turns

Volkswagen led an army of sheep to graze under 31,000 solar panels. It turns out that the way of producing energy began to change

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For years, the industry has assumed that each new problem required an increasingly sophisticated solution. Volkswagen just demonstrated which is not always like that. After deploying thousands of solar panels to power one of its factories, it has discovered that the best possible maintenance is not done by a robot or a specialized machine, but by a flock of sheep. The problem was not the plates, but what was underneath. Photovoltaic parks share a challenge that is as simple as it is constant: vegetation doesn’t stop growing. In industrial facilities with tens of thousands of panels, keeping the ground clear involves introducing machinery between metal supports, wiring and electrical equipment, with the consequent economic, energy and maintenance costs. In the Volkswagen plant in Poznań, Poland, where a solar park of 31,000 panels can cover the entire energy demand of the factory during the days of greatest radiation and provides about 25% of its annual consumption, that challenge had become part of daily operations. An ancient solution. Instead of looking for a more efficient machine, Volkswagen turned to a much older technology: a hundred sheep. The animals replace lawnmowers, eliminating the need for mechanical clearing as they calmly cover the terrain under the plates. The curious thing is that the solution is not only effective in maintaining the grass at baybut it avoids the constant passage of vehicles between the infrastructure, reduces emissions and simplifies the maintenance of a state-of-the-art energy installation. The plus that sheep give. The project is part of a known model like agrivoltaicswhich seeks to combine electricity production with agricultural activity on the same surface. Under the supervision of researchers from the Poznań University of Sciences, the flock has been turned into a real open-air laboratory. The scientists analyze how it influences grazing on biodiversity, soil quality, vegetation, microclimate and animal well-being, while studying the extent to which the shade projected by the panels reduces the thermal stress of livestock during the hottest months. Nature also optimizes. The first results show an adaptation surprisingly fast. The sheep have been distributed naturally throughout the facility, forming small groups that take advantage of the shaded areas generated by the solar panels. This behavior, in addition to indicating that the animals feel safe, helps maintain a uniform plant coverage and encourages the appearance of insects and other species, transforming a simple photovoltaic plant into a much richer ecosystem than conventionally mowed land. Agrivoltaics is no longer rare. Although the case of Volkswagen is especially striking because it is a large industrial facility, the use of sheep in solar parks takes vyears extending in countries like the United Kingdom and the United States. The idea it’s simple: obtain two different yields from the same plot. While the plates generate electricity, the agricultural or livestock activity keeps the land productive, reduces operating costs and improves the environmental performance of the facility without competing for the use of the land. Innovation is not always more technology. The paradox of the project is evident. A factory that is committed to electrification, solar energy and decarbonization has ended up finding one of its most effective solutions in a livestock practice with thousands of years of history. At a time when innovation is often associated with artificial intelligence, automation or robotics, Volkswagen has discovered that, sometimes, the greatest advance consists of simply letting innovation. nature do a job that no machine can do with the same efficiency. Image | Rafal Pijanski In Xataka | Australia compared 1,700 sheep and discovered something unexpected: those that graze among solar panels give better quality wool In Xataka | Texas installed millions of solar panels on rural land. To maintain it they have had to hire 3,000 sheep

It turns out that in France there is a road that the Atlantic floods twice a day. By crossing it, you risk a ransom

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On the Cantabrian coast in the summer it is relatively common for a tourist’s vehicle to end up taking a dip when they park where they shouldn’t, but in the Passage du Gois In France there is no surprise factor: the road sinks when the tide rises, something that happens twice a day. Given the risk, it would be worth considering closing that route and using the alternative Noirmoutier bridgebut there are many people here who have come to play: in 2021 exactly 387,823 vehicles passed by, according to data from the Noirmoutier Tourist Office. If you’re one of those people who ventures out, the landscape is already iconic: the Tour de France has started there on several occasions. Now there is a road, now there is not. The Passage du Gois is 4,125 kilometers long and runs through Bourgneuf Bay, literally in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. On one side is the island of Noirmoutier and the connection with the rest of the continent takes place in Beauvoir-sur-Mer, near Nantes. This infrastructure belongs to the D948 network of the Vendée department. The passage or not is determined by the tides: according to the tidal coefficient That day, the road is covered by between 1.30 and 4 meters of water at each high tide. The Passage du Gois on Google Maps To pass or not to pass, that is the question. Step recommendations from the local tourist office are enough to make you think twice before crossing: if the tide coefficient is high, you have 90 minutes before and after low tide. When the coefficient is low, the margin is reduced so much that it is recommended to cross only at the exact moment of low tide. If you measure wrong, you’re risking it: four kilometers can be fatal. The good news is that Since the 19th century there have been nine safety beacons where you can leave the car and wait for the tide to go out or the emergency services to arrive. Spoiler: every year there are cars that end badly. Everything is signposted, but the authorities They have encountered another enemy unexpected: the GPS, which does not indicate low tides or weather conditions. Be very careful if you are one of those people who follows what Google Maps says to the letter. The movements of the tides in the Passage du Gois. Marine Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service Why build a road there?. Short answer: because nature put it there. Not so short answer: the origin of the Passage du Gois is geological: it was formed by the convergence of two opposite currents, one from the northwest influenced by the Loire estuary and another from the south influenced by the Atlantic. Both are found on the island and slow down there, producing a phenomenon known as wantijthat is, the deposition of particles at that point of collision of the currents, which causes the seabed to rise until it forms that natural back on which the roadway was planted. Building it was not easy or fast. Paving the road lasted five yearsfrom 1935 to 1939, which sounds truly outrageous even though it is almost a century old. The reason is that the works had to be carried out during low tide, which greatly limited the daily work time to two daily periods in a period of about two hours. From then on, the road was passable for vehicles on its already characteristic cement slabs. Since then, several sections have been subject to different paving tests that have never come to fruition. A future that looks very blue black. The Passage du Gois floodable road is neither the first nor the longest, but it is one of the first candidates to disappear in the immediate future. Considering sea level rise projections provided by the IPCC of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, will be between 0.38 and 0.77 meters by 2100, with different emissions scenarios starting in 2050. This implies that roads like this will see their safe operating window progressively reduced, making it increasingly unviable and dangerous. In Xataka | “We have six kilometers that have melted due to the heat”: in the face of extreme temperatures, France needs to Spanishize its roads In Xataka | If we already feared about the state of our roads, we have one more reason to worry: the price of asphalt is skyrocketing Cover | Pinpin and Florian Pepellin

Netflix’s latest big ratings success turns the formula into a phenomenon

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Nobody expected that’I will find you‘ was Harlan Coben’s best premiere for Netflix, and in fact, it has not been. However, eleven days after its arrival on the platform, it accumulates more views than almost any other fiction of 2026 in that same period: 58.1 millionand number one in more than 80 countries. The figure reaches milestones that only a handful of productions have reached in the entire history of the platform. And that, as we say, is not even the author’s best premiere with Netflix. What is it about? The series follows David Burroughs (Sam Worthington), a man who has been serving a life sentence for five years for the murder of his three-year-old son, a crime he has always denied having committed. Everything changes when his ex-sister-in-law, Rachel Mills (Britt Lower), brings him evidence that the boy could still be alive, opening the possibility that the original investigation was manipulated. Convinced that he has been the victim of a conspiracy, David escapes from prison and, together with Rachel and while being pursued by the FBI, unravels a web of family secrets that questions everything he thought he knew about his past. The author factory. Harlan Coben is certainly no newcomer to Netflix. The platform signed an agreement with him in August 2018 to adapt fourteen of his novels, expanded in 2022 with twelve more titles, including the eleven novels by Myron Bolitar, one of the researchers who star in his intrigues (and who is actually a representative of athletes). ‘I will find you’ is the first produced by an American team, after eight years transferring the original plots to the United Kingdom, Poland, France, Spain or Argentina. Some milestones of Coben’s adaptations. ‘Wiles‘ was the most watched series globally in the first half of 2024, with 107.5 million views, which placed it in seventh place in the history of English-language series on Netflix. ‘On the Run’ generated 15.6 million views in its first week and managed to unseat ‘Stranger Things’ from number one in the United States. Astronomical figures, surpassing even this ‘I will find you’, and which attest to Netflix’s good nose for detecting a vein. One that, in addition, insistently repeats certain plot lines: disappearances, family secrets, hidden identities, all of this is grouped under the “Harlan Coben Collection“which currently has 13 films. The public praises what the critics do not. Curiously, Coben’s adaptations do not have particularly high critical acceptance. There are some like ‘Silence in the snow‘ that have very low marks on Rotten Tomatoes (34%), and others that raise the average a little, such as ‘Safe‘ and its 73% of the public and 71% of the critics. But in general, the grades are closer to passing by the skin of their teeth: this ‘I will find you’ it has 63% of the public and 61% of the critics. None of this erodes in the least the audience phenomenon that adaptations represent. What is coming. While Netflix enjoys the success of ‘I’ll Find You’, Coben’s adaptation machinery does not stop (because they are always self-contained stories that work in a single stroke, with no option for second seasons) and ‘Myron Bolitar’ is already in preparation, the series that David E. Kelley (‘Big Little Lies’, ‘Presumed Innocent’) will co-write and co-direct with Coben himself. As a novelty, it is the first adaptation designed as a long-running series and not as a closed miniseries. Good times for comfortable, effective suspense with no other ambitions than to provide an acceptable dose of intrigue and chills. In Xataka | Of course you don’t remember anything that happened in the last season of your favorite series. It’s deliberate

Spain turns in the opposite direction to the rest of Europe. It is part of a geological plan: close the Mediterranean

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Spain and Portugal are dancing to a different rhythm than the rest of Europe. They are moving clockwise and the consequence is clear: a long-term closure of the Mediterranean that connects the Iberian Peninsula directly to North Africa. The convergence between continents is slow, a few millimeters a year (so we will continue needing the tunnel between Spain and Morocco), but one thing is clear: another Pangea is on the way. And the Iberian Peninsula and Morocco will be a unit. In short. Continental plates move. Some separate, others collide, and that continental drift has caused the emergence the Pangea Ultima theory. In 250 million years, there will only be one continent. There is a long way to go for that, but now, researchers from the University of the Basque Country, in collaboration with the universities of Palermo and Granada, have analyzed geodetic data that allows them to affirm that the Iberian Peninsula is rotating clockwise. This east-west rotation is driven by the convergence between the Eurasian and African plates, and the conclusion is clear: both are moving between four and six millimeters closer each year. This information is not new, but the researchers’ discovery is to specify the processes that take place at the diffuse boundary of the two western Mediterranean plates. Thanks, Gibraltar. Although the boundaries of other plates are well defined, this does not occur in the Western Mediterranean. There, the processes are much grayer, and there is something called “Gibraltar Arch” which plays an interesting role in this tectonic dynamic. To the east of the strait, the crust absorbs the deformation caused by the collision between the Eurasian and African plates. This ‘Gibraltar Arc’ acts as a buffer, but it has a consequence: in the west of the strait there is a direct collision between the plates, while in the east it is absorbed by the Gibraltar Arc. This lack of buffering from the southwest is what causes the clockwise rotation. Rotational strain rate field. Positive values ​​correspond to clockwise rotation, while negative values ​​refer to counterclockwise rotation. Active and potentially active faults are marked with solid and dashed gray lines, respectively. Double analysis. The researchers combined two types of accuracy analyzes to obtain these results. On the one hand, those of satellite deformation through GNSS system (Global Navigation Satellite System). Analyzing the data, they measured surface displacements with millimeter precision, relying on both permanent and occasional GPS markers. On the other hand, they also analyzed information from recent earthquakes that allowed them to determine the tectonic “stresses” in the area. They are independent data sets, but by crossing them they were able to draw a series of ‘lines’ that have allowed them to better specify the boundary between the plates. So that? Well, to better understand which sectors are in direct collision between plates and which are still more protected by the Gibraltar Arc. And the neighbors? The problem is that, although they claim that it is a rapid tectonic movement, this is true in geological terms. For us it is invaluable, but it also comes into play that we only have satellite data since 1999 and detailed seismic data since the 1980s. Even so, if with such a short range of data we have reached that conclusion in the annual approach, it is because the phenomenon is not in a hurry, but it does not pause either. And the most interesting thing is that this only affects the Iberian Peninsula. It is not that we are going to separate from France, since we ‘drag’ the rest of the continent thanks to the effect of the Gibraltar Arc, but we are not turning in the same direction as other neighbors. Italy, for example, experiences a counterclockwise rotation that exerts pressure in the alpine zoneand in the anatolian plate (where most of Türkiye is), there is also this counterclockwise rotation. Hello, Morocco. While in Turkey the consequence may be more earthquakes or mountain formations, this current speed of between 4 and 6 millimeters will cause, at some point, the Iberian Peninsula and Morocco to unite. This continental collision would close the Mediterraneanbut there is a lot left for it. How much? About 100 million years. They estimate that for 20 million years we will continue at the same speed, but within about 50 million years, things will gain momentum, accelerating the process and turning the region into one of the most active volcanic and seismic areas on the planet. It’s… foolish to worry. present utility. Now, beyond curiosity, the most immediate implication that the researchers point out is a better identification of active faults or areas in which previously unidentified tectonic structures could exist. Asier Madarieta-Txurruka, one of those responsible for the investigation, explains This information indicates where to look for these structures and boundaries to determine what type of folds and faults there may be. Thus, we can anticipate the type of earthquake that there will be and its magnitude in areas such as the Western Pyrenees or the region of Cádiz and Seville in which we know that there are numerous places with significant deformationbut we do not have well identified the active tectonic structures that cause them. And, although there is still a long way to go before the Alps and a new mountain range are founded across the peninsula and all of North Africa to Arabia, knowing better what we have right under our feet is much more useful. In Xataka | We knew that Africa was going to split in half. What we didn’t know was that it would happen so quickly.

Players celebrate that ‘GTA VI’ will cost 80 euros. It turns out that only the 100 euro ‘special’ is the entire game

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‘GTA VI‘ is the topic of the week in video games. Of the year, if you hurry me. The Rockstar title is a generational game and today reservations are open to get a digital version or a box that Does not include the game in physical format. That is, precisely, one of the controversies, but not the only one. The other has to do with the price. We have had rumors and leaks for months suggesting that ‘GTA VI’ was going to be the 100 euro game. Nintendo came close with the 90 euros of the ‘Mario Kart World‘, but many eyes were still on that ‘GTA VI’ whose development has been so monumental and expensive that it seemed to justify a considerable increase in price. In the end, it turned out that the game arrives for 80 euros in its standard version. But the twist is that there is a 100 euro version, one called ‘Ultimate’ that doesn’t feel like an ‘Ultimate’ edition: feels like the real ‘GTA VI’. Because this edition is not a collection of skins, as happens in other games: they are content that is unlocked as we progress through the game and are “threaded in all aspects of the story” of its protagonists, according to Rockstar itself. And it ranges from exclusive stores, items for the protagonists, vehicles of all kinds and some missions. The key to the Ultimate edition of ‘GTA VI’ On the website, Rockstar describes this edition as follows: “Welcome to Leonida, the state where anything goes. Get everything this vast world has to offer with Grand Theft Auto VI: Ultimate Edition, an exclusive collection of premium vehicles, weapons, fashion and action galore. The Ultimate Edition’s bonus content runs through Jason and Lucia’s story, discovering new items in each chapter.” We are used to the fact that when a game comes out in two editions, we have the full experience in the base edition and then an ‘Ultimate’ or ‘Complete’ edition that includes a code with skins. There may be some other element such as a vehicle or a couple of exclusive weapons, but in the end it is nothing that alters the experience too much. These contents are usually unlocked from the beginning of the adventure if we enter the code, but In the case of ‘GTA VI Ultimate’ things seem slightly different. As the company has commented, these new contents will be unlocked not all at once, but as we complete steps in the adventures of its protagonists. And that, with my experience as a player, sounds to me like content that has always been unlocked as we played, without having to pay anything else, but that now they want to pass off as additional content. Because yes, we have some different weapons, vehicles, tattoos, hairstyles and outfits, but also two car modification workshops, a new safe house in one of the areas, a store that only opens with this version and what seems like a mission or event in which we can raid the warehouse of a gang in the city to recover their merchandise. As I say, all of that sounds to me like content that, In another era, we would have been achieving with the normal course of the adventure. And for this reason, precisely, it gives rise to thinking that the ‘GTA VI’ that they had in mind from the beginning was the one for 100 euros, and that this so-called ‘Ultimate Edition’ is nothing more than the standard version, but with a cut version for 80 euros so as not to be ‘GTA’ the saga that raised the games to the 100 euro barrier. Because, in the end, no matter how much of a ‘GTA’ you are, the price of a video game matters. For example, the one that got involved when PS5 raised the price of some games up to 80 euros or when Nintendo did it a year ago with 90 euros. In fact, Rockstar must be quite happy with Nintendo for the 90 euros of ‘Mario Kart World’. And, speaking of Nintendo, another detail that gives rise to thinking that the ‘GTA VI’ “really” is the 100 euro one is the one that was set up when Nintendo launched ‘Donkey Kong Bananza‘ for 80 euros and, just a month later, it released a DLC that they most likely already had prepared for the original launch, but costing 20 euros. In practice, whoever wanted the complete game ‘dropped’ 100 euros in just a month and a half. But hey, price and controversies aside, ‘GTA VI’ is going to be a generational game. Rockstar has been cooking this work for more than a decade, which has become, possibly, the most expensive entertainment product ever created. It is a game that will not leave anyone indifferent and that, without really having many details about it, fills rivers of digital ink and a lot of content on YouTube. It also seems that they want to get rid of all the negative aspects as soon as possible so that the launch on November 19 goes as smoothly as possible. Although Rockstar must deal not only with issues such as price or differences between versions, but with much more serious things such as the denounced treatment of its workers and their rights. And if Reddit is a thermometer, it is neither hot nor cold, with users defending the decision and others questioning, precisely, that content is blocked. In Xataka | There are more and more physical video games that are paperweights. It is a tremendous problem for video games as art.

We believed that Adobe was threatened with death by AI. It turns out that it is one of the few companies that is making money from it

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In the last year Adobe has lost almost half of its value. Twelve months ago it was trading at $382. Today your actions They are listed at $197.. Wall Street has clearly punished a company that certainly seemed to be threatened with death by new generative AI models. The surprise is that Adobe is not only not doing badly with AI, but it is doing really well. Wall Street says one thing, the data another. In the second fiscal quarter of 2026, the company achieved some historical results with record revenues of $6.62 billion (up 13% year over year). Earnings per share (EPS) have shot up 18% to $5.96, and although the NASDAQ charts say otherwise, Adobe is not only not suffering, but appears to be stronger than ever. A money making machine. Adobe is in fact behaving like a true software empire. In 2025, it managed to have free cash flow of $9.85 billion on revenue of $23.8 billion. Its operating margins are also the envy of the sector: they stand at 37% (47% in terms non-GAAP). Its subscription business is absolutely exceptional, with annual recurring revenue (ARR) already reaching $27.1 billion. Others burn money with AI: ADobe earns it. While most companies do not stop investing money in the hope that the bet will pay off very profitable in the future, Adobe is ensuring that its generative AI tools are already having a positive impact on its results sheet. Income ARR Dependents on “AI First” solutions have tripled in just one year, and the big driver here is Firefly, Adobe’s generative AI platform. She alone has exceeded $250 million in ARR and continues to grow. Companies trust Adobe. We users may love using Gemini or ChatGPT to create AI images, but companies that relied on Adobe products for their creative workflows continue to do so. 75% of Fortune 500 companies already use Firefly, but the company has also trained more than 2,500 custom AI models for large corporate accounts. Users do not stop growing. Another advantage that AI has brought is that the technical barrier to using Photoshop or Premiere is lowered because the integrated AI assistants help users create what they wanted. There are also simplified tools like Adobe Express (70 million active users per month), and the freemium approach has been another reason for the number of users to grow: in just 12 months Adobe has gone from having 700 to 850 million users. The vast majority are still users of the free features, but Adobe it is enough to convert 2% to paying users to ensure that all these efforts are profitable. But the competition is tight. Although things seem to be going very well, Adobe now faces a fragmented ecosystem with a lot of competition. These new rivals also take advantage of AI to “attack” very specific use cases. It happens with Canva, for examplewhich has become a real threat and already has a turnover of 4,000 million dollars. Midjourney, Runway and even the Spanish Magnific are platforms that have fully embraced the AI ​​revolution to offer services to both individuals and companies. Be careful with subscriptions. Adobe is not immune to market fluctuations. The company stands out for maintaining extraordinary profitability in a very specialized niche, but it has taken questionable business decisions recently. The notable price increase of your subscriptions last year and its limits to generative credits have been decisions highly criticized. This has caused users to flee to cheap or even free alternatives such as Affinity or DaVinci Resolve. Uncertainty. There is another striking detail that can critically influence the future of the company. Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen advertisement who was leaving the company after 18 years at the helm. There is no designated successor and this comes in the middle of that transition to a world full of generative AI solutions. The risk is therefore notable, and whoever takes the reins of the business will have to make very important decisions to not jeopardize the future of an already legendary technology company. In Xataka | Adobe was not born with Photoshop. It started by solving a huge and inconspicuous problem: printing well

It turns out that there is an island in Fiji made of shellfish shells. Some crabs discovered it

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Off the northern coast of Vanua Levu, the second largest island in the entire archipelago of Fijithere is a small island of 3,000 square meters. In a country made up of more than 300 islands scattered in the Pacific, the fact that there is one so small is not a surprise. But when you remove the mangroves and sand, what you have are shells. More specifically, edible seafood remains. The million dollar question now science is done It is whether that huge amount of shells is the work of people or nature. Once upon a time there was an island made of seafood remains. The shell deposit reaches 60 centimeters thick above the average high tide level and is between 20 and 40 centimeters thick on average and its composition is between 70% and 90% edible shellfish remains. Radiocarbon dating indicates that the greatest accumulation occurred around 760 AD, with samples spanning from approximately 420 to 1040 AD. That there is such an abundance of edible species gives a clue to the origin of the island: if it were a natural deposit, what would be expected would be to find an indiscriminate mixture of marine detritus, such as stones or inedible organisms from the seabed. Why is it important. Because everything indicates that this simple and small island is a “shell midden“, a “conchero” or shell dump created by humans. Or what is the same: the physical proof that there was once a community that lived, worked and fed in the area on the coast of Culasawani. Over the centuries, this accumulation of remains became an island demonstrating that even without wanting to, humans can make land without trying. On the other hand, historically there are not many archaeological studies in Vanua Levu and this site It constitutes a great opportunity to reconstruct ancient settlements and their customs. Context. The first time the research team was aware of the island was in 2017, in a general reconnaissance. It was the activity of the burrowing crabs that caught the team’s attention: the crustaceans brought material up to half a meter deep to the surface. In 2024 they resumed the investigation and they confirmed it: It was an island separated from the mainland. The “concheros” are an old acquaintance in the archeology of the Pacific, since they give many clues about how ancient communities lived, what they fed on and how they interacted with the environment. Of course, in this case the shell hole is so large that it has formed an entire island. The mangrove would arrive later, when the settlement had already been abandoned: the relative drop in sea level and the deforestation of inland areas released large quantities of sediment that functioned as a substrate on which to take root. In detail. To analyze it, the research team extracted 20 sediment cores and excavated four pits measuring one meter by one meter. All the remains of shellfish found in the sediments belonged to edible species, more specifically, the majority of the shellfish that make up them are clams of the genus Anadarain addition to other edible bivalves and gastropods and some ceramic fragments typical of human activity. The team found no clear evidence of animal bones, fish remains or stone tools, suggesting that these people gathered the shellfish in shallow waters, extracted the meat there and transported the food in ceramic vessels to another site, leaving the shells behind. Yes, but. In archeology, having the absolute truth is a chimera, but the most solid hypothesis with the evidence found is that it is an island of random human construction. The natural alternative involves a large wave or tsunami, but it is ruled out: it would carry away all types of marine organisms, not just those that are eaten. There is still one pending issue: where exactly the people who processed that seafood in the place lived. The team’s next step is to explore the mainland area near Culasawani to find the associated village and better understand how the entire system worked. And they are racing against the clock: what barely peeks through the mangroves is tremendously vulnerable to rising sea levels, a threat about which the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has already warned. In Xataka | A man bought a desert island in 1962: he planted 16,000 trees and turned it into an anti-rich sanctuary In Xataka | A billionaire bought an island in Hawaii for himself and his friends. So the locals had to leave Cover | Zunnoon Ahmed and Eduardo Gorghetto

China just launched a rocket without telling anyone. It turns out that it is the most ambitious in its history

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China has taken seriously that “first come, first served” thing. Although the 1967 Outer Space Treaty states that No State can claim sovereignty over the Moon, Mars or any other celestial body, what does apply is that the geostationary orbital positions and frequency bands work as “first come, first served”. What does this mean? Well, the country or company that first registers and coordinates a constellation or a position with certain frequencies gets priority of use. This context is necessary to understand why SpaceX or Amazon are so interested in mass launching satellites into low orbit, and also why China has been accelerating the pace for months with their rockets in an aggressive expansion maneuver. So aggressive that finish of surprise and secret launch of a Long March 12B rocket with a double objective: to continue feeding its satellite constellation and to demonstrate that its reusable rocket can compete against the Falcon 9 from SpaceX. China and the space sprint This past Monday, the operators of the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, in the Gobi Desert, had work. In the American early morning, a rocket Long March 12B It left for low orbit with a cargo of satellites that will feed the Qianfan megaconstellation. This is China’s response to SpaceX Starlink and it seems that the mission went well because the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation declared the flight a success. There is a double reading here. On the one hand, the Long March 12B is one of the responses to SpaceX’s Falcon 9. It is a reusable rocket that has a first stage intended to land by propulsion on a recovery platform on Earth. It can transport 20 tons to low Earth orbit and this was its first flight… although was not done no recovery attempt. The other reading is that China is in aggressive mode launching things into space. It has been a very busy few months with different missions both in low orbit and in its Tiangong space stationbut the interesting thing about this launch of the Long March 12B is that people found out through social networks. When a mission is going to be carried out, whether it is more or less media-related, a series of prior notices are made to both the international authorities that control the air and maritime space in case something goes wrong. However, This mission has been carried out in absolute secrecybeing an unusual practice in both government and private programs. In the end, it is one more demonstration of what we were talking about: China has stepped on the accelerator to claim a space that can only be claimed by getting there and occupying it, and that is vital within the framework of user service (satellite Internet, wow) and, above all, for strategic reasons and technological sovereignty. Because it may seem that companies and countries want to bring the Internet everywhere, but the strategy is different: Controlling constellations and their orbital resources means controlling critical infrastructure such as satellite Internet, Earth observation, and military communications. Geopolitical advantage by arriving first in a space that the rival might want to occupy with other types of satellites. Arriving first forces the others to play on their board. And most importantly: the space you are interested in occupying is finite and everyone wants their land as soon as possible. In the end, this “secret” flight marks number 647 of the Long March series and is one more example that China is deeply involved in a new space race in which it competes directly against the United States, but in which Europe is also working to have something to say. In Xataka | Europe has almost ready something that, until recently, seemed practically a dream: its first reusable spacecraft

It turns out that birds and insects live much better under them

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We have been hearing for years that the expansion of solar parks threatens the countryside. The mental image we usually have is of hectares and hectares of black panels under a relentless sun, devastating the landscape and without a single bird for miles around. However, the data is beginning to tell a radically different story. There is more life inside than outside. To understand this phenomenon, we only have to look at the most recent data in Spain. According to a report from the Spanish Photovoltaic Union (UNEF)endorsed by the independent environmental consultancy EMAT, photovoltaic enclosures are proving to be refuges full of life. After analyzing different facilities in 2025, the pattern is repeated within the park, there are more species than in the adjacent agricultural field. The numbers in three different provinces leave no room for doubt: Minglanilla (Cuenca): Researchers counted a total of 32 species of birds inside the solar plant, compared to the 19 they found in the control agricultural area located just outside. Revilla Vallejera (Burgos): The balance recorded 39 species inside the facility compared to 34 outside. Trujillo (Cáceres): 31 species were detected living between the panels, compared to 25 outside them. And what kind of tenants are arriving? They are not just common birds. The presence of protected or declining species such as the curlew, the little bustard, the roller, the owl and the lesser kestrel have been documented. And the food chain works its magic: as wild vegetation grows, insects arrive; with the insects, come the birds; and the abundance of these prey is attracting birds of prey such as eagles, vultures, hawks and owls. There is no technology, but something simpler. To understand why this is happening you have to change the reference point. The question is not whether a solar park is ecologically better than a virgin forest, because it clearly is not. The key is to compare it with what was before in that field. In the vast majority of cases, these fields were previously intensive agricultural operations: impoverished landscapes, treated with herbicides and profoundly silent. In contrast, installing a solar park de facto introduces an ecological exclusion zone. In other words, no pesticides or herbicides are used, hunting is prohibited and there is no tillage of the land, and human presence is reduced to very specific maintenance visits. As Martín Behar points outdirector of Studies and Environment at UNEF, this lack of chemicals, added to natural vegetation management through extensive grazing, is generating fantastic results on biodiversity. Spain It is not an anomaly. At an international level, what science is beginning to call “conservatory” systems (the union of renewable generation and active conservation) already has fascinating evidence. In the United Kingdom, a study led by the RSPB and the University of Cambridge analyzed six solar parks in East AngliaEdit. The conclusion was that they housed a greater wealth of birds than nearby crops. In those better managed (with unpruned hedges and varied vegetation), almost three times as many birds were found than in neighboring fields. But perhaps the most curious story comes from Australia. A Lightsource bp study followed 1,700 merino sheep for three years. Half lived in traditional grass fields and the other half lived among photovoltaic panels. The discovery surprised everyone: the sheep that grazed in the solar park produced better quality wool. The reason is that the microclimate under the modules allowed them to alternate between fresh forage, dry grass and hay several times a year, something not feasible in a normal paddock in full sun. It’s not enough to plant the panels and cross your fingers. Of course, the researchers themselves warn of something fundamental: that solar parks can benefit the ecosystem does not mean that they always do so by magic. It is not enough to install the panels and wait. If you just cut the grass close and leave a “simple habitat”, there will be no miracle. For the magic to happen, active management is needed: maintain vegetation covers, use native vegetation on the margins, create ecological corridors and rely on sheep as a natural lawnmower. To push the industry in this direction, UNEF has promoted a Seal of Excellence in Sustainability, developed hand in hand with experts from WWF and SEO/BirdLife. The debate is changing. What makes photovoltaic energy an ally for biodiversity or a territorial threat is, simply, what we decide to do with it. Image | Pexels Xataka | Australia compared 1,700 sheep and discovered something unexpected: those that graze among solar panels give better quality wool

They detect if you are wearing your seat belt, if you are on your cell phone or if you make illegal turns

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Pamplona is going to significantly strengthen its traffic surveillance system starting next June. Although we recently knew the setup of the new section radar of the AP-68which by the way is the second longest in Spain with more than 30 km of distance covered, now the Pamplona City Council will launch four radars with AI capable of hunting down practically any driving violation, from carrying your cell phone in your hand to driving without a seat belt, jumping a red light or changing lanes improperly. Automation. Until now, these types of violations depended on traffic officers. The arrival of these radars automates this surveillance and, above all, it will work as a pilot test in the country, because if they end up giving good results, it is reasonable to think that we will see this technology spreading to other Spanish cities and roads in the coming months. What do they detect?. The new devices incorporate a color camera and a license plate reading system that, combined with AI technology, identify a whole range of illegalities while driving. According to the City Council, they will be able to detect: Use of mobile phone while driving. Drivers without seat belts. Traffic in the opposite direction and prohibited turns. Improper lane changes. Running a red light. Do not respect zebra crossings or stop in yellow-marked areas. Added to all this is a speed control system, with a range that goes from 10 to 320 km/h. The objective according to the City Council is to “monitor compliance with traffic rules, regulate speed and avoid accidents in the city”, as share from Navarra News. What are they like?. The gray cabins are something that has been left behind on these new radars. These are mounted high on staffs, medians or gantries, and withstand temperatures between -30 and 70 degrees without the need for a protective casing. Another important novelty is that they cover several lanes at the same time and bidirectionally (both approaching and receding vehicles) and allow different speed limits to be configured for each lane. Where will they be installed?. Although the idea is that rotate between the eleven cabins that are spread throughout the city, the first planned locations are Army Avenue, Gipuzkoa Avenue next to the Oblatas Bridge, Sadar Street and Paseo de Santa Lucía. The fact that they rotate is precisely designed so that the driver never knows for sure if the cabin in front of him is working or not. Between the lines. Each radar It has cost the City Council 20,000 euros (VAT apart), an investment that the City Council considers justified by the number of infractions that a single device is capable of detecting. In addition, it should be taken into account that a device of this type can fine for behaviors that previously required the presence of an agent or were easier to avoid. So it is quite likely that they will end up recovering the investment based on fines in a short time. Before starting to operate, the radars must pass the approval process of the Spanish Metrology Center, a step that the City Council hopes to resolve in time to activate them during June. Cover image | Google Maps In Xataka | In its plan to make Citroën relevant, Stellantis has confirmed the rumors: a new Citroën 2 CV is arriving

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