trap

Iran has spent decades excavating its “missile cities.” Satellite images have just revealed that they are a death trap

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For years, Iran has shown the world tunnel videos endless tunnels dug under mountains, with military trucks circulating between missiles lined up as if they were cars in an underground subway. It was understood that many of these facilities extend kilometers underground and are part of one of the military fortification programs. most ambitious in the Middle East. What almost no one knew until now is to what extent this gigantic hidden labyrinth could become a key piece of the current conflict. The cities, but with missiles. Yes, for decades, Iran has excavated an extensive underground base network known as “missile cities”, complexes hidden under mountains and hills intended to protect its enormous ballistic arsenal against air attacks and guarantee the regime’s retaliation capacity even in the event of open war. There are numerous videos Officials released in recent years where we could see long tunnels illuminated by artificial lights, windowless corridors and convoys of trucks loaded with missiles ready to move to the surface, an entire military architecture designed to hide thousands of short and medium range projectiles away from spy satellites and enemy bombers. Some installations even incorporate silos dug into the rock or mechanical systems on rails to move missiles within underground galleries, a perfectly assembled choreography reflecting a strategic project conceived to ensure arsenal survival Iranian in a protracted conflict. The images that reveal the paradox. However, the war has begun to show the unexpected reverse of that strategy. Recent images from space have revealed Smoldering remains of destroyed launchers and missiles near the entrances to several underground complexes, a sign that systems hidden underground are becoming extremely vulnerable at the moment when they must go outside to shoot. It makes sense. American and Israeli surveillance planes, armed drones and fighters They patrol constantly over the areas where these facilities are located, observing the entrances to the tunnels and attacking the launchers as soon as they appear on nearby roads or canyons. In other words, what for years was a system designed to hide mobile weapons It thus becomes a relatively predictable pattern: tunnel entrances, exit roads and deployment areas that can be monitored from the air and destroyed as soon as activity is detected. From strategic refuge to death trap. They remembered in the wall street journal A few hours ago this change has revealed a structural problem in the very concept of missile cities. Underground complexes are very difficult to destroy from the air, but they are also fixed installations whose location is known by Western intelligence services. In practice, this means that much of the arsenal remains stored in specific places while enemy planes continually fly over the airspace, waiting for the moment when the launchers come out to act. Many military analysts summarize the dilemma in a simple way: What was previously a mobile and difficult to locate system is now concentrated in fixed points, which facilitates its surveillance and reduces its capacity for surprise. Commercial satellite images themselves show destroyed launchers As soon as they left the mouths of the tunnels, fires were caused by leaked fuel and access to facilities bombed with heavy ammunition. Missile base north of Tabriz in Iran. The image on the left belongs to February 23, the one on the right from March 1 after the first attacks The air offensive against underground infrastructure. As the first week of war approaches, the military campaign has begun to focus increasingly on these infrastructures. They told Reuters that the first phase of the attacks focused on destroying visible launchers and surface systems capable of firing at Israel or US bases in the region, while the second stage aims straight to the bunkers and buried warehouses where missiles and equipment are stored. Israeli aviation, with American support, has attacked hundreds of positions and has managed to drastically reduce the number of launches, while an almost constant air offensive that hits targets continues. both in Iran and Lebanon during the same missions. The stated objective is to progressively degrade Iran’s ability to launch ballistic missiles and drones until it is completely neutralized. Missile base north of Kermanshah in Iran. The image on the left belongs to February 28, on the right it belongs to March 3 A gigantic arsenal underground. The actual scope of these facilities remains difficult to determine. There are military estimates that place the Iranian arsenal before the war between about 2,500 and up to 6,000 missilesstored in different facilities throughout the country, many of them excavated under mountains or in remote areas of the territory. Despite the attacks, Iran has managed to launch more than 500 missiles against Israel, US bases and targets in the Gulf since the start of the conflict, although many have been intercepted and the pace of salvos has decreased rapidly. That drop suggests that attacks on launchers and storage centers are beginning to erode the country’s ability to respond. The strategic dilemma. The result is a strategic paradox that is just beginning to become visible. Missile cities were designed to protect the core of Iranian military power and ensure its ability to retaliate, but in a scenario where the enemy dominate the air and watch constantly the entrances to these complexes can become choke points for the arsenal itself. Iran has spent decades excavating these underground bases with the intention of making its missiles invisible. But satellite images of the war are showing something very different: that this labyrinth of tunnels, designed as a shelter, can become one of its greatest vulnerabilities when the launchers are forced to surface under the look constant flow of planes, drones and satellites. Image | X, Planet Labs In Xataka | We had seen everything in Ukraine, but this is new: neither drones nor missiles, bulldozers have reached the front In Xataka | You’ve probably never heard of urea. The missiles in Iran are destroying their production, and that will affect your food

Michel Foucault was convinced that “visibility is a trap.” And without knowing it I was talking about our lives with AI

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I never thought I’d write this, but I’ve been thinking about it for days. Michel Foucault more than I would like. And a back pain is to blame. It was a couple of weeks ago, it was one in the morning and the house had been quiet for a while. That’s where the puncture came. I could have woken up my wife who was 30 centimeters away and, well, she is a doctor; I could have searched on Google; I could have even asked on an Internet forum. And yet, I opened ChatGPT, asked what was bothering me, and shortly after turned off my phone to go to sleep. And I fell asleep right away. But a few days ago, this analysis by Javier Lacort about ChatGPT Health It left me thinking. Not because AI was fully entering the world of health and “medical advice” (something that, on the other hand, I knew firsthand); but because of something that was commented on in it: that “we prefer to ask a chatbot have to wait three weeks for an appointment or have to bother a friend at eleven at night. It hurt a little. There was something interesting there. Eleven at night; one in the morning “The ChatGPT Competition”, Lacort continued“it’s not so much with the doctors as with the emotional support network that we used to have. We asked our mother, our partner, the friend who studied nursing.” But for some time now, “upsetting someone has become emotionally costly.” That last phrase is devastating because it contains the key to something that goes far beyond chatbots with medical uses. Something that goes through Millennials’ problems with calls, with the fishmongers, with sex or with any interaction that is not mediated by a screen: the deep cultural aversion that the modern world has generated to ‘social friction’. And it is curious because, although only in recent years do we see the most striking consequencessociology and cultural analysis have been pointing out what was happening for decades. We have Norbert Elias, for example, who I was convinced that (as part of the prolongation of the civilizing process) the thresholds of shame and discomfort are shifting. What fifty years ago was perfectly normal—calling without warning, asking a favor from an acquaintance, interrupting someone with a question—today borders on the intrusive. What’s more, today we have internalized it. Sennet spoke of the decline of the public sphere (we know how to handle ourselves in privacy and in public transactions, but not in the middle ground); the sociology of emotionstalks about the success of therapeutic lexicon and how that has changed the way we relate; Hartmut Rosa cblame social accelerationprecariousness and lack of time, the loss of effectiveness of reciprocity networks. That is to say, we have many theorists thinking about the same thing: that we are a new type of subject. A subject who has internalized the rules, who manages himself, who evaluates his relationships in terms of emotional cost-benefit and who, above all, experiences direct reciprocity as something frictional, uncomfortable and potentially invasive. And, just then, chatbots appear. I’m not talking about the technology behind it, nor its ultimate nature: I’m talking about the same historical process that has created subjects like this, has created something that “listens to them”, that “is empathetic”, that does not judge them and that helps them as and when it can. Honestly, it would be strange not to throw ourselves into his arms. Can Foucault help us understand all this? Google DeepMind That’s where, I’m afraid, Foucault becomes interesting. In his courses at the Collège de France from the late 70sthe French philosopher explored a whole series of different dimensions of power that, although not obvious, were inseparable from the Modern State. In the past, the State was mainly about controlling borders and collecting some money. But not anymore: now the State manages populations (what it called ‘biopolitics‘ and includes things such as vaccination programs or birth policies) and, at the same time, deals with each subject in its particularity (the so-called ‘pastoral power‘ who through family doctors, social workers, school counselors or psychologists listen to us, advise us and “lead us”). He called the combination ‘governmentality‘: a power that (excuse the ‘expletives’) is at the same time totalizing and individualizing. And those, totalizing and individualizing, are features that seem half-made of technological solutions such as ChatGPT Health. A chatbot that, on the one hand, advises users about their problems, listens without judging, guides us in micro-decisions and knows us (or ‘pretends to know us’) in our particularity; and, on the other, it performs triage, implements protocols, normalizes thresholds, generates aggregate data and, in a short time, will integrate with insurers and health systems. Pastoral and biopolitical, at the same time. And with an incredible infiltration capacity. The difference, and this Foucault could not foresee, is that now this power does not depend on the State, but on a corporation. What was previously a community or ecclesiastical function, then partially state, is now outsourced to private, for-profit infrastructures. It is a privatization of power. The tentacles of the State In the previous section I said that “Foucault could not foresee it”, but I think that is not accurate. It is true that when this thinker theorized about “pastoral power” or “biopolitics,” he was thinking about public officials operating in state institutions. But the wickers were there. After all, Foucault himself, in his last courses (especially in ‘Birth of biopolitics‘, dedicated to analyze ‘neoliberalism’ as arts of government), described a decisive mutation of our time: the State no longer thinks of itself as a provider of services but as a guarantor of the conditions for the market to function. The functions that were previously assumed directly (educate, heal, advise, care) can be outsourced to private agents. In this sense, chatbots are neither an accident nor a distortion; are the logical culmination of the historical process of the development of modern power. From a very specific formulation of … Read more

Ukraine’s latest tactic is an explosive turn for the war. It’s called “letting in,” and the Russians are falling into the trap.

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Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the front has been mutating with all kinds of tactics who sought to wear down the enemy. The arrival of drones everything has changedbut the strategies and ingenuity In the use of artillery they have remained a fundamental asset for the advance or defense of the front. For this reason, Ukraine’s latest strategy has disconcerted the Russians. When they reach the bunkers there is no one, and then the surprise comes. Win by letting in. Ukraine is applying a more flexible and lethal defense consisting in “pre-register” their artillery on their own front-line positions, so that when the Russians assault and capture them, they literally enter an already calibrated point to be destroyed: the fort falls, the enemy concentrates, and then comes the massive punishment that turns Russian success into a death trap. After that blow, a Ukrainian assault branch recover the points again devastated, closing a cycle that maximizes ranged damage and reduces the exposure of own infantry, something key in a context of growing shortage of trained soldiers. This logic, denounced even by pro-Russian voices as the strategy of “letting in” is actually a way of imposing the pace: it is not about always preventing them from advancing, but about making each advance expensive, slow and bloody. The “death zone” as doctrine. The tactic works because the battlefield has become in a “kill zone” permanent where the defender attempts to maintain a deadly gap between the leading edge and the rear: artillery is placed further back, out of the usual range of rival drones, and forward positions are fortified to attract attackswaiting for the enemy to enter to destroy them right there with fire and drones. The drone operators They not only strike at the front, they also hunt for supply and reinforcement routes, and any activity near “newly taken” positions becomes visible and attackable. Added to this is the constant mining (including remote) and the use of “ambushers” in the few possible logistical axes, so that the attacker not only pays to capture, but also pays twice as much to try to consolidate. The “let in” tactic after pre-registering a position The decisive blow. The most surprising point about this approach is that the defender does not seek so much to “hold every meter” as to prevent the attacker deploy your second step– When the advancing force attempts to bring in specialized reinforcements (e.g. drone operators to hold the ground), the defender launches fast local offensiveseven if they cost material, to keep the death zone intact and keep the enemy trapped in a space where they cannot settle. Thus, the advance exists on paper or in the drone image, but it becomes tactically sterile: you capture something and, before transforming it into a usable position, it becomes a slaughterhouse, like is described in sectors like Kupiansk. It is a war where “letting in” is not an extra: it is the moment in which the enemy advance stops being progress and becomes a loss. The psychological and moral consequence. These types of dynamics are eroding the offensive will because it forces us to choose between kilometers and livesespecially the “faces” of competent soldiers who know how to move in that death zone: It’s not just that advancement costs, it’s that it costs exactly the most valuable thing. From this arises a dilemma on the front itself: advancing in a big way without preparation means burn trained unitsbut advancing “minimally” or little to be able to report presence saves resources… at the cost of generating absurd situations where you can no longer request fire on positions that officially “they are yours”although in reality they are being crushed or disputed. In this framework, the information war of territorial control is mixed with real survival, and “progress” becomes a very diffuse decision. The technological revolution to the rescue. we have been counting. The bottom line is that Ukraine is at the center of a military transformation: soldiers are the most expensive and difficult resource to replace, while unmanned systems have passed to dominate the combatexpanding on an industrial scale, lowering costs and multiplying impact. The front is increasingly managed from the rear or bunkers with operators controlling the space, and attempts at “classic” breaches become almost suicidal: the key is no longer to launch columns, but to disperse, camouflage and gradually push the death zone back. As the war evolves into swarms, AI coordination and persistent attacks, the advantage is not having the most expensive weapon, but having thousands of cheap weaponsreliable communications networks and the ability to update systems non-stop. The coming war. Thus, the strategic decision moves to logistics and industry: cut off land routes, protect supplies, attack factorieslogistics centers and hidden commands, and do so with reusable media and unmanned is increasingly determining. Victories depend on producing drones en massesecure components, sustain communications Starlink type and dominate the cybernetic layer that can blind, uncoordinate or paralyze an entire front. That is why the strategy to “let in” It does not seem like an isolated trick, but rather a direct consequence of the new battlefield: if the first to enter dies, the one who waits and finishes with precision (with drones, mines, artillery and digital coordination) keeps the initiative even if it seems that is receding. Image | US Army Europe In Xataka | The video of the Russian soldier in Ukraine who ignores the bomb that just exploded on him has only two explanations. And one is science fiction In Xataka | The war in Ukraine has a new level of brutality. Russia calls it a “can opener” and turns recruits into detonators

The drone war in Ukraine is advancing at the speed of light: what was useful two weeks ago is a death trap today

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Since the first months of the Russian invasion, Ukraine has converted the use of drones in one of the central pillars of its defense, and has done so to the point of transforming a conventional conflict into a permanent laboratory unmanned combat. In this environment of constant adaptation, drones have not only redefined the way we fight on the front, but have imposed an unprecedented pace of technological change that forces armies, industries and training centers to update almost in real time to avoid becoming obsolete. Classrooms at war. The Ukrainian drone schools have become one of the most extreme laboratories of military learning in the world, forced to rewrite their training programs at a dizzying pace that in some cases reaches the two weeks. In a conflict where drones have become the main instrument of attack, reconnaissance and attrition, the distance between an obsolete lesson and a lethal decision can be measured in days. For these centers, adapting is not an academic question, but rather a direct line between survival and death on the front, in an environment where technology, countermeasures and tactics change constantly and rapidly. In Xataka We had seen everything in Ukraine, but this is new: drones are disguising themselves as Russian soldiers, and it is working Synergy. To stay relevant, instructors are not limited to manuals or simulators. They regularly visit the battle lines, maintain permanent contact with alumni deployed and testing new technologies before incorporating them into their courses. In schools like Dronarium, with offices in kyiv and Lviv, its R&D manager, the veteran known as “Ruda”, explains that technological evolution on the front is so rapid that it requires almost immediate adaptability. There is no two equal classes: Each lesson incorporates small adjustments resulting from what happened days before in real combat. More than 16,000 students have passed through this center, and their experiences are directly integrated into the curriculum, turning training into a living system that feeds back on the war. Two-way learning. One of the pillars of this model is communication direct and permanent with the combatants. Messaging groups connect deployed instructors and operators, allowing soldiers to share new enemy tactics, technical problems or improvised solutions, while receiving advice in near real time from the rear. In centers like Karlsson, Karas & Associates or Kruk Drones, this relationship does not end at the end of the course: it is maintained throughout the operator’s operational life. The instruction is clear: nothing is taught that is not strictly necessary in combat, and what is no longer useful is unceremoniously discarded, no matter how recent it may be. A war that reinvents itself. The central weight of drones on the battlefield explains this urgency. The majority of frontline impacts and casualties already depend on unmanned systems, requiring continuous modification of both platforms and employment tactics. New models appear, others are neutralized by countermeasures, and the rules of the game are constantly rewritten. This speed has set off alarm bells in the West: military officials such as British Minister Luke Pollard warn that NATO forces run the risk of becoming obsolete, trapped in acquisition cycles that last years in the face of a war that repeats every two or three weeks. {“videoId”:”x8j6422″,”autoplay”:false,”title”:”Declassified video of the clash between Russian fighters and the American drone”, “tag”:”united states”, “duration”:”42″} The industry learns from Ukraine. The schools they are not alone in this race. Defense companies that observe the conflict have begun to copy this model of direct interaction with the front, shortening your cycles developmental. Manufacturers of anti-drone systems and UAV platforms visit the battlefield, chat with operators and fine-tune designs in a matter of weeks, not years. Some executives recognize that the ways in which Ukrainians use technology have surprised them, forcing them to rethink basic assumptions. At the same time, the soldiers themselves benefit from this exchange, providing constant feedback and receiving improvements, spare parts and solutions adapted to their real needs. In Genbeta According to psychology, those who grew up in the 1960s and 1970s developed mental strengths that are being lost today Schools under fire. There is no doubt, this permanent adaptation has a cost. Drone schools are not only competing against the technological clock, they are operating under the direct threat from Russian attacks and with limited financial resources, often depending on donations to continue functioning. In this context, their fight is not only to stay updated, but to survive. Even so, their role has become central in modern warfare: they are the link that connects innovation, industry and real combat, and the best example of how Ukraine has turned the urgency of conflict into a flexible and brutally efficient national military learning system. Image | Heute, RawPixel In Xataka | The new episode of terror in Ukraine does not involve missiles or drones: it involves leaving a city without cell phones In Xataka | Europe faces a question it can no longer avoid: how to respond to a war that is rarely declared (function() { window._JS_MODULES = window._JS_MODULES || {}; var headElement = document.getElementsByTagName(‘head’)(0); if (_JS_MODULES.instagram) { var instagramScript = document.createElement(‘script’); instagramScript.src=”https://platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js”; instagramScript.async = true; instagramScript.defer = true; headElement.appendChild(instagramScript); – The news The drone war in Ukraine is advancing at the speed of light: what was useful two weeks ago is a death trap today was originally published in Xataka by Miguel Jorge .

From today, Ryanair requires 100% digital boarding. It is the culmination of a strategy to trap us in its application

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The day has come. Ryanair only lets you board its planes with a digital card. The measure has been postponed for a few months but November 12 was finally the date on which this decision by the airline, which has raised some controversy and critical voices, was consolidated. Digital boarding. Showing your boarding pass on your mobile phone will be the only way to access Ryanair planes from today. The company claims that by issuing the digital boarding pass, what they call TED, 300 tons of paper are saved per year. This TED is available from the Ryanair application, once the passenger has checked in online prior to taking the plane. This card is available without a mobile data connection, so they ensure that you can access the plane if your mobile phone does not have data or the airport Wi-Fi is not fast enough. The big news is that, until now, it was possible to send a PDF to email from the application and from the browser. This PDF could be printed or simply stored on the mobile phone and brought onto the plane with it, “bypassing” the download of the application. What does Ryanair earn? That the client downloads its application where the company offers seat changes and, simply, facilitates the collection of supplements with added services. This has become the company’s great gold mine. It is, in fact, the only reason to make this decision. In Xataka Mobile have contacted the company to ask why this change and the last part of the answer is eloquent: “This transition, already adopted by almost 80% of Ryanair’s more than 207 million annual passengers, will offer a faster, smarter and more sustainable travel experience. In addition, it will make it easier for passengers to access a variety of innovative features within the app” In the video itself where they explain the change, they already point out that the user will have constant information during their flight, the allocation of the boarding gate… or the possibility of ordering food at your seat. And if… The company has opened a page question and answer website in which all the possible “what ifs” that we can think of are answered. All of them, yes, require billing in advance. For example: And if… I left my phone at home: you can request a free paper boarding pass at the airport, as long as you have completed the online check-in. And if… I lose my phone: same case as the previous one. And if… I lose my phone or I run out of battery after having passed the control: if we have passed the control it means that the passenger has already checked in. In that case, attention will be offered at the boarding gate. And if… I don’t have a smartphone: we will have to check in online beforehand and request a physical boarding pass at the airport. If we have not done it previously, we will have to pay the 55 euros that Ryanair charges for check-in at the airport. Is there some kind of advantage for the user? More or less. Until now, issuing the boarding pass cost 55 euros, whether or not we had done online check-in previously. With the change, Ryanair ensures that the issuance of the card will be free, as long as we have previously made the online check-in. Controversy. Since the measure will be announced in October 2024the voices opposed to the measure have multiplied. Facua has assured since then the measure is illegal as it is considered abusive. The organization defined the situation as follows: Mandating 100% digital boarding is “an especially burdensome clause for vulnerable groups (older people, passengers who, due to their disability or physical condition, have difficulties interacting with new technologies, etc.). These types of consumers usually need the attention and assistance of a third party to be able to carry out the procedures correctly. on-line. Likewise, in Xataka we already got in touch with the company to ask what would happen if a person wanted to print their boarding pass and access it with it, without using their mobile phone. So we didn’t know (nor did the company confirm) that they were going to remove the PDF. Now, the only way is to take a screenshot and print it. However, if someone wanted to go to this trouble, there was no solution offered for this case. Photo | Dan Barrett In Xataka | Ryanair has found a new formula to earn more per ticket: forcing you to board 100% digitally

It is a trap for privacy

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In 2022 Kenn Dahl car insurance raised him 21%. He had not had any incident with his Chevrolet Bolt, so he asked his insurance agent and he gave him a advice: look at your lexisnexis report. This company based in New York is a gigantic data broker that has a division that is responsible for Collect information about drivers and then supplies it to insurance companies. And that’s where Mr. Dahl decided Ask for your report to the company, which was obliged to give it to it due to the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Your car is cool When he received it, Mr. Dahl was amazed. That 258 -page report had more than 130 pages dedicated to each moment in which he or his wife had driven the car in the previous six months. Included details of 640 journeys with their start and end hours, the distance conducted or Even accelerons and brakes. The only thing that did not reveal was the specific places from and where it had gone. Kia Connect is a service that informs the driver of his “driver score” to (theoretically) offer custom automobile insurance. The system does not stop collecting data on your driving. As explained in The New York Times, more and more manufacturers make use of all kinds of sensors and systems that collect information about drivers, and do so without their express knowledge and, of course, without their consent. And modern cars can even have systems that “describe” the driving of who takes them, something that allows manufacturers to collect that data … and sell them. There are more users who have noticed this type of Massive collection of data in your cars. In those of General Motors the Smart Driver onstar system is used that users can deactivate, as several drivers who commented on the situation years ago In Reddit either In a forum Dedicated to “Chevy” Bolt. Other manufacturers make use of this type of systems and activate them by default, such as the Kia Connect system From the KIA aimed at obtaining a “score” that helps your car insurance to adjust to your way of driving and reward the most reliable drivers according to the data collected. In Peugeot support forums even There is talk of the “Private Mode” of driving that when activated “prevents data and/or the position of the vehicle.” But as they also point out in that information, if one deactivates it, it stops accessing functions such as connected navigation, remote control or Mirror Screen function. According to a study of 2023 of the Mozilla Foundation, 88% of the brands analyzed by them inferred additional data from the information they collected. And among those inferred data, something disturbing: they could confirm a profile of personal beliefs and even sexual activity. Not only that: in this study 19 of the companies analyzed (76%) They sold those personal data to other companies. The good thing about the Tesla is that they have cameras. The bad, too The suspicions that can emerge in this type of data collection can go even further, especially if we remember What happened to the Tesla. Between 2019 and 2022 groups of employees of Tesla They privately shared videos and images taken with the cameras of customer cars. In some of those videos, Tesla customers had been captured in pregnant situations. For example, an ex -employed from the company could see the video of a completely naked man approaching one of those cars. In others, even accidents such as a Tesla who ran over a bike child who was fired. That video, said one of the former employees in the Reuters reportspread through those internal networks “like gunpowder.” The Tesla are only One more example of that massive data collection. According to The Guardianthe sensors and cameras of the car get location data – although Tesla does not store them unless they are of an accident – habits and type of driving (speeds, brakes, accelerons), and other data. For example, diagnostic information and car use and data related to infotainment systems such as navigation history or voice commands used. It is possible despite disable the function that transfers part of that information to the Tesla servers, but in doing so we can also lose some functions of the vehicle. The European Data Protection Committee published in 2021 Their guidelines on the processing of personal data in this environment, and according to said regulations manufacturers must minimize data collection and prioritize their local treatment. In addition, control tools that allow you to exercise access, rectification and suppression rights are urged. The requirements are there, but at the moment its compliance seems as little erratic. In Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) they recently provided tips when consulting What data your car has and how to avoid That they are shared, but of course the situation could be aggravated, especially considering that the renewal of the mobile park causes that more and more users have cars with all these options … and voracity when it comes to collecting data. Image | Jonas Leupe

The radios of the battlefield are a trap for which it transmits. In China they think they found a solution

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Use radio systems for communications in a hostile environment has always involved A technical risk: Issue energy means leaving a trace. Therefore, for decades, the challenge has been to find a system that allows you to transmit information without being detected. In China they could have achieved it According to SCMPresearchers have developed a solution that breaks with the traditional model: allows you to send data without issuing active signals. There are no radio pulses, nor do you make microwave. Everything is based on reflecting what is already in the air. The system takes advantage of the presence of radar satellites – like the Gaofen-3 and Ludi Tance 1– To use their own echoes as a means of transporting information. It is not what is issued, but what is reflected The key is on an intelligent surface formed by hundreds of programmable metamaterial tiles. When a synthetic opening radar (SAR) illuminates the goal – be it a tank, a ship or an airplane – these tiles manipulate the reflected signal by changing its phase: 0 ° when it is “burning”, 180 ° when it is “turned off”. That simple alternation allows you to encode messages directly in the radar echo. It is a system that modulates what comes to it. And it does it without preventing the radar from fulfilling its function: researchers say they have managed to maintain image loyalty with a loss of less than 10 %. The platforms that use it should be able to exchange information safely, avoiding revealing its position. Smart surface formed by programmable metamaterial tiles Making this type of communication work far beyond playing with reflexes. The main challenge was to survive in saturated cities of signals, where electromagnetic noise floods everything, and in agitated seas, where constant balancing distorts the reflected signals. The team led by Liu Kaiyu says that It has designed algorithms capable of raising the signal/noise ratio up to 300 % and inertial sensors that correct the movement of the platforms in real time. Metasuperficie of information combined with a passive wireless communication system For now, everything has been tested in controlled environment: laboratory, simulations and data analysis obtained by satellite. There is no evidence that this technology is deployed on the battlefield. But Liu’s team has clear plans: try the system with real platforms and validate its resistance to signal blocking. Its road map includes combining this technology with radars of multiple ways and creating an integrated network between space, air and floor. The ultimate goal is ambitious: build a safe communications system capable of working even in Scenarios with intense electronic warfare. The details of the investigation are available In an article published in Journal of Radars. Images | Liu Kaiyu and Team | Xataka with Grok | ABODI VESAKARAN In Xataka | Iceland has a key Atlantic corridor for Russia. So the US has sent its first nuclear submarine

There is only one group that is escaping the mortal trap of the house in Spain: the heirs

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Spain is (increasingly) more A country of heirs. And so It is felt In its real estate market. If in 2007 11% of the homes that changed hands did it through inheritances, in 2024 that data already exceeded 19%. In Fotocasa Research they have dropped even more retail And they have found that 16% of the entire Spanish real estate offer feeds on homes that have gone from family members to others, an even greater percentage if we stick only to the sale market. After that figure there are opportunities … and challenges. The percentage: 16%. A few months ago Fotocasa Research technicians asked a question: what weight do inheritances in the Spanish real estate market? To get out of doubt in February they conducted a survey that yields some interesting results. First, because they help us understand the current ‘photo’ of the market, very conditioned by a lack of housing that does not cover the new work. Second, because they are completed with others similar studies of the last five years. Of all its conclusions the most revealing is that, in a market very marked by the mismatch between supply and demand, the inherited homes are almost fifth (16%) of all available properties. It is also not a timely situation. The data coincides more or less with that of the last year (15%), although it is below the 18% peak registered in full pandemic. More sales than rentals. 16% is the ‘general photo’, but hides some nuances that can only be seen when lowering in detail. The main one is that this percentage varies considerably depending on the segment we are talking about, if we refer to houses available to rent or the sale market. In the second case, that of the houses looking for a buyer, the impact is greater. “By segments, the weight of the heirs in the sale market historically doubles that they have in the rent. People who have received an inheritance home represent 23% of the offer in the purchase market, while that percentage is reduced to 11% in the rental segment,” María Matos commentsDirector of Studies and spokesman for Fotocasa. Both indicators are located a percentage point above those noted last year. A full exchange market. Matos remembers that the weight of inherited housing has been increasing year after year due to the country’s demographic drift, marked by the aging of Baby Boomers and the progressive fall of birth rate, and warns of the effects of ‘Great wealth transfer’. “We estimate that in the next decade there will be the greatest transfer of intergenerational heritage in history, which will have a structural impact on the market,” Reflect The Fotocasa spokeswoman, and adds: “However, for each inherited house that is destined for rent, the double is sold.” Why this difference? In addition to collecting data, Fotocasa He has asked Also to some heirs who leads them to sell or rent their homes. The first conclusion, at least among the former, those who choose to get rid of their legacy, is that they weigh above all “personal motifs”, the reason that alleges 34% of respondents. Another key argument is that they are not attracted to the perspective of becoming homemade. And he does not basically do it for fear of defaults. “The heirs who prefer to sell also do so to avoid problems with the payment of rent (32%), an option that has significantly increased their support in recent years, since it was 23% in 2024”, Remember the expert. When preparing its study, the platform has also met with heirs reluctant to lease their homes for fear that tenants cause damage (21%) or the “absence of tax benefits that compensate for the risks” (21%). “A natural way”. Matos remembers that during the last year these misgivings have increased their impact on the market, And warn: “In the lease is where more housing is needed, so, if an environment of greater security and trust, many of these inherited homes could be generated, could become a natural way to increase the offer in rent.” Those who do choose to lease their houses in search of a source of income and profitability. And who inherit? That is another of the questions that answer The report. According to the data collected by Fotocasa, the profile of the heir who chooses to take out his home to the real estate market (either in lease or the sale) is very defined: they are above all men (they represent 60% of the cases) of around 54 years, upper or medium-high class and that usually reside with their partner and children. By communities, Madrid stands out, the region in which the heirs reach greater weight. Second is Andalusia and in the fourth Catalonia. Is there more data? Yes. Fotocasa gives a track, but it is not the only one that shows the impact of inheritance on the Spanish real estate market. Another is contributed by the INE, which has been elaborating for years A historical record of housing transmissions that close throughout the country looking at how they are carried out; That is, if it is donations, sale, swaps, inheritances or some other formula. Your conclusion? In 2007 they changed hands in Spain around 1.2 million homes. The vast majority (775,300) did so in sale operations and 131,200 through inheritances, so that last option had an impact of 11.1% on the market. Last year the photo was already something different. Of the million transmissions noted by the INE, 642,000 corresponded to sale and 201,000 with inheritances, which raises its footprint to 19.3%. Inheritances also gain weight in a delicate moment for the real estate market, very conditioned by the great demand and the shortage of supply. The Housing and Land Observatory shows that in 2024 they were completed almost 101,000 Housing to cover that imbalance, 13% more than in 2023, but the data remains well below the house creation rhythm noted by the INE. Images | Andrés García (UNSPLASH) and Joseph Bouvier … Read more

Apple got into a macOS trap and annual versions. He has managed to focus on the details

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How to improve a product in a remarkable product year after year? Moreover, how to do it when that product has more than two decades with us and is already super mature? That is the challenge that Apple faces every year with macOS, the operating system that governs its Mac since OS X made its appearance in 2001. In this (almost) fourth century, Macos has changed, without a doubt, but The surprising thing is that he has not done so. Who took a Mac at that time would not feel too strange with another of today. It would see changes and numerous modern functions, without a doubt, but in essence the interface has been preserved for a simple reason: it works. To adapt to the new times, Apple self -imposed a rule: there would be a new version of macOS – and, later, of the rest of the operating systems – every year. It was something initially reasonable, but that rhythm has ended up making perhaps not a conviction, but something that comes to play against him. Thus, while in the first years it was logical to expect great changes in functions and benefits, things have been very different in the last editions. There was not so much to scratch, and we have not really striking surprises. Instead, Apple has been focusing on some specific areas of the operating system to try to give significant jumps in benefits. Let’s see what happened in the last three versions of macOS: MacOS 14 Sonoma (2023): the main novelties They were the widgets on the desktop, the screen funds in slow camera and new functions during videoconferences, for example. Nothing really spectacular. MacOS 15 Sequoia (2024): here They debuted The new iPhone mirroring system, a new password app and also the options to better manage windows on the desktop. Macos 26 Tahoe (2025): In addition to the redesign with Liquid Glassin the latest version the focus was in the improvements in the mirroring of the iPhone and of course the changes in spotlight and shortcuts to enhance them more than ever. It is not that none of those changes especially call attention. In fact they can become disappointing for the most demanding users. “Is this really the only thing that changes after a whole year?” They will say. It is a reasonable and logical question, but here there are several factors that explain that apparent lack of ambition. The first, that of the maturity of the operating system. With macOS we are facing a veteran and very solid system in which practically everything works as one would expect. Apple has been polishing it during all this time, and that has allowed the mechanics to be strengthened while small improvements were added here and there. The main features of Macos 26 Tahoe do not seem much after a year of work. It is probably the best that could happen to users of the operating system. This is how Macos has adapted to the new times silently, with internal changes, support of new standards and protocols and of course support of the devices that have been part of the company’s ecosystem. We have a good example here in continuity, the system that “connects” the iPhone with the MAC and that debuted, ” More than a decade ago. That maturity is also closely related to the second of those factors we referred to by talking about Apple’s apparent lack of ambition. The famous “If you work, don’t touch it” It also becomes more true than ever, and it is not necessary to reinvent wheels when (in most cases) everything works as it should. But there is also an important third factor. It is easy to make changes when you have fewer users and your operating system, platform or application has just taken your first steps. But the thing changes when Apple you have more than 1,000 million users who use your devices. A change, however small, affects the lives of all these people, and can mean millions and millions of conflicts. There is therefore that having extreme care when making these changes, and in no way can they be radical or in form – that is why Liquid Glass is not “so different” – or in function – imaginated that suddenly the keyboard shortcuts or the way of using Finder will change. Apple knows better than anyone that situation, and given the challenge of presenting a new operating system every year, its solution has probably been reasonable. What they try is not to surprise us with radical changes, but Provide small practical improvements They try to make the lives of the most comfortable users. That is why we have the aforementioned continuity (continuity), and that is why the current focus on a supervitaminated spotlight that can end up being useful for many users. Is that disappointing? Maybe. Is Apple’s best option for the obligation to renew its operating systems every year? As boring or hard to seem, no doubt. In Xataka | The decline of the “Apple culture”. Blind devotion has evolved towards critical enthusiasm

The Ribeira Sacra is becoming a lethal trap for tourist buses: there are too closed curves

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In April a bus full of retirees was heading to the cannons of Sil, one of the tourist points more striking of the Ribeira Sacra. When trying to turn in one of the curves that gives access to this location, the bus He got stuck. Not only that: its front part was on the edge of the road and exposed dangerously to the slope that led to the river. It is the third incident of this type in the last two months. Curves too closed. Last weekend another bus full of tourists was caught on the Lu P-4103 road, between Ferreira de Pantón and Santo Estevo de Ribas de Sil, in the province of Lugo. As they point out In Galicia Newsthat section is already known for its closed curves, which are not a problem for cars, but that are for buses. A misleading road. As they point out In the voice of Galiciathe road that has become a nightmare for buses cheats at the beginning. When Ferreira de Pantón leaves “it seems safe, but its final stretch, the descent to the bridge that crosses the SIL near the Santo Estevo train station, not only narrows, but earns pending and is filled with curves.” It is in the two worst, 180 degrees, in which buses can get stuck. The narrowness and slope join the problem and turn these curves into a true trap for buses. Black Points in La Ribeira Sacra. To that black point are joined by the entries to the Tourism Parador of Santo Estevo, in Nogueira de Ramuín, and to the abandoned monastery of Santa Cristina, in Sil Parada. Access to Playa de A Cova is also complicated. GPS browsers don’t help. In that incident the driver, alerted by a neighbor, was able to maneuver and turn to continue the journey by an alternative route, the N-120. The problem in many cases is that the GPS browsers used by drivers indicate that LU P-4103 is the fastest route, but do not offer notices about those paths that can be an important problem for heavy vehicles. The two possible routes: La Corta (Lu P-4103) is the one that makes us go through closed curves that can become a bus trap. Better the longest route. To go from Ferreira de Pantón to the jetty of Santo Estevo, from where the guided tours of boat to the cannons of the Sil, there are two possible routes. The browsers They show both. The fastest is that of the Lu P-4103 road, 18 km away and that is traveled on average in 28 minutes. The second, adequate for heavy vehicles as buses, is what is made along the N-120 road, with a 28 km route that is completed on average in 36 minutes. In this second case there are no closed curves that threaten buses and other heavy vehicles. And it is not easy for them to be updated. Today we depend on companies such as Google and Apple and their maps to use their browsers, but it is not easy to suggest changes in these maps to prevent such problems. Each of the three major alternatives acts as follows: WAZE: It only allows you to warn of incidents andn real time (Works, cars in the gutter, bumps, objects), but there is no way to suggest that this type of notices are added to the map permanently. Is A very voted request In your suggestion mailbox, but for now there is no update that allows you to do something like that. Google Maps: It allows to contribute With data or content errors, such as Add or correct roads, although this option is “only available in some countries and regions.” Although we can notify on cut roads, it is apparently not possible to mark that road as narrow or with curves too closed for heavy vehicles, for example. Apple Maps: In Apple’s service there is also the option of Notify incidents In real time, and also to inform with a problem And the signage, what? The neighbors themselves expressed in the voice of Galicia their opinion on a problem that has an obvious solution: signaling these roads to warn of these closed curves. As those neighbors indicated, “it is not understood that they have not yet placed warning signs on the roads.” Spokesmen of the Diputación de Lugo indicated in that newspaper that that is effectively the solution, and confirm that they will “reinforce and improve signaling” on that road to “anticipate these situations, protect both users of the road and the environment and guarantee a safer and more orderly circulation.” Image | Saxad Isz In Xataka | Painting color asphalt is the latest trend on half -world roads. And the DGT has its own plans

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