turns

The 48fps format makes ‘Avatar 3’ hyperrealistic. It’s just what turns back part of the public

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The new installment of ‘Avatar‘ is distanced, in technical terms, from practically all the other films with which it shares the billboard: Cameron’s thoroughness when it comes to capturing his vision in images has led him to generate, for example, 45 different versions of the film adapted to the conditions of each possible type of theater. This has also led him to declare that the best format to see this third installment it is at 48fps. But not all cinemas are prepared nor does it necessarily have to be a dish to the taste of all viewers. What are 48 frames per second. James Cameron wants us to see 40% of ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’ at 48 frames per second, double the film standardconvinced that this system offers the most natural visual experience to capture the world of Pandora. However, all previous attempts to impose HFR (High Frame Rate) have failed, since ‘The Hobbit‘ until ‘Gemini‘ by Ang Lee. The reason: to the untrained eye, the image is too sharptoo similar to home video. The question that remains is: why does Cameron opt for a technology that systematically causes visual rejection in viewers? Why Cameron likes it. James Cameron maintains a personal position on HFR: he refuses to classify it as a cinematographic format, but rather defines it as a creative tool at the service of narrative, comparable to any other technical resource. Approximately 40% of ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’ has been shot at 48 frames per second, concentrating mainly on the underwater sequences and flight scenes where, according to the filmmaker, the increase in visual clarity enhances the feeling of spatial presence. How it works. Cameron’s technical strategy is articulated through the Variable Frame Rate (VFR), which dynamically switches between 24fps and 48fps according to the expressive needs of each scene. As Cameron explainshe framerate high is counterproductive in moments of dialogue or everyday interaction, where it generates an unwanted hyperrealism that emotionally distances the viewer from the fiction. Therefore, scenes with characters talking or walking remain in the traditional standard. The technical process is completed with TrueCutMotiona technology that allows you to adjust the level of motion blur and image smoothness scene by scene. This granular control is intended to avoid the dreaded “soap opera effect” that worked so poorly in ‘The Hobbit’. Cameron conceives of the HFR fundamentally as a technical improvement for 3Dnot as an autonomous aesthetic revolution. In Spain what is closest to Cameron’s proposal is lto Cinity technologyof Chinese origin, which only screens the Odeon network in five theaters and which combines 4K, 3D and HFR. Why does it look like that? The reason we see 48fps with that extreme smoothing effect is because cinema has operated at 24 frames per second since sound demanded standardization of projection speed a hundred years ago. Each frame captures the image for approximately 1/48 of a second, generating a motion blur that the human brain interprets as natural or rather, as “cinematic.” He HFR duplicates that information: 48 images per second with half speed motion blurwhich equals more sharpness in fast movements. The technical advantages apply above all to 3D projections, as Cameron assures: framerate High resolution prevents the image from blurring when panning, and reduces eye-straining flicker in 3D projections. It also helps maintain clarity in low-light scenes, where traditional 24fps results in blurry images. It’s your fault. What we must keep in mind is that the problem that we associate with 48fps It’s psychological, not technical.. Viewers have been trained for a century to associate 24fps with cinematic narrative and framerates superiors with television broadcasts. When the image is too sharp, the brain immediately detects the artifices of the staging. Digital effects, makeup, sets, everything is camouflaged with 24fps images, because we enter more easily into the lie of cinema. The HFR, however, is too clear, too revealing. Previous failures. The first major commercial commitment to HFR came in December 2012 with ‘The Hobbit’. Peter Jackson filmed his entire Tolkien trilogy at 48fps using RED Epic cameras, but the critical and public reaction was devastating because the image was too sharp, almost like that of a reality show. Technically there were no objections to the result, but at the same time it proposed an aesthetic opposite to what was expected from a fantasy story. The HFR versions were never released in domestic format, which makes them curious pieces of lost media in the digital age. Ang Lee went further with the semi-unknown ‘Billy Lynn’ and with ‘Geminis’, which raised the fps to 120. The first could only be projected in those conditions in six theaters around the world and the second, a few more but not many: fourteen in the United States. Both failed commercially, since the HDR versions were released covertly fearing a failure like ‘The Hobbit’. Once again the hyperstylized and fantastical aesthetic came face to face with the dizzying hyperrealism of 120fps. The exhibitors, in addition, they had to acquire HFR licenses for $500 for equipment that they would almost never use. In Xataka | It is possible that ‘Avatar 3’ will sweep and raise millions of dollars. And it is perfectly possible that you lose money despite it

Spain turns in the opposite direction to the rest of Europe. Form part of a geological plan: closing 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, some researchers from the University of the Basque Country 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.

We thought only marijuana growers were stealing electricity. Now it turns out that supermarkets too

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While the city slows down and most businesses close, some supermarkets continue to operate normally. They open at dawn, keep the lights on and the cold rooms running. For years, this constant consumption barely attracted attention. Until last December 2, a joint action by the Civil Guard, the National Police and the Urban Police revealed that several supermarkets in Barcelona were obtaining electricity through illegal connections to the grid. Under the magnifying glass. It was not a specific case or a single neighborhood. The inspections were distributed across Nou Barris, Sant Andreu, Sant Martí, Gràcia, Eixample and Ciutat Vella. In total, 26 supermarkets, and in 24 of them the electricity did not go through the meter. The Civil Guard opened proceedings against 26 people, of Pakistani and Bangladeshi nationality, for an alleged crime of electricity fraud. They were not small isolated businesses. Most operated as franchise supermarkets, some open 24 hours a day and belonging to well-known chains, according to The Newspaper. The performance, named Nihariwas carried out with the collaboration of Endesa technicians and Labor and Social Security inspectors, and ended with the immediate cutting off of supply in the establishments, as reported by the Urban Guard. Electricity tapped into the network. The investigation began after a complaint filed by Endesa before the Civil Guard, as pointed out The Vanguard. The electricity company had detected a suspicious pattern: businesses that, due to their activity and schedules, recorded anomalous or non-existent consumption in their contracts. Once inside the premises, the technicians verified that the electricity was obtained through illegal connections directly to the general network or public lighting. Manipulations without any type of protection or technical review, designed to avoid paying the energy bill. The fraud amounts to 2.85 million kilowatts, a figure equivalent to the annual consumption of 814 homes. A crime with risk of fire. The Civil Guard remembers, as collected The Newspaperthat illegal connections lack safety systems, adequate insulation and protection against overloads, which significantly increases the possibility of short circuits and fires. The danger is aggravated by the location of many of these supermarkets: commercial basements of residential buildings, with a large influx of people and proximity to garages, storage rooms and common areas. In this sense, the Urban Guard emphasizes that electrical fraud It is not only a crime against the energy system, but also a citizen security problem. Much more than light. The operation uncovered a wide catalog of irregularities. During the inspections, the National Police identified 59 people. Of them, five have been considered victims of labor exploitation and another five are in an irregular administrative situation. In addition, the Barcelona Urban Guard drew up 87 minutes for administrative infractions related to safety, hygiene and regulatory compliance. Among them, blocked emergency exits, absence of fire extinguishers, impractical bathrooms, lack of mandatory signs, sale of expired or spoiled food, and carrying out the activity without a license. For its part, the Civil Guard opened 16 cases due to smuggling, incorrect labeling of products, unmarked surveillance cameras, sales receipts without the businessman’s data and manipulation of scales, with a weighing favorable to the merchant. The absence of a food handling card was also detected in some workers. The same fraud, another showcase. What was previously detected in boarded-up floors and linked industrial warehouses to illegal marijuana cultivation It now appears in all-night supermarkets. The investigation confirm that electrical fraud has ceased to be a strictly clandestine phenomenon and has become established, in some cases, in apparently normal activities facing the public. The scenario changes, but not the crime. And neither are the risks. Image | Release and freepik Xataka | Spain lights up for Christmas, but an uncomfortable doubt arises on some rooftops

the most disruptive technology for treating patients in the ICU turns out to be an MP3 file

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When we think about the advances in hospitals to improve survival or recovery of patientswe can come to think of better respirators, monitors that offer thousands of data or new drugs that are almost miraculous. However, science has given us a blow of reality by demonstrating that accompanying families during hospital stays offers great results. This is something that has been seen directly in a hospital’s ICU itself, where patients are between life and death. That is why a study decided to use something as ‘low-tech’ as It is a voice recording of a family member to see the real impact it could have on his recovery. And the truth is that we have been underestimating the usefulness of this clinical tool. The problem. One of the big problems faced by patients entering the ICU is the ‘delirium’. A state of great confusion resulting from an acute failure of the nervous system that affects up to 80% of patients that have mechanical ventilation. And this is something terrible within these units. Not because it is annoying for the patient to be in a great state of confusion, but because it has been seen that mortality, hospital stay and all this increase. leads to higher costs for the healthcare system. Something that has been calculated and that points to an expense of between 6,000 and 20,000 million dollars annually. And the worst thing: current drugs (sedatives, antipsychotics) are often part of the problem or are not entirely effective in preventing it. The solution. Once we had the problem, Cindy Munro proposed a simple but powerful hypothesis to solve it: if the brain “disconnects” from reality due to isolation and sedation, can we use a familiar voice to bring it back? The test. In order to see if this was possible or not, a study was carried out that included 178 patients from two large hospitals in Florida and which had the collaboration of five large universities. The goal was clear: treat sound almost as if it were medicine. To do this, a protocol was created to play the audio so that it was not simply connecting the radio or mobile phone and allowing the patient to listen. The standard was to use common audio players, with two-minute clips recording the families and a playback that would be done twice a day: at 9 in the morning and at 4 in the afternoon. The time was not chosen at random, but was designed to ‘hack’ the circadian rhythm. Listening to familiar voices during the day helps the brain orient itself temporally, reinforcing the difference between day and night, something that is completely lost under the artificial lights of an ICU. The result. In addition to offering a positive result to the patients’ condition, it was also seen to have a dose-dependent effect like medications. That is, the more messages patients received, the greater the reduction in delirium in the ICU. Why this matters. Today the industry does not cease its attempts to search for complex molecules to protect the brain, regenerate cells and countless other techniques. But the reality is that the solution seems to lie in our evolutionary biology (or at least a little help): reacting to the voices of our ‘tribe’. Images | Stephen Andrews In Xataka | Science wants to put ‘microrobots’ into our bodies to medicate us. They have already given good results

appears out of nowhere and turns Russia invisible

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At the beginning of November a scene It went viral on networks. The arrival of Russian troops in Pokrovs was more typical of a dystopia, another example that the war in Ukraine seemed to have definitively become a mirror of what the war conflicts of the future will be like. Now we know that that scene was also the prelude to an advantage. The weather in front. Yes, on the eastern lines of Ukraine, the arrival of a winter full of dense fogs has transformed the battlefield in an unpredictable scenario where visibility, which previously determined the pace of drones, has become a strategic resource in itself. The veil of humidity that covers Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and the approaches to Pokrovsk It makes the job of Ukrainian operators who rely on aerial surveillance to track Russian movements, but also offers an opportunity to sneak up, infiltrate and strike at close range. The chaos. In areas like Pokrovskwhere the lines overlap and the front is porous, the fog has caused a kind of calculated chaos that makes war unpredictable, a board where both armies move almost groping between bursts of fire that appear without warning, while the commanders admit that the weather is completely altering the reading of the terrain and the control of the approaches. Exploiting meteorological disorder. The fog has allowed Russian forces to promote specific advances and risky maneuvers. Taking advantage of the lack of aerial surveillance, mechanized units have managed to cross natural obstacles, build improvised bridges and make their way into areas where they were previously stopped by constant reconnaissance from the air. In southern regions, such as Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsklow visibility has coincided with an increase in assaults and intensive bombing that has forced Ukraine to retreat from certain positions in search of more sustainable defensive lines. The accumulation of troops under the cover of fog, the concentration of armored vehicles and the constant infiltrations by small teams seeking to advance without being detected reflect a strategy that combines quantity, continuous pressure and meteorological opportunism. At the same time, the movement of columns towards towns such as Huliaipole and Yablukove confirms that Russia tries to convert each weather window into a territorial advance, aware that controlling logistics nodes at this time of year can set the trend for the entire campaign. Solution: ground robots. Faced with the temporary loss of eyes in the sky, Ukraine has begun to integrate ground robotic systems to replace the surveillance that drones previously guaranteed. The appearance of UGVs In the defense of Pokrovsk it has made it possible to detect enemy movements that would have gone unnoticed in the dense fog and has served to guide subsequent attacks with FPV drones when visibility permitted. These small, discreet and fast platforms have provided an additional layer reconnaissance in areas where even the best aerial optics fail. Its deployment shows that the Ukrainian army is maturing hybrid doctrines where ground robots complete the work of drones that they previously dominated alone. If you will, it’s a preview of how technological warfare could evolve in the coming years: closer integration between autonomous ground sensors and aerial vectors, especially in adverse climates that are becoming more frequent and extreme. Units operating in Pokrovsk describe combat scenes where attacks emerge from the fogguided by machines that detect heat, sound or movement in conditions in which the human eye is practically blind. The pressure on Pokrovsk. The worsening of the weather coincides with a deterioration of the tactical situation in Pokrovska critical point due to its value as a transport hub and link for the defense of the east. Russia has intensified assaults relying both on climate coverage and on a notable numerical imbalance that favors its troops. Ukrainian forces acknowledge that they face waves of infantry in very small groups, teams of two or three soldiers seeking to saturate the defenses through multiple approaches, and that the fog has facilitated the temporary return of mechanized assaultseven using civilian vehicles to advance quickly in the direction of the city. A plan B. This dynamic has forced Ukraine to combine tactical withdrawals, civilian evacuations and robotic ground reconnaissance to avoid surprises. The adverse weather has accelerated the feeling of uncertainty on a front where every meter of ground is contested blindly and where the lack of aerial vision multiplies the risk that an enemy leak becomes an operational rupture. Time changes everything. The combination of persistent fog, limited mobility and low visibility has created a combat ecosystem that rewards both creativity and audacity. In this environment, the infiltration tactics Russians find more room to thrive, but so do quick Ukrainian incursions that seek to disorient the adversary in the chaos of the fog. Climate has become a multiplier of uncertainty: it degrades the precision of drones, distorts sensors, creates gaps in surveillance and pushes both sides to improvise technological and tactical solutions. Ukrainian ground robots represent a popup response to those conditions, while Russian advances under adverse weather show the importance Moscow attaches at any opportunity to break the Ukrainian defense. Image | IDF Spokesperson’s Unit In Xataka | The main problem of Europe’s rearmament is a number. If Russia attacks its borders, it has 45 days to roam freely In Xataka | Ukraine’s “Terminator” against Russian drones: an AI that decides when to shoot has hidden where it is least expected

a poncho turns its soldiers in Ukraine into an invisible army

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Last October Ukraine I remembered to his troops that Russian soldiers had come up with a new infiltration system. After the helmets with antennathe lures and the optical illusionsMoscow had found a way to appear among the Ukrainian forces “out of nowhere”. Now, in a new unprecedented twist in the conflict, Russia has found the closest thing to an invisibility shield. From the video game to the fight. Something very similar to what we saw in the Metal Gear saga, then called optical camouflagehas appeared in the conflict in Europe. The war on the Russian-Ukrainian front has seen a tactical evolution that has shifted classic protection (armor and vehicles) towards mobility and thermal stealth: Russian assault forces have adopted ponchos or thermal tarps (the so-called “invisibility cloaks”) as an essential element to minimize the infrared signature and allow infiltrations on foot in the wide swath controlled by the drones. There is no perfect thermal concealment, but the difference between being detected or not can decide the life of an assault group. That’s why these clothes, combined with night movements and the use of specific environmental conditions, have become a central tactical tool that, in practice, today protects more than many armored vehicles against the aerial threat of reconnaissance and attack. Tactical evolution. Thermal tarps are blankets made with reflective layers and materials that accelerate heat dissipation, their purpose is approximate the temperature superficial of the human body to that of the environment to reduce contrast that thermal cameras detect. However, its effectiveness depends of multiple factors: quality of the material, contour sealing (bare feet and hands are detectable signs), weather conditions and, above all, the time of day. The so-called as “thermal crossover” (two brief daily periods in which vegetation, soil and air have similar temperatures) reduces global thermal contrast and offers the optimal window to move forward without standing out, while fog, rain or humidity can complement that invisibility. Improperly used, ponchos generate “cold spots” that attract attentionbut used well, multiply the probability of achieving tactical objectives. Limitations and learning. It must be clarified that thermal tarps do not make the attacker invulnerable. Experienced drone operators look for subtle signs (bare feet, movement under the cover, small thermal disturbances) and learn to distinguish behavioral patterns that reveal infiltrations. In addition, there are low quality materials and training errors: there are cases of soldiers who tried to camouflage themselves in broad daylight or with inappropriate ponchos and were detected. The tactic is therefore effective but fragile: it works best en masse, under optimal conditions and when the adversary lacks sufficient alternative sensors or personnel on the line. US Marine Corps uniform with built-in thermal camouflage Countermeasures and tactical recovery. To counteract these infiltrations, the solution it is not unique: involves deploying complementary sensors (acoustic, magnetic, seismic) that do not depend on the thermal spectrum, or reinforcing minefields and physical barriers, densifying human or robotic presence in exposed sectors, or even improving doctrine multisensory surveillance and train detection teams to identify minimal signs of intrusion. In strategic terms, Ukrainian forces agree that the response involves combining technology (more sensors, better integration) with greater territorial occupation, because passive defense based solely in aerial interceptions It is insufficient against equipment that infiltrates at low visibility. Operational implications. The resort to small infiltrated groups reflects broader tensions: troop shortages, accumulated material wear and tear, and an environment where air or drone superiority does not guarantee the security of the rear. For those who attack, the tactics allows you to exploit holes in defense and wear down positions through groups that, although they lose part of their troops, can complete reconnaissance, sabotage or local assault missions. For those who defend it, it forces us to rethink the segmentation of the front and the provision of resources: the balance between expensive sensors and effective personnel, the need for mobile reserves and the growing importance of passive and active containment measures on the ground. Strategic conclusion. If you like, we are facing a tactical transformation where war becomes more granular and less dependent on traditional armor: the multiplication of drones and sensors has revalued thermal invisibility and human mobility, while it has revealed the fragility of conventional defensive schemes. In the short term, the balance favors those who know integrate camouflagemeteorology and discreet logistics. In the medium term, effective defense will require a greater density of heterogeneous sensors, more troops or robotic means on the line and a doctrinal adaptation that combines multisensory detection with physical measures that close the gaps that infiltrators exploit today. In short, in the current field a thermal tarpwell used, can offer an attacker more practical protection than many armored vehicles, and this realization forces us to rethink tactical defense and territory management in a conflict dominated by sensor warfare. Image | UKRAINE MOD, Metal Gear In Xataka | Russia’s latest tactic is the closest thing to a magic trick: By the time Ukraine realizes it, the Russians are already behind it In Xataka | The Ukrainian army has been asked what it urgently needs. The answer was clear: no missiles or drones, just cars

On this island in Japan there is a traffic light that only turns green once a year, and not precisely to control traffic

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On the small Japanese island of Himakajima there is a traffic light which remains flashing amber or red all year round. Only during one day in May does it change its usual behavior and activate its green light (or blue, as they insist in Japan). This is not a fault. It was designed this way for a reason that goes beyond traffic control. An educational traffic light. The traffic light was installed in 1994 at the Himakajima East Port intersection, but not to regulate traffic. The island barely has 2,000 inhabitants and few vehicles circulate on its roads. The traffic light exists solely to teach children of the place how the urban signals work before they leave the island for larger cities. One less problem. According to explains the Himaka Road Safety Association, which promoted its installation, minors grew up without real experience with traffic lights. Before, they used small models in traffic safety classes, but the children themselves asked “what does a real traffic light look like?” account Kazuo Sugiura, former president of the association, to the local media Asahi. One day a year to learn. Every May, the traffic light is activated for a full day. Third and fifth grade students from the local school go to the crossing accompanied by teachers, parents and authorities. There they practice how to cross correctly: they wait for the color to change, look both ways and cross the zebra crossing with their arm raised, just as they would in any city in Japan. More difficult than expected. The children also discover that calculating the time they have to cross the pass is not as simple as it seems. “It was complicated because it turned red when I was trying to cross,” explained a third-grade student after practicing with her bicycle. The exercise helps them understand the real times of light change and develop security reflexes that they cannot acquire in their daily life on the island. An unexpected tourist curiosity. This little anecdote has gained notoriety beyond Japan. Every year videos and photos circulate on social networks showing the peculiar educational ritual. Some users even consult the local government website to find out the exact date of “green day” and witness the event, although it varies slightly each season. It is already part of the island’s identity. Once the annual training is completed, the traffic light returns to its flashing lights routine. It does not serve any practical function in traffic control, but it has ended up becoming a small symbol of how the community of this island prepares its children for the urban world. The rest of the year, Himakajima remains a quiet place known for its beaches and octopus dishes, with a traffic light that counts down the days until it can turn green again. Cover image | Google Maps In Xataka | Convenience stores were an emblem of Japan. Until the demographic crisis has revealed the dark side of opening 24 hours

an underwater YangWang, a 29-meter dune and a car that turns on its own

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The circuit seems taken from the dream of a megalomaniacal engineer: A gigantic dune indoors. A 70 meter pool for cars, not for humans. An impeccable and very wide asphalt route. A gymkhana off road with unevenness, slopes, gravel… BYD has called it Racing Trackwe have gone to Zhengzhou to see it (and test it), and it is much more than a circuit: it is a declaration of intent on the part of its manufacturer, and a not-so-subtle signal of the role it wants to occupy. Not in China, but in the world. Is permanently tighten muscleis throwing the gauntlet to Europe and the United States to see if they keep up. And for us, it is the key to understanding how this manufacturer has gone from a local phenomenon to a world leader in five years. The U8 dune The interior dune is the pride of the complex: 29 meters high, 28 degrees inclined, more than six thousand tons of sand from the Alxa desert. Guinness has certified it as the largest indoor building in the world. He Yangwang U8a luxury SUV with four electric motors, was in charge of climbing it. Of course, a local driver was behind the wheel. On the sides of the dune, dozens of journalists waiting for the climb like a child waiting to open gifts the night before Three Kings Day. Image: Xataka. Image provided. Image: Xataka. Image provided. At one point, the pilot honked his horn and accelerated hard to scale the sand wall. A five-meter tank that went with an unnatural calm. Not a skid, not a hesitation. Just an electrical hum. Another honk, and the descent. Applause and that feeling of celebration of raw power. We missed hitting each other in the chest making simian gestures. But there was something else: that iconic Pirelli advertisement said that “power without control is useless”, and that aphorism fits perfectly here. The U8 is pure power, but full of control. Symbolism. Where cars breathe The next stop was the wading pool, a 70 meter long pond created for the U8. This time we didn’t drive either, but we were inside while the pilot submerged the car in the water. Upon detecting a certain depth, the car automatically raised the windows and opened the sunroof, two safety measures to prevent water from entering the cabin and to facilitate escape if necessary, respectively. Image provided. Image provided. Image provided. Image provided. From there, the motors work like turbines in each wheel. They keep the car afloat and also allow you to steer it. It was impressive to see the water almost at the height of our window. From there, a gentle 180º turn and return to the shore. Science fiction for a amphibious SUV. That said, this function is intended as a response to an emergency such as flooding. It is not something the manufacturer recommends doing for fun. The dune was fun, but The one in the pool was the most hypnotic moment of the dayalthough with a bitter aftertaste due to memories of DANA. But for extreme situations like that this function is supposed to be there. From water to dust with the Denza B5 After the show, it was our turn at the Off-Road Parkan area with 27 difficulty scenarios. We did it, not completely, at the wheel of the Denza B5, the SUV that will arrive in Spain under that brand – although in China it is sold as Fang Cheng Bao 5 -. A competitor to the Land Cruiser that, depending on its price (it will arrive in Spain) will manage to put Toyota in more or less trouble, but in any case it will be noticed. If you don’t know Denza yet, keep his name: technological luxury that has no reason to have any complexes. Image provided. Image provided. Image provided. The assigned circuit was easy: ramps designed to put the car on two wheels, notable inclinations, bridge crossings and areas of complicated relief. Even so, the B5 moved with solvency. Instant electric all-wheel drive and obstacle-filtering suspension with the aplomb of a veteran off-roader. Patrol, is that you? It was not a risky experience, but it served as a symbolic demonstration: Chinese electric cars are no longer only looking for efficiency. They also want to be the most versatile. This one is. And it was extremely easy to drive in those environments even for someone like me, with no experience off-road. The scary crab: Denza Z9 GT The turn of the Denza Z9 GTthe saloon shooting brake that BYD has launched against the Taycan and the Panamera. But we didn’t test it on curves, but on something more disturbing: the crab walk and the U-shaped turn, 180 degrees in static. He crab walk —advancing diagonally like a crab—is a fair trick until you see it in action. You accelerate forward and the car slides sideways, defying all visual logic. It takes a few seconds for the brain to accept that the rear wheels turn in the opposite direction to the front wheels. It is useful for parallel parking without maneuvering. It’s unsettling to drive. And it attracts looks of bewilderment. Image provided. Image provided. But the static 180 degree turn was straight up surreal. Standing still, without moving an inch, The Z9 GT pivots on its own axis until it turns completely around. The four wheels rotate independently, locking one of the front wheels, the car rotates like in a video game and you, inside, only hear the hum of the engines while the world spins outside the window. There’s no need. It is not practical on a day-to-day basis, if perhaps at some specific moment where we do not have an angle to deface a mess But it’s the kind of technological excess that separates a good car from a statement of intent. Of course, it does not seem advisable to play with it too much for the sake of our support tire. “Mickey Mouse” with … Read more

We’ve been obsessed with strong passwords and public Wi-Fi for years. It turns out that the data sink was in the satellites

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While we worry about choose strong passwords and Don’t let the neighbor steal our WiFiit turns out that anyone can capture private data simply by pointing a dish at a satellite. It is not a government conspiracy, it is what some Californian researchers have discovered using a piece of equipment that only costs $800. What has happened? They count in Wired that several researchers from the universities of California and Maryland have been capturing communications from various satellites for three years. During this time they have collected a huge amount of private data. Among the information collected there is data on calls and messages from users of various operators, the pages visited by airplane passengers who used WiFi on board, communications between different critical infrastructures such as oil platforms or electrical companies and even police and military communications that revealed the position of their equipment. Why it is important. According to the study’s conclusions, it is estimated that around half of the signal from geostationary satellites carries sensitive information of consumers, companies and also governments. We strive to protect our WiFi networks, our online accounts or mobile devices, but the results of the research make it clear that satellites are a critical element through which data can also be leaked. A basic equipment. What is striking is that the researchers did not use super complex technology to obtain these findings. They simply placed a satellite dish on the roof of a university building and started pointing it at the satellites. They only invested $800 in the entire equipment. The data they obtained is only from the satellites that they could capture from their position in southern California, which according to their calculations is 15% of the total, so logic leads one to think that the amount of sensitive data will be much larger. In addition, it also shows that anyone could do it from another part of the world. Operators. The most significant data came from telephone providers, mainly T-Mobile, but also Telmex and AT&T México. In just nine hours of communications logging, researchers were able to collect the phone numbers of more than 2,700 T-Mobile users, as well as text messages and phone calls. After contacting T-Mobile to alert them, the company took steps to encrypt the data. AT&T also fixed this and claimed it was due to a satellite provider failing to configure some towers in a region of Mexico. Telmex has not said anything about it. Military and police data. That anyone’s data is exposed is already problematic, but that it is data from the army and security forces adds another layer of seriousness. Investigators were able to intercept communications between US military ships and the names of those ships. Since they were in Southern California, they also obtained data from Mexican authorities, including transmissions of confidential information about ongoing operations. “When we started looking at military helicopters, it wasn’t the sheer volume of data that worried us, but rather the extreme sensitivity of that data,” says Aaron Schulman, co-director of the research. Cybersecurity in space. In August of this same year, researchers found several vulnerabilities which, under certain conditions, could allow remote control of satellites. At the beginning of the Ukrainian war, Russia carried out a cyber attack against ViaSat which affected thousands of users. Cases like these highlight the need to bring the cybersecurity debate to space systems as well and not just terrestrial systems. Image | SpaceX on Pexels In Xataka | There are so many satellites orbiting the Earth that Starlink has a new concern: avoiding colliding with them

It turns out that in the US people pay more for not having a taxi driver. The added value of going silently offers and works

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According to The data Offered by OBI, an app that offers real -time prices on the different taxi and transport services in the United States, Waymo’s autonomous cars They cost average $ 20.43 by journey compared to 14.44 of Lyft and the 15.58 of Uber. Even so, users are willing to pay the premium for traveling without a driver. The conquest of the robotaxis. The analysis of the platform, based on almost 90,000 real trips in San Francisco, reveals that Waymo It charges up to $ 11 more than its competitors at peak hours. However, the demand does not stop growing: the company already makes 250,000 payment trips a week in its first four cities where the service is available. Everything indicates that users value both the experience without driver than are willing to pay a good amount of more for her. Waymo weekly paths in California. Image: Nat Bullard Data Different pricing model. Waymo operates with a more basic system of pure supply and demand, while Uber and Lyft have refined their algorithms for more than a decade. Robotaxis have a fixed fleet that grows slowly, which generates greater variability in prices. Short paths They are especially expensive: Less than 1.4 kilometers can cost about $ 26 per kilometer, between 31% and 41% more than competition. A strategy that works. Surveys show that 70% of those who have tried Waymo prefer to travel without driver. Almost 40% are willing to pay the same price or more, and 16% would agree to pay up to 10 extra dollars per trip. The key is in that “personal bubble” offered by the autonomous car, where the client can travel comfortably without human interaction. And this attracts many. Safety first. Despite the enthusiasm, 74% of respondents Consider Security His greatest concern about robotaxis. About 70% believe there should be some kind of remote human supervision during the paths, something that It is already practiced usually in the sector. Lower deployment and expansion times. Waymo Atlanta has just entered and soon it will arrive in Miami and Washington DC. It is collecting data in Las Vegas, Dallas, San Antonio, Nashville and New Orleans. The entry process in new markets is accelerating: now it takes only between one and two years since mapping vans arrive until customers can get on board one of these vehicles. And in Europe we are also at all. And from 2026, we will begin to see the first circular robotaxis through the United Kingdom and Germany. The surprise is that It will be Lyft, in collaboration with Baiduthose that seem to take the lead to this side of the puddle. Cover image | Waymo In Xataka | Tesla Robotaxis have been programmed to drive as a human. So when they see the police hit a brake

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