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Mining Bitcoin has always been an energetic black hole. Someone wants to turn it into your home heating

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The CES 2026 that has just closed its doors has confirmed an inescapable reality: Artificial Intelligence is everywhere, even where it seems to make no sense. From electronic LEGO bricks and wearables with roll-up screens, to more questionable devices like AI hair clippers that adjust the cut dynamically or digital frames that generate art by voice using GPT Image 1.5. Among this tide of “AI even in the soup”, a proposal has emerged that breaks with that trend and has surprised by its pragmatism: is it possible to get hot by mining Bitcoins? The answer is a resounding yes, and this year technology has shown that what was once a nuisance thermal waste is now a valuable household resource. ANDl income generating water heater. The American startup Superheat captured everyone’s attention with the presentation of its Superheat H1a water heater that uses ASIC (application specific integrated circuits) chips to heat a 190-liter tank while processing Bitcoin transactions. Unlike traditional electric water heaters, the H1 has an approximate price of $2,000, placing it 30-40% above the conventional market. However, as detailed in CNETwill be able to generate about $1,000 annually in passive income, always depending on the value of Bitcoin and the difficulty of the network. The science of “thermal reuse”. To understand this phenomenon, you have to turn to basic physics. The mining process requires intensive computational calculations (proof-of-work) that generate a massive amount of heat. Traditionally, this heat was expelled into the air using fans, but companies like Superheat have turned it around: mining is now the primary function and hot water is the secondary benefit. From the user’s point of view, the experience is seamless. The manual for devices like the Heatbit Trio reveals a control system sophisticated where the user can navigate the panel like a professional: Eco Mode: Heats exclusively by mining, limiting consumption to 400W. Target Mode: Combines the mining plate with a conventional heating element to maintain the desired temperature. Air purification: These devices not only heat, but act as purifiers with HEPA filters and air quality sensors (PM 2.5). Europe at the forefront. In the old continent, the proposal focuses on design and structural integration. From Austria, the company 21energy presents the Ofen 2a minimalist design radiator made of steel and aluminum. Unlike industrial miners that emit 75 decibels, this model is around 32-35 dB, being almost inaudible to the human ear. Furthermore, with a consumption of 1000 watts, it generates up to 40 TH/s of mining power, allowing users to recover part of their electricity bill while heating rooms of up to 50 m². On the other hand, in Switzerland, the company RY3T has marked a historic milestone. The RY3T ONE system has already been installed as the main heat source in a single-family house in the canton of Sankt Gallen. According to the companythis system can be more environmentally friendly than a conventional heat pump, as it reuses a computing power necessary for the global financial network instead of requiring additional electricity exclusively to generate thermal friction. A good idea or a technological chimera? Despite the enthusiasm, a report from Interesting Engineering raises critical questions that the consumer should consider: Obsolescence: What happens when mining hardware becomes obsolete? Will the entire heater or radiator have to be replaced? Network Cost: Even though heat is “free,” electricity for Bitcoin mining is often more expensive than natural gas in many countries. Regulation: If a country decided to ban Bitcoin mining, the user’s heating system could be legally compromised. From mining coins to processing Artificial Intelligence. As this report began, AI is the main protagonist of the moment, and its evolution will continue to be talked about far beyond cryptocurrencies. Julie Xu, COO of Superheat, explained at CES that the ultimate goal is to use this network of appliances for cloud solutions and AI inference. Instead of building gigantic data centers that stress the power grid and require massive cooling, homes could house small distributed computing units. However, this future poses a new dilemma: privacy. Experts from iFixit and Consumer Reports They already warn at this CES that “you don’t want a camera in front of your refrigerator watching you all the time” or a constant internet connection on simple devices, since it makes them more expensive to repair and prone to failure. The challenge will, therefore, be to balance the profitability of heating the home with the security of our private data. Image | freepik and heatbit Xataka | The bitcoin business cools down, but some miners have found a new vein: AI fever

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

Reed Hastings became a millionaire by conquering the couch with Netflix. Now he wants to turn the snow into a gold mine

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Reed Hastings is the co-founder and CEO of Netflix, one of the largest entertainment platforms in the world. If Hastings knows anything it’s how to have fun. The enterprising businessman started a project in 2023 designed for a handful of millionaires looking to have fun skiing on virgin snow through some private tracks that can only be used by a handful of members of a exclusive ski club in the mountains of Utah. ​An exclusive ski club for millionaires. Hastings has become the main investor and architect of an exclusive access ski community for high-net-worth individuals in Powder Mountain, northern Utah (USA). That private community is called Powder Haven and is conceived as a private ski resort reserved for the exclusive enjoyment of approximately 650 families, who ski in a highly controlled environment within a domain that covers approximately 4,860 hectares. high mountain. The private Hastings ski resort is planned as a kind of “VIP space” with access to the ski area that already exists at Powder Mountain and is still open as a public resort. The result is a hybrid model in which the fee of a few very rich people helps finance infrastructure that is also used by skiers who buy a conventional ski pass. Fees and millionaire houses. According to published Forbes, Hastings has already invested more than $100 million in the acquisition and improvement of the Powder Mountain private space, assuming debt equivalent to that of the previous owners. This new capital has been used to renew the lifts and to install new lines to other areas of the resort to expand the ski area. OK to what was published by The Wall Street JournalHastings is reportedly planning to invest $200 million more to improve services for wealthy homeowners. The station’s annual membership fee is $25,000, which is added to an initial contribution and, above all, to the purchase of a home within the community, a necessary condition to be part of the private club. The houses that make up the private ski complex start at 2 million dollars and the first phase, with 39 plots at an average price equivalent to about 2.4 million euros per unit, were sold out in just a few months. Arclodge and a new mountain neighborhood The project is not limited to building luxury villas. In the heart of Powder Haven, Arclodge is being designed, a large Swiss-style social and sports club with futuristic lines that aspires to become the center of the resort’s community life. As seen in the resort pagethe new 6,800 m2 building plans to include all the luxury services to which its millionaire members are accustomed: haute cuisine restaurants, thermal and sports pools, spa and treatment rooms, gym and spaces for cultural and sports activities. New neighborhoods have been planned around this new social nucleus to luxury homes of different sizesranging from large multi-hectare plots to turnkey luxury villas designed by high-profile architecture studios. Of course, all of them with direct access to the private ski slopes. There are only three private stations like this. The Powder Haven model that the Netflix founder is developing is not a pioneering project. In fact, it is the third private ski complex that exists in the US: Yellowstone Club in Montana, and Wasatch Peaks Ranchalso in Utah. In these three enclaves, access to the slopes does not depend on a ski pass open to the general public, but rather requires being a member-owner of a property in their luxury real estate complex. Reed Hastings is the only one that has been able to take advantage of this business model based on the exclusivity of private ski services for millionaires with almost total absence of queues and a certain coexistence with the public domain of Powder Mountain, so that the extension of its slopes is expanded at a very low cost. In Xataka | Ski resorts without snow at the end of the century: the most pessimistic models show what could happen in our high mountains Image | Unsplash (Republic GmbH), Powder Haven

Ukraine has unlocked a wild “online mode.” The one about Russia recruiting Africans on Discord to turn them into “can openers”

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The Ukrainian War I had already flirted with the language of the gamer world: rewards for objectives, loot lists and even a “military Amazon” improvised to redeem successes by real material. But if that seemed like a way to gamify logisticswhat is happening now goes up a level: it is no longer about buying drones with points, but about recruiting soldiers within the player communities themselves and turning them into human bombs. War as a global industry. On the Ukrainian front, Russia has ended up building a collection machinery that is not limited to looking for soldiers, but drags them from places increasingly unlikelyas if the war had become a global funnel. What was once a conflict between armies begins to look like a international recruitment network where young people enter, attracted by money, by a promise of the future or simply by a casual conversation that becomes irreversible. The result is a constant drip of foreigners who arrive in Russia, sign a paper, receive rushed training and disappear into the most brutal landscape of Europe, where the distance between signing a contract and death can be measured in weeks. Recruitment on a screen. The story Bloomberg told and starts with two young South Africans, regular Discord users and Arma 3 players, who end up talking about enlist in the Russian army with someone who identifies himself as @Dash. What seems like just another exchange in a digital community rises in temperature until it becomes a real plan: they meet in Cape Town, move together and end up visiting the Russian consulate, as if this bureaucratic step gave legitimacy to what, deep down, is already a flight towards war. On July 29, they embark on a trip to Russia via the United Arab Emirates and, after arriving, they meet “Dash” there. Shortly after, in early September, they sign one-year military contracts near St. Petersburg and they are trapped in the fast lane of a conflict that doesn’t stop to check if anyone really understands what they’re getting into. Contract, training and front. Only a few weeks pass between the signing and the front. After a brief period of basic training, one of the two is sent to combat in Ukraine, where he performs duties as an assistant marksman for a grenade launcher, a description that sounds like a military routine but is, in reality, the prelude of a disappearance. The last time he contacted his family was October 6. On December 17, a friend reported that has died in combat. The confirmation comes with a medical document that his family later obtained, dated months later, which states that he died on October 23, 2024 in Verkhnekamenskoye, in the Luhansk region. Nothing is known about the other young man: his whereabouts remain up in the air, as happens with many names who enter the war and get lost in the noise of the front. The scandal that breaks out at home. In South Africa, the case is not only read as a personal tragedy, but as a national problem, because since 1998 It is illegal to fight for or assist the armed forces of a foreign country. And it also arrives at a moment especially sensitive: More allegations of recruiting towards Russia have emerged in recent weeks, with investigations pointing to to catchment networks already told stories with acceptable costumes (escort courses, security training) that become suspicious when they lead to military contracts. This climate of public alarm worsens with arrests and judicial processeswhile the South African authorities, the Russian consulate and the platform itself appear wrapped in silence without clear answers and with families trying to piece together, through emails and calls, the map of a disappearance. The lie. Explained the medium that among the incentives that are put on the table appear always the same: money, attractive conditions, the possibility of obtaining Russian citizenship and the idea that the service could open educational or advancement doors. It is an offer designed to ring concrete and reasonableas if combat were hard but passable work, a dangerous but temporary experience. However, the story makes clear What happens when that promise lands in Ukraine: war is not a contract, it is rather a crusher, and for those who arrive without roots, a support network or the ability to get out of the wheel, destiny is reduced to a date on a piece of paper and a lost location in the east of the country. Kamikaze bodies. At another point in the same conflict appears a scene that has gone viral on networks, a video even more brutal: an African mercenary is “armed” with a TM-62 anti-tank mine attached to the body and sent towards Ukrainian positions with the intention of blowing himself up to open a bunker. The video shows crudeness without metaphors: the man protests, but a Russian soldier threatens him with a rifle, pushes him, expels him from a basement and orders him to run into the forest. in that language They call it a “can opener.”as if it were a piece of engineering, an instrument designed to break a door at the cost of disappearing, and the scene remains recorded for what it reveals: not only are foreigners recruited, they are used in missions where life is not a value to be protected, but rather the closest thing to a detonator available. Foreigners in war. Ukraine maintains that there are at least 1,436 citizens from 36 countries identified fighting in the Russian ranks, and that the real number may be higher. There is talk, again, of recruitment by financial promises, deception or pressureand warns of minimal survival: many do not survive more than a month after arriving at the front. The statement, however harsh it may be, fits with the landscape they draw these stories: people who enter through lateral routes, who arrive attracted by incentives or trapped by intermediaries, and who end up absorbed by a war that has been devouring troops until making replenishment a constant … Read more

This is one of the most complete controls with which you can turn your iPhone or Android mobile into a portable console

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If you usually play a lot on mobile and you are tired of doing it through the touch screen, having a good mobile controller is the best option. He Razer Kishi V3 It is one of the most popular and works for both iPhone and Android. Razer Kishi V3 – USB-C haptic gaming controller for iPhones and Android smartphones The price could vary. We earn commission from these links A very complete controller that offers a complete gaming experience on mobile This Razer Kishi V3 mobile controller is, without a doubt, perfect for playing with your mobile as if you were playing on a portable console. This is thanks to your full size controller designwhich allows you to comfortably play games on your mobile for hours. Offers mobile ergonomics iPhone and Android and features full-size TMR joysticks with interchangeable covers. In addition, you can perfect your aim with the anti-slip control levers high precision, superior to Hall effect designs. It also features dual mouse click rear buttons and pincer grip top buttons. Plus, thanks to Razer Neus Game Launcher, you can discover thousands of games for iOS and Android and save your games. The best thing about this controller is that it is Plug & Play typeso you just have to plug it in and start using it, without having to download any software. You may also be interested Utilify RGB Gaming Mobile Cooler with 2 Modes The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Logitech G G435 LIGHTSPEED The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Some of the links in this article are affiliated and may provide a benefit to Xataka. In case of non-availability, offers may vary. Images | Razer In Xataka | Best controllers to play on the computer. Which one to buy and 10 recommended PC gaming controllers for all budgets In Xataka | The best mobile phones, we have tested them and here are their analyzes

Mozilla wanted to turn Firefox into an AI-powered browser. The community has forced a change that was not in their plans

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For years, Mozilla and its Firefox browser have represented a rarity: a product shaped by demanding users, jealous of their control and unwilling to accept imposed changes. That’s why, when the word “AI” began to appear in his official speechdid not sound like a simple technical update, but rather a possible identity change. It was not a discussion about specific functions, but about limits. How far can Firefox stretch while still being recognizable to those who choose it precisely because it doesn’t look like the others. Before the controversy broke out, Mozilla had already begun to draw out its AI roadmap with a deliberately cautious tone. In his communications he talked about choice, transparency and preventing artificial intelligence from becoming a permanent layer of the browser. The AI, according to that initial approachhad to coexist with the classic Firefox experience without replacing it, offering specific and deactivatable tools, and maintaining the promise that the user decides if, when and under what conditions they use them. AIWindow. The most visible piece of that roadmap is a new window designed specifically for interacting with an AI assistant while browsing. Mozilla describes it as a separate, completely voluntary space that allows you to ask for contextual help without altering the rest of the browser experience. It does not replace the classic or private window, but is added as an additional option that the user decides whether to activate or not. The company insists that it can be deactivated at any time and that its development is being done openly, with a waiting list to test it and send comments. Why Mozilla thinks it’s important. The organization argues that AI is becoming a new way of accessing the web and that ignoring this change would leave the browser in a passive position. Their thesis is that, as more interactions go through assistants, it becomes essential to preserve principles such as transparency, accountability and decision-making capacity. Firefox, as a standalone browser, thus presents itself as an intermediary that uses AI to guide the user to the open web, rather than retaining them in a closed conversational environment. That balance began to break down in December, when the message about AI was publicly reinforced from Mozilla’s leadership. The reaction was not accidental if you understand who Firefox is addressing. A good part of its users do not come to the browser out of inertia, but after having searched deliberately, moving away from options such as Chrome, Edge or Safari. This more technical and critical profile tends to monitor any change that it perceives as a transfer of control. In this context, AI is not evaluated only by what it does, but by the precedent it sets and the risk of normalizing decisions made without the user’s explicit consent. The “AI kill switch” and the calendar. Faced with escalating criticism, Mozilla moved from generalities to explicit commitments. In a response to an open letter posted on RedditCEO Anthony Enzor-DeMeo wrote: “Rest assured, Firefox will always remain a browser built around user control,” adding: “You’ll have a clear way to disable AI features. A true kill switch (kill switch) will arrive in Q1 2026.” With that promise, Mozilla made a verifiable commitment: an option to completely disable all artificial intelligence functions by a specific deadline, the first quarter of 2026, as a way to reinforce trust. When the deabte is still open. The announcement of the “kill switch” did not close the debate, but rather moved it to a more basic question: when does AI come into play. For many users, the fact that there is a switch to turn it off implies that the AI ​​would be present from the beginning and that it is the user who must deactivate it. The alternative they demand is the opposite, that the AI ​​is completely turned off when installing Firefox and is only activated after an explicit decision. On Mastodon, the Firefox for Web Developers account admitted that there are “gray areas” about what optional means in the interface, such as whether a new button counts as such, but he insisted that the “kill switch” will disable the AI ​​completely. With the discussion already on the table, Mozilla has been forced to do something that was not in the initial script: specify, clarify and publicly commit more than expected. The discourse around AI in Firefox has moved from general principles to uncomfortable details, and that’s where the trust of its community is at stake. The promises are made, the deadlines marked and the words written. Now the difference will not be made by the communications, but by how those guarantees are translated into the final product and if Firefox manages to integrate AI without diluting what made it different. Images | Firefox | Denny Muller In Xataka | AI has allowed developers to program faster than ever. That’s turning out to be a problem.

When the cold arrives and we turn on the Christmas lights, something worries those who have solar panels

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When Christmas approaches and the first waves of cold begin to seep through the buildings, Spain turns on its lights again. Streets, balconies and living rooms light up as temperatures drop in winter particularly unstable. But, along with this luminous ritual, a new question has arisen in many homes: can Christmas lights, climbing reindeer or LED garlands interfere with the solar panels that already occupy thousands of balconies and rooftops? The doubt is understandable. For years it has been repeated that shadows are the number one enemy of solar energy, leading to the belief that any object—no matter how small—could ruin production. But the reality is much less dramatic. The coexistence between self-consumption and Christmas decoration is today simple, safe and with practically no impact on the generation. “Lights bordering a solar panel are usually not a problem,” Alejandro Diego Rosell explains to Xatakaenergy consultant and professor specialized in photovoltaics. “The panel isn’t that picky… as long as you don’t cover their face.” A thin LED garland, a light cable passing over it or a spot light “generate minimal or directly negligible loss.” The only scenario to avoid is opaque, large or rigid objects that cast harsh shadows for many hours, or those that physically rest on the glass of the panel. Not due to electrical risk, but for safety and durability: wind, weight and scratches can damage the surface. Not even a slight shadow. To understand why these minor shadows are no longer a relevant problem, it is worth looking at how the panels have evolved. Héctor de Lama, technical director of the Spanish Photovoltaic Union (UNEF), He sums it up to Xataka like this: “A large part of the current panels are monocrystalline split-cell panels. This innovation allows that, if a part of the panel is covered, the performance of the entire module is not lost. In previous panels, if an area was covered, you lost almost all production.” In other words, modern modules work in independent halves and support partial shading much better, especially if they are narrow, discontinuous or moving shadows, such as those generated by LED strips or light decorations. Even so, de Lama clarifies that completely covering a panel can significantly affect “depending on how the circuits are connected and whether they contain optimizers.” In fact, Diego agrees with the idea, but takes it to everyday ground with humor: “Santa Claus hanging from the balcony, acrobatic reindeer, Three Wise Men rappelling… All of this falls into the category of emotionally necessary but technically harmless decoration.” And the invoice? A lot of noise, very little expense. Although many households associate Christmas lights with an increase in electricity consumption, the real impact is minimal. According to energy expert Iván Terrón, interviewed by El Españolthe cost is surprisingly low: “Even if they are on 24 hours a day, LED Christmas lights cost very little. All together they cost about the same as running a washing machine.” Starting from an average price of €0.14/kWh, Terrón estimates that keeping them on for a whole month is around 5 euros. The data from Selectra, a media specialized in energy consumption, offer an even more precise breakdown: 100 LED lights consume 5 W. In 33 days, at 6 hours a day, that is equivalent to 0.99 kWh, that is, about 0.10 euros. An equivalent incandescent garland – already rare – can reach 1.23 euros in the same period. Even in indexed or PVPC rates, where it is advisable to avoid the most expensive hours (between 6:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m.), the impact remains symbolic. For those who want to optimize thoroughly, early morning usually offers the lowest prices; But in practical terms, the cost of Christmas lights is practically irrelevant. Christmas and self-consumption: coexistence without surprises. In a meteorologically hectic winter and with millions of households more attentive than ever to the price of electricity, any doubt about self-consumption generates concern. But in this case, the technical evidence is clear: the usual Christmas lights and decorations do not damage the solar panels, do not compromise the installation and have almost no economic impact. The final recommendation is as simple as it is poetic: let the lights illuminate your home and let the panels continue to see the sky. With common sense and modern technology, the magic of Christmas and the sun can coexist without a shadow of conflict. Image | Unsplash and FreePik Xataka | Vigo represents its consecration, but the journey of Christmas lights begins in another Spanish town: Puente Genil

turn off cell phones when night comes

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On the Ukrainian front, the battle for the networks It has been escalating in importance over the months. Ukraine has been clear about this since a date to remember its troops took place. It happened with Operation Spiderwebwhen the Ukrainian Security Service smuggled small FPVs near five Russian air bases in trucks. The drones were launched and controlled via the Russian telephone system. The result: the destruction of at least ten strategic bombers. That was recorded in Moscow, and now they are using it. The transformation of the telephone. The war in Ukraine has turned something as everyday as mobile phones into a decisive system combat, revealing a profound change in the nature of modern conflict: civilian networks have become de facto military infrastructures, and every signal, every SIM, every tower and every data packet can be an offensive tool or a weak point. Tension has escalated to such a point that Russia, unable to fully control how Ukraine exploits its cellular network to direct precision drones over long distances, has begun to cut off mobile service at night in entire regions. The situation illustrates a disturbing paradox: without mobile phones the aerial threat is limited, but with them civil life, emergencies, commerce and governance itself are kept functioning. For the first time, a great power is openly assuming a social and economic cost in exchange for stopping the advance of the connected war. The tactical revolution. The ability of Ukrainian drones to use Russian infrastructure as if it were their own has been one of the most striking developments in the conflict. Cheap devices, such as DJI cellular donglesturn an FPV drone into a platform capable of operating hundreds or even thousands of kilometers from the pilot, as long as there is 4G coverage. As we said, that same technology allowed the famous Operation Spiderweb. The pattern now repeats itself: Iranian Shahed modified with 4G modems that transmit video in real time, Ukrainian FP-1/2 drones that avoid defenses thanks to cellular links, or Russian Molniya that act as aerial nurses to transport FPV above electronic interference waists. The drone no longer depends on the range of its antenna: it depends on the telephone infrastructure, turning each tower into an involuntary military node. The Russian response. Faced with this new front, Russia has tried close the gaps without disrupting the entire digital ecosystem… but intermediate solutions are failing. His first step was block for 24 hours any SIM that had been roaming, a measure designed to detect Russian cards clandestinely sent to Ukraine. Then it expanded the blocking to inactive cards for 72 hoursa sign of growing fear that thousands of Russian SIMs are involved in attacks without their users even knowing. Finally, in several border regions the most extreme measure– Cut off mobile data at night, when attacks typically occur. This dynamic not only harms to the civilian populationbut also illustrates the loss of control of a State that sees its commercial infrastructure turn against it with disconcerting ease. The historical precedent. The West already knew about the problem of telephony as a weapon, although never on this scale. In Iraq, a simple Nokia 105 could detonate explosive devices improvised with a reliability and range that would have seemed like science fiction in the nineties. To counteract this, jamming systems were deployed. as Warlockcapable of blocking signals in the surroundings of military convoys and columns. Today, that same logic reappears with more complexity: any drone that uses a cellular network can be neutralized by blocking the signal, but doing so involves simultaneously blinding ambulances, firefighters, security forces and millions of users. What was once a tactical dilemma has become a strategic one: what can be blocked without leaving an entire country in operational silence? An even more difficult future. The next technological leap makes this equation even more fragile. Both Russia and Ukraine already operate drones equipped with Starlink receivers or other direct satellite connectivity services. This marks the end of the absolute dominance of the electromagnetic territory: a drone that receives orders from orbit is immune to cell towers and to classical terrestrial interference patterns. As direct-to-satellite terminals for civilian use proliferate, it will be nearly impossible to distinguish between benign communications and command signals for hostile drones. In that scenario, an operator located on another continent could direct an attack with surgical precision without depending on any network national security or expose oneself to foreseeable countermeasures. The battlefield ceases to be geographical and becomes a global digital space, where physical borders matter less than the availability of orbital constellations. Control the spectrum. If you also want, the case of mobile phone in Ukraine illustrates how modern warfare has infiltrated all layers of civilian life, blurring the lines between public infrastructure and military capability. The Russian decision to turn off the network at night is not only a symptom of technological vulnerability, but also a advance of the type of conflicts that are coming: wars where each smart device is an antenna, each user a possible vector and each network a battlefield. In this new paradigm, the question no longer points to how to defend a country, but rather to how to defend an infrastructure designed to connect millions of people without turn it into a weapon involuntary. Image | Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Ministry of Defense of Ukraine In Xataka | Hybrid warfare in Europe has crossed a red line: drones have reached France’s nuclear submarines In Xataka | 40 nations built a fortress to contain a deadly threat. Until a drone projectile set off the alarms

India wanted to impose an indelible state app on all mobile phones. In a matter of days he had to take an unexpected turn

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The Government of India movement to force a security app to be installed On all mobile phones sold in the country it has lasted less than a week. On November 28, the Ministry of Telecommunications sent a private communication to the manufacturers in which it gave them 90 days to comply with the measure. However, the general rejection of public opinion, doubts about its impact on cybersecurity and the apparent opposition of some manufacturers have forced a change in plans. The order began to gain public relevance when its internal details became known. Reuters noted that The Government not only requested the mandatory presence of Sanchar Saathi in new mobile phones, but also its incorporation in those already in the supply chain through software updates. The agency also reported that the initial instruction specified that the application could not be disabled. What is Sanchar Saathi. The program’s own website define the tool as a public service aimed at empowering users against fraud and device theft. It is available as a mobile application and also as a web portal, from where it is possible to temporarily lock a lost phone, track subsequent use attempts and, if recovered, reactivate it. The Government frames these functions within a broader digital education effort, with end-user security materials and advisories. From security discourse to doubts about surveillance. The debate intensified when opposition figures and privacy specialists They questioned the initiative. In his opinion, an application managed by the State, coupled with such a broad mandate, required additional guarantees to rule out intrusive uses. Organizations such as the Internet Freedom Foundation They asked for transparency and access to the full legal text. Under pressure, Scindia publicly defended that “spying is not possible” with Sanchar Saathi and denied that the app can be used for surveillance. Opposition from manufacturers added pressure to the process. Reuters indicated that Apple had no intention to comply with the order as it was proposed and that it would convey its objections to the Government, while Samsung and other actors expressed similar reservations. According to sources cited by international media, the companies questioned whether the instruction had been issued without prior consultation and warned of its impact on the privacy policies of their ecosystems. The context was not minor: India has become one of the fastest growing markets for smartphones, especially for companies like Apple and other large manufacturers. An express reverse gear with success figures in hand. The rectification came on December 3, when the Ministry of Communications published a note announcing that mandatory pre-installation was no longer necessary. The decision was justified by the “growing acceptance” by Sanchar Saathi, which according to the Government now has 14 million users and allows around 2,000 frauds to be reported daily. Only the previous day, 600,000 new registrations had driven tenfold growth. Scindia then insisted that “spying is not possible”, despite the skepticism of specialized groups. In recent years, as reported by BloombergIndia has driven decisions that have forced big tech companies to readjust, such as demands for access to encrypted information or recent attempts to have manufacturers distribute the GOV.in public app suite. All of this occurs in a market that is strategic for Apple and Google, both in sales and production. The withdrawal of the mandate makes it clear that these dynamics continue to evolve and that balances will likely continue to be redefined. Images | Ministry of Communications of India | Piyanshu Sharma In Xataka | There are 500 million users who could perfectly upgrade to Windows 11. The problem is that they don’t want to

In the Nordic countries there is also a turn towards spirituality. Towards Odinist spirituality, specifically

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In a forest outside Stockholm as evening falls, a dozen people raise horns of mead toward the sky as a priestess invokes Thor. There are no skins or horned helmets —That’s a Hollywood invention.—. Here there are mothers, office workers in light blue shirts, young people dressed in black, retirees, tattoos with runes and cookies in the shape of the hammer of the god of thunder. The scene, described in a report by The Guardiandoes not belong to any historical recreation, but to a real ritual: a blótthe pagan ceremony that was celebrated in Scandinavia more than a thousand years ago and that, against all odds, has returned with a vengeance. “In the most secular countries on the planet, the old gods are returning,” writes Siri Christiansen in his article. And he doesn’t exaggerate. In Sweden, Iceland, Denmark, Norway and Finland, thousands of people today identify with the pre-Christian religions of the north. It is not a hobby or a passing fad: they are officially registered religions, with priests, temples, rites of passage, their own cemeteries and an expanding community. Why, in the most modernized society in the world, is an ancient cult reborn? The answer is more complex, but it has a surprising sense of normality. An ancient faith for unstable times. The Nordic countries top all the secularization lists in the world. In Sweden, only 10% of the population attends Christian churches regularly. In Iceland 40% of young people believe that God does not exist. And yet, in parallel, religions that were believed to have been buried since the 11th century are growing. In Sweden, two state-recognized organizations —Nordic Asa-Community (NAC) and Forn Sed Sweden— have around 2,700 registered members, although their networks exceed 16,000 followers. They have twenty local subdivisions, hold seasonal blóts, ​​and attract up to 300 people at their national gatherings. In fact, this year they have managed to get the Government to approve the first pagan cemetery in more than a thousand years, in the town of Molkom, with fifty burial requests already processed. They are also raising funds to build a temple in Gamla Uppsalathe ancient religious capital of the Vikings. A map of active minorities. In Denmark, the Forn Siðr organizationrecognized by the State since 2003, It has about 650 membersalthough it is estimated that there are some 3,500 practitioners in the country. Since 2009 they have managed a pagan cemetery in Odense where thirteen people have already been buried. In Norway, Bifrost and Forn Sed Norge They bring together hundreds of believers and publish materials on rituals, ecology and tradition. Both groups They openly declare themselves anti-racist and they have expelled members with supremacist speeches. Furthermore, Bifrost openly declares in its section Rasisme that any sympathizer of supremacist ideologies “is not welcome.” In Finland, the panorama is more dispersed, but it is also older. The community Karhun kansafocused on native Finnish religions, was recognized in 2013). For its part, the Lehto association, founded in 1998brings together practitioners of Wicca, shamanism, Ásatrú and Nordic paganism in general. Iceland: the heart of the renaissance. If there is an epicenter of the pagan revival, It’s Iceland. There the organization Ásatrúarfélagið, founded in 1972was officially recognized a year later and today is the second religion in the country, with more than 7,000 active members in a country of 389,000 inhabitants. In Reykjavík they are building the first pagan temple in a millennium, a circular building of concrete, wood and natural light entering through an open dome. The project—designed by architect Magnús Jensson, a member of the community itself—will complete work next year. In addition, it will house ceremonies, libraries, banquet halls and the sanctuary where the blóts of the solar calendar will be celebrated. What are the rituals like? The heart of today’s pagan practice are blót, seasonal ceremonies honoring the gods and forces of nature. According to an ethnographic studythese rituals are generally celebrated outdoors—forests, mounds, historic areas—and include poetry recitation, toasts, music, and a large communal meal. In ancient times, blót included animal sacrifices. Today, Nordic associations have radically transformed the practice: there is no blood, the offerings are symbolic (mead, bread, fruit, ritual burning) and often include the burning of a banner made among the participants, as the same study documents. It should be added that there is some micro-communities (unofficial) who have debated resuming animal sacrifices, but represent a marginal and controversial minority within the movement. In addition to blót, these religions celebrate weddings, funerals, baby namings, and coming-of-age rituals. In Iceland, a play based on in the Eddic poem Skírnismála solemn and surprisingly contemporary rite. Wedding celebrated during the 2022 spring ritual in Sweden Who is behind? The question is who is behind the new Norse pagan. According to research—collected at EUREL, sociologist Jane Haug Skjoldli or Heimskringla’s analysis—, the most common profile of current Nordic pagans is: adults between 25 and 50 years old, high educational level, stable employment or urban middle class, interest in nature, ecology and local culture. In addition to progressive values ​​(most organizations are explicitly anti-racist). Many people do not identify strictly as “pagans” but as Heathens, Fornsedare, Animists, Nordic Polytheists, or Ásatrúar. It is a flexible, non-dogmatic spirituality, with an emphasis on practice and community rather than doctrinal faith. A rebirth with tensions. An inevitable topic is the relationship between paganism and the extreme right. During the 20th century, Viking iconography was instrumentalized by Nazism and, later, by white supremacist groups. Today, associations such as Forn Sed Sweden, Bifrost and Ásatrúarfélagið publish explicit anti-racist values ​​and expel—as the NAC did in 2017, according to The Guardian— to members who express xenophobic ideologies. A member of Forn Sed Sweden put it bluntly: “If you’re a Nazi, you’re not a pagan. You’re just a Nazi.” Still, tension exists: Viking symbols have become mainstream on the internet, and some radical groups continue to use them. This forces official associations to position themselves again and again. Is the Viking religion really back? Yes, but transformed. It is … Read more

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