upside down. The 747-8 falls into the “Heavy” category, according to the company itself. AENA document. That classification is for airplanes over 136 tons. This forces us to extend the operating distance with the plane behind, to avoid the turbulence generated by its wings. The result of this delay with the next landing generates a domino effect on the rest of the flights, slowing down the normal operations of the airport, already in itself. stressed by the increase in tourists in summer. Other flights wait on the ground or in the air while the private giant settles into the indicated location. Added to this is the logistical difficulty caused by the arrival of these giants of the air and platforms capable of accommodating an aircraft of this weight are limited. Luxury goes inside. Inside, the plane is another story. It is estimated that it is around 360 million euros. It hides lounges, offices and rest areas with fine woods and gold finishes, far from what we would find in the cabin of a commercial flight. The family usually completes the summer on board the Al Lusailhe imposing superyacht of 123 meters in length valued at 500 million dollars that each year awaits its owner, whose annual expenditure on vacations is equivalent to that of 10,000 tourists. Just give him a hand painting this superyacht It has cost 13 million euros. As I collected he Diary of Tarragonaat this moment the Al Lusail It is moored in the Tarragona marina, very close to the Reus airport. Given the dates, Tarragona, heats that this summer is your turn. In Xataka | The Boeing 747 that the Emir of Dubai uses as a private plane is so luxurious that even the pilot’s controls are made of gold Image | Image | Wikimedia Commons (Khamenei.ir, John Murphy)

Tokyo has four times the population of Madrid and traffic jams are non-existent. The secret is called Shako Shomeisho

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Spain has an extension of 506,030 square kilometers and 48.35 million people live there. Japan has an area of 377,974 square kilometers where 124.5 million people live. In the city of Madrid it is estimated that they live 3.23 million peoplewhile in Tokyo a total of 14.22 million people. The difference is even more striking if we take into account population density. In Madrid there are 5,265.91 inhabitants/km², while in Tokyo it rises to 6,501.58 inhabitants/km². Which of the two cities is hell to drive? If you cast an eye on photographs of Japanese citiesyou may have noticed that there are many, many people walking and on public transport. But how many cars do you see on the street? The answer is simple: very few. If we attend to the 2021 dataSpain had 29,875,896 million cars in use, while in Japan there were 76,702,773 cars. How can it be that a country with a much smaller surface area and that is on its way to tripling our population? don’t be a car hell If it has a density of cars per person very similar to ours (629 cars/1,000 inhabitants for Spain compared to 609 cars/1,000 inhabitants for Japan)? They have achieved this, of course, by forcibly limiting the number of cars that can be owned in large cities where, logically, a greater number of cars should accumulate. As? The secret is Shako Shomeisho Although the car density per inhabitant is very similar to that of Spain, the truth is that it plummets if we focus on large cities. In Japan it is estimated that each household owns 1.06 cars of the total. That figure plummets to 0.32 vehicles per household in Tokyo. The big Japanese city is, in fact, the rich city where cars are used the least. According to Deloitteonly 12% of daily trips in Tokyo are made by car, while 17% are made by bicycle. Figures that cannot be understood without two express prohibitions: that of parking on the street and that of buying a car… without space to park it. And a little luck. Andre Sorensen, professor of urban planning at the University of Toronto, says that part of Tokyo’s success in achieving this low vehicle density begins with a coincidence. At the beginning of the 20th centuryonly 15% of Japanese lived in cities. That figure is now 91%. Tokyo (above) and Rotterdam (below) two examples of cities rebuilt after World War II. Source: Google Maps The explosion came with the end of World War II. The cities were devastated and the growth in Tokyo was so chaotic that buildings began to grow uncontrollably, one close to the other. You can compare with photographs from Google Maps how Tokyo grew, completely uncontrolled with countless tiny plots, and how Rotterdam grew, with planning studied to combine green areas in residential areas. Sorensen explains that this population explosion caused the flourishing of narrow streets that made it difficult for vehicles to pass through and store them. The wave of workers to the cities forced the institutions they will turn to public transport and in 1957 the first measure was taken to harshly regulate car use in cities. And, in turn, a good reason to discourage its use. Since then, a law has been applied that prevents parking cars on the street. What is common in any European city is strictly prohibited in Japan. The fine is also not nonsense. They apply penalties of up to 200,000 yen for leaving the car parked irregularly, which entails a fine of more than 1,200 euros. Just a few years later, in 1962, the Shako Shomeisho. This name refers to the certificate that the buyer of a car must present when purchasing the vehicle. This guarantees that that person has a place to park the car. That is, you have a parking space where you can park your car every night. If you do not have a garage space, you will be prohibited from buying a car. Kei Cars, like this Daihatsu Copen, do not need to have a parking certificate except in Tokyo and Osaka This Shako Shomeisho does not apply to Kei Carssmall Japanese cars that measure less than 3.4 meters in length, 1.48 meters wide and 2.0 meters high and with engines less than 660 cc that cannot exceed 64 HP of power. The problem is that street parking options are minimal and parking in a public parking lot is very expensive. Shako Shomeisho the price of land has skyrocketed of the parking lots. In fact, the expensive thing is not buying a car, the expensive thing is getting the chance to buy a car. Is something similar to what happens in Singapore with a subtle difference: there are spaces available to park cars in Tokyo that sell for more than one million euros and the advertisements themselves already reflect the performance that can be obtained by allowing the rental of vehicles by the hour. And it must be taken into account that not all parking spaces are valid. The garage where the car is stored must be less than two kilometers from the habitual residence and to obtain the certificate it must be possible to corroborate this with plans or, even, the entrance and exit measurements of the garage are required. If the car is too big, the buyer may have problems getting the certificate approved by the authorities and may not have anywhere to park it… or rent it. The solution can go through rent the garages But there are neighborhoods where monthly rents can easily go above 500 euros (about 77,000 yen). In some very specific places in the most expensive neighborhoods, the spaces They are quoted with rents above 700 euros (110,000 yen). As it could not be otherwise, houses for sale are offered with skyrocketing prices when the combination “downtown” and “parking space” go hand in hand. With offers that exceed 3.5 million euros (550 million yen) for 130 m2 houses… And with space … Read more

Selecting all the traffic lights is no longer enough to prove that you are not a robot. Now you have to scan QR codes

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There are those who think that There are no people on the internet and everything is bots.is what is known as dead internet theory. For years, we have used captcha technology to prove that we are not robots, but visual tests and puzzles are no longer reliable proof because AI can skip them without problem. The solution is to make us scan QR codes, but there is an ulterior motive behind it. Scan to verify you are a person. This is what I found this morning when trying to enter a website. My first instinct was to check the URL and all the details in case I was facing some kind of scam, but no. I took out my phone, opened the Google app and scanned the QR to access it. It is the new reCAPTCHA method to verify that we are not a bot. Although this novelty was introduced last monthI had not come across one of these QR until today. An anti-AI test. As we said, AI has managed to solve the most common captcha tests, such as the classic visual tests that ask us to select elements from an image or write the letters and numbers in an image. The solution that Google, owner of reCAPTCHA, has found is to make us scan a QR code with our mobile phone. The function is called Mobile verification” and They describe it like this: “In addition to visual challenges, it includes AI-resistant controls that use a mobile device to scan a QR code and verify human presence and device integrity.” At the moment this function is in the experimental phase and we can still use the visual challenges by clicking on the eye icon, but everything indicates that it will become the verification standard. The real reason. Being resistant to AI is not the only reason for this new method, there is something else that has consequences for many users. With mobile verification, Google has linked reCAPTCHA to Google Play Services making it only work with devices that have a current version of Google services. In practice, this means that users of Android phones without Google, such as Fairphone, GrapheneOS or Huawei phones, will not be able to verify that they are human. In other words: either you use our services or you will not be able to browse freely. No problems on iOS. As they point out in this Reddit threadGoogle could argue that having Play services updated is a security issue, but at the same time they allow the system to work on iOS where you are not forced to install any software. I have scanned the code myself from an iPhone and the only requirement is that the device has iOS 16.4 or a later version, something that almost all iPhones will comply with without problems. This shows that it is not about security, but about controlling the ecosystem and penalizing those who try to escape from it. The danger of QR. During the pandemic, QR code scanning had a golden age thanks to restaurants eliminating physical menus. This caused the QRishing scams, which basically consists of falsifying the QR codes so that they direct us to a fraudulent website. If Google normalizes QR scanning to browse the web, it’s a matter of time before fake codes posing as reCAPTCHA verification start appearing and scammers have a field day. Image | reddit In Xataka | You thought you were solving a CAPTCHA to enter a website. You were actually training an AI

Greece wanted to put AI to monitor traffic. The problem came when the fines had to be reviewed

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Putting cameras with artificial intelligence to monitor traffic sounds, on paper, like an almost inevitable solution: less paperwork, more speed and an administration capable of detecting violations without depending on an agent being in the right place. The problem appears when that promise comes down to the asphalt and what we have seen in Greece forces us to ask a much more difficult question for any automated system: what happens when the machine flags a possible infraction, but then someone has to check if it really existed. The problem. Ta Nea published a figure which forces us to look at the system from the inside, not only in terms of the fines that reach the driver. According to the Greek media, during the pilot phase the percentage of failures or incorrect registrations would have reached between 90% and 95%. The scale helps to understand the problem: of 5,500 records generated by the system, only 400 were validated as correct after review by the Greek Police. The remaining cases included 1,300 cases attributed to cell phone use and 3,800 due to speeding that were eventually discarded. The key. The Greek system provides for a long chain: cameras record a possible infringement, this information goes through validation by the competent authority and only then can it be broadcast and digitally notified to the citizen. That is why Ta Nea’s data is so relevant. It does not simply point to drivers who resort after receiving a sanction, but to a previous bottleneck: a huge amount of records that the system generates and that the Police have to review before considering them good. New violation management model. Greece has a pilot phase since the end of March the Digital Traffic Violations Certification System, designed to gradually replace handwritten fines with a digital registration and processing process. In this first stage, two main sources intervene: the cameras of the public transport company OSY in the bus lanes, aimed at traffic and parking violations, and the network of “smart” cameras linked to the Ministry of Digital Governance. Then comes another plane. Until May 30, 2026, according to Euronewsthe new mechanism had generated 2,453 digital fines, for which 420 allegations were presented, 17.12% of the total. Of those claims, 52 were accepted, equivalent to 2.11% of all fines issued. Most of the accepted cases were related to technical or procedural issues, such as time differences, difficult-to-read data or exceptions linked to seat belt use. The distinction. One thing is the records that the camera generates and that must then go through police review before becoming a valid sanction. Another thing is the fines that have already passed that filter, have been issued, have been notified to the citizen and can then be the subject of allegations. In other words: the system has a human review before the fine arrives, but that does not prevent some drivers from continuing to appeal sanctions that had already gone through that circuit. Conflict point. As explained by a transportation expert cited by Ta Nea, the failure would not be so much in external violations as in those that occur inside the vehicle. Running a red light or driving over the speed limit can be recorded more faithfully, while detecting whether someone is wearing a seatbelt or using a cell phone depends on much more variable factors. Shadows, colors, camera angles or objects such as a cigarette can alter the reading and turn a questionable image into an alleged infringement. Images | Greek Ministry of Digital Governance In Xataka | A German driver set out to discover how much he could stretch the tank of his old diesel car. And he has done 2,400 kilometers

the ranking of the ports with the most traffic on the planet

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The blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has forcefully reminded us of the importance of maritime trade: it moves approximately 80% of the volume of world trade, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. Essential to that logistics chain are 20-foot-long container ports, measured in TEU (the acronym for Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit), the standard unit of maritime transportation. So that we understand each other, TEUs are the currency with which port traffic is measured globally: the more TEUs, the more important they are in logistics and the world economy. Know where those ports are is, in reality, knowing who’s in charge in the global economy. And the map has a clear dominator. This graph created by Visual Capitalist is a ranking of the world’s 20 busiest container ports ordered by total cargo volume processed in a year from from the 2025 Lloyd’s List databaseone of the leading voices in the sector. The metric used to measure it is precisely the TEU, that metal box measuring 6.06 meters long × 2.44 meters wide × 2.59 meters high. Each bar on the graph is equivalent to tens of millions of these boxes moving through the planet’s oceans. In 2024, the 20 main ports in the world generated consolidated traffic of 414.6 million TEUs, 7.1% more than the previous year. Spoiler: 14 of those 20 ports are located in Asia. This Asian dominance is neither an accident nor by chance: it is the reflection of decades of accelerated industrialization, enormous investments in port infrastructure and the consolidation of Asia as the factory of the planet. AND who says Asia, says China: that Made in China that you find even in the soup. For you to see that silkscreen on an iPhone, on a shirt or on a lighter, the product in question had to cross half the world in a container to get here. The ports with the most container traffic in the world. Visual Capitalist with data from Lloyd’s China dominates manufacturing and maritime logistics China concentrates more than 40% of global container traffic. Of the six busiest ports in the world, five are in China. Above the rest, Shanghai stands out, which processed more than 51.5 million TEUs in 2024, quite far from the 41.14 million in Singapore, the second. The leadership of Shanghai is absolute: It has held that title for almost two decades and it alone moves more cargo than all the major European ports combined, to give us an idea of ​​its magnitude. In any case, the eight Chinese ports present in the Top 20 generated 55.6% of the combined traffic in the ranking. Special mention deserves the port of Hong Kong, a historic giant that has been the gateway to China for decades. Today is a victim both its own geography and the Chinese economic transformation: Pearl River Delta ports such as Shenzhen and Guangzhou have taken traffic away from it on the one hand. On the other hand, the rise of Shanghai and Ningbo-Zhoushan has ended up relegating it until it disappears from the Top 10. This was rounded off by the reconfiguration of global shipping alliances, which began to replace Hong Kong as a hub with mainland ports with more capacity and lower operating costs. You have to get out of the Top 10 to find a port outside Asia. The first is Rotterdam, the bastion of maritime trade in Europe, which is in eleventh position with 13.8 million TEUs moved last year. Besides, had modest growth 2.8% compared to the previous year. The photograph of the old continent returns an image of residual influence: the accumulated traffic of the 10 main European ports reached just 65 million TEUs in 2024. If any past time seems better, it is because it was, at least in maritime trade. Obviously, colonization favored that flow (at least unidirectionally). More of the same in America: the busiest port is in Los Angeles and handles approximately 9.9 million TEUs: the Californian port is the gateway for trade from the Pacific, closely followed by Long Beach, with 9.1 million. The influence of America and Europe on maritime merchandise traffic is a clear reflection of their production structures, with relocation by flag. In Xataka | Africa has more than 30,000 kilometers of coastline and one country has managed to control them without anyone noticing: China In Xataka | Each lighthouse in Europe has a different light and flashing: this wonderful interactive map brings them all together Cover | Visual Capitalist

A gigantic tunnel boring machine 16 meters in diameter is devouring the sea floor under Genoa. It is your solution against traffic

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Under the port of Genoa, the largest in Italy, there is a machine that aims to devour the sea floor meter by meter. And it does so from the bowels of the earth, 45 meters deep and without interrupting the traffic that passes above it every day. The key is a 16 meter diameter tunnel boring machine that is drilling into the seabed like butter. This is how Italy is solving one of its most entrenched mobility problems, and in the process building the first underwater tunnel of the history of the country. A problem that has been unsolved for decades. Genoa is a city trapped between the Mediterranean Sea and the foothills of the Apennines. It has no room to grow. Its historic center is a labyrinth of narrow streets, and east-west traffic has always been a headache. The solution adopted in the 1960s was to build a gigantic elevated highway, the Sopraelevata Aldo Moro, which crosses the city like a concrete scar. for her About 80,000 vehicles pass through each daybut at a high price: it blocks the view of the sea, generates constant noise and, for many citizens, is a barrier that separates the city from its own port. Its demolition has been stalled for years because no one knows what to do with that traffic in the meantime. Tragedy. The tunnel project was born from an agreement between Autostrade per l’Italia, the Italian Ministry of Transport and local administrations as compensation to the city after the collapse of the Morandi bridge in 2018. That collapse, which claimed 43 lives, left Genoa without one of its main accesses and put the highway concessionaire company under the spotlight. As part of the repair agreement, signed in October 2021, Autostrade per l’Italia, the Liguria Region, the Western Ligure Sea Port System Authority and the Municipality of Genoa agreed to build this underwater tunnel. It is, in practice, the great work of compensation for a city that suffered a tragedy. What is being built. The total route is 4.2 kilometers, of which 3.4 run under the sea floor. It will consist of two separate galleries, one in each direction, each 16 meters in diameter, and will reach a maximum depth of 45 meters below sea level. When completed, it is expected to be Italy’s first underwater tunnel, the largest in Europe (with pardon is being built between Germany and Denmark) and the fourth largest in the world by diameter. Next to nothing. The key: a Hydroshield TBM. Excavating under an active port without interrupting its activity is a monumental challenge. The solution is a TBM tunnel boring machine (Tunnel Boring Machine) Hydroshield type. Each of the two main galleries will be constructed by mechanized excavation with a Hydroshield type back-pressure armored TBM milling cutter, with an excavation diameter of approximately 16 meters. Why this type and not another? In a Hydroshield TBM, the balance in the excavation chamber is maintained through the pressure of water or bentonite slurrywhich stabilizes the excavation face. The extracted material is mixed with these sludge and transported to the surface through pipes. It is the ideal technology for unstable terrain with the presence of water: it allows you to continue drilling without the sea floor crumbling and without the sea entering the gallery. The port above is still working. The gallery measures 15.4 meters in diameter on the outside, but the useful space for circulation is somewhat less, 14.3 meters, because the walls are considerably thick. These walls are built by assembling prefabricated pieces of concrete, as if they were the staves of a giant barrel, joined together with screws and sealed with rubber gaskets so that water does not enter. As if that were not enough, an additional layer of concrete is added inside that further reinforces the impermeability, especially in the sections that are just below the port. The result is a practically airtight tube capable of withstanding the pressure of the sea on its walls. lto logistics of the work. You can’t just place a tunnel boring machine on the seabed and run it. First you have to prepare the ground. The tunnel boring machine was thrown from an attack pit in the San Benigno areaon the west side of the city. To free up that space, Autostrade first had to move a port railway line that ran through there. The railway route, about 700 meters long, has been moved about 70 meters to the south with respect to its previous position, running parallel to the port sopraelevata until passing under it in its final section. Deadlines. Preparation works started in 2023, and work began in March 2024. However, the full tender for the construction of the two main galleries was not approved until January 2026. The specifications set a period of 75 months to complete the entire work. According to the latest Autostrade documents, the TBM will complete excavation work in October 2030, with full completion of the work planned for 2031. Budget. The project started from a budget of 700 million euros, although the mayor of Genoa, Silvia Salis, confirmed that Autostrade now places the cost at more than 1,129 million euros. An escalation of costs that, according to the original agreement between the parties, is covered by a mechanism linked to national highway tolls. Transformation. When the tunnel is completed, it will allow the creation of new green areas (10 hectares, distributed in three public parks) and pedestrian routes that reconnect the city center with the sea. In the San Benigno area, on the new railway gallery already in use, the Lantern Park will be built, which will connect that sector with the city’s historic lighthouse through a bicycle and pedestrian path. In Xataka | Mexico touches the sky with a new and elegant skyscraper of 484 meters and 99 floors: it will be the tallest in all of Latin America

The traffic jams in Valencia are hell. And a bridge over the Turia aspires to resolve the chaos between the V-30 and the A-3

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Traffic jams for miles and with a regularity that seems almost infallible. Valencia has a problem with traffic jams and the connection between the V-30 and the A-3 is one of the hot spots every morning. They explain in The Provinces that the growth of the city leaves 800,000 residents inside… surrounded by 800,000 residents of the surrounding towns. With some infrastructure built decades ago For a much smaller number of residents, roads and the main Valencian roads are clogged with an assiduity that punishes the neighbors day after day. But of all the roads, V-30 is the most marked. The road has problems along its entire length. The new port terminal anticipates more complications looking to the future but other hot spots such as the connection with the A-3 is one of the critical steps usually indicated. To begin to alleviate the situation, the Ministry of Transport has given the green light to the construction of a remodeling of the link between both roads to facilitate traffic between the A-3 and the V-30. A new bridge to alleviate the situation The Ministry of Transport has published approval for the action on the link between V-30 and A-3, which includes a lane expansion and the construction of a new bridge. In total, nine structures will be affected, of which six are newly built. The project will have a budget of 56 million euros (VAT included) and will try to unclog an area that is constantly overwhelmed, especially during peak hours. The remodeling, They explain on the ministry’s websitewill have the following interventions: New planned structures: Bridge parallel to the existing one over the Turia riverbed that will also serve to bridge the crossing over the V-30. Underpass at the A-3 junction and the Puerto-Madrid branch (2 structures). Cycle-pedestrian underpass under the Valencia-Puerto branch. Cycle-pedestrian walkway over the Valencia-Barcelona branch. Existing drinking water pipe protection structure. Planned expansions on existing structures: Expansion of the underpass of 9 d’Octubre Avenue. Extension of the pedestrian walkway over the branches: Madrid-Barcelona, ​​Puerto-Madrid and the V-30 service road. Expansion of the pedestrian walkway over the A-3. In the case of the action on the A-3, the road will be expanded to four lanes towards Madrid. These lanes will be available to drivers from the interchange to the airport access. The objective is to facilitate the flow of traffic on a link that, right now, has become a bottleneck. in the diary Levant They explain that the situation is so complicated that, like a domino effect, the traffic jam usually extends to the V-31 highway as drivers try to find some other alternative route to the junction that forms there. In addition, the expansion of the lanes is also good news in order to save the high volume of trucks that begin their journey in the city port and take this road to begin their route to Madrid. Right now, the volume of cars is so high that the traffic jam is not only found on the A-3 towards Madrid. The branch from V-30 requires a long turn that reduces the speed of the cars. Between an A-3 with very dense traffic and slow access, the right lane of the V-30 ends up suffering all the punishment, being completely collapsed during rush hour. In addition, the residents of Xirivella, next to the road, will have acoustic screens and trees installed to reduce the sound of traffic and mitigate the visual impact of the structures. This was a demand that citizens had been demanding for some time and that had not been executed. Photo | Google Maps and Ministry of Transportation In Xataka | The great dream of Tres Cantos and Colmenar Viejo literally passes over El Pardo: “close” the M-50

95% of intercontinental internet traffic goes through submarine cables. China has just proven that it can cut them at 3,500 meters

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The world is connected through the “invisible”, almost omnipresent and seemingly omnipotent internet. But it turns out that 95% of data traffic runs through cables that, although not visible, are very tangible: the submarine fiber optic cables that run around the world. This strategic infrastructure is inherently vulnerable due to its vast extent in unmonitored environments. Until recently, threats were limited to random accidents in shallow waters, but sabotage are the order of the day. In this scenario, China has just marked a technical milestone that is a warning to sailors: has tried successfully a submarine cable cutter who plays in another league. Thus, it is capable of cutting with high precision and operating at depths of up to 3,500 meters. The tool. The system that China through its Haiyang Dizhi 2 scientific vessel is an electro-hydrostatic actuator (EHA), a compact device that integrates the hydraulic system, the electric motor and the control unit in a single piece, a combo that as explained The South China Morning Post allows you to get rid of the external oil pipe common in this type of system. The Ministry of Natural Resources of China explains for the Chinese media that last Saturday, April 15, its first mission in deep waters was carried out. This is not the first deep underwater cable cutter we have seen from China, in fact it has them to cut even deeper seabeds: the China Naval Scientific Research Center (CSSRC) and the State Key Laboratory of Deep Sea Manned Vehicles also developed a little over a year ago a vessel that uses a diamond coated grinding wheelcapable of operating at depths of 4,000 meters. Why is it important. We have already glimpsed in the intro that currently, practically the entire of intercontinental data traffic travels over submarine cables. He Center for Strategic and International Studies gives an example of its importance: in the financial environment, approximately 22 trillion dollars move per business day through these systems. Any disruption can unleash chaos on entire countries, leading to digital isolation, collapsing financial systems, degrading military capabilities… much more than a simple cyberattack. Underwater cables are inherently vulnerable due to their exposure and with these types of systems not even depth is a guarantee. Furthermore, repair at a depth of 3,500 meters is slow and expensive, requiring specific vessels that are not plentiful. context. Since 2024, China and its vessels have become common suspects in cases of alleged sabotage. Two examples: is in the Baltic and is in waters near Taiwan. These events have generated growing concern in NATO on the security of these essential undersea cables from hybrid warfare tactics. China, for its part, justifies this development as part of its scientific research and deep-sea mining program through the Chinese Academy of Sciences: the ability to cut cables is necessary for the recovery of stuck equipment, cleaning marine debris, and preparing the seabed for deep-sea mining. However, it is inevitable to think about the duality of its functions. chow they do it. In 2020, a team of engineers from Lishui University, in the coastal province of Zhejiang, opposite Taiwan, developed a device for cutting underwater cables by drag (one of several patents in recent years made in China) and in the patent application The team said that “The traditional cutting method requires first detecting the position of the cables, then excavating and recovering them to cut them. The process is complex, a lot of expensive equipment is needed, and the cost is too high. A fast and low-cost cutting device for submarine cables is needed to perform this task.” These new tools seek to solve this as they operate directly on the cable on the seabed without the need for extraction. In the 30-day mission of the Haiyang Dizhi 2 vessel, in addition to testing the cutting tool, they also tested an autonomous underwater vehicle called Hai Ma, recovered 16 self-developed measurement probes and deployed China’s first deep-sea winch with 11,000 meters of coaxial cable. Yes, but. The fact that there are patents and tests on tools to cut marine cables at great depth and efficiency does not mean that they have been used in these incidents, although it does indicate an interest in cutting them. China has a known official position, as we saw last year when a similar tool came to the fore. At that time Liu Pengyu, declared that the device is used in marine scientific research and that both the United States and several European countries have similar technology. Likewise, it highlighted the importance that China gives to protecting underwater infrastructure and its commitment to the international community to protect them. In Xataka | The submarine cables belonged to the teleoperators, and now the big technology companies are controlling them In Xataka | The first great Atlantic submarine cable that connected us to the internet says goodbye for a simple reason: it was too expensive to repair it Cover | seatools and CCTV

240 km without curves, in the middle of the desert and with truck traffic

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Imagine driving for more than two hours without turning the steering wheel even a single degree. No curves, no noticeable slopes, no changes on the horizon. That is the reality of Highway 10 (Highway 10) of Saudi Arabia, which holds the Guinness record as the longest straight road on the planet with a completely linear section of 240 kilometers. A highway born for a king. Highway 10 stretches 1,480 kilometers from Ad Darb to the border with the United Arab Emirates, but it is its segment between Haradh and Al Batha that has received all the attention. The road was originally built as a private road for King Fahd of Saudi Arabia, although today it has become a fundamental artery for the transport of goods between the center and west of the country with the Emirates. The Empty Quarter desert as a setting. The road crosses the Rub’ al Khaliknown as the Empty Quarter, the largest sand desert in the world. The area itself explains why it is possible to build such a straight line: there are no mountains to surround, valleys to cross or geographical features to avoid. Just sand and more sand as far as the eye can see. The infrastructure is completely paved and has mainly two lanes in each direction, supporting intense truck traffic that crosses the desert. Speed ​​limits adjusted for heavy traffic. The maximum speed allowed on this highway varies depending on the type of vehicle: passenger cars can travel up to 120 km/h on fast sections, buses 100 km/h and trucks 80 km/h. Although in 2018 were announced Upper limits of up to 140 km/h for light vehicles in certain sections, the constant presence of heavy transport makes maintaining these speeds complicated in practice. A mental challenge more than a physical one. Believe it or not, driving on the straightest road in the world is not as easy as it seems, especially due to fatigue. The monotony of the desert landscape and the total absence of visual stimuli can cause drowsiness and even a dangerous disconnection while driving. Added to this is the occasional threat of camels wandering across the road. So, although the route is ‘easy’ to handle, mentally it can become a nightmare. Not for nothing is it found in Dangerous Roads website. Reinforced security measures. Aware of the risks involved in driving on such a monotonous road, the Saudi Ministry of Transport and Logistics has implemented various improvements safety features, including paved shoulders, reflective pavement markings (known as “cat’s eyes”), protective barriers, kilometer signs, and directional and warning signs. Here the driver’s attention must be vital, especially on a road with so few changes. Other legendary straights. Before Highway 10 snatched the title, the Australia’s Eyre Highway boasted the record with a 146 kilometer straight stretch through the Nullarbor Desert. Although almost 100 kilometers shorter, this Australian road remains one of the most unique driving experiences on the continent. Also noteworthy are roads such as ND-46 in North Dakotathe United States, or some sections of the Argentine Route 40which although they do not compete in length of absolute straightness and offer a great variety of landscape that softens the eye, also encompasses endless kilometers of monotonous movement. Cover image | City Vibes In Xataka | Yes, the V16 beacons transmit your position in the event of an accident. No, the DGT cannot “spy” on you with them A version of this article was published in 2025

We are not used to seeing traffic cones that place themselves. They are already testing them in China

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A traffic cone that rolls out of the emergency vehicle alone, is placed in position and forms a safety perimeter before any operator has set foot on the asphalt. It is not a scene that we usually see in our parts, but the truth is that in China they are already testing it and its operation is tremendously interesting. What is happening. Emergency teams in China are testing autonomous traffic cones capable of securing the perimeter of an accident in less than ten seconds. Such as describe Marc Theermann, director of strategy at Boston Dynamics, in a post on LinkedIn, these robots leave directly from the emergency vehicle and move alone to their position, forming a safety barrier without any operator having to cross the road. They can be activated remotely or operate completely autonomously. Click on the image to go to the post The hook: the safety of the operators. Placing cones by hand on a road with active traffic is a truly dangerous task for operators in charge of road maintenance, or those carrying out work on the road. The idea with this technology is simply to eliminate or reduce as much as possible the human presence in the most vulnerable phase of any road intervention. How they work. Researchers from the Center for Research in Technologies, Energy and Industrial Processes of Pontevedra (CINTECX) published a study in 2025 in the magazine Infrastructures that described the design and validation of its “Remotely Piloted Safety Cone”, a robotic system with a similar architecture. The device combines autonomous GPS navigation with RTK correction (a high-precision positioning system), odometry sensors, an inertial measurement unit and ultrasonic obstacle detection. All of this managed by an autopilot and an on-board computer that coordinates movement in real time. The results of the study showed that the most precise configuration managed to stay less than 20 centimeters from the planned route, a more than acceptable margin for this type of operations. Faster than by hand. According to that same studythe estimated placement time per cone with this system is around three seconds, compared to the seven or eight seconds it takes on average for a human operator. In an intervention that requires dozens of cones, the difference is quite significant, especially if this is then combined with systems that can be placed simultaneously and not one after another. And also at night. Best of all, the task can also make it much easier to place cones when there is barely any visibility. And the robotic cones incorporate lighting, something basic for any type of emergency road signage. In Spain we already propose the “less intelligent” version. After the V16 beaconswhich have given a lot to talk about (more for the bad which for the good), the DGT has also explored the use of connected coneswhich would be responsible for notifying in real time of road works or dangers. They would be integrated into the DGT 3.0 platformalong with the V16 beacon, although they are still in the testing phase and very far from implementation. The main difference, as you might expect, is that these cones do not move or position themselves. But it’s already a step. What comes next. The natural step of this technology is not the individual cone, but rather several can be coordinated at the same time, something that we have already seen in tests in China, and that the deployment is reminiscent of that of the drone shows in the sky (less glamorous, but just as addictive to watch). The researchers they point in his study of multi-agent swarms, several robots working together in a coordinated manner, such as the evolution of this technology to apply it in infrastructures. Cover image | Posting on X In Xataka | A company has filled a neighborhood with sidewalk outlets to charge electric cars. Their results are contradictory

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