twentieth

In the twentieth century the pipelines were the key to the world. In the 21st century are the electrical networks and a country is winning them: China

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While a nation installs almost one hundred solar panels per second, another revitalizes factories to produce gasoline engines. While A build the largest solar plant in the worldthe other promises “Dominant Energy” Based on oil and gas. At first glance, two different strategies seem. Actually, it’s a career. And the prize is not just energy: it is the geopolitical power of the 21st century. Two opposing models. An Ember graph published by Our World in Data He has illustrated The point with amazing clarity. At the beginning of the 2000s you can see China’s gradual rebound. However, the crossing occurs in 2010 where the Asian giant exceeds the 4,000 Teravatios-Hora barrier (TWH), to a vertiginous ascent exceeding 10,000 SWH in 2024. In simple terms, China produces more than double electricity than the United States, which remained in the same line. But the most relevant is not how much it produces, but how it does. Data Source: Ember (2025); Energy Institute – Statistical Review of World Energy (2024) The silent revolution. In just one month, China installed 93 gigawatts of solar capacity, which is equivalent – more or less – one hundred panels every second. To that are added another 26 GW in wind, some 5,300 new turbines underway. According to Lauri Myllyvirta, principal researcher at the Institute of Policy of Asian Society, cited by The Guardian: “Only the facilities of that month would generate as much electricity as whole countries such as Poland, Sweden or the United Arab Emirates.” In total, between January and May 2025, China has added 198 GW of solar capacity and 46 GW of wind, sufficient to match the electricity production of Türkiye or Indonesia. This way, Keep overcoming The more than 1,000 GW, which represents half of the world total. They have known how to get ahead. More and more linked climatic ambitions with the growth of renewable technologies. In a recent speech, cited by The GuardianXi Jinping linked the development of the clean energy sector with China’s economic revitalization: “We have built the world’s largest and most complete energy chain in the world.” The term “new energies” includes renewables, batteries and storage technologies. The Asian giant is currently the largest global supplier of clean technologies: the market of solar panels, wind turbines, batteries, electric vehicles and nuclear reactors under construction dominates. In addition, it has almost 700,000 patents in clean energy, more than half of the world total, According to The New York Times. The other face. For a good part of the twentieth century, the United States was the reference in energy innovation: from the first commercial solar cells until The first wind farms. However, since Trump’s arrival, the focus It has been placed again strongly towards fossil fuels. According to The New York TimesWashington has pressed allies such as Japan and South Korea to invest billion dollars in American natural gas infrastructure. At the same time, companies such as General Motors have given clear signs of where the wind blows: the company canceled an electric motion plant near Buffalo (New York) to allocate 888 million dollars To manufacture gasoline V-8 engines. Where asymmetry resides. It is not just two different paths, but in world influence. According to Climate Energy Finance datathe companies of the Asian giant have announced more than 168 billion dollars in foreign investments in clean energy projects: from turbines in Brazil to electric cars in Indonesia, through gigantic solar plants in Saudi Arabia and hydroelectric projects in the Congo. Green energy, for Beijing, is not just a business. It is a soft power tool. A way to gain global land through infrastructure, long -term contracts and own financing. An influence that does not need military bases, but solar panels. In contrast, the United States has cut many of its international energy cooperation programs. Its foreign strategy is more transactional: specific gas, oil or even weapons agreements. But without a structural project that allows you to compete on this new energy board. And this change of roles? Half a century ago, the United States led energy innovation. In 1979, Jimmy Carter He installed solar panels In the White House. Decades later, Barack Obama financed projects like Tesla. But cases Like Solyndra’s failurea solar company that broke after receiving a federal loan, unleashed a conservative narrative against public investment in renewables. China, on the other hand, assumed risks. In the early 2000s, then Prime Minister Wen Jiabao – rare earth geneologist – understood that the country’s economic and geopolitical future went through controlling energy production. Your government invested hundreds of billions of dollars in subsidies, factories, technical training and innovation. Protected his market, automated manufacturing and dominated access to essential raw materials such as lithium, cobalt and silicon as has developed New York Times. The forecasts. The world is moving towards solar and wind energies, so confirms it The International Energy Agency. The energy demand will continue to grow, but its origin will be different. And that will change the global balance, because whoever leads this new energy matrix will also have a geopolitical, commercial and diplomatic advantage. China is prepared to lead that world. The big question is whether the United States – or any other global actor – is willing to compete with the same strategic vision, patience and scale. Because energy not only moves factories or illuminates cities. Today the global board moves. Image | Unspash Xataka | An explosive ramifications have just opened in the world energy industry: the “Peak Oil” of China

In the mid -twentieth century the nuclear was fashionable. So someone created “atomic” tomatoes and cucumbers

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The human being has from the dawn of agriculture trying to improve their crops. Before the arrival of advanced laboratory techniques such as CRISPR or the tools that the transgenics gave them, our species tested with a retahíla of various strategies to obtain larger fruits and vegetablestastier or more resistant. Some more successful than others. Some that bordered the demential. To the latter group belongs to the atomic horticulture, Atomic Gardening. The name of the technique speaks for itself. Atomic horticulture started from the idea of ​​bombarding radiation plantations. The objective of atomic horticulture, or at least the nominal objective of this, was to force mutations that improve the properties of food that were extracted from them. For this, the orchards were arranged in concentric circles, in whose center the radioactive material was located (Generally cobalt-60) capable of emitting gamma rays. The disposition implied that the successive circles received radiation dose that could vary significantly. The closest plants ended up burned by radiation and many nearby developed lethal problems such as tumors. The rest of the plants would receive more moderate doses that would introduce small mutations in their DNA. These mutations could be harmful or beneficial: the technique could Accelerate the natural process Of genetic modification, the selection, natural or human, would make the rest. The origin of this practice is found in the first years of the nuclear era, in the 1950s. Behind this initiative could find an association called The Atomic Gardening Societydedicated to promoting this striking practice. In An article Posted in 1962 the magazine Naturethis agrarian society was defined as “a scientific, educational and non -profit body, which carries out research in plants reproduction using radiative and chemically treated seeds and plants.” The different members of the association could exchange through this different seeds and the organization also served to record the different genetic variations introduced into the plants. The Atomic Gardening Society He also published his own magazine in which members could share their experiences and knowledge. We pointed out before the objective of this practice was to improve the qualities of plants and their fruits, make the most productive and resistant crops and their most nutritious or tasty crops. However behind this practice there was something else: marketing. The 50s was the era of initiative Atoms for peacein whose bosom the atomic gardens were born. This initiative intended to show that the energy responsible for devastation in Hiroshima and Nagasaki could also be used for economic improvement, in this case, agricultural improvement. Atomic horticulture in Spain Atomic horticulture was not an exclusive idea of ​​great nuclear powers such as the United States or the Soviet Union but also various countries from Europe to Japan developed their own gardens. Spain also had Your own atomic garden. The so -called Atomic Jarín of Alcalá is what remains of the Spanish tante in this nuclear agriculture, the then called El Encín Gamma Radiation Field. The origin of this experiment, which did not use Cobalt-60 but Cesio-137is in 1959, when Spain began to leave its isolationist period and could receive this radioactive isotope from US nuclear power plants for the exotic objective of building its own atomic garden not far from the capital. Today atomic horticulture is history. As we pointed at the beginning, today we had less quirky techniques to introduce mutations into plants. The transgenic foods, despite all the controversy they generate, have been accompanying us for decades. In fact, the development of the “scissors” of CRISPR genetic edition has given a new push to the genetic edition of organisms. This tool allows a control never seen before, notably facilitating The work of those looking for Improve the quality, quantity or resistance of crops. Atomic horticulture is history, but their results still endure. They do it in the form of variants of fruits, vegetables and even ornamental plants whose origin is in one of the most unique agricultural practices in the history of humanity. In Xataka | A perfect storm looms over Spanish olive oil: heat, pests and a problem of productive capacity Image | Google Maps / Catalan

What was from Barreiros, the Spanish automotive company that manufactured the Dodge “Made in Spain” in the second half of the twentieth century

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To Eduardo Barreiros the automotive was in his blood. With just 12 years he worked already in the workshop of the small bus company that his family had constituted in Ourense shortly before, in 1929, and it is said that over time he came to develop such an expertise that he could mount a truck with scrapping pieces. His other great inheritance was The businessa facet that his father had already deployed as an emigrant in the Canary Islands, where he created A CEDAZOS FACTORY. With such a cocktail running through its veins, a mixture of mechanics and entrepreneurial pulse, it does not surprise that Eduardo Barreiros ended up becoming one of the great magnates of the automotive of the Spain of the twentieth century. And rightly. Perhaps the passage of the decades and memory has not done justice, but there was an era, there for the third quarter of the twentieth century, in which his last name became one of the most popular brands in the sector and he in one of the most admired entrepreneurs, inside and outside Spain. Still in 2023 there are those who present it as “The Spanish Henry Ford”. And also in that there is enough. A logo for memory The emblematic Dodge-Dart Barreiros. The company that constituted in Madrid in the 1950s, along with his brother, Valerian Its characteristic logo In the form of eight, sum of its initials “E” and “B”. Thanks to his business alliances, towards the mid -60s of his factories even a Dodge came out “Made in Spain”the emblematic Dodge-Dart, a high-end car launched to compete against the SEAT-1500. The brand would end up becoming popular for an episode that has little to do with mechanics: when he suffered the attack that ended his life, on December 20, 1973, the Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco traveled aboard a Dodge 3700 GTsuccessor of those Dodge Dart, today Property of the Army Museum. To learn about the origins of your company, baptized not without controversy as diesel sweeps, it is necessary to go back a few years before, to the Spain of the 50s, on horseback The autarkic and developmentalism. It was then, in 1954, when Galician Eduardo Barreiros decided to constitute his own automotive company with his father and brother in Madrid. It was the result of an intuition that had been maturing since the previous decade: the business that could be created with the conversion of diesel gasoline engines, which allowed lower consumption and the use of a fuel cheaper. Simca 1000, with the Barreiros brand logo. As the Spanish Patent and Brands Office (OEPM) A detailed essay Dedicated to the company, Barreiros did not lack experience in the matter: he had accumulated it with the transformation of the engines of his own trucks and those of other transporters. Several years before founding Barreiros Diesel, in fact, he had had the good tino to protect his system with two patents. The business started on a plot of almost 16,000 m2 of Villaverdesouth of Madrid, and a capital of 10 million pesetas. Enough to make diesel engines, tractors and trucks. The young Barreiros soon demonstrated his good eye for the sector: at the months of constituting the company he made an intelligent movement that –Remember the OEPM– It allowed it for practical purposes to introduce the Perkins P-6 engine in Spain without the need for its manufacturer’s license. Boom and fall Throughout the following years the company experienced considerable growth, with the constitution of different societies related to its activity and an increase in personnel, facilities and of course production capacity. From the factory, emblematic creations came out, which even today place in the second -hand market, such as the TT-90 trucks, Goshawk and Super Azorthe Tempo van or the tractors Hanomag Barreiros R-335 and Barreiros 5500. Barreiros 4045. Barreiros also sought alliances with other companies, such as Vidal & Sohn Tempo-Werk GmbH either Hanomag. The most relevant, due to its impact, contribution of funds and – I live in perspective – business repercussions would be the agreement with the European subsidiary of Chrysler, closed in 1963 and that allowed the Spanish firm to clear its future and take a decisive step for the manufacture of cars. It did not go free, of course: the multinational was done with 40% of the capital. A few years later from the Villaverde factory, the first Dodge-Dart of Barreiros, also known in the national market-how “Dodge Barreiros” came out. The remarkable injection of resources that accompanied the pact with Chrysler also allowed him to manufacture the popular Simca 1000launched in the early 60s in France by Simca with a commercial approach other than that of Dart. The Barreiros brand was popular, had an interesting catalog, manufactured emblematic models and had even managed to face SEATdriven by the powerful National Institute of Industrybut Not everything was good news in the offices of Villaverde. By the end of the 60s the firm faced a financial crisis that allowed Chrysler to reinforce his control and gain even more weight in the capital of the company, which soon derived in Chrysler Spain. The family that had captained the beginnings of the project, back in the 50s, ended up ceasing its activities in the company. His last name, yes, still survived as a commercial brand for years, proof of the success he achieved. The old Barreiros business project, cemented on their ideas for the conversion of gasoline engines for use with diesel then employed more than 20,000 people directly, generated a considerable business flow and, above all, had earned a prominent place in the history of Spanish automotive. The very New York Times It came to include to the Galician tycoon in his list of entrepreneurs most influential in Europe. The veteran businessman would still continue with his career, betting on the livestock sector and with an adventure on the other side of the pond, in Cuba, where he promoted the creation of Taíno engines. There, in Havana, … Read more

The projects that played to be God during the twentieth century

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On August 6, 1945, Two atomic bombs They razed the cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima and, practically, put the end to World War II. It was a tragedy And, at the same time, a demonstration of strength. Demonstration of who would carry the baton in the new world order that had been created but, also, a demonstration of what was capable of doing nuclear energy. Aware of the military advantage that the atomic bomb, the armies of the most leading powers, They launched their developmentwith United States and the USSR at the head. The general atmosphere worldwide was fear and respect for technology that could cause a disaster never known until then. But, of course, it also served to give wings to the techno-optimists. Tecno-optimism is a current of thought that, In generaldefends that technological development and continuous improvement of current products will improve our life in the future, make it easier and increase our happiness. As I say, we talk about the master lines because This current of thought has different visions And, of course, detractors indicating that any development of a product or new invention can be used for malicious purposes. Noah Smith, journalist and extrabajador of Bloomberg, He puts as an example The use of drones as a gun to illustrate this last point of view. That techno-optimism lived a huge boom in the 50s and 60s. The cold war led humanity to an accelerated development that led people to spacethe First commercial opportunity of computersof Internet Oa to think of cars moved by nuclear energy. Why not? Nuclear energy for infinity car If any technology gained adherents among the techno-optimists of the 50s, nuclear energy was. In a document rescued by the International Atomic Energy Agency (OIEA) entitled 10 years of energy of nuclear origin It stands out that: “There was a period in which the fears that raised such a shortage became so deep that this was given to the commercial nucleotic energy its first great impulse. It was inevitable that the minds would turn to the new source of energy that had taken advantage of for war, as a means to compensate for the insufficiency of energy resources. When for the first time the nucleum energy became Easy about that means of obtaining cheap energy and in practically unlimited quantities, and among the fears that were sheltered on a shortage of energy of traditional origin and the hopes encrypted in an abundance of energy of nuclear origin, the latter prevailed, with an excess of optimism, until the end of 1957 “ As we said, despite the World War II Experiencenuclear energy won adepts rapidly and organizations such as the OIEA that defended its use for civil purposes, as a means of production of an electrical energy that was increasingly demanded. That idea that the nuclear led us to a “cheap energy and in practically unlimited amounts” promoted what we know as Atomic Ageor the era of atomic energy, born in the 40s. “The fact that we can release atomic energy inaugurates a new era in the understanding of the forces of nature by man. In the future, atomic energy can complement what comes from coal, oil and water, but that at the moment it cannot occur so that it can compete commercially with those sources. Before that happens, a long period of intense research must occur. It has never been the custom of the scientists of this country To the world scientific knowledge. The above words are from Harry S. TrumanPresident of the United States that gave the order to use the atomic bomb. The investigations showed that atomic energy could be used as a source of energy and, above all, as coal alternative and fossil fuelswhich were already seen as a finite source of energy and whose impact on people’s health was found first hand in the London of the 50s. At the point that nuclear energy could be a huge source of energy began to think applications for day to day. How to miniaturize technology to have, for example, appliances that will work with a nuclear battery that would last the entire product life cycle. Ford Nucleon model And, of course, the idea of ​​the car moved by nuclear energy came. The best known proposal is that of the Ford Nucleona prototype thought in 1958 that, of course, did not go from the model. The system was as simple as it was crazy: setting up a small nuclear reactor in the car. As? The rear, extraordinarily elongated would allow to shelter a small nuclear reactor. Inside, A uranium capsule It would work as a radioactive nucleus. As in any thermonuclear reactor, the uranium fission would cause a large amount of water vapor that would serve to move two turbines. One of them would start the wheels and the second would make all the electrical systems of the vehicle operate. Ford Seattle-ite XXI For some reason we do not know, Ford seemed that his plans could have some future and in 1962 they returned to the load. Then they presented the Ford Seattle-ite XXIa car that increased further the concept of nuclear car, to the point of having six wheels and body and interchangeable engines to pass from 60 hp to 400 hp. One option for day to day and another for long trips. The crazy concept was presented at the Century 21 exhibitionin Seattle, as an improved evolution of Nucleon. For example, it had been devised with six wheels because a double axis would serve to endure the weight of the small nuclear reactor in the rear. They even saved their backs pointing out that if one of the four wheels of the double axis were punctured the car would be able to continue with the rest. Guaranteed security and dynamism. Interestingly, the concept of this new car did have other inventions that we see in our current vehicles, such as a continuous tracking of the vehicle through GPS. Studebaker Packard … Read more

Throughout the twentieth century, the US “lost” up to six planes loaded with nuclear weapons. Today they still do not appear

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A few years ago we told a story that, if not because it was completely true, could go through the script of a black comedy. It turns out that The United States lost at least three nuclear bombs during the Cold War. The Plot Twist was never located. The story, in reality, is much worse. The nation has been left along the way, which is known, up to six nuclear “bombs”, and that is also known, continue in the same place where they once lost. Six times, know. The figures are even higher if we observe the frame more widely. Throughout history, the United States Army has been responsible for At least 32 documented incidents of accidents with nuclear weaponsknown in military jargon Like Broken Arrow. These events may involve accidental launch or detonation, theft or even the loss of a nuclear pump. We are going to detail this last case for a simple reason: if they have been lost and not detonated, they can be a danger somewhere. These are six of the most shocking cases in which a nuclear bomb disappeared Without leaving a trace. The B-36 incident. The story takes place About the Pacific on February 13, 1950. In the context of a nuclear attack simulation against the Soviet Union, a BOMBARDERO B-36 destined for Texas from Alaska began experiencing failures in the engines in full flight. Since a safe landing was impossible, the crew was forced to get rid of the “load”, including in the equation its Mark 4 nuclear pump on some part of the Pacific Ocean. According to the army, the bomb did not contain plutonium in its nucleus, so it could not generate a nuclear explosion to use, although it did have uranium and TNT. Neither the pump nor its components were ever recovered. The mysterious case of B-47. The facts are given on The Mediterranean on March 10, 1956. A BUMBARERO B-47 STRATOJET He took off from the Macdill Air Force base in Florida in the direction of Morocco, transporting two nuclear capsules. What happened? That during its journey, the plane had to refue in flight over the Mediterranean Sea, but never reached the meeting point. The aircraft disappeared without leaving any traceand to date no evidence of his whereabouts has been found or, of course, of the nuclear load he transported. A lost bomb in the Savannah River. The third event occurred on February 5, 1958. During a simulated combat mission, a BOMBARDERO B-47 accidentally crashed with a F-86 huntingseriously damaged. What happened? Given the impossibility of landing safely, the crew decided what you are imagining: launch the Mark 15 of 3,400 kilograms at the mouth of the Savannah Rivernear the city of Savannah, Georgia. Although the aircraft managed to land without incident, the pump was never recovered and remains missing until today. The Goldsboro catastrophe. History now leads us to North Carolina on January 24, 1961. A BOMBARDERO B-52 that performed an alert mission suffered a structural failure in full flight and broke in the air. Again, on board he carried two nuclear bombs. One of them activated its emergency parachute and landed without detonating, however, the other crashed into the ground. Although the government claimed to have recovered most of the starry bomb, the truth is that It is still believed that parts of it remain buried in a culture area near the city. In 2012, North Carolina erected a commemorative sign at the accident site. Disappearance in the Pacific. The December 5, 1965. A combat plane A-4E Skyhawkequipped with a nuclear bomb, fell into the sea From the USS Ticonderoga aircraft carrier while operating in the Philippines sea, near Japan. The aircraft, the pilot and the weapon were never found. In this regard, in 1989 The United States admitted that the bomb was still at the bottom of the seaabout 128 kilometers from a small Japanese island, which generated outrage between the Japanese government and environmental groups. Classified information. The last of the events is the most diffuse of all and occurred in the spring of 1968, when the United States lost a nuclear weapon whose scope (and load) has never been specified. Although the pentagon has never revealed details, It is speculated that it could be related to the USS Scorpion nuclear submarinethe same as It disappeared in May of that year in the Atlantic along with a crew of 99 people. The connection between the disappearance of scorpion And a possible loss of nuclear weapons is still the subject of conjecture. That said, this and the rest of the incidents highlight the dangers associated with the management of nuclear weapons. If you want also, they show that, Throughout the Cold War And beyond, the United States has faced situations in which mass destruction bombs have been lost without being recovered. Image | Kelly Michals In Xataka | The United States lost at least three nuclear bombs during the Cold War. And they have never been located In Xataka | An unprecedented nuclear arms career has begun: one in which the US, Russia … and also China participate

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