turning

The result is clear, alarming and there is no turning back

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There is an unquestionable reality with the data in hand: In Spain it rains less now than 30 years ago. In fact, the climate has changed since the 90s: temperatures have risen, summers are longer and those rain patterns essential for activities such as agriculture or aquifer recharge are no longer what they used to be. The Spanish state is one of the regions of the planet where climate change is being seen more and better worse. In this climatic context, precipitation data tells a crystal clear story. Meteorologist Roberto Granda from Eltiempo.es has used AEMET Opendata records to draw maps that compare the average annual rainfall between the periods 1961–1990 and 1996–2025 in 71 stations with continuous data for more than 60 years. The first of these periods is not chosen at random: it is the reference climate norm fixed by the World Meteorological Organization, the global standard for detecting anomalies and trends. To distribute the values ​​between stations, Granda applied a geostatistical interpolation technique that incorporates the relief of the terrain, which makes it the most reliable method for mapping precipitation in a geography as irregular as the peninsula. The result is unequivocal: it rains less in Spain, and it is not something specific or local, but structural and widespread throughout almost the entire peninsula. In this climatic context, precipitation data tells a crystal clear story: meteorologist Roberto Granda of Eltiempo.es has used the records of the Spanish Meteorological Agency AEMET Opendata to draw maps that compare the average annual rainfall between the periods 1961 – 1990 and 1996 – 2025 in 71 stations, that is, with continuous data and for more than 60 years. It rains less in Spain and it is not something specific or local: but something structural and that affects almost the entire peninsula. Evolution of average annual precipitation in Spain. Roberto Granda with data from AEMET These first two maps collect the amount of precipitation in both time frames where it can be seen that he rain pattern continues: The north and northwest (Galicia, the Cantabrian coast and the Pyrenees) continue to concentrate the highest rainfall, above 1,500–2,500 millimeters annually, while on the other side of the scale is the southeast of Almería and Murcia, which does not reach 200 mm. But within that known pattern, absolute values ​​have fallen in practically all regions. With the data in hand, it rains less in Spain than it did 60 years ago Difference in precipitation from 1961 to 2025. Roberto Granda The most impressive map is exactly the one above these lines: the difference in rainfall between 1961 and 2025. At a glance it is clear that in almost the entire State the rain is in the red compared to 60 years ago, since the cartography is colored by beige and brown tones on almost the entire peninsular surface. The steepest falls, between 100 and 200 mm per year, are concentrated in inland Galicia, Extremadura and the central-western area. In this last area is Mediterranean aridification at its maximum splendor: the Mediterranean is one of the hot spots of climate change. Fortunately, there are some exceptionsbut they are localized: areas where the variation is practically zero or slightly positive. One of the most obvious is in the extreme northwest of Galicia, especially the Costa da Morte and the province of A Coruña, which maintains or slightly exceeds its historical records thanks to its direct exposure to Atlantic storms. Neutral or slightly greenish tones are also seen in some areas of the Navarrese and Aragonese Pyrenees, and in the corridor of southern Navarra and northern La Rioja, at the transition between the western Pyrenees and the Ebro valley. The meteorologist has also published year-by-year rainfall since the 1990s, allowing for a closer and more detailed analysis. Something that stands out considering the colors is that the variability has skyrocketed. The CSIC has an explanation: Oscillations between dry and humid extremes are precisely a characteristic of the Mediterranean climate under global warming. Precipitation per year. Roberto Granda Although the general trend is less rain, there is years that define the extremes. On the dry side, there are four years that stand out above the rest: the 94-95 biennium, devastating in the south and center of the peninsula, 2005 on the plateau or that 2012 that left reservoirs below minimum levels in half of Spain. At a quick glance, the 2017 orange draws attention: AEMET he rated it as one of the driest years since instrumental records exist. On the wet side, 96 – 97 stand out from what they had before and after, especially in the northwest and central. Also 2010 and 2013 show green and blue coverage well above the average. 2024 deserves special mention: it breaks a long streak and is the wettest year of the last decade in several basins. Of course, a wet year does not work miracles. The AEMET projections are not encouraging: this reduction in rainfall will worsen throughout the 20th century, with decreases of more than 20% in the south and southeast of the peninsula. With longer and more frequent rain events, the rain will be concentrated in more intense, concentrated and tragic events throughout the year. Because paradoxically, this pattern has consequences in both droughts and floods. In Xataka | The temperature your city will have in 2080, simulated on this disturbing interactive map In Xataka | How to see air quality and temperature with Google Maps Cover | Roberto Granda

turning smart glasses into instruments of war

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Anduril and Meta join forces. What began as a race to conquer the “metaverse” with devices like the Quest has transformed into something very different. Specifically, in a contract of 159 million dollars that Anduril and Meta have jointly signed to develop smart glasses that enhance the operational capacity of soldiers on the battlefield. This joint project is being developed in parallel with the Anduril helmet with assisted vision system, called EagleEye. War made video game. These augmented reality glasses provide the soldier with an integrated system that theoretically displays a map, identifies enemy vehicle profiles, calculates shooting distance, processes threats in real time and overlays tactical data on the wearer’s physical environment. The future vision of these companies is to add special functions, such as being able to order a drone attack thanks to eye tracking and voice commands. War made video game. From consumers to soldiers. It is ironic that a technology that was originally used for entertainment applications ends up having a military purpose. Anduril provides its software platform, called Lattice, which acts as the “brain” of the system, fusing the data captured by the glasses with that received from the rest of the battlefield network. The ethical challenge. If an AI decides what a target is and displays it prominently on the soldier’s glasses, is the room for human error reduced or are we simply automating violence? This gamification of war is increasing and the danger is evident: treating a combat environment almost as if it were a video game can make it difficult to distinguish between civilians and combatants, for example. If the metaverse doesn’t work… Meta has an opportunity here to recover part of the gigantic investment it has made in the field of virtual and augmented reality. After losing tens of billions of dollars with the metaverse, Mark Zuckerberg has decided leave these solutions in the background in the end-user market. And he has also seen clearly that his advances could have a very juicy military application. The geopolitical factor. There is no doubt that both in Silicon Valley and in the rest of the world there is one huge demand of new technological solutions applied to the battlefield. The conflicts that have occurred in recent years have caused skyrocket defense budgetsand here both Anduril and Meta wanted to take advantage of their opportunity. Microsoft missed its chance. In Redmond they had a fantastic product with Hololensbut its role in the end-user segment was never clear, and the company refocused it on first- and then to the military sector. Here the failure was enormous despite the investment of 22 billion dollars that the US Army carried out in this area. Meta and Anduril have wanted to take the baton, but they will not be alone: ​​companies like Rivet either Elbit They have projects that compete to become the new “weapons” of the soldier of the future. In Xataka | In its obsession with bringing technology to every corner of the country, China has equipped its army with augmented reality

Turning off notifications 24/7 is no longer rude, it’s the new technological self-care

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In 2026, hyperconnectivity has reached unprecedented levels. However, in the midst of this constant noise, a paradoxical cure has emerged: ignoring those we know and love has become the new secret to a happy and peaceful life. As the magazine details Wiredwe are witnessing the rise of a digital tribe known as the “maximalists of the Do not disturb“. They are users who have decided to keep their phone notifications silenced 24 hours a day, seven days a week. What was once considered a serious breach of the social contract—the tacit obligation to always be available—is now a viral trend. On platforms like TikTok, videos celebrating “monk mode” or the non-stop use of “Do Not Disturb” mode rack up millions of views. In the comments, the debate rages: while some applaud it as the definitive act of self-care, others criticize it as a terrible lack of respect for others. What has happened to our availability? The norms of social etiquette have changed drastically over the last fifteen years. If at the beginning of the last decade the golden rule was “don’t call anyone after 10 pm”, the current rule seems to be “don’t call anyone, ever”, as I already warned The New York Times. Telephone calls without prior notice by message or email have come to be considered intrusive, uncomfortable and even alarming; Nowadays, if the phone rings suddenly, we instinctively assume that a misfortune has occurred. To stop this intrusion, users have taken the tools of their own operating systems to the extreme. The technical difference that has facilitated this radicalization is key: while the traditional silent mode turns off the tones but allows the screen to continue lighting and vibrating, settings such as “Do Not Disturb” mode or “Sleep Mode” act at a deeper level of the system. These tools block vibration, dim the screen light, and hide visual alerts, eliminating any physical interruptions. According to account Wiredfor many this habit began as a survival mechanism during the 2020 pandemic, when their entire lives were reduced to the screen. After discovering the peace it brought them, they decided to never turn on the notifications again. Personal limits versus social cost. Living in a silent digital limbo has profound psychological implications. Turning off notifications is a declaration of autonomy; Those who do so are not building a wall to isolate themselves from the world, but rather installing a “door” that they only open when their schedule and mental health allow it. But this position requires paying a social toll. Announcing that you live in “Do Not Disturb” mode is almost like declaring that you were vegan in the 90s: it is often perceived by those around you as a self-righteous or rude attitude. Friends, partners, and family members often get frustrated when they don’t receive immediate answers. For this reason, the maximalists of silence have learned that preventive communication is key to explaining that this is not a personal attack, but a necessary barrier. Paradoxically, this digital isolation improves relationships in the physical world. By not paying attention to a bright screen that demands their attention, these people demonstrate an absolute presence in face-to-face conversations, generating bonds of greater depth and trust. Expert support. Science supports this need for disconnection. The cost of always being available is very high and directly affects our mental and cognitive health. The studies warn of three major impacts: Symptoms of inattention and hyperactivity: An investigation, published in Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, has shown that constant interruptions caused by smartphones can cause symptoms of inattention and hyperactivity—associated with ADHD—even in the general population that does not suffer from this disorder. Simply having alerts on maximizes these interruptions and increases inattention levels. Stress due to job fragmentation: A study of University of California, Irvine revealed that when people are constantly interrupted in their tasks, they try to compensate by working faster. However, this accelerated pace comes at a severe price: one experiences increased workload, higher levels of stress, frustration, time pressure, and tremendous mental effort. Cognitive leaks: Adrian Ward, professor at the University of Texas, ensures that cognitive ability It is significantly reduced just by having the smartphone within reach, even if it is turned off. Added to this is that each notification causes “cognitive hiccups” of about seven seconds, splintering our attention. Once concentration is broken, it can take the brain more than 23 minutes to regain it. The digital paradox. Despite its benefits, silencing your cell phone is not a panacea for everyone. Previous research suggests that, for some people, turning off alerts can cause anxiety about missing something important (the well-known FOMO). This anxiety causes users to interrupt themselves more frequently to check the screen, resulting in a net increase in distractions. At the same time, the trend has been quickly absorbed by the market. An article from Guardian criticized how “productivity gurus” on TikTok they had commodified the #monkmode (monk mode), selling it as an isolated and somewhat melancholic self-optimization formula, forgetting that the human mind also fights against forced hyperconcentration. Finally, we come to a technological irony of our time. Recent clinical protocols, like the essay published in Frontiersevaluate the use of mobile applications mindfulness (like InMind) to combat work stress, burnout (burnout) and improve the engagement of office workers. In the middle of 2026 we depend on applications within our phones to cure the anxiety that that same device generates in us. The rebellion of silence. As we move into 2026, putting your phone on permanent silent has gone from being a simple setting in the settings menu to becoming a statement of intent. As they conclude in Earthis a reminder that human attention is a finite and extremely valuable resource, to be spent by conscious choice and not by the beep of an algorithm. In the end, as summarized by the testimony collected by Wiredgiving up immediate availability in the era of “always connected” is perhaps the most peaceful … Read more

literally turning Donbas into “Donnyland”

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For decades, one of the greatest obsessions of Soviet power was to convert certain cities in personal symbols of leadership, to the point that Stalingrad not only appeared on maps and speeches, but also in propaganda, in military reports and in the way millions of people understood the course of a war. Because sometimes the way a place is named can influence as much as what happens inside it. The Ukrainian war and names. In the midst of stalled negotiations and agonizing wear and tear on both sides, the New York Times had this morning that Ukraine has introduced an idea as striking as it is revealing: naming a disputed area of ​​Donbas nothing more and nothing less than like “Donnyland” in honor of Donald Trump. This is not an isolated occurrence, but a calculated attempt to influence Washington’s position at a time when its role fluctuates between ally and mediator. The proposal, which mixes irony and strategy, reflects the extent to which kyiv perceives that language, symbols and political psychology can be as important as territorial control on the ground. Donnyland as a pressure tool. Apparently, the concept arose in private conversations as a way to push the US administration to toughen its stance in the face of Vladimir Putin’s demands. The logic is quite simple: if a hypothetical demilitarized or economic zone carries the symbolic seal Under Trump, the United States would have more incentives to protect it and guarantee its stability. From that perspective, it is not just a name, but an attempt to convert a devastated and partially depopulated strip in a political assettransforming territory into a negotiating card designed to alter the balance of power at the table. Borodyanka Donbas as a key piece of the blockade. The region in question, still under ukrainian control but pressured by russian forceshas become one of the main friction points in the peace talks. kyiv fears that giving up that territory will facilitate future offensives, while Moscow insists on complete control, blocking any significant advance. In this context, ideas like that of a neutral zonea special economic model or even that of a shared administration have been explored without success, making it clear that the future of Donbas remains the hard core of the conflict. TOadopting the logic of “branding”. The hypothetical use of “Donnyland” fits into a broader trend in which countries try to attract the attention or favor of great powers through symbolic gestures hyperbolic, such as previous infrastructure proposals or agreements with the name of American leaders. Furthermore, this type of movement reveals a diplomacy increasingly personalizedone where perception, ego and narrative can influence as much as military facts. In this case, Ukraine seeks to turn a disputed territory into a political project with its own name, attempting to align strategic interests through a simple change of label. From Stalingrad to Donnyland. As we said at the beginning, history offers precedents for how names can become tools of power, as happened with Stalingradwhose symbolism during the Second World War reinforced the figure of Joseph Stalin and turned the battle into a global political icon, or more recently with the Polish proposal from Fort Trump There is no doubt, although the context is different, the underlying logic is quite similar: using a name to project power, mobilize support and condition decisions. In the current case, Ukraine recovers that historical intuition and adapts it to a modern diplomacy where influence also involves connecting with the personal motivations of the leaders. Between strategy and symbolism. Be that as it may, and despite the striking nature of the proposal, the truth is that the talks remain blocked, with rigid positions and little progress on key issues such as territorial control or security guarantees. Of course, the “Donnyland” idea It has not yet been formalized and coexists with other more technical proposals, but the simple fact of its mere existence reveals the level of improvisation and/or creativity that diplomacy has achieved in this conflict. In the end, more than a solution in itself, the initiative shows the extent to which Ukraine is willing to explore any avenue (even symbolic) to tilt a war that is no longer decided only on the battlefield. Image | Picryl, Pexels In Xataka | In 1914, submachine guns forever changed the way war was waged. In 2026, it’s algorithms’ turn In Xataka | Ukraine has captured a North Korean missile from Russia and opened it: the surprising thing is not its parts, but how they work

Turning plastic into fuel profitably was a pipe dream. A new process just made it possible

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A team from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, in the United States, has achieved convert plastic bags and kitchen boards into gasoline and diesel without having to resort to high temperatures or expensive materials. The discovery, published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, has raised some eyebrows and below we tell you all the details. The problem they are trying to solve. The plastic is one of the most difficult materials to recycle profitably. Specifically, polyethylene (the polymer that makes up supermarket bags, white plastic containers or kitchen cutting boards) accumulates millions of tons in landfills each year. Until now, the only technically viable way to turn it into fuel was through a process called pyrolysis, which requires heating the material to temperatures between 450 and 500 degrees Celsius. An expensive, energy inefficient process that is difficult to scale to an industrial level. What does the new method consist of?. Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have opted for a different path: introduce the plastic into a mixture of molten salts with aluminum chloride, which acts both as a solvent and as a catalyst. These salts are inorganic compounds that remain stable even under demanding reaction conditions. The key is that the aluminum atoms in the mixture bind to the polymer and generate areas of high acidity that break the long molecular chains of the plastic into smaller fragments, which are transformed into molecules typical of gasoline or diesel. And all this at less than 200 degrees Celsius, a temperature comparable to that of a conventional domestic oven. Why it represents a relevant technical leap. Beyond the reduction in temperature, the process dispenses with three elements that make traditional methods more expensive and complicated: noble metal catalysts (such as platinum), organic solvents and external contribution of hydrogen. According to Zhenzhen Yanga scientist at ORNL and one of the lead authors of the study, “this is the first time that molten salts have been used as a means to produce high value-added chemicals from waste without any catalytic initiators or solvents, and at a temperature below 200 degrees Celsius.” Gasoline efficiency reaches approximately 60% in moderate conditions, a result that the researchers themselves describe as promising for its future industrial application. As they verified that worked. To understand exactly what happens during the reaction, the team used a combination of advanced analysis techniques, including soft X-ray spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance, neutron scattering, and gas chromatography. Thanks to isotopic labeling, they were able to track how carbon behaves during the process and confirm that the simplest polymer chains produce gasoline-like fuel, while the more complex ones derive into diesel molecules. By having this level of detail, the process could be optimized depending on the type of fuel you want to obtain. What remains to be resolved. The system is not ready to scale immediately. The main obstacle is that the aluminum salts used are hygroscopic, that is, they absorb moisture from the environment, which compromises their long-term stability. The team working now on ways to confine or protect these saltspossibly using halides or carbon materials, to make them more durable under real industrial conditions. Mbeyond the laboratory. If the process manages to scale successfully, the implications are considerable. Polyethylene is the most produced plastic in the world, abundant and cheap to obtain as a raw material. Aluminum salts, for their part, are low-cost commercial materials. According to Liqi Qiua postdoctoral researcher at the University of Tennessee, “the starting material is abundant in consumer waste, and our catalyst system, molten aluminum salts, is very cheap.” The result could be a cost-effective route to converting plastic waste into high-quality transportation and industrial fuels, while also clearing up our landfills. At the moment the patent is pending, so we will have to wait to find out if this remedy ends up coming to fruition. Cover image | Elbert Lora and Marek Studzinski In Xataka | An 11,000 km ring around the Moon: Japan’s incredible plan to light up the Earth

is turning old mines into lakes

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The energy transition has a hidden side that often remains in the background: it is not only saying goodbye to fossil fuels but also thinking about what to do with these degraded lands after years of extractive activity. The mines. Leaving these exploited lands to their fate is a waste in every sense. Germany knows this and has promoted the largest landscape intervention in Europe: the Lusatian Lake District. You can see it better in the photo that illustrates this article: the before and after: what began as a network of huge open-pit coal mines is being transformed into a complex system of more than 20 interconnected artificial lakes, a true vacation paradise for sailing or taking a bike ride. In fact, You can now book a getaway over there. The project. Between Berlin and Dresden, Germany is transforming one of the most degraded landscapes in Europe into the largest system of artificial lakes on the continent: Lausitzer Seenland. This is a conversion project of old open pit lignite mines in a network of 23 lakes that occupy 13,600 hectaresten of them connected by navigable canals forming a continuous area of ​​7,000 hectares. The state-owned company LMBV Lausitzer und Mitteldeutsche Bergbau-Verwaltungsgesellschaft) oversees the technical execution, which includes the creation of tourism infrastructure, such as beaches, ports, cycling and camping areas, along with state-of-the-art facilities. The process is long and need a lot of money: Going from a mine to a long-term safe lake costs between 200 and 600 million euros and in Lusatia alone it has already cost 7 billion euros. Why is it important. This project represents the largest environmental restoration effort of post-mining landscapes in Europe and constitutes a relevant case study for the rehabilitation of degraded areas. As collect this analysis from the German Federal Environment Agency, 19 of these lakes have already achieved good/high ecological potential. That is, recovery is possible. Beyond ecological recovery, the lakes also fulfill water management functions: during 2018, more than 62 million cubic meters were released from the lakes to raise low levels of the Spree and Schwarze Elster rivers during drought, such as collect the local media Niederlausitz Aktuell. The project also has significant socioeconomic implications: the government has destined 40,000 million euros to promote this transition from mining in the eastern coal regions towards other vectors such as sustainable tourism. Context. At the time of the German Democratic Republic were extracted more than 2,000 million tons of lignite from depths greater than 60 meters, leaving enormous craters in the landscape. Lusatia was the country’s gasoline: in 1989, lignite production there reached 195.1 million tons. In total, open pit mining of lignite has devastated 179,490 hectares in Germany. German reunification in 1990 marked a before and after. The fall in energy demand and that the Federal Environment Agency will classify it Since lignite is the most polluting fossil fuel, it brought about a progressive dismantling of its mining. During the 1990s the LMBV was tasked with restoring 19 open pit mining areas in Lusatia. As explains Dr. Uwe Steinhuber of LMBV, it will take at least two generations to complete it. How they do it. The rehabilitation of Lusatia is supported by geotechnical stabilization and active hydrological control, such as collects LMBV in this report. To transform mining craters into safe lakes, it applies deep vibration compaction techniques that prevent liquefaction of sandy soil, while accelerating filling through controlled diversion of flows from the Spree River. The process is monitored by the Copernicus satellite, which detects ground movements. Water chemistry is the other great technical challenge in that the oxidation of pyrite causes extreme acidification such as documents the Canadian Journal of Soil Science. To neutralize it, they use treatment plants and ships, which allows them to reach the quality standards of the Federal Environment Agency. Yes, but. We have already seen that the calendar is long and the budget astronomical, but LMBV warns that still remains: at the moment they have invested 7,000 million euros, but the total cost of the project (which includes other regions) amounts to 13,800 million. The entire process will end in this decade, but it will be necessary to apply surveillance in the coming generations, both for contaminants and the geological stability of the area. Despite all efforts, rehabilitation is far from ideal: of the 36 lakes assessed by the Federal Environment Agency (which includes other lakes outside the tourist district), 12 they got “moderate” classification due to mercury or endocrine disrupting compounds such as tributyltin and one presented “poor” status due to excess nutrients. There is scientific evidence which support that mining soils present severe physical, chemical and biological limitations that make complete ecological restoration difficult. In Xataka | Germany has had a crazy idea to solve one of the problems of renewables: covering a lake with solar panels In Xataka | A mining company believes that under the soil of La Mancha there is a “Gold” of rare earths. And at the moment they won’t let him take it out Cover | Tourismusverband Lausitzer Seenland (Steffen Rasche)

The dogs of La Rioja are turning industrial estates into Need For Speed. The Civil Guard has not been amused

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The Civil Guard has been dismantled in La Rioja a modified vehicle hangout whose drivers had a very clear intention: to organize illegal races and perform different illegal maneuvers (skidding, acceleration, etc.) as an exhibition. Although they enjoyed the plan for a few hours, the party ended with 120 people identified, 25 sanctions and crimes such as possession of weapons and driving under the influence of drugs. The Spanish Fast and Furious. A meeting spread through social networks, with the presence of influencers and with more than one hundred participants from several autonomous communities. The Civil Guard had been monitoring the call for weeks, articulating both an intervention operation and a preventive surveillance and control device in various industrial estates in the region. Real images of the meeting, broadcast on the internet. burning wheel. According to the authorities, the agents observed exhibition maneuvers such as skidding, sudden accelerationsburning tires, near the public parking lot of one of the shopping centers in La Rioja. In nearby industrial estates, drivers were detected carrying out illegal races, who are now being investigated for crimes against road safety. It’s not something new. This same weekend the Civil Guard has investigated three people for participating in an illegal vehicle race in the Villaluenga-Yuncler industrial estate, in the province of Toledo. The operation was part of an operation that is underway since Februaryand that has already claimed several arrests for illegal races in the area. Last March Traffic officers detained 33 drivers for the same reason, in the industrial estates of Lleida. Andalusia is not spared either, where recently A gathering was dismantled in one of the main avenues of the city. what’s happening. Nothing that hasn’t been happening for decades. Since the early 2000sillegal racing remains alive in Spain. Modified car hangouts are not a random crime: they are a subculture that has been outside the law for years and that, with the arrival of social networks and messaging apps, has it even easier to attract followers. What for decades was an invisible counterculture, confined to polygons and internet forums, is now announced on social networks, filmed live and exposed more than ever. And if not, tell that to the guy who asked his partner to marry him in the middle of a car meetup… and ended up seriously run over. In Xataka | Saudi Arabia believes the world deserves an F1 circuit on par with Mario Kart. So it’s being built

The largest naval project in German history since World War II is turning out to be a crazy disaster

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In Europe, large military programs often take more than a decade to be completed and, in many cases, end up costing several times more than initially anticipated. It is not uncommon for complex projects to accumulate thousands of technical requirements and go through multiple reviews before reaching production. In this context, some plans are born as emblems of modernization… and end up becoming examples of how difficult it is to bring them to fruition. From something historic to something unsustainable. He program F126 was born as the great symbol of German rearmament and largest naval project of the country since the Second World War, but over time it has become quite the opposite: an example of how an ambitious plan can derail to the point of collapse. Conceived as a latest generation frigateflexible and prepared for decades of service, the project has not only accumulated delays and cost overrunsbut has called into question Germany’s ability to execute large military programs at a time when it aspires to lead European defense. Technical errors and chaos. He told in an extensive report the financial times that the origin of the problem seems as modern as it is devastating: a failed bet on a new software design that was not ready for a project of this scale. What should have been an advanced tool ended up generating cascading errors, from cables incorrectly located on the plans to steel parts manufactured with incorrect shapes, forcing manual corrections and slowing down the entire production. The result was a system that was moving at just a fraction of its planned pace, with delays that pushed the initial delivery several years later than planned. A culture shock. It turns out that the problem was not just technical. Apparently, the media reported that the project was trapped in a deep shock between the Dutch shipyard’s way of working and the German contracting system, known for its extreme rigidity. Thousands of specifications detailed even the smallest elements, while approval processes were they dragged on for months within a complex bureaucracy that required paper documentation and rejected even plans in English. This combination made collaboration a slow, frustrating, and, in many cases, unproductive process. Skyrocketing costs and limit decisions. As the problems piled up, so did made the invoice: The project, initially valued in the billions, began to go off track with significant cost overruns and structural delays. As it is, Germany now faces critical decisions ranging from replacing the main contractor to accepting billions already invested. as irrecoverable losses. At the same time, faster but less ambitious alternative solutions are being studied, reflecting the extent to which the original project has lost credibility. Notice to sailors of rearmament. If you like, the case of the F126 goes beyond a simple industrial failure: it reveals the limits of European military cooperation even among closely integrated countries and raises questions about the continent’s ability to implement complex joint programs. In a context of increasing of defense spending and increasing strategic pressure, the project has become a clear warning: It is not enough to invest more, you also have to know how to manage better. Because otherwise, even the most important projects can end up being, as in this case, a costly and lengthy example of what not to do. Image | Give me In Xataka | Germany is experiencing a new “industrial miracle” that it already experienced 90 years ago: that of weapons In Xataka | Germany was a sleeping military giant: now it has been awakened and it is already surpassing the US in bullets produced per year

To survive the end of oil, China has resurrected an old German technology from World War II: turning coal into plastic

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While the world assumes that China’s energy transition is based exclusively on solar panels and electric vehicles — and, in part, it is, consolidating as the first great ‘electrostate’—, reality hides a much darker side. Faced with the outbreak of the Third Gulf War, Beijing has not even flinched. Beyond its immense strategic oil reserves, the secret of its resistance lies in an even more daring maneuver: the resurrection of German technology from World War II. An old German technology. Faced with the instability of oil imports, China has perfected the use of coal to produce petrochemical products. This synthesis technology (historically known as the process of fischer–Tropsch) was originally developed by Germany to sustain its military economy during World War II. Although it is widely known in the chemical industry, its main defect has always been the enormous pollution it generated. China has improved it. Far from settling for an outdated process, Chinese researchers have radically improved it. According to the state agency Xinhuaa team from Peking University has achieved a historic breakthrough by adding a minimal amount of methyl bromide (five parts per million) to the catalytic process. This surgically “turns off” the pathway that forms carbon dioxide as a byproduct, reducing these emissions from 30% to less than 1% and opening the door to near-green manufacturing to convert coal-derived synthesis gas (syngas) into olefins, the building blocks of plastics. At an industrial level, expansion is already a fact. As detailed South China Morning Postin Turpan prefecture (Xinjiang), construction has just begun on the world’s largest coal-to-ethylene glycol (a toxic compound used for plastics and antifreeze) project, with an astonishing capacity of 2.4 million tons per year. Even, as the magazine highlighted ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineeringresearch is being carried out on how to integrate this process (called PFTO) to chemically recycle tons of plastic waste, converting it into syngas and then back into light olefins. Did you see it coming? It is not the first time that China decides to take sides and prevent rather than cure. The Asian giant has decided to completely decouple its industry from maritime vulnerabilities and Western influence. “This is not China’s war, but Beijing began preparing for it years ago,” points out The New York Times. Everything accelerated during Donald Trump’s first term, prompting President Xi Jinping to demand complete “self-sufficiency” that would insulate China from any disruption to foreign supply chains. Time has proven them right. The war in Iran has brutally increased the price of crude oil, suffocating international petrochemical competitors that depend on black gold. In contrast, local Chinese coal has only gotten cheaper. According to Reutersthis has been a financial triumph: shares of companies such as Ningxia Baofeng Energy, which produces millions of tons of chemicals from coal, have risen 30% since the start of the conflict, while traditional Asian refiners such as Rongsheng Petrochemical have lost up to 27% of their stock market value. Furthermore, the Chinese media analyzed by Carbon Brief They insist on a unanimous nationalist message: in the face of a real emergency, coal is the only resource that the nation truly controls, acting as the great “ballast” guarantor of its national security. A change to other sectors. The change is undeniable. As revealed Bloombergthe country’s main coal miner, China Shenhua Energy, has cut its overall budget by 16%, but has almost doubled its investment in coal-to-chemical conversion, from 2.5 billion to 4.1 billion yuan by 2026. But at a devouring pace, as The New York Times provides information that measures the phenomenon: in 2020, China used 155 million tons of coal to manufacture chemicals; by 2024, the figure jumped to 276 million, and in 2025 it grew another 15%, single-handedly exceeding the total annual coal consumption of the entire United States. The research center CREATE confirms this trend in its reportconfirming that the use of coal in the chemical industry grew by 20% year-on-year only in the first half of 2025. Added to this is that, as the American media explains80% of Chinese nitrogen fertilizer (a third of the world’s supply) is already made with coal rather than oil or gas, allowing Beijing to keep its product at less than half the global market price. Behind it there is a very high cost. All this bold industrial maneuver has a severe climate cost that is already setting off international alarms. China’s draft 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) has set extremely cautious climate goals. As the experts explain CREATE and collect Financial Timesthe set goal of reducing carbon intensity by only 17% is “disappointing” and leaves room for the country’s emissions to continue growing between 3% and 6% in real terms over the next five years. This new government plan de facto reverses the international promise to “phase down” coal consumption, replacing it with a consumption “plateau” and explicitly protecting the large-scale expansion of the coal-based petrochemical industry. Only chemical projects already planned to be built between now and 2029 could increase China’s annual carbon dioxide emissions by an additional 2%. The forecasts are resounding. According to Bloomberg, By 2030, China’s chemical roadmap will massively stop using oil as a primary fuel (thanks to the adoption of its electric vehicles) and will take advantage of its modernized facilities to seek 85% self-sufficiency in all advanced materials and chemicals, displacing traditional giants. A feared crisis of overcapacity. The European ideas laboratory MERICS warns of collateral consequences: The Chinese domestic economy, with consumer confidence stagnant since the pandemic, has no way to absorb all this gigantic new production of materials and plastics. As a direct result, Chinese factories are forced to export their immense surpluses to the rest of the world at fire sale prices. This aggressive price war propelled China’s trade surplus to a stratospheric record of $1.2 trillion in 2025. According to the complaint MERICSthese massive exports are cannibalizing the industrial base of other nations; In the European Union alone, up to 500 manufacturing jobs are being lost daily due to the total … Read more

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