Tree

60 years ago a student wanted to study the mountains of the United States. Unknowingly felled the oldest known tree

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At a glance ‘Prometheus’ It was a twisted, rugged, whimsically shaped pine tree that stood on a Nevada mountain. Nothing to do with gigantic sequoias of Redwood National Park, also in the USA, where specimens of more than 100 meters high with bases that are around 30 m in diameter. That, of course, at first glance. Although its size was not striking and it barely stood out in the grove in which it sprouted, ‘Prometheus’ was a tree of almost 5,000 yearswhich made it one of the oldest in the world. Why do we talk about him in the past tense? Very simple: because in the 60s a student who was especially diligent with his research felled it with permission from the authorities. With you, the Pinus longaeva. Its name may not be as well known as that of the redwoods, the baobabs or the Douglas firstrees that have been fascinating humanity for centuries due to their colossal dimensions, but the bristlecone pines (Pinus longaeva) are just as amazing. Not because of its size, but because of its age. Located primarily in the higher altitude mountains of California, this species has managed to survive for several millennia. As? Its growth is very slow and they usually sprout separately from each other, which allows them to adapt to harsh habitats and withstand fires better. The key to its longevity however lies in its “architecture” and adaptations. As remember from the US National Park Service (NPS), the roots of the Pinus longaeva They only nourish the part of the tree that is directly above them. If that root dies, it only affects its section of the tree. Hence, it is not unusual to see specimens with dry bark on one side and that, however, continue to grow healthily. an old acquaintance. In Wheeler PeakNevada, stood years ago a magnificent specimen of Pinus longaeva. Its height was nothing out of this world, but it was so twisted and had such an ancient appearance that mountaineers in the area They baptized him ‘Prometheus’. Seen in perspective, the nickname is still ironic. In the classical mythology Zeus imposed a horrible punishment on the titan of that name for giving humanity the gift of fire and metallurgy. At Wheeler Peak the ‘Prometheus’ that grew rooted to the mountain ended up perishing precisely because of the efforts of a university student to understand the geology of the region. To understand it you have to go back to summer of 1964when Donald R. Currey, a graduate student studying the ice age of eastern Nevada, had an idea: To better understand the formation of glaciers, he decided to extract samples from the oldest trees that grew in the region. It wasn’t anything groundbreaking. The dendrochronologythe discipline that is responsible for studying climate patterns by analyzing tree rings, dates back to the beginning of the 20th century. In fact, the idea of ​​obtaining samples from the logs sounded so reasonable that authorities raised no objections when Currey asked for permission to study them. The great unknown. In theory, what Currey proposed was to use a drill bit to remove small samples of the trunk, a kind of cylinders from the trunk. pencil size that could later be analyzed in the laboratory. It came with the different rings and their characteristics being appreciated. When it was ‘Prometheus’ turn, something went wrong. Or so it is believed, since more than six decades later it’s still not entirely clear what exactly happened at Wheeler Peak. Some accounts claim that Currey’s drill bit broke while the geologist was trying to make his way through the dense pine wood, so he requested help from the Forest Service. To solve it, the workers opted for the most radical solution: they took out the chainsaw and cut down the tree. Other versions claim that Currey did not know how to work with such a complicated specimen or that there was simply no error and from the beginning he needed a complete cross section to study the trunk. Regardless, there are two clear details. First, that was the end of ‘Prometheus’. Second, Currey did not work as foreigners. He had permission from the Forest Service. And the surprise came. It was not necessary to cut ‘Prometheus’ in two to intuit that it was a very ancient tree. If Currey looked at this pine and others in the area it was precisely because he assumed that they were old enough to give him a broad ‘snapshot’ of the climatic events that had occurred in the region. The surprise came when he took the piece of wood to his laboratory. As ancient as I suspected ‘Prometheus’ to be, one thing is clear: Currey fell short. When he started counting growth rings, he added neither more nor less than 4,862. Given the harsh conditions in which the pine grew, which could have influenced the formation of the layers, the experts ended up concluding that its age was most likely closer to 4,900 years. That is to say, the ancient tree already appeared on the Nevada mountain when the pharaohs reigned in ancient Egypt or Hammurabi ruled in Babylon. The oldest in the world? Although environmental awareness in the 1960s was not the same as it is today, the mistake was considerable. Especially since it was the Forest Service itself that made it possible. The age of ‘Prometheus’ is in fact so astonishing that the NPS itself recognize which at the time was considered “the oldest tree ever dated.” It even surpassed the famous tree ‘Methuselah’other Pinus longaeva of California that is around 4,850 years old. Today that title is in question. Especially after a theoretically even older tree was discovered in 2012, another bristlecone from more than 5,000 years. The US authorities recognize in any case that it is “very likely” that there are other, even older, undated specimens of the same species. “The bristlecone pines of the Great Basin are notable for being the oldest non-clonal species on the … Read more

It is the key day if you do not want a tree to ruin the August eclipse

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Can you imagine preparing everything to see the solar eclipse this August 12 and that right at the moment of truth there is a tree that blocks your views? This is more common than it seems, but don’t worry: it can be prevented with a simple drill. This April 30 is the ideal time to do it. a symmetrical orbit. Due to the symmetrical orbit of our planet, the Sun describes exactly the same arc in the sky on two dates of the year with the same separation from the solstice. You could say that they are twin dates when it comes to the location of the Sun in the sky. The date symmetrical to August 12 is April 30. That’s why, from the official website of the Trio of Eclipses They recommend that this Thursday we go to the place we have chosen to see the eclipse and check that we have good visibility of the Sun. We must do it at 8:30 p.m., as that will be when the occultation occurs in August. This way, we will avoid disappointment when push comes to shove. If the place is bad. If at 8:30 p.m. there is an obstacle that makes it difficult for us to see the Sun, we have time to change the location. Just walk around the area and look for that place where you can see the Sun directly, with nothing in the way to prevent it. If you can’t that day: In case you cannot go to the chosen place on April 30, don’t worry. Two days before and after also good results are obtained. Always at the same time, of course. The bad thing is having to travel. Unfortunately, the eclipse will not be seen equally throughout Spain. It will only be observed in its entirety in a strip that goes from the north of Galicia to almost all of the Balearic Islands, passing through Asturias, Cantabria, La Rioja, the north of Castilla y León and the Valencian Community, La Rioja, and a part of the Basque Country, Navarra, Madrid, Aragon, Catalonia and Castilla la Mancha. In the rest of the country it will be a partial eclipse. For this reason, many people will travel far from their homes on August 12, in search of a luckier environment. Some music and art festivals have even been organized around this astronomical phenomenon.. In case you have decided to travel far, it will not be so easy to do a drill. There you will only have to trust that the locals have done it and can give you a hand when the time comes. More eclipses. The one on August 12 will be the first of what is known as Iberian Trio of Eclipses. And in mainland Spain we will enjoy three consecutive years with a solar eclipse. The dates will be August 12, 2026, August 2, 2027 and January 26, 2028. Those in 2026 and 2027 will be total. That of 2028, cancel. Since they will be seen in different parts of the country, almost all of us will have a more or less close point to which we can travel to see it. And, of course, there will always be a symmetrical date on which to carry out the drill. For now, let’s go step by step and start with the rehearsals on April 30. Even the first Spanish woman astronaut, Sara García Alonso, has echoed these advice. If you have the opportunity, be sure to take the test. You will avoid having to run on August 12. Image | POT In Xataka | The trio of eclipses that await Spain on the horizon: an unprecedented and historic chain between 2026 and 2028

The latest whim of millionaires is to build a luxury superyacht around a living tree

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I will not deny that they die on me even plastic plants, but there are people who have a gift with plants. Others, however, are capable of buying a 73-meter superyacht built around a treely keep him alive as he crosses the seven seas with every luxury imaginable. He Virtuosity It is the second ship of the 74 Steel series from the Italian shipyard Sanlorenzo. Its construction and design took more than four years to materialize. For the first 18 months, the owner and the Sanlorenzo team held weekly calls before design even began. It’s not that there was any doubt: it’s that when someone decides that their new ship will revolve around a living tree, details matter and a lot. The tree that wanted to be a sailor The vegetal protagonist of Virtuosity It is a Ficus Nitida, also known as Indian laurel, planted on the main deck of a luxury superyacht with a modern and elegant design. It is worth noting that the tree in question was not added when the yacht was already built, but was selected before the first structural block of the ship was assembled, and the entire yacht was built around it. So that the plant receives sunlight in its lower parts, two side skylights were installed at ground level and its trunk rises across two decks to let its leaves breathe while looking out over the sea from one of its exterior decks. The tree occupies about 16 square meters in the center of the yacht’s main salon. The tree passes through two covers “With this yacht we decided to rethink the onboard architecture from its very foundations,” explained Tommaso Vincenzi, CEO of Sanlorenzo, to Superyatchtimes. “From the integration of living nature to the transformation of technical volumes into experiential environments, each decision is based on a clear architectural vision,” he added. Details that go beyond luxury As if having a five-meter-high tree on the deck might not be enough, the Virtuosity It also hides one more peculiarity below the waterline: an aquarium so big like the sea On the lower decks we find a 35 m2 wellness area. This room is located right on the waterline of the yacht, allowing guests to observe marine life directly from their seats through a large glass surface of the hull. Without a doubt a quite sophisticated way to see fish without even having to get wet. This wellness area also includes a hammam, sauna and massage room. The master suite of Virtuosity It occupies its own deck with 40 m2 and has a bed facing forward with a dressing room and bathroom while on the main deck there is a second VIP suite and two more cabins for guests. At the owner’s request, a reflecting pool was installed in front of that suite, designed so that the water reflects the sky and sunlight, far from the concept of a conventional pool. A cinema lounge aft and a sensory shower forward complete what the manufacturer describes as a private apartment within the ship itself. By day, the stern of the Virtuosity It functions as a relaxation area with direct access to the water and water toys. At night, and also at the express request of the owner, the beach club is transformed into a nightclub with a permanently installed DJ booth. That someone included a fixed nightclub on their list of requirements for a superyacht says a lot about how this owner understands the vacation at sea. This beach club has been redesigned and is 40% larger than that of the first 74 Steel delivered in 2025. In addition, a glass-bottom pool was installed on this deck that acts as a 28-square-meter skylight to illuminate the lower deck. The triple-height main deck features an exposed wine cellar and a spiral staircase in dark lacquered aluminum, as well as an elevator. A helipad and sports deck are located at the bow of the ship. With 73 meters in length and 13.1 meters in beam (width), the Virtuosity It can accommodate up to 12 guests in 6 cabins and a crew of up to 24 people. Its propulsion system is diesel-electric, with six 700 HP Volvo D13-700 engines and 425 ekW alternators, the same technical package as the first 74 Steel, the Silver Fox. With 180,000 liters of fuel on board, it reaches a range of 6,000 nautical miles at 11 knots and a maximum speed of 15 knots. Power and luxury for the only superyacht where you can boast of having taken a nap under the shade of a tree in the middle of the ocean. In Xataka | The Emir of Dubai bought a 500 million superyacht but discovered that it had a serious problem: there was no mobile coverage inside Image | Sanlorenzo

Singapore is the hidden “heart” of the Internet and global telecommunications. It all started with a tree from there.

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We live in a connected and globalized world where (almost) everything is in the cloud and available through the internet. Although these connections seem invisible to the eye, they are not: submarine cables are responsible for of 97% of intercontinental traffic. If you take a look at the world submarine cables mapyou will see that there are areas that are true deserts and others that are tangles. One of the most congested points is precisely in Singapore. That the enclave is on the maritime route between Europe, the Middle East and East Asia partly explains why: geography is a historically compelling reason. However, the real trigger was a very curious Scottish doctor and a tree native to the Malay Peninsula. The impressive Singapore node. That Singapore is Asia’s great connectivity hub is a reality: it unites East Asia, South Asia, the Persian Gulf, the Mediterranean and Europe. But it is not only a busy area, it is among the large exchangers that keep the world connected through their interconnection density and operational resilience. Approximately 30 active cables and many others in imminent deployment converge in just 720 square kilometers of territory, according to TeleGeography. To prevent your seabed from becoming a tangle of cables, the deployment is restricted to three specific areas awarded in strict order of arrival eight landing stations. On the Equinix campus is the Singapore Internet Exchange (SGIX), a point where traffic is literally exchanged between hundreds of operators throughout Asia at a very short physical distance, which translates into ultra-low latency. In addition, its redundant capacity is such that when other critical routes fail, it is capable of absorbing traffic diversions, as happened during the Red Sea crisis in 2022. That tangle of cables is Singapore. Submarinecablemap Context: geography as state policy. Singapore’s reality as a first-rate hub is largely to blame for its strategic location: it is at the southern end of the Malaysian peninsula, where the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea meet. In the Strait of Malacca, right where it becomes the Strait of Singapore, its narrowest point is only 2.8 kilometers wide and there are areas where the depth around 25 meters. over there 80,000 ships pass through each year. Its position is key, but there is a milestone that marked everything: in 1819 the British East India Company obtained the right to establish a trading post over there. Since then, the Strait of Malacca has been a usual suspect in international trade: it is where much of the world’s oil (even more so than Hormuz, which is currently raging with the conflict between the United States, Israel and Iran). Is one of China’s doors to the world. And also the area through which any cable that connects the West with East Asia passes. Many ships, many cables and little space constitute a potential recipe for disaster, which your government conscientiously manages and continues to promote vigorously. favorable regulatory conditions to attract more wiring. The material that started submarine cables. We have made a small flashback to the 19th century with the British East India Company that we now return to. When in 1822 the Scottish surgeon William Montgomerie was in Singapore precisely at the service of the East India Company, something caught his attention: the handles of parang (a type of machete) were made of a material that looked like plastic wood. Of course, unlike wood, this material did not splinter, was resistant to impacts, molded to the workers’ hands and was immune to water. A marvel, come on. A material with properties that he had never seen in his life, so he sent a sample to London for exhibition at the Society of Arts. There were no wires in Montgomerie’s head, what he had in mind were surgical instruments. In 1845 the Society awarded him an award and engineers began to work with this prodigious substance. Illustration of the Palaquium gutta. Franz Eugen Köhler, Köhler’s Medizinal-Pflanzen – (1883) Köhler’s Medizinal-Pflanzen in naturgetreuen Abbildungen mit kurz erläuterndem. Plastic before the plastic boom. Gutta-percha is the dried sap of trees native to the Malay Archipelago such as the Palaquium gutta, a natural latex that becomes rigid when cooled and has waterproof, saltwater-resistant and electrically insulating properties. Taking into account that Bakelite did not arrive until 1907in the 19th century it was the only material with that magnificent combination of properties, ideal for insulating an electric cable at the bottom of the sea. At that time there was no fiber optics, but there was telegraph. The rapid industrialization of gutta-percha. British engineering stepped on the accelerator and by 1851 we already had the first submarine cable with gutta-percha crossing the English Channel, led by the brothers Jacob and John Watkins Brett. The “nervous system” of the British Empire It grew at dizzying speed: by 1866 it had 15,000 nautical miles and by 1900 it reached 200,000 nautical miles. Singapore was already on the wiring map thanks to London’s connection to Hong Kong through India and the Strait of Malacca, laid by the British-Indian Submarine Telegraph Company. That stretch of coast where the cable reached in 1871 is where the Meta or Google cables pass today for identical geographical reasons as they do now, a century and a half later. The environmental drama. We have already seen that in the West there was a real furor over gutta-percha, the obtaining of which had small print: unlike rubber, it was not enough to bleed the tree, it had to be cut, removed the bark and boiled. An adult tree produced between one and seven kilos. For the first attempt at a transatlantic cable, which dates back to 1858, it required an enormous amount: for 2,500 nautical miles in length (4,630 km) 300 tons were needed. Only two years after Montgomery introduced gutta-percha to the old continent, Tomas Oxley estimated that the 412 tons exported to Europe had caused the felling of 69,000 trees. He Palaquium gutta disappeared from Singapore by 1857 and much … Read more

The liquid tree arrives that does not need soil or space

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In some cities, trees have become a true luxury item: either because there is no space left (or there is no interest in allocating it for this purpose), because the ground is sealed by asphalt or concrete or because pollution prevents their development. This happens in large cities all over the planet, from India to southern Europe. India has released a solution that does not need rain and does not grow: it is a green water tank that does the work of ten trees. A liquid tree. Context. In cities there are two overwhelming realities: They concentrate around 70% of carbon dioxide emissions and almost half of the population lives in them. Some Spanish cities such as Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Seville or Murcia deserve special mention, among those with the lowest proportional tree cover on the continent and those with the most deaths due to the heat island effect, according to a study by specialists from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health. published in The Lancet. It is not so much a question of having many trees (Madrid, for example, has them), but of having proportional tree cover and here the Spanish state needs to improve, he says. this study of 744 European cities and the recommendations of the European Commission. Al fresco liquid tree. “Liquid trees” are, in a nutshell, urban photobioreactors. Inside there is a closed system with microalgae in aqueous solution to absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen as if it were a real plant. Up to this point, everything is more or less as if it were a tree, but with the advantage of not needing soil, land to plant it in, or taking root. And that the cleaning function of the liquid tree is equivalent to two 10-year-old trees or 200 square meters of grass, according to the Multidisciplinary Research Institute of the University of Belgrade, to whom they came up with the concept in 2021 following the assignment of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) to combat air pollution in the Serbian capital. The first prototype was called LIQUID 3 and was planted in Stari Grad. Why is it important. Because cities are the epicenter of the global emissions problem and if we have already seen that today a good part of the world’s population lives in cities, in 2050 it will be even worse: the UN estimates that the figure will rise to 68%. As explains Dr. Ivan Spasojevicone of the inventors of LIQUID 3, the goal is not to replace forests, but to use this system for urban areas where there is no space to plant trees. Under certain conditions of high pollution, trees suffer to survive, but according to the scientist, algae are not affected. How it works. As you can see in the image on the cover or in the video below, LIQUID 3 is a kind of aquarium with 600 liters of fresh water where there are single-celled microalgae (which we can find in any pond) continuously doing photosynthesis. The contaminated air is introduced in the form of bubbles thanks to the pumping system and a photovoltaic panel provides electricity for both the pump and the nighttime LED lighting. Furthermore, maintenance is minimal: every month and a half you have to remove the biomass generated, which serves as fertilizer (not for the liquid tree, obviously) and replace the water and minerals. They clean more than a lifelong tree. The main reason for this liquid tree compared to a traditional tree is efficiency: while parts such as the trunk, branches or roots do not photosynthesize, everything in the algae is productive. According to the UNDP Serbiathat makes them between 10 and 50 times more efficient than conventional trees. The startup Liquid Trees has quantified the CO₂ removal capacity of its liquid tree at 1.83 kg of CO₂ per kg of biomass produced. From prototype to first street trees. Liquid trees are not something new: as we have already seen, the concept dates back to 2021. However, it has not remained a mere prototype and that’s it. The technology is escalating. In 2024, the Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies and the company Lo Carbon Solutions they installed India’s first outdoor liquid tree in Kerala: a 1,000 liter tank equivalent to 10 mature trees. Almost at the same time, the DS business group and the startup Liquid Trees they planted a 1,600 liter unit equivalent to six mature trees. Yes, but. Leaving aside something obvious such as that if the electricity contribution does not come from a renewable source, the real carbon balance is worse than the figures suggest or that it is data provided by interested parties and not externally audited, a scientific review by researchers at the Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies published in the International Journal of Plant and Environment lists some limitations of the concept, among them a fairly obvious one: investment in infrastructure and maintenance is not comparable to planting lifelong trees. And that’s without talking about the environmental cost: an architectural design study from the University of Alcalá calculation that a photobioreactor façade takes more than 11 years to compensate for the CO₂ emitted during its own manufacturing. Finally, no city has yet implemented the technology at scale. What exists are prototypes and specific pilots, not deployed urban solutions. In Xataka | The Spanish invention to solve the lack of trees and reduce the heat in squares and parks around the planet. It’s cheap and immediate In Xataka | Madrid thought they had a great idea putting awnings against the heat in Puerta del Sol. It turned out so well Cover | UNDP and Sung Shin

We have found the oldest living tree in the EU. It is on Teide and almost coincided with the Roman Empire

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Spain is a tourism monster, and one of the most visited points is Teide. The territory of the volcano is imposing, and Bárbol hides on one of its slopes. As the character of ‘The Lord of the Rings‘, Treebeard, a Canary Islands cedar that was the oldest living tree in the European Union. And we say “was” because it has just been surpassed by one of its own species. One that is estimated to be 1,544 years old. Clonal or non-clonal, that is the question. Before we get into the discovery, let’s clarify an important concept when talking about the oldest living trees. There are two categories main: clonal and non-clonal. And understanding them is quite simple: A non-clonal tree is an individual, the traditional concept of a tree that grows from a seed. It is a unique individual with its root system and a main trunk. A clonal tree is one that is born from a root system. For example, some roots can give rise to a tree that grows and dies, and from those same roots, another tree is then born, being a “clone” of the original. Another Canary cedar. Found by researchers from the School of Forestry, Agronomic and Bioengineering Industry Engineering at the Duques de Soria Campus and by experts from the University Institute of Sustainable Forest Management at the University of Valladolid, the newly discovered specimen is a whopping 1,544 years old and is, like Bárbol, a Canary Islands cedar. He overcomes it by several years, since esteem that Bárbol is 1,481 years old, and fortunately for these two specimens, they are very far from tourist areas and human influence. This has allowed them to spend a millennium and a half in the same place where they were born, without worrying about the deforestation of the area caused by humans, and they have not been affected by the eruptions of the volcano. To access the new specimen, the researchers had to be assisted by local climbers to access these remote areas of the Teide National Park to be able to take the samples. This is how they found Treebeard Importance. Thus, they have been able to carry out an inventory of ancient cedars located in these areas that are difficult to access. Of the 25 specimens analyzed with the carbon 14 techniquethe existence of eight millennia has been evidenced, three of them exceeding 1,500 years. They are the witness of an ancient population of cedars that would have covered a large part of the park. The team has commented that it is one of the most important concentrations of ancient trees in the European Union and, furthermore, that “its persistence is due to the inaccessibility of the rocks in which they live.” Lucky. Its scientific value is also enormous, since it is like a historical record of the climate. Studying rings of ancient trees allows us to reconstruct the climatic history of the region, obtaining data on rainfall and drought patterns, tracing an evolution of temperatures and, in the case of Teide, identifying the frequency of volcanic events. It all depends on the “portage”. Those responsible for this discovery are the same ones who already dated to Treebeard in 2022, and it must be said that in Finland they found a juniper with a century more on its bark. Baptized as Utsjoki, in a first analysis in 2021 it was given 1,242 years, but after the discovery of Bárbol, they repeated the analysis and they found with which he was many more: 1,647 years old. But since technicalities have their importance in these things, it must be said that… everyone is right in stating that “theirs” is the longest-lived. The difference is in the arboreal habit of each subject. Both are non-clonal, but while the Finnish juniper had a bushy appearance, the canary has an arboreal appearance. And… well, it must also be said that the juniper died in 1906, so the two canaries are the longest living trees. That’s how they found Utsjoki. | Photo: UTU, Marco Carrer Legends. It is evident that there is a “competition” to find the oldest tree, but this is not a race to turn it into something touristy, as if it can happen with other finds, but rather to have new specimens that allow us to obtain a historical x-ray of the land on which they are. Apart from the specimens studied with methods such as carbon 14 belonging to this classification of non-clonal trees, we have specimens such as Old Tjikko Swedish 9,560 years old. The “trap” is that it is a clonal specimen, so the root system is almost 10,000 years old, but the trunks that appear from time to time only last a few centuries. And finally, those that belong to “folklore”, such as the yew Llangernyw in Wales which, located in the cemetery of a church, is estimated to be about 5,000 years old or the yew tree Fortingall in Scotland between 3,000 and 9,000 years old. Too wide a range. Images | Jens SteckertUVa In Xataka | Even when Spain does it well, it goes wrong: becoming the third most forested country in Europe has become a problem

Your family tree is on every street

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Madrid, like most large modern metropolises, has been expanding by annexing population centers bordering. Each of these annexed towns has its own history and, some of them, leave curiosities such as that their streets are witnesses of the family tree of the family that owns the land on which an entire district would be built that in 2023 was home to some 143,000 inhabitants. The Usera district, located south of Madrid, is known today for its multicultural atmosphere, especially for the celebration of Chinese New Year organized by the Chinese community resident in the area. However, not many people have noticed a peculiarity in the names of their streets. A surname is repeated insistently in his street map: Usera. The reason is that, paraphrasing the writer and journalist Nieves ConcostrinaUsera, before being a neighborhood, was a gentleman. We can add that, in addition, he had a lot of family. The story of a family with a zip code In Usera’s street map we can find names like Nicolás Usera, Mariano Usera, Marina Usera, Luis Usera, Amparo Usera, Gabriel Usera and Isabelita Usera, all of them, as is more than evident, pointing out that the name Usera was not born by chance. It all dates back to the end of the 19th century, when José del Río, known as “Uncle Sordillo”, a landowner from the south of Madrid, left some land north of Villaverde to his daughter, Carmen del Río Fernández. This rich heiress married Marcelo Usera in 1904, the son of a fallen bourgeois family who had not long ago returned from ill-fated Cuba. Marcelo Usera had joined military service, like so many other young people of the time, where he continued in his military career until 1924 with the rank of lieutenant colonel. At the same time, the young Usera had already proven to be skilled in management, obtaining recognition with the livestock activities on the lands that his wife had inherited. As a curious note and examples of how much Marcelo Usera was prospering with the management of his wife’s assets, the Royal Academy of History collect that Alfonso A “Salamanca neighborhood” for the people However, despite this livestock success, the lands located south of Madrid were not profitable enough to be dedicated to cultivation. Inspired by the Marquis of Salamanca and its urban project that gave rise to the stately neighborhood of Salamanca, Usera decided to dedicate those lands little given to cultivation as a starting point for a settlement for a new working-class neighborhood with houses affordable for workers. Marcelo Usera Public School, built on land donated by Marcelo Usera Usera would take advantage of the facilities offered by the so-called “Cheap Houses Law” of 1911. Under this law, the landowner obtained tax exemptions and the transformation of rural land into developable land was facilitated, thus increasing the economic benefit due to the revaluation of the land. In this way, by promoting the construction of cheaper houses, he would not incur the economic problems that the Marquis of Salamanca’s project faced. As stated the portal of Telemadridthe first colony that the rich landowner planned was called “Colonia Salud y Ahorro”, although it finally ended up being called “Colonia Moscardó”. The urban development of this first colony followed the guidelines of the workers’ colonies of the time. A main street crossed by small perpendicular streets. A street map turned into a family tree As a soldier, Usera began naming his streets with the names of illustrious soldiers, mainly belonging to the Legion that he had founded years before. Millán-Astray. However, he soon ran out of military names, so he began to draw on his own family tree and those close to him. In this way, the Usera street map thus became a small family tribute: the main artery would be Marcelo Usera Street, which with its almost two kilometers serves as the backbone for the neighborhood, with which streets such as Mariano and Nicolás Usera, Marcelo’s brothers, intersect. Corner of Amparo Usera and Nicolás Usera streets Usera dedicated a square to his wife Carmen del Río. Deserved recognition for the heiress who owned the land on which it stood the new neighborhood. Amparo Usera, goddaughter of Carmen and Marcelo, has a street symbolically located parallel to that of her rich godfather and bordering her godmother’s square. As the content creator highlights selpide in the profile on TikTok from Madrid Secreto, Marcelo was not satisfied with honoring first-degree relatives. Numerous nephews of the landowner and urban planner such as Antonia, Gabriel, Luis, Marina or Isabelita Usera are also now street names. Even Marcelo’s maternal grandmother, Isidra Jiménez, and his sister-in-law, Marina Vega, appear in Usera’s street map. Once the names of the Usera clan had been exhausted, the honors began to be extended to friends of the family, such as Carmen Bruguera, José Anespere and Pablo Ortiz, and even to employees, such as Felipe Díaz who, according to what was published by Infouserawas the administrator who designed the layout of the streets and whose house is preserved there. His daughter, Perpetua Díaz, also has a street in the neighborhood. In addition to honoring his family and friends with street names as if they were little cards, Marcelo Usera also wanted to honor those who were directly involved in the success of the urban project. Among those names, Gumersinda Rosillo and Jesús Montoya stand out, two of the first inhabitants of the new neighborhood. In your videoSélpide also highlighted the name of Máximo Carazo, Usera’s first pharmacist, who provided clean water from his well to the inhabitants of the new neighborhood. Since its urbanization, this corner of the south of Madrid has been characterized by peculiarity of their street namess, who remember on every corner that being born into the right family can make a name continue to be remembered decades later, even if its only merit is having the right surname in the right neighborhood. In Xataka | The 25 richest families in the world, displayed in … Read more

They are the tree of golden eggs

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A question: What unites Venus, Steve Jobs’ 78-meter-long superyacht, and a remote forestry farm in León? There were many ways to start this article, but I couldn’t resist doing it because of the most unexpected fact: what unites those two things is the poplar. The story is known: before he died, Jobs designed a spectacular boat that he couldn’t have ready before he died. Well, the wood for the kitchen of that luxurious floating mansion came from León. And this, although it does not explain why Spain is being filled with poplars, does give an idea of ​​why. The poplar boom. In Europe the hectares of poplar have grown at 2% annually during the last few years. But Spain is not Europe as far as poplar fields are concerned. With its epicenter in the province of León, the country has some 81,000 hectares of poplar dedicated to production. And it has been that way for a long time. That is, there have been no substantial changes in the cultivated land. However, genetic improvement and more efficient cultivation practices have meant that production has continued to grow. In that sense, the poplar seemed a calm, safe and powerful sector. But things have changed… for the better. The high industrial demand for its wood (and the environmental benefits associated with its cultivation) have revived interest in this tree. Like the forestry engineer Flor Álvarez Taboada explained in the Voice of Galicia“poplar is paid twice as much as pine and three times more than eucalyptus.” That sums it up. And what is the problem? It is not the profitability of the farms (which, as we see, is skyrocketing), but the capacity of the Spanish forest to produce wood on the scale that the industry needs. Alvarez made it clear that “a plantation where there are only about fifty poplar trees is not viable for companies that work with this wood”, that plantations of “at least two or three hectares in size” are needed. The country needs to “create homeowner associations that coordinate and plant poplar trees simultaneously on their land.” That is to say, it is not just a job for ‘lone wolves’; If we want Spain to take advantage of the populculture boom, a structured effort is needed that integrates the industry, administrations and farmers. Against the eucalyptus. This is perhaps its greatest asset. We have been listening for years years speak ill of eucalyptus. It is usually unjustified fame, but it opens up a whole world of possibilities. And the poplar is one of them. Because due to its rapid growth, the high profitability of its quality wood, its adaptability to riverine terrain and its important environmental (and social) value, it is an excellent forestry alternative. So the question is twofold: will Spain manage to enter the table of the majors in the timber industry? Are we prepared to see the landscape change — again –? Image | Garnica In Xataka | Converting Portugal to eucalyptus monoculture was a disaster. And the latest fires only remind us of this.

from destroying its tree masses to being the third most forested country in Europe

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After decades of neglect, mismanagement and population exodus, Spain is today a European forestry power. In light of the data, reforestation efforts have borne fruit. However, not everything is good news: the Spanish forestry ‘miracle’ is accompanied by risks and problems that are very difficult to manage. Spain, forestry potential? Indeed. Spain has been climbing the European podium of forest area until reaching third position. According to Eurostat dataonly Sweden (28Mha) and Finland (22Mha) surpass Spain, which with its 19 million hectares is in record numbers. And in reality, we only count a small part of the forest area. In technical terms, not everything “forest” is “forest” and this is especially noticeable in Spain because, if we count the forest area Finland is surpassed and second place on the continent is reached. No wonder: between 50 and 56% of the country is considered forest area. Why is it important? Spain lost forest mass in a continuous and worrying manner from the beginning of the 19th century to the mid-20th century. The trend was so pressing that it began to be a problem: together with France and Germany, Spain concentrates a good part of Europe’s timber industry and overexploitation put the future of a good part of the country at risk. Luckily, the reforestation policies (and the rural depopulation that led a withdrawal of activity human productive) have caused this trend to reverse. It is not easy, almost two thirds of the forests are private and without active management; but as I say, during these decades the natural ‘movement’ of the Spanish forest was towards self-reforestation. That means that we are not always talking about “diverse mature forest” and ecologically sustainable. But, still, it is good news. Not all the mountain is oregano. Because, to begin with, poorly cared for forests, subjected to water stress, pests and indiscriminate logging, are sick forests. The evidence is clear: Europe’s forests have long they are losing the capacity to absorb carbon. Furthermore, since they are not well, everything becomes problems. Thus, what at another time would have been excellent news (a very rainy spring) become a ticking time bomb. Not for nothing, 2025 has been worst fire season. On the other hand, when we talk about forestry (with things like eucalyptus monoculture) what we find is that afforestation and increasing density can affect aquifers and finish giving the finishing touch to biodiversity. The big step we have to take. Little by little, humanity begins to realize that it is inevitable that it begins to take direct management of the entire ecosystem. And yes, it is something expensive, costly, and it cannot be stopped when there are economic problems. It is a very long-term project that, honestly, in a very polarized and in full energy transitionno administration can ensure 100%. However, it is a necessary project. That is, something that will mark our future in the medium term. And we’re not just talking about forests. Image | Mitchell Orr | Manuel Lopez In Xataka | The drought is so extreme that Catalonia has made a radical decision for its ecosystems: reduce rivers to a minimum

House prices are so sky-high that a millionaire built a tree house and spent a fortune on it

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High housing prices have caused buy a house has become little less than a utopia for many people, especially the youngest. Todd Graves, a Louisiana millionaire who founded the fried chicken restaurant chain Raising Cane’sdecided to do something different and quite crazy: build a house on the top of a giant tree in the garden of his mansion in Baton Rouge. It is not a toy house, but a real house, with everything you expect to find in a conventional house, but looking at the entire landscape from above. A house, on a house, near another house The millionaire did not decide to build his peculiar house in the heights due to lack of space for his family. In fact, the Graves have built the house on a more than 30-meter live oak tree that is in the garden of their enormous mansion, and right next to the 465-square-meter guest house. As the businessman confessed in a recent interview with Forbesdecided to build a house 20 meters high in 2015, after seeing one of the television shows Treehouse Masters. In the show, a group of professionals are dedicated to build tree houses. However, Graves wasn’t interested in just any house: He asked the team to build a real house with three floors, a terrace, a dining room, a bedroom and even a bathroom with running water. For anyone who doesn’t have a checking account with millions of dollars in it, this sounds strange:why spend so much on something like that When can you have everything on dry land? Graves assures that he uses it to disconnect and have fun, which is like going back to childhood, but as an adult. “It’s fun to have magical things,” he said. A house to move into…if you can afford it The Graves tree house has a first level with a terrace of about 42 square meters to enjoy the outdoors equipped with a slide and another 37 square meters in a living room on the first floor, with everything what a house needs to be comfortable, including a bar counter and a bathroom with running water inside. In addition, for its construction they used wood from an old sewing factory and stained glass that they rescued after the Hurricane Katrina that devastated the area, which gives it a special touch and full of history. On the upper floor, a room invites you to relax and rest, with views that are beginning to be unsuitable for those with vertigo. However, the final climax puts it a viewpoint at the highest part of the construction from which you can see the entire landscape that surrounds the mansion from a height of 25 meters. In addition, it has a suspension bridge almost 21 meters long that connects with another viewpoint overlooking a nearby lake. The millionaire’s whim is truly spectacular, but to the same extent as its cost. Build all this infrastructure It cost $400,000 in 2015a sum that for a normal person is a fortune, but for Todd it represents only 0.002% of his immense fortune, estimated at more than 22 billion dollars, according to data of Forbes. A meeting point for celebrities Graves’ treehouse is not only a treat for his children and their friends to play in, but Graves uses it as a refuge to clear your mind and “improve your performance at Raising Cane’s.” For him, it is a space that combines fun, childhood nostalgia and creativity, even if it is an unnecessary luxury in the eyes of many. The peculiar construction has become a meeting point for some famous friends of the businessman. Rappers like Snoop Dogg and Nelly, and athletes like Shaquille O’Neal and NFL star Ja’Marr Chase have stopped by after appearing on the show.Treehouse Masters’. In fact, Shaquille O’neal liked the Graves treehouse so much that he commissioned a similar one for his home in Georgia from the same builders. On that occasion, the lack of a tree the size of the 100-foot Graves oak made the house a little more contained in terms of dimensions and height. The height already Shaq brings it as standard. In Xataka | A businessman built a mega mansion without permission: the neighbors have gotten the city council to demolish it Image | Raising Cane’s, Animal Planet

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