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In 2019 we discovered fungi that metabolize gold. There are already those who want to turn them into the key to space mining

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The story started more than five years ago in Boddington, south of the Australian city of Perth. Over there, among killer animals and gold mines, a team of researchers from the Australian CSIRO discovered something really strange: that certain strains of the fungus Fusarium oxysporum Not only could they extract gold from their surroundings and integrate it into their structure, but by doing so they managed to spread faster than the rest. It seemed like a curiosity, but in recent years the situation has begun to change. But wait, why is this something so “weird”? Good question. After all, we know for a fact that fungi “play an essential role in the degradation and recycling of all types of organic material (like leaves or bark), but also in the cycle of certain metals such as aluminum, iron, manganese and calcium.” Why would it be different with gold? Because, as Tsing Bohu, researcher in charge of the project, explained, “gold is so inactive (chemically speaking) that these types of interactions are unusual and surprising, I had to see it to believe it.” And he saw it. In fact, it published in Nature Communications. It was the first solid evidence that fungi could play a relevant role in the gold cycle in the Earth’s crust. The “mushroom” of the golden eggs. The mining industry quickly turned its attention to the investigation. Especially right there in Australia. The island continent is the world’s third largest gold producer, but the consensus among analysts was that without new deposits production was going to fall (a lot) in a short time. The direct consequence is that this has made marginal deposits profitable. Initially, the industry thought that the CSIRO investigation could be used to locate these new deposits. As we explained years agoIn Australia it is relatively common to prospect in forests of the aucalyptus family or near termite areas because they have a close relationship with the precious metal. Why not test the soil for those strains of Fusarium oxysporum? But there is one more possibility. As Eduardo Bazo explained to Eugenio Fernández in a very interesting interviewin recent years companies have appeared that work in what we could call “metabolic mining“That is, using organisms to extract gold. “And why do they want that?”, you might ask. “Isn’t it easier to identify where the gold is and extract it with industrial methods?” Yes, here on Earth, yes. But these companies have their sights set a little further: on space mining. For years we have talked about the existence of huge mineral deposits in the Solar System and, during almost the same period, we have fantasized about being able to exploit them. The problem is that, beyond current technological limitationss, to the danger of normal mining, is added the fact that we are talking about processing metal in space. But what if we use ‘metabolic mining’? The idea of ​​sending modified strains of these fungi (or other types of microorganisms) that They will process the mineral for useverything would become simpler. I don’t know if it’s more viable, but it is simpler. It is much less rare than it seems (we use this type of approach to countless products we use regularly), however taking it to the world of mining seems a little more complex for pure efficiency. However, that is ‘now’. Because there are already experiments in this sense generating platinum in microgravity conditions and ‘metabolic’ copper is moving a lot of money. What’s more, while I write (and while the era of cheap materials is over) several research groups They are growing all kinds of microorganisms with the idea of ​​being able to grow gold sooner rather than later. They are getting it. Image | Dominic Vanyi | Jaap Straydo In Xataka | The next richest person in the world will come from space: the future millionaire of space mining

“If it’s hot, turn it off and wait for it to cool. You can get serious burns.”

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Heat. It’s hot. It’s really hot. And our car notices it. Because when the temperature rises, we go to the beach, the town or the mountains and we load the car, our car notices it. First because we demand more from him than we ask of him the rest of the year. Secondly, because adverse weather conditions must be added to these demands, with very extreme temperatures. The combo is perfect for turning our car into a small oven that heats up and heats up until it reaches, metaphorically, boiling. And when that happens, a red light comes on on the instrument panel and it is best that we get out of the car. In that case, these are the precautions to take. The best, prevent “With the arrival of heat, various components of the car can suffer if they are not checked in time. The engine requires special attention, since high temperatures can cause it to overheat if the cooling system is not in good condition,” explains Francisco Javier Fuentes, mechanic and trainer at Midas. Sources point out that with the arrival of high temperatures, it is common for them to suffer brakes, battery and tires But he is clear that the main reason for breakdown is engine overheating and that to achieve this, the most important thing is to check the components carefully before leaving: “it is key to check the coolant level.” And with the increase in temperatures, having coolant in poor condition or a small undetected leak can trigger almost certain overheating of our engine. The signs, he explains, are clear: “If we observe that the engine temperature increases abnormally, a fault warning light appears, we hear strange noises or notice irregular behavior, we must stop in a safe place and evaluate the situation.” But here lies an important part of how we should act. If we are on a road open to traffic and we have had to stop on the shoulder, the DGT is clear: reflective vest, beacon and we just have to get out of the car If there is a safe and remote place. Otherwise we will have to fasten our seat belts and wait inside for assistance. If, on the other hand, we have been able to stop at a gas station, Midas believes that our best ally is patience and, without rushing, seeing what can be done: “In case of overheating, I never recommend opening the coolant tank while the engine is hot, as there is a risk of serious burns. The best thing to do is to turn off the engine, wait for it to cool and request assistance if necessary.” And it must be taken into account that the coolant works because the water in the car works at a very high temperature (above 100 degrees), especially if the car has overheated due to a breakdown. Opening the tank when it is hot to check its level can cause it to evaporate quickly and cause serious burns. Juan José Ebenezer, mechanical expert and content creator, explains in one of his videos how the system works. It points out that the coolant tank acts in a similar way to that of a pressure cooker. To prevent water from evaporating when it exceeds the 100 degreespressure is applied and if there is excess, the car itself decompresses downwards in a controlled manner. When the driver removes the tank cap, it decompresses, the water begins to boil because it is at more than 100 degrees and it is very likely that it will be expelled upwards, releasing a pressurized jet of water that can cause serious injuries. Photo | Jamie Street and windy In Xataka | The problem is not that the car’s air conditioning breaks down more in summer. The problem is that we don’t look at it the rest of the year.

This is Gotion’s plan to turn Valladolid into the battery hub in Europe

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The Ministry of Industry and Tourism gave the green light a few days ago to the million-dollar aid that will allow the Chinese company Gotion High-Tech to build its first battery “gigafactory” outside of Asia in Valladolid. The resolution of the State Society for Industrial Promotion and Business Development (Sepides) confirmed a subsidy of 138 million euros for a project that mobilizes nearly 950 million and that aspires to turn the city into a reference center for the electric vehicle industry. What has happened? The aid is part of the fifth PERTE of the Electric and Connected Vehicle (PERTE VEC V) and gives definitive shape to a preliminary concession that was advanced last May. The idea is that the money will be distributed between two different plants: one dedicated to the recycling of batteries and recovery of critical materials (known as “black mass”), which will receive 82.3 million euros, and another destined to the manufacture of cathodes, which will receive 55.9 million. So confirmed it the Minister of Industry himself, Jordi Hereu. Components. The cathode is one of the parts that adds the most value to batteries. Around 60%, according to has explained the Ministry of Transport itself, and until now no factory in the European Union produced it. Setting up this plant in Valladolid means that Europe can stop depending exclusively on Asia for one of the most expensive and strategic components of the electric car (stop depending, halfway, since Gotion is still a Chinese manufacturer). It was not about “making batteries, which are already done in many places”, but about “opening a new path”, counted the Minister of Transportation, Óscar Puente, during the presentation of the project. How much money is at stake. The Ministry, through Sepides, estimates the budgets of the two plants at 411.5 and 539.1 million euros. The 138 million in public aid represent around 15% of the total investment in this first phase. Who is behind the project. Gotion High-Tech is a Chinese giant that covers the entire battery industrial chain, from the extraction and transformation of raw materials to final recycling, and that already maintains commercial relations with Volkswagen and its own factories in Germany and Slovakia. The facility in Valladolid will receive raw materials from Morocco and, according to has explained The company will also serve as a platform to export to Latin America. The project comes after the Slovak company Inobat, which at the time also obtained public aid to settle in Valladolid, gave up its plan without presenting the necessary guarantees. Employment. According to the data provided by Gotion itself, the construction of the two plants will provide work about 2,500 peoplewhile the operation of the factories, once up and running, will employ around 1,000 workers directly. Works. The project plans to begin building the first phase, the recycling plant, throughout 2027. The facilities will occupy some 700,000 hectares of industrial land, although Gotion’s own project is conditional on the construction of a macro solar plant that guarantees the energy self-sufficiency of the factories, which will require up to a thousand additional hectares of land. To build the factory they will also be required to modify the General Urban Planning Plan of Valladolid, a procedure that, according to picks up El Economistais expected to receive provisional approval on July 27, although the final decision corresponds to the Junta de Castilla y León. Administrations. The Valladolid City Council, governed by PP and Vox, has already signed a letter of intent to transfer the land that the company needs, with an initial surface of 70 hectares that can be expanded to 120 if the project grows, as shared by El Confidencial. The current mayor, Jesús Julio Carnero, assured maintain “permanent contact” with Chinese managers and has committed to facilitating the corresponding procedures. Impulse. Óscar Puente, mayor of Valladolid between 2015 and 2023 and today Minister of Transport, has been the one who has pushed this operation the most since he traveled to Slovakia in 2023 to negotiate with Inobat the first attempt to install a battery factory in the city. Puente has claimed on several occasions the strategic position of Valladolid, with its own airport, high-speed connection one hour from Madrid, proximity to Portugal and a consolidated industrial hub next to Palencia and Burgos. The minister has qualified the operation as the largest industrial investment in the city since the arrival of the Renault factory in 1953. And now what. Industry’s resolution clears up one of the main administrative obstacles, but there are still pending steps, including the presentation of guarantees, the definitive urban planning approval by the Government of Castilla y León and the start of works in 2027. In addition, Gotion proposes this first phase as the start of a much more ambitious plan, which could reach 5,000 million euros of total investment and adding up to eight plants in Valladolid, according to the company itself. Cover image | Ministry of Transport and DAZE In Xataka | From selling safes to manufacturing armored vehicles for NATO: this is how this company operates in a small town in Ciudad Real

18 years ago he went viral for his famous “I’ve messed it up.” Now Antena 3 has paid him 50,000 euros to turn it into a meme

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Spain repeated the phrase “I have messed it up” with an unmistakable Madrid accent for almost two decades, being very clear about the origin (a young lifeguard whose intervention in the Antena 3 news program had gone viral on the Internet), but perhaps without knowing the true scope of the joke. The Provincial Court of Madrid has just set the effects of one of our most famous memes at 50,000 euros. The sentence. The Provincial Court of Madrid sentenced on May 5 Atresmedia to compensate the woman who starred in the video for “La he liado parda” with 50,000 euros. The court raised the amount set in the first instance, which had been 40,000 euros, and rejected the appeal presented by the audiovisual group. The resolution also orders the removal of the recordings from all Atresmedia platforms and prohibits their reuse in similar circumstances. What happened. The origin of the video is in the summer of 2008: an Antena 3 interview with a young lifeguard after an incident with chemicals in a swimming pool in San Sebastián de los Reyes, where she utters the phrase that would become a classic of Spanish humor. The original interview, protected by the right to information, is outside the sentence. What the sentence punishes is subsequent reuse: The condemnation also extends to La Sexta, Onda Cero and Europa FM, stations from the same group that continued to exploit the recording for years in comedy programs and compilations. The demand. The woman filed the lawsuit in 2021, after verifying that her voice and image continued to circulate without her permission. more than a decade later from that afternoon at the pool. There is an episode that gives an idea of ​​the scope and consequences of the video: years after the recording, some police officers, upon identifying her, came to comment among themselves “we are here with the one who has gotten into trouble.” It is just an anecdote that allows us to guess the pernicious reach of a video that went viral without the woman’s permission: it took her several years to return to work, it was an ordeal for her to see her image on television, she found herself wearing t-shirts with her face on it and she even had problems developing her profession almost a decade later, due to anxiety attacks, hospitalizations and medical leave. Who pays for the meme. The ruling does not hold Atresmedia responsible for the original viralization of the video, which attributed to the dynamics of the internet and social networks. The damage is “serious” in moral terms, although it is not entirely attributable to the chain. What he does attribute to him is the decision to continue broadcasting that material for years in his own programs, with massive audiences, when there was no longer any informative justification. Atresmedia is not planned appeal the sentence to the Supreme Court Other victims of memetics. The case of the Madrid lifeguard is, of course, not the first. The Star Wars Kid dates back to 2002, and his fame began when, at the age of 14, he recorded himself imitating a Star Wars lightsaber combat. A colleague found the tape, uploaded it to the Internet and the video became one of the first big virals on the internet. As a result, the boy suffered bullying, had to change schools and received psychiatric treatment. His family sued the colleagues responsible, claiming around $250,000 and reached an out-of-court settlement in 2006. Years later, he explained that a crime would have given him more legal protection than a viral video without his consent, since juvenile laws did not contemplate that scenario at that time, which was not yet known as cyber bullying. Victims in Spain. In Spain, the perhaps best-known case is that of Álvaro Muñoz, the 12-year-old boy who burst into unexpected racist comments when talking about tranquility is what is sought in the summer pools. He suffered his corresponding share of bullying and harassment when his address was made public, he received 17 complaints of racism and spent five years going to juvenile court. Recently has announced that he had regretted the comments and was entering a seminar, closing this circle of Celtiberia Memes. Luckily not all the protagonists of youth memes in Spain are broken toys: Miquel Montoro, the boy from “Host, piles”has become influencer of the rural world with social media accounts that exceed 400,000 subscribers. And José Gómez, who uttered the glorious phrase “You can’t live off petanque” has ended up becoming world champion of the discipline. The meme as a meat grinding machine. Researcher Limor Shifman defines memes, in her book ‘Memes in Digital Culture’as units of digital content created, imitated and transformed with the awareness of belonging to the same shared pattern. This is what explains why “La he liado parda” survived for so long: it stopped being the testimony of a specific person and became a reusable piece, without the need to reference the original event. The ruling recognizes, in some way, this mechanism: the magistrates distinguish between the legitimate informative use of the interview and its subsequent reuse for entertainment purposes, which they consider an interference in the right to one’s own image. Journalist Jon Ronson describe Similar processes occur when digital lynchings take place: the target loses its personal context and begins to function as a symbol of the transgression it represents, almost as if it were a company that has been involved in a public relations disaster and not a person with a life behind it. In this case, that symbol was not just constructed by anonymous users: the network itself that recorded the original interview fueled its circulation for more than a decade. In Xataka | When a town found a dead whale on its beaches, it decided to dynamite it. 55 years later they still celebrate it

The big question in the middle of this terrible heat is whether we leave the air conditioning on or turn it off and turn it on again.

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In Spain, there are about 7.3 million homes with air conditioning and most of them don’t know what kind of voracious and carefree critter they have on their hands. They sense it, of course; They have heard rumors, it is true. But only when summer comes and it is eaten around 30% of the electricity bill It is when they understand the reality behind the ‘fresquito’. That’s when the moral debates also begin. And just when he is going to leave through the door, our protagonist takes control of the air conditioning, directs it towards the split and asks himself… should I turn it off or not? Is it better to turn it off even if when you return the house has become an oven and you have to cool it down again? Or is it true that turning on the device is so expensive that it is better to leave it running all the time? This is the story of how an old piece of advice has become so embedded in people’s consciousness that it continues to operate even though HVAC technology has changed. It is an answer, also, to one of the big questions of the summer. From “don’t turn it off” to inverter… As I say, air conditioners have changed a lot. Old compressors had very high consumption peaks and this is the origin of the idea that turning it off is expensive. But current investors They work in a different way and their speed is modulated so that the starts are smooth. However, this is more of a technical issue. The most important reason to turn off the air is another. Inside and outside. What really rules in all this is the heat outside the house, the heat inside and the insulation that separates it. The first two factors are important because heat enters the house at a rate proportional to that difference. That means, roughly speaking, that if the house is warm, the heat enters more slowly. In this sense, if we are going to go out for a few hours, it is best to turn off the air (or raise the thermostat a lot). He US Department of Energy He says it bluntly: the starting peak lasts seconds and you also have to pay for the machine hours. Is it a good idea to turn it on and off while we are inside? As the OCU recognized, An inverter should be left to regulate only while you are at home. (without constantly turning it on and off by hand) and turning it off “when leaving the room permanently.” In any case, the question that can save us is not so much whether we turn it off or not as how many degrees and how many hours we have it on. The world of air conditioning is full of myths: from those who think that setting the thermostat lower will cool the room faster to those who confuse the legal minimum for public spaces (27 degrees) with what experts recommend (about 24). The last thing to keep in mind is humidity… cooling may have become relatively trivial thanks to inverter technologybut dehumidifying is not so much. So in very humid climates it pays more not to turn off the air because recovering a comfortable environment costs more. But do we turn off or not? It depends on the situation. For a short getaway like picking up bread or running a quick errand, we can leave the air on. The difference is almost non-existent. If we are going to be away for a long time, it is better to turn it off or, at the very least, raise the thermostat. Image | Kien Nguyen In Xataka | Air conditioning in summer has a double standard of measurement: it cools us but gives us torticollis

The US did not turn off Claude Mythos for fear of a jailbreak, it did so because it suspected someone was watching. That someone is China

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Last Saturday, the White House ordered Anthropic to remove access to Fable 5 and Mythos to any foreign person, regardless of whether they were inside or outside the United States. This order supposedly came after a tip that there was a way to jailbreak the model and bypass safeguards, but according to Wired it came at a time when Washington was already uneasy for another reason. South Korea. They tell it in Wired. According to sources close to the government, the notice of the possible jailbreak came at a time when the US government had already raised its eyebrows over another issue. It turns out that one of the large companies that had access to Mythosthe original model without the safeguards, was SK Telecom, the largest telephone operator in South Korea. The concern, according to these sources, arises from the alleged ties of this operator with China. The logic would have been something like: if SK Telecom has access, China has access. Furthermore, they have told us that there are vulnerabilities. Let them turn it off now. Why is it important. Until now it was believed that the reason behind the decision was the warning about a possible jailbreak in Fable, which was the “trimmed” version of Mythos that was released to the public. It was Amazon’s own CEO, Andy Jassy, ​​who called the treasury secretary to warn him that they had found vulnerabilities in Fable. In this version of the story, the government’s concern was that anyone would bypass Fable’s safeguards and use it for evil. However, with this new information things change: it is no longer just any person, but China, its great enemy in the technological war, which could be looking into the guts of Mythos. They already had them in their sights. As we said, SK Telecom was one of the 150 companies chosen to test Mythos within the framework of what is known as Project Glasswing. According to internal sources consulted by Wired, the US government requested that Anthropic revoke their access earlier this month, to which Anthropic agreed. It seemed like the thing was going to stay there, but when Fable was released to the public and learned that it had a vulnerability, the White House reacted. SK Telecom, Anthropic and China. The relationship between Anthropic and SK Telecom dates back to 2023, when They invested 100 million dollars in the AI ​​startup for the development of AI models focused on telecommunications. Currently, SK Telecom barely has a presence in China (They only have seven employees and their billing is testimonial), but in the past they had a very close relationship with China Unicom, creating a joint venture and investing up to $1 billion in the Chinese operator. Although already They sold their shares in 2009SK Telecom is part of the SK Group conglomerate, which has other businesses beyond telecommunications, such as semiconductors and energy, these with alliances in China. SK Telecom has denied maintaining ties with China. Previous tensions. All this happens at a time when the relationship between the US government and Anthropic is not going through its best moment. In March of this year they starred in a whole soap opera Anthropic’s refusal to allow military use of its models without safeguards. They ended up on what is known as the black list.Anthropic took the US to court and now we have a new season of the soap opera with the whole Mythos thing. Image | Xataka with Magnific In Xataka | China has two ideas to win the AI ​​race: invest a fortune and leave NVIDIA with almost no margin

we tend to turn left and we have no idea why

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It’s a matter of a moment. You’re walking down the sidewalk, thinking about your things, maybe you look at your phone, and suddenly there’s something in front of you. It doesn’t matter if it’s a bollard, a person, a kiosk or a baby stroller. You have to avoid it, you have to do it now. Now. And, probably, you are going to the left. And it seems that you decided it, but that decision was already made long before that walk down the street. A few days ago, a research team led by the University of Navarra has shown that, when wandering freely, pedestrians tend to turn counterclockwise and that this tendency is robust, cross-cultural, and of individual origin (not a pattern that emerges from group interaction). Turn left. The team demonstrated that the tendency to turn left occurred in 32 of the 33 experiments they carried out. The only exception was in a study in Japan where the result was 50 to 50. According to the authorsbias appears “almost immediately” in around 80% of people; when tested walking alone, 75% still deviate to the left. Furthermore, it is something individual: it does not matter whether the person walks alone or in the middle of a crowd. The bias appears exactly the same. And this is what’s interesting because, basically, it turns upside down what we think we know about “pedestrian dynamics.” And why is this happening? That’s the big question. Researchers rule out many things. It is not a product of manual laterality (being right or left-handed), foot laterality or ocular dominance. There are also no differences between sexes or between cultures. It doesn’t matter what the venue is like (whether it’s an open-air esplanade or a tiny patio full of walls), it doesn’t matter what avoidance maneuvers pedestrians use and, of course, it doesn’t matter what social norms they learn. Furthermore, if we ask pedestrians where they think they should move, most of them they say the opposite of what they end up doing. What researchers do not do is propose a closed mechanism to explain it. In other words, we don’t know. And what is it for? The most important implications for the design of spaces. As the authors explainairports, stations, museums, shopping centers or squares could be designed in favor of the counterclockwise bias. Obviously, not everyone always turns left. What the authors are saying is that, statistically, the probability of turning to the right is lower. The logic is simple: if we take that into account, the dynamics of public spaces can be more fluid. We already know that in evacuations or highly regulated environments, other mechanisms can override counterclockwise bias. But the idea is not that, it is to use the bias in favor. Image | Timon Studler In Xataka | There’s a reason why working out for an hour a day at the gym doesn’t give you results. And that reason is evolution

China has a quantum platform for computing. Now he wants to turn it into an “attack and defense” system.

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For years we have talked about quantum computing as holding the promise of calculation: machines capable of tackling problems that conventional computers cannot solve, or cannot solve at a useful speed. But that same promise also opens a security front that is difficult to ignore. If sufficiently powerful quantum computers ever exist, part of the encryption that sustains our digital lives could be left in a delicate position. That is why the case of Origin Wukong is interesting: the story coming from China not only seeks to show the ability to calculate, it also wants to present it as a piece of cryptographic defense. What is Origin Wukong. The name may lead one to imagine a specific machine, but the case is something more similar to a remotely available quantum computing platform. According to Global TimesOrigin Wukong is part of a Chinese series of superconducting quantum computers and is linked to the Origin Quantum environment and the quantum research carried out in Anhui, in eastern China. The data that gives it dimension is not only technical: the statement collected by the media speaks of more than 1 million quantum computing tasks completed, more than 49 million remote visits from 192 countries and regions. The new defensive layer. The novelty is not only in the use that Origin Wukong has accumulated, but in how that infrastructure is now presented. The media claims that the platform has integrated a post-quantum cryptography framework and that this allows it to offer a double capacity, aimed at both computing and security. The text itself speaks of “defensive security measures”, an early “spear and shield” model and an “attack and defense” system. What post-quantum cryptography means. We are not talking about an automatic solution or a technology that makes any system invulnerable. According to NISTpost-quantum cryptography is based on encryption methods supported by mathematical problems that are difficult to solve both for conventional computers and for future quantum computers. The nuance matters because the risk is not in current everyday equipment, but in a generation of quantum processors much more powerful than those available today. That is the logic that allows us to understand why Origin Wukong is now also presented in a defensive key. Why does it matter anymore?. The problem does not only affect military documents or state secrets. NIST reminds us that encryption protects everything from emails and medical records to banking, e-commerce, personal photos and sensitive information of governments and companies. In addition, there is a particularly uncomfortable threat: that of capturing encrypted data today to try to decrypt it in the future, when more capable quantum machines exist. That is why the transition cannot be left to the last minute: integrating new algorithms into products and services can take between 10 and 20 years. Technical caution. All this does not mean that quantum computing has already solved its major obstacles. NIST reminds that the field is still in an early phase and that there are still significant challenges before building quantum computers powerful enough to break current encryption. IBM also highlights one of the best-known barriers: qubits are delicate, require extreme cooling conditions and can lose stability due to decoherence. Images | Anhui Quantum Computing Research Center In Xataka | Microsoft believed it would take decades to have a useful quantum computer. Majorana 2 just pushed that deadline to 2029

turn the retiree into a millionaire industry

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In Japan there is a curious business tradition: some companies they continue hiring retirees so that they continue working after officially retiring. They do so because labor shortages and an aging population have turned the elderly into a resource increasingly valuable for the economy. Now it is China’s turn. Beijing no longer expects a baby boom. For years, Beijing tried stop the collapse birth rate through incentives, regulatory changes and campaigns aimed at encouraging families to have more children. However, the demographic reality has imposed with force. Births continue to fall and forecasts point to an increasingly aging China. Given this scenario, he had the financial times that the country is changing its approach: instead of focusing all its efforts on increasing the number of young people, it is building an economic strategy around an increasingly evident certainty, that hundreds of millions of citizens They will be over 65 years old in the coming decades. The silver economy. Yes, because the answer is named “silver economy”a concept that seeks to convert the needs, consumption and services aimed at older people into one of the great engines of the Chinese economy. The Government estimates that this market could reach 30 billion yuan by 2035, a gigantic figure driven by an elderly population that will exceed 400 million people and will represent more than 30% of the national total. At a time when the real estate crisis has weakened one of the main pillars of Chinese growth, the authorities see in retirees a new source of economic activity capable of mobilizing investments, companies and employment. A fair that shows the future of the country. The best demonstration of this transformation could be seen at a big fair held in Shanghai dedicated to elderly care, rehabilitation and health. More than 600 companies came to exhibit products specifically designed for an aging society. The event offered a very different image from China just a decade ago: exoskeletons for walking, robotic assistance systems, rehabilitation devices, smart beds, adapted furniture, specialized health products and technological solutions aimed at improving the quality of life of elderly people. Technology turns to the elderly. Many of the innovations presented had a common element: automation. Companies from very diverse sectors are trying to apply advanced technology to reduce the physical and economic burden associated with aging. Among the products displayed there was everything from connected diapers to mobile applications, to sensors installed in shoes capable of analyzing the way you walk and detect risks of falls or vibration therapy systems inspired by space technologies, also devices intended to facilitate the care of dependent people. Basically, the idea is to use technology to replace heavy tasksrepetitive or difficult to cover by human personnel, a challenge that will become increasingly important as the elderly population increases. Companies that change objectives. One of the most revealing aspects is how many companies are redirecting your businesses. Products originally designed for children are being adapted for adults. For example, companies specializing in infant milk have begun to develop nutritional formulas for the elderly. Educational technology manufacturers that previously sold tools for schoolchildren now market devices aimed at teaching calligraphy, music or new skills for retirees. The business logic is simple: while the children’s market contracts due to the drop in births, the older segment grows year after year and offers much more attractive prospects. A new generation of retirees. The change also reflects a social transformation. Today’s Chinese seniors have more income, more free time and different expectations than previous generations. They are no longer limited to covering basic needs, but demand leisure, training, cultural activities, physical well-being and personal experiences. Senior universities, music courses, sports activities and learning programs are gaining popularity among a population that wants to stay active for longer. For many companies, this group is no longer seen as a dependent group and is becoming in a consumer with own spending capacity. Turn a problem into an opportunity. It’s the end, obviously. The silver economy represents an attempt to transform one of China’s biggest structural threats into an economic opportunity. An aging population will continue to pose enormous challenges for pensions, healthcare and the labor market, but Beijing is trying extract economic value of a trend that he already considers irreversible. Instead of waiting for a recovery in birth rates to solve the problem, the country is reorganizing entire sectors to serve an increasingly aging population. In a way, China has assumed that it will have fewer children than it dreamed of and is betting on something different: turning its retirees into the center of a multi-billion dollar industry capable of sustaining part of its future growth. Image | Pixabay, timquijano, World Bank Photo Collection In Xataka | In the midst of a race towards immortality, China believes it has found a way for us to live 150 years: with grapes In Xataka | China knows that its population is going to collapse but it already has a long-term plan to solve it. Of course, thanks to AI

Elon Musk is going to turn 4,000 workers into millionaires and himself into a billionaire thanks to one thing: SpaceX

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Trevor Hise was 22 years old when he graduated and, as is often the case, his parents begged him to accept a stable, well-paying position at General Electric. However, led by the passion of youth and curiosity, he preferred to dedicate the next 12 years of his professional career to the madness of launch rockets into space and catch them in flight again on their return to earth. The company was called SpaceX and Hise no longer works there. However, as how did he count The New York TimesHise has discovered that the Space The story of this former employee of Elon Musk could seem like one of those caroms that life sometimes gives. But, broadly speaking, it is the story of thousands of people who are going to wake up tomorrow with a fortune in your stock portfolio after Space X’s IPO. The largest IPO in history. Friday, June 12, 2026 has been marked in red on the calendars of thousands of investors for months: SpaceX debuts on the Nasdaq under the symbol SPCX. The company’s maneuvers in the months prior to its listing on the stock market make its figures be the most ambitious ever recorded in a stock market IPO: a fixed price of $135 per share and 555.6 million securities placed to raise $75 billion. It is almost three times higher than the previous record held Saudi Aramco since 2019. The expectation it has raised is no wonder, since the company founded by Elon Musk stands on three of the legs with the greatest growth projection: artificial intelligence with xAI integrationspace race as the main activity of Space X and communications deployment via satellite with Starlink. The total valuation of the company before its IPO reaches 1.77 trillion dollarsa figure that places it above JPMorgan, Berkshire Hathaway, Meta and Tesla itself. Only six S&P 500 companies are valued above Space NVIDIA in the lead with 5.2 billion. More than 4,000 people about to become millionaires. According to published Fortunemore than 4,400 Space X employees and former employees will become millionaires thanks to the company’s stock market debut. Of that group, some 400 employees and managers will earn more than $100 million or more from the operation. The fact of turning its employees into millionaires is another of the peculiarities of this IPO since, as Andrew Benson, executive director of the platform, recognized Hill.com investments to the American media, “you usually only see founders become billionaires.” The company included participations in the compensation packages of welders, cooks and facility technicians who agreed to collect part of their salary on paper. It was a risky bet on their part because those shares could have remained a dead letter, but trust in the company will bring them a juicy reward. Gavin Petit joined in 2012 as a launch engineer with a salary of $80,000 and received shares valued at $13.80 each at the time. The engineer agreed to collect his bonuses in more shares year after year, something considered risky in a company whose rockets were still failing. Now more than 50,000 shares, which are equivalent to about 6.75 million dollars. Those who endured Among the great beneficiaries of this Initial Public Offering is Gwynne Shotwellpresident and chief operating officer of SpaceX. She was employee number 11 when she joined the company in 2002, leaving a stable job to bet on a startup that then had everything to prove. The board accumulates almost 12.6 million shares, according to the documents presented before the SEC, which at IPO price represents a fortune of about 1.7 billion dollars. Shotwell herself recognized to CNBC that for years it was not clear that they would go public: “Now seems like the right time.” As and as you remember Expansionthe IPO will also generously reward those investors who have provided financial support to the company since its inception, as is the case with Peter Thiel o Luke Nosek, co-founders of PayPal and members of the group known as “PayPal Mafia“. The first billionaire in history. According to official data According to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Elon Musk owns approximately 42% of SpaceX shares. That’s about 4.8 billion shares, plus hundreds of millions of additional stock options. At the IPO price, that stake alone is around $688 billion. Adding that figure to his stake in Tesla and the rest of his businesses, Forbes esteem and his fortune at $982.3 billion before the stock market debut, which leaves him just a breath away from crossing $1 trillion, a milestone that no one has reached before. To gauge the magnitude of this figure, his personal fortune already exceeds the capitalization of ExxonMobil and rivals that of Berkshire Hathaway. Although, as Musk himself has pointed out on more than one occasion, almost all of that money They are stocks, not cash.. A number on a screen that goes up and down according to the market. In Xataka | The who’s who of SpaceX’s competitors: which other companies are making a big splash in space Image | Flickr (Gage Skidmore), SpaceX

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