unknown

Connecting to unknown networks can be risky for your personal data. Protecting you don’t cost even 2 euros per month

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It is a reality: cyber attacks have become increasingly common. There is a lot of undesirable loose looking to get sensitive information, whether large companies or a user like us. If we work from home or we usually connect with our network we have a safety layer, but what if we use ourselves A network on which we don’t have any control? The good news is that there are several ways to protect our Internet traffic, wherever we are. The simplest, useful and effective way to do so is to use a VPN, and if we can afford it, better bet on one of payment. In fact, There are very cheap: Surfshark’s barely costs 1.99 euros a month. Protect your traffic and IP with a good VPN As we say, it exists A good variety of free VPNperfect if we need to use something at a timely moment. The problem they have is that, in addition to being little safe, They work limitedly in terms of traffic or speed volume. For this reason, the ideal is to bet on a payment like this Surfshark, which also has a great price. One of the advantages that this has is that We can install it in an unlimited number of devicesideal to take it in the laptop, on the mobile or on the tablet (or everywhere at the same time). With this, we can protect our Internet traffic, thus gaining a greater dose of privacy. Moreover, it also helps us hide our IP, information that is better to keep away from undesirable. Surfshark VPN is included in its Starter Plan, which also comes with another tool called ALTERNATIVE ID. With it, we can create a series of fictitious data to use them on web pages where we do not want to enter our real information. That way, we keep our personal data at a good collection. As we have commented before, for 1.99 euros A month we have a quality VPN. That means that its two -year plan comes out for a total price of 47.76 euros, a fairly affordable price to have this tool with us for a long season. There does not end the thing, because we will also receive three extra monthsin such a way that we will have surfshark for 27 months instead of 24. You may also interest you NORDVPN – Basic Plan (Monthly) * Some price may have changed from the last review Some of the links of this article are affiliated and can report a benefit to Xataka. In case of non -availability, offers may vary. Images | Chase Chappell in Unspash In Xataka | In Xataka |

Galileo Galilei of the 21st century is an unknown man who has discovered more moons than no one is going to discover

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If they asked you about an astronomer, you would probably think of Copernicus or Galileo Galilei. Maybe Carl Sagan came to mind. If they add “to be alive,” you might answer Neil Degrasse Tyson or, in the event that you are a fan of Queen, Brian May. The name that would hardly come out in the conversation is Scott S. Sheppard, an astronomer as prolific as unknown. The number 1 in yours. Yeah Cristiano Ronaldo He is the greatest scorer in the history of professional football, Scott S. Sheppard is the CR7 to discover objects in our solar system. In total, he has put his name in more than 200 planetary moons: 78 of Jupiter, 119 of Saturn, three from Uranus and three of Neptune. Practically half of all known planetary moons. A record that, as points out Iflscienceprobably will never be overcome, and he has continued to swell it in recent months. The true king of Jupiter. In April, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) confirmed the discovery of two new moons in Jupiter, raising the official total giant to 97. Their provisional names are S/2017 J 11 and S/2017 J 10. Both are small moons and with retrograde orbits, that is, they revolve in the opposite direction to the rotation of the planet, something common in the outer and smaller satellites of Jupiter. And yes, he has discovered them Scott S. Sheppardthat with these two new findings, he adds almost 80 moons of Jupiter to his credit. To put it in perspective: Galileo discovered the first and largest moons of Jupiter in 1610. Since 2000, Sheppard has overwhelmingly dominated the search for Jovian satellites. What is resisting: Planet 9. He extensive curriculum Sheppard looks more like the index of an astronomical atlas than to the discoveries of a single person. In addition to natural satellites in Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptunethis astronomer of the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington DC has also discovered 23 minor planets, six candidates for dwarf planets, three comets that bear their name (Sheppard – Trujillo, Sheppard – Tholen and Trujillo – Sheppard) and The most distant object ever observed In the Solar System: 2018 Ag37 “Farfarout”, about 130 times the distance between Earth and the Sun. This is where your work becomes even more fascinating. Many of his discoveries are transneptunian objects such as 541132 Leleākūhonua “The Goblin”. And it is no accident. Sheppard and his colleague Chadwick Trujillo found them while looking for something much bigger: The hypothetical planet nine. Themselves proposed in 2014 The existence of a superstraier -type distant planet to explain the strange orbits grouped from objects such as the Minor Sedna planet. Image | Carnegie Science In Xataka | What types of satellites exist: guide not to get lost in a gigantic network of which we are increasingly dependent

Not even the greatest US attack has achieved its goal in Iran. Nobody knows where is the great unknown of 400 kg

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After the first hours, and with them the Trump statements That the Iranian nuclear program had been “complete and totally annihilated”, senior US officials have recognized that, in reality, they do not know where the most sensitive Iranian element is, an unknown of 400 kilograms of reserve. A latent bomb. After the overwhelming offensive American Aeria on the main Nuclear facilities From Iran (Fordow, Natanz and Isfahán), the attention of intelligence agencies does not focus solely on craters, but on an invisible but crucial element: the, a priori, just over 400 kg of enriched uranium at 60%, very close to the military threshold, whose whereabouts remains uncertain. As we said, despite the Trump’s proclamations On Iranian nuclear capabilities, experts and officials recognize that the true unknown is whether the material was destroyed, transferred (they have had plenty of time since the conflict broke out) or disseminated in clandestine facilities. The difference between a neutralized nuclear and latent program It depends on the destination of that vital stock. The Shadow of Fordow. He counted In the Financial Times The former American official Richard Nephew, that the destruction of the visible facilities It might not have affected the most sensitive material, stored in dust Inside metal cylinders in deeply excavated tunnels. Fordowbeing hidden under a mountain, would have offered limited but not zero protection. However, there is a growing suspicion that they will move their uranium Before bombingwhich would represent an early strategic play. An informant of the Iranian regime declared that it would have been “very naive” to leave uranium in the attacked sites, and assured that the material It is still intact. Moreover, figures such as the director of the OIEA, Rafael Grossi, They take for granted After reviewing satellite images and logistic movements records near underground tunnels in Fordow, which Iran could have evacuated uranium days before of attacks. Silent withdrawal. Explained The New York Times that those evidence suggest that they will go displaced part of the uranium From Isfahán, its main storage center, towards still unknown sites. Although the centrifuging (key pieces of the enrichment process) could not be evacuated due to their size and complexity, the stored fuel would have been mobile enough as to be extracted in discrete vehicles. Satellite images showed At least 16 trucks Near the accesses to Fordow days before the attack, which reinforces the theory of a preventive evacuation. Natanz’s installation, on the other hand, It was devastated by Israel, which disabled the superficial enrichment center and caused a blackout that probably destroyed the centrifugators. However, Iran had already begun the construction of a deeper underground installation to the south of the city, although it ensures that it still It is not operational. Between deterrence and clandestine activity. Although Iran insists that his program It has civil endsthe partial destruction of its infrastructure and the selective murder of at least eleven nuclear scientists have fed voices within the regime they suggest Check the doctrine nuclear. International analysts fear that the coup catalogs a turn towards hidingwith the installation of new advanced centrifugers and the restart of activities in unstalled facilities. To the big question about those 408 kg of 60%uranium, Iran could in a matter of days refine it until reaching the necessary purity For nuclear weapons (90%) if you have the necessary technical team, although the miniaturization and assembly process would still take months or even a year. Precedents The cases of India, Pakistan and North Korea show that, even under international surveillance, it is possible to build a hidden nuclear capacity. Sima Shine, Mossad’s intelligence formerist, He affirmed in FT Being convinced that Iran has already relocated both their enriched uranium and part of their technical infrastructure, which would allow a quick reload if the political decision is made. In other words: despite the military coup, political will, scientific knowledge and industrial experience remain intact. Collapse of international control. We have counted before. The inspections of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) are They have suspended Due to Israeli attacks, which has left a critical void in the verification of the Iranian program. Even before the offensive, Iranian cooperation with the agency had drastically decreasedand Tehran had already secretly built a third unstalled enrichment installation. Israel managed to damage Natanz and Isfahán, but acknowledged that he had no capacity to destroy Fordow without the help of the United States, which contributed His antibunker artillery more powerful inside its B-2. The big doubt. Thus, nobody knows exactly if we are facing an end point or A phase change. The emerging consensus between analysts is that the Iranian nuclear program has not been destroyed, but Your known form. If you survive, It will be transformed: either in a clandestine program aimed at obtaining weapons, or (in case of successful negotiations) in a purely civil version, devoid of the complete fuel cycle. Advisor Ali Shamkhani summed up with coldness: “Although the facilities are destroyed, the game is not over.” The capacities, material and determination are still there. Hence, the real outcome may not depend on visible craters, but on the dust stored in Some hidden place of the Iranian subsoil. And until you know where that uranium is, the “unknown” has only become more difficult to track. Image | Maxar In Xataka | For 125 airplanes and 14 bombs to reach Iran, the US used one of the oldest tactics of war: perfidy In Xataka | Russia recalled a threat that appears in the war between Iran and Israel: the possibility of a nuclear disaster

The “Ozempic effect” that is filling the mirrors with unknown faces

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Thanks to Ozempic, many people have managed to fulfill a goal that had been chasing for years: losing weight faster. What was not expected is that it came with a collateral effect that was not on the prospect: an alien face. In the mirror there is another person. Fallen cheeks, loss of volume, sagging … and no, it is not natural aging. In social networks it has been baptized as “face Ozempic ”, a consequence of accelerated success in weight loss. According to Cleveland Clinicthese effects are not directly caused by the medication, but by the rapid loss of facial fat that accompanies weight loss. The trend. The conversation has gained strength especially after the testimonies of celebrities who have decided to talk about the physical changes they have experienced after using this type of medicines. One of the most popular voices has been that of Sharon Osbourne, British presenter, who has recognized having lost more than 15 kilos with Ozempic, but not without consequences. “I wouldn’t use it again. I look very thin and older, I regret it,” has declared In an interview with The Daily Mail. On the other hand, in social networks, many people are showing change with pride. On platforms like Tiktok, images of the before and afterhighlighting the physical transformation achieved with the use of Ozempic and similar medications. Science behind. From the medical point of view, the explanation is simple: if you lose very fast fat, you also lose it on your face. And not all the skin returns to its place. As detailed by Dr. Nyla Raja, Dermatologist with Clinic in Mayfair, In statements to the Evening Standard“When the thinning process is so accelerated, the skin does not have time to fall, which leads to sagging and a more aging appearance.” This loss of support in key areas such as cheekbones or jaw can cause the face to look more tired or aged than expected. It is not irreversible. Although the effects can be worrisome, there are solutions. Some dermatologists and nutritionists have agreed that the best way to avoid these consequences is to plan a gradual weight loss. According to Forbes has collectedmaintaining a rhythm of moderate weight loss, following a feed rich in protein and collagen, and practicing strength training can help preserve the facial structure. In some cases, aesthetic treatments such as radiofrequency, dermal fillings or even facial lifting are also resorted to correct the offalter. But… There are more effects. However, other unexpected ones are added to this phenomenon. According to The Independentthere are other secondary symptoms that are increasingly being documented. One of the most striking is “Ozempic language”, which is caused by oral dryness, which generates an alteration in taste. For its part, like has reported the same mediumDr. Tim Bradstock-Smith has pointed out that some patients experience “dry mouth, dental hypersensitivity and loss of volume on lips and cheeks, which compromises both aesthetics and oral health.” Besides, I know They have reported cases Blurred vision and, in rare situations, loss of vision associated with the use of semaglutida. The debate is no longer limited to the medical field. Ozempic, like other medicines to lose weight, has become a mirror of collective priorities: a culture of immediacy where the ideal body seems to be an injection of distance. But it is also true that, for many people, represents a real opportunity of recovering health, taking control over your weight and improving your quality of life. Reducing this conversation to aesthetic changes would be to simplify a deeply personal decision. Behind each treatment there are different stories, emotions and contexts. We live in a society every time more crossed by obsessions and trends that are born – and they are amplified – on social networks, where the ideal body is repeated with Filters and algorithms. At that cross, the direction that takes health, self -esteem and beauty is quite complex and dangerous. Image | Unspash and Instagram Xataka | Losing weight without losing muscle is the great challenge of drugs such as Ozempic. A protein keeps the key to face it

China’s future in the chips industry is in the hands of a single company almost unknown: Sicarrier

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Sicarrier is not a Chinese company. When we repair the country’s semiconductor industry led by Xi Jinping probably many of us think of companies like Huawei, SMICHua Hong semiconductor or Naura Technologyamong others. But not in Sicarrier. Until just a few weeks this company It was a real unknown Beyond China’s borders, but in a record time it has attracted the attention of the global industry of integrated circuits. And he has done it for a weight reason: it is the authentic responsible for China currently having the ability to produce avant -garde chips. Although it was founded in 2021, during the last four years Sicarrier has maintained a very low profile. Its origin is not entirely clear, but The most reliable sources They collect that this company is probably a huawei split. What we know for sure is that it is a state company administered by the Shenzhen government. Sicarrier’s soul are veteran engineers of ASML and Applyed Materials I will not prolong the mystery more: Sicarrier is dedicated to designing and manufacturing photolithography equipment and wafering processing machines. In fact, the more than 30 products that it has presented just a few weeks ago in SemiCon China 2025 competes with the solutions of the Dutch company ASMLthe Japanese Tokyo Electron or the American Apply materials. It is shocking that a company with just four years already has proposals capable of competing in the market of chips manufacturing equipment. But it seems to have earned it. Whatever this presumable success is not the result of chance. And is that his main team is led by engineers with more than two decades of experience in the ranks of ASML and Applyed Materials. In fact, these technicians are surely responsible for the milestone for which Sicarrier is probably in the spotlight of the US administration: the technology used by Huawei and SMIC for MANUFACT 7 NM INTEGRATED CIRCUITS derives from a patent that seeks to make the production of 5 Nm chips possible using equipment from deep ultraviolet lithography (UVP). The technology used by Huawei and SMIC to make 7 Nm chips derives from a patent from Sicarrier The most ambicious lithography equipment by Chinese integrated circuit manufacturers is the extreme ultraviolet lithography machine (UVE). ASML is the only company that produces them, but THE SANCTIONS TO CHINA DE USA They prevent you from giving it to your Chinese clients. The problem is that this equipment is necessary to produce on a large scale and with a competitive price semiconductors of 7 Nm or with even more advanced integration technologies. Sicarrier has not presented a UVE photolithography team in China 2025. It is very unlikely to have it, but, at the same time, it is reasonable to anticipate that their engineers will be working on a machine of these characteristics. The teams that this company has already made known, or, at least, has officialized, are A 28 Nm immersion lithography machinean engraving equipment for advanced nodes below 7 Nm, diffusion machines for rapid thermal processing, chemical vapor deposition equipment for nodes of 28 to 5 Nm, verification machines and test for advanced integrated circuits, etc. The retahíla of lithography and wafering processing that Sicarrier has presented in Semi -Con China 2025 is long. As I mentioned a few lines above, these products compete with the proposals of ASML, Applied Materials or Tokyo Electron, although the authentic Sicarrier fire test will be the tuning of a UVE lithography machine. Du liqun, the president of this company, has declared that its strategy requires betting on the development of avant -garde lithography equipment, selective deposition machines and latest generation transist technologieslike ga (Gate-alall-around), which is already part of the Porfolio of TSMC, Intel and Samsung. It is still early to identify if Sicarrier will live up to the expectations it has generated, but there is no doubt: there is a new actor in the integrated circuit industry. And it is worth following the track very closely. Image | Sicarrier More information | Nomad semi In Xataka | This is China’s big problem with chips: Huawei will manufacture its Kirin X90 for PC using the 7 Nm of SMIC

We have just discovered that 20% of our DNA comes from an unknown hominid population: population B

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Perhaps at this point on remembering that human evolution is more like the branched structure of trees than to the linear image that we often use to illustrate it, that image in which our ancestors are irrigating and pertrechating tools. However, the bifurcations of these tree branches fail to illustrate some evolutionary changes. Because sometimes species not only diverge, they also converge. A recent genetic study has detected The trail in the human DNA of an old population that separated from our main lineage approximately 1.5 million years ago to converge some time later. The study has estimated that the genetic legacy of this second population (or population b) represents approximately 20% of our DNA today. The study responsible for the study also raises the possibility that this legacy has been positive for our species. According to the hypothesis raised, these genes would have been contributed to improve our cognitive capacity. “The question about where we come is one of those that has fascinated humans for centuries,” explained in a press release Trevor Cousins, co -author of the study. “For a long time, it had been assumed that we evolved from An ancestral continuous lineagebut the exact details of our origins are uncertain. “ The separation of these two evolutionary branches would have given rise to an evolution in parallel of the Populations A and B. The evolution of the population to correspond approximately what we already know, although the new work allows us to know in more detail its evolutionary history. As explained by the team responsible for the study, after the separation of the two populations, the population A would have suffered a “Bottleneck”: While the population B prospered, the A had to cross a period in which its numbers were very scarce, a situation that also implied a drastic reduction in genetic diversity. From the population A would have emerged the main human species of the past, including not only our species but also the “bifurcation” that would give rise to the arrival of Neanderthals and Denisovanosanother human species (or subspecies) that would have inhabited Central Asia hundreds of thousands of years ago. Reunion between species The history of population B is still enigmatic. The study has not recorded events such as population bottlenecks. We know that the core of this population disappeared but that at some point their roads crossed with the population A, giving rise to genetic exchange. He “Reunion” between populations It would have given more than one million years after separation, about 300,000 years ago, according to the estimates of the study responsible for the study. After this reunion, population B would fade without leaving another trace. The genetic inheritance that each population would have left in modern humans would be unequal. While we should about 80% From our genetic material, to population B we could owe the remaining 20%. The study detected that these genes of population B would concentrate sections of the population’s own genes A. Scheme that represents the evolution of the two populations and their relationship with Neanderthals, Denisovanos and ‘Homo Sapiens’ contemporaries. Cousins, Aylwyn Scally & Richard Durbin (2025). This suggests, explains the team, that both populations would have been little compatible. The uncompatibilities would have been purified over the years through the process known as purification selection, a process in which natural selection is eliminating harmful mutations. On this legacy, the team also indicates that these are genes closely linked to the functioning of the brain and the Information processing. This could imply that this small genetic inheritance could have had a great impact on the evolution of human intelligence and in the Evolution of our species. The analysis focused on the study of contemporary humans and not on the bone remains of prehistoric populations. The team resorted to the 1000 Genomes Project initiative, thanks to which it had a large genetic database with information about inhabitants of Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas. The details of the study were published In an article In the magazine Nature Genetics. The history of evolutionary convergence is long. Perhaps the best known case is that of the Neanderthals (Homo Neanderthalensis). This already extinct species occupied Europe and Asia tens of thousands of years before our species left Africa but, once they found themselves They coexisted in various areas of Eurasia. Thanks to its genetic legacy (which varies according to populations but usually around 1% or 2% among non -Afro -descendant), we know that the coexistence of sapiens and Neanderthals gave a lot of: The union of these species engendered hybrids whose lineages ended up merging with those who gave rise to contemporary humanity. In Xataka | North Africa was outside the bronze age map. A metallic waste has been put in the center of history Image | Pixabay / Pxhere

Byd broke the barrier of 100,000 million dollars of income in 2024. It is an unknown milestone for Tesla

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The year 2024 was marked by a huge fight between the two great giants of electric cars. Byd and Tesla played the market with a disparate luck until closing with a technical draw. The last chapter is signed by its financial results. Sales. Byd put 4.27 million cars on the market in 2024. The figure is far from 1.79 million cars delivered by Tesla. Elon Musk’s company He failed to exceed the figure of the previous year (1.81 million units) for the first time in the last ten years. However, Tesla sold more electric cars than byd. Although the Chinese company is famous for its electric cars, the truth is that in 2024 it sold 1.76 million cars, according to Financial Times. The figure It has been ratified In the presentation of results that the Chinese company has carried out last week. Not just EV. That is, Byd has sold almost 2.5 million more cars than Tesla but has managed to enroll plug -in hybrids. In China, plug and electrical hybrids total in the same category (New energy vehicles) But they are not the same. In China, the aid for the purchase of electric cars also add up for new energy vehicles. That is why in Byd they focused 15 years ago. Recently, the company has celebrated break the 10 million units barrier of new energy cars manufactured. To reach the first five million it took 15 years but for the subsequent five million it has only taken fifteen months. A Sorpasso. If we talk about electric cars, BYD has lacked very little to overcome Elon Musk’s company last year. Everything indicates that it will meet the objectives this year although the forecasts point to Sell ​​5.5 million units of new energy cars in 2025. It has not been specified how many would be electric. If these figures are fulfilled, Byd will fight with Stellantis for being the fifth largest car manufacturer in the world. Would reach the figure selling only plug -in hybrid models and electric cars, which does not do any of the rivals that in 2024 he had above (Stellantis, General Motors, Hyundai/Kia, Volkswagen and Toyota). And another already confirmed. If we take into account how 2025 started for Tesla, we can expect Byd to exceed those of Elon Musk in electric. However, in 2024 he already advanced in another equally important parameter: income. Last week he confirmed that they shot over the 107,000 million dollars. The Chinese company thus broke a barrier that Tesla has not overcome so far. The American company stayed last year at 97.7 billion dollars in its income. The prospects for the Chinese company are even more ambitious for 2025, I have the launch of its new products. Without loosening. In 2025, Byd does not plan to lift the foot of the accelerator. The company has begun to deploy loaders who promise 400 kilometers recharges in five minutes. For the moment, Only two of your cars They can carry this power but expected to add new models, especially those of greatest cost. And to this we must add that he recently confirmed that he would put his eye of God in the street (the most advanced driving aid functions) in all his cars, regardless of its price. It is a missile to the company’s flotation line that wants to get an economic performance of it and see how competition gives it. New horizons. In addition to the above, Byd also has a lot to win because it has new markets in April. In front of Tesla, which has four models (And one of them is only sold in the United States)Byd continues to find a hole for its plug -in hybrids and its electric. Having combustion engines in their wallet allows them break in Europe And, above all, in countries where The electric car is less developed. Despite Do not sell in the United Stateswait in 2025 Sell ​​800,000 units outside Chinawhich means duplicating the numbers of 2024. And the battle for China. To all of the above, it must be added that Tesla’s performance in China is being very bad in these first months of 2025. Byd has reached a point where accumulates a 15% market share In sales. Of the total sales, not only of the new energy models. Tesla, however, is in free fall in the market. To the point that in February 2024 a little more than 30,000 units enrolled. It did not reflect such a low figure since July 2022, according to CNEV Post. China, the world’s largest electric car market, does not seem the ideal place to suffer with sales if you sell exclusively electric cars. Photo | Byd and Tesla In Xataka | The electric car is sweeping so much in China that the natural step is already raised: stop calling it “electric”

Taking a VPN on the mobile can give us extra security even in an unknown wifi. This surfshark is a bar

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Normally, we are used to connecting to the Internet at home or at work, two locations in which we know well the origin or safety of the network. The thing is complicated outside these placesespecially when we go on a trip. We are likely to have to connect to A public wifi network or that of a hotel and we do not know what certainty we are going to count. Consulting the time or a sports result should not carry any problem, but if we have to introduce emails, passwords or other sensitive data. The best way to protect ourselves in this type of case is with a VPN and if we look for a quality for what we have not to spend too much, Eye with surfshark: Sale for alone 2.19 euros a month. Surfshark Starter Subscription – Monthly * Some price may have changed from the last review More security everywhere for just over two euros per month It is true that there are free VPN options on the Internet, but, although they can save us from a hurry, they are usually slow or have few options. Therefore, investing a little in making a payment can be a great idea, especially when we can find One as economical as surfshark. In addition, we can install it on all the devices we want, so it is a plus. On mobile, for example, it is an application that we will always have there for when we need it. If we are in one of the situations above, it is enough to activate it and we will have A very valuable additional security plus on any network. In this way, we will also have more privacy when navigating. Surfshark VPN is included in its Starter Plan, which also brings another very interesting tool. This, which is called ALTERNATIVE IDallows us to create data to register on websites and not have to give ours. Ideal for the most jealous of your intimacy. Surfshark Starter Plan can be achieved right now, as we have said above, for only 2.19 euros a month. Making some simple accounts, 24 months of the service are going to leave for only 55.66 euros, a great price if we take into account that, out of promotion, The price would be almost 440 euros. And there does not end the thing: Surfshark gives us 3 months extra, so we will have 27 months in total. Some of the links of this article are affiliated and can report a benefit to Xataka. In case of non -availability, offers may vary. Image | Surfshark In Xataka | Why it is dangerous to connect to public wifis and what you should do to protect yourself In Xataka | The best solutions to protect your data and your company’s computer equipment

The authentic responsible for China can make avant -garde chips is an almost unknown company: Sicarrier

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During the last year and a half Huawei and SMIC have monopolized much of attention in the scope of the semiconductor industry. These two Chinese companies have worked together to develop the technology they needed to produce integrated 7 nm circuits using equipment deep ultraviolet lithography (UVP) that produces ASML. SANCTIONS TO CHINA from the United States and the Netherlands prevent this Dutch company from selling their most advanced machines to their Chinese clients, so none of them have access to their equipment extreme ultraviolet photolithography (UVE). The latter are adequate to manufacture 7 Nm chips on a large more advanced integration technologies. Nevertheless, Huawei and SMIC have managed to produce them using UVP equipment thanks to a technique known as Multiple patterning. Broadly this technology consists in transferring the pattern to the wafer in several passes with the purpose of increasing the resolution of the lithographic process. His problem is that he usually has an upward impact on the cost of chips and the decline in production capacity, although it works. Sicarrier is the Chinese company backed by the government behind this milestone During the last days several Asian media, such as SCMP either Nikkei Asiathey are giving visibility to a Chinese manufacturer of practically unknown lithography equipment that aspires to be the protagonist of Semicon China. This fair is dedicated to the semiconductor industry and will be held this week in Shanghai (China). A priori is surprising that Sicarrierwhich is what this company is called, it is attracting so much attention, but if we investigate a bit we will discover what makes it so special. The technology used by Huawei and SMIC to manufacture 7 Nm integrated circuits derives from a sicarrier patent The first reason is that it is a company that, according to the media that I have mentioned in the previous paragraph, is closely linked to Huawei, although its ties are not entirely clear. What we do know is that it has the economic support of the Shenzhen administration. And, what is more important, than the technology used by Huawei and SMIC to manufacture 7 Nm integrated circuits derives from a patent from sicarrier which seeks to make possible the production of 5 Nm chips using UVP lithography equipment. Although it was founded in 2021, during the last four years Sicarrier has maintained a very low profile. And there is no doubt that it is an express choice of its directive dome. Gives the feeling that the Chinese government wanted to happen as unnoticed as possible, and makes sense to be so if we are in mind that, according to Nikkei AsiaSicarrier’s goal is to compete with the manufacturers of lithography equipment that lead the market, among which are the Dutch company ASMLthe Japanese Tokyo Electron or the American Apply materials. It will be interesting to check this same week if the teams that will be released in Semicon China are up to expectations. Image | Sicarrier More information | SCMP | Nikkei Asia In Xataka | This is China’s big problem with chips: Huawei will manufacture its Kirin X90 for PC using the 7 Nm of SMIC

Hesai was an unknown Chinese giant in Europe. His alliance with Mercedes is about to change everything

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When we talk about large car manufacturers we can fall into the error of thinking about a vehicle as a whole that Renault, BMW, Citroën or any of the Chinese brands that intend to take a place in Europe. But nothing is further from reality. A car is the sum of many small parts. Specific parts of a combustion engine, braking systems, suspensions, seats … Many of those parts, so evident, are not manufactured or produced by large vehicle manufacturers. Bosch, Recaro or Brembo will sound, for example. In fact, Chinese manufacturers who are arriving in Europe or point to it, like Xiaomi, have not hesitated to associate (and show off this) with great more than recognized suppliers in the car market. In their presentations, Byd or Xiaomi have highlighted the role played by companies such as The aforementioned Brembo in the components that ride in their cars. It serves to gain credibility to the most skeptical. But when talking about another type of technology it is Europe that looks at China. Byd, for example, get great prices in its vehicles because It bases its production on verticalitymanufacturing their own batteries but also their own semiconductors or heat pumps. Among that “other type of technology” we can put Hesai. The Chinese company is the largest laser sensor producer. And now he has reached an agreement with Mercedes. From China to your Mercedes As vehicles have gained acting, they have also been growing in complexity. Although Tesla has made it clear that he wants to base all his autonomous driving functions or, as little, for driving in the use of software, at the moment it is still clear that cars armed with laser sensors and other radars are still safer and more effective. To achieve the best result, Mercedes has reached an agreement with Hesai, which triggers its possibilities to grow economically and reach new agreements with other companies explain in South China Morning Post. And it is that Hesai will supply radars lidar to the German company to map with better accuracy what their cars are around. In Reuters They explain that the decision has been weighed for months by the German company but, finally, costs have been imposed on any other value. Keep in mind that the sensors supplied by Hesai may not be used in Mercedes cars that are sold in the United States from 2029 if the intentions of Prohibit the sale of every car with Chinese pieces in the country. The use of Lidar sensors It is especially delicate in vehicles for several reasons. This component is always in operation, mapping everything around. It emits beams of light that bounce in an object and are received again by the vehicle. Next to the GPS positioning and the speed at which they advance, they create a three -dimensional map that takes advantage of thousands or millions of calculations per second. This has several implications that should be remembered. The use of this type of sensor allows a car to map with maximum exactly what it has around, something that they want to limit from the United States and China in the LUCK OF COLD WAR that both countries are freeing. In the United States they intend to Prohibit the sale of every car that uses Chinese software. In China, cars that want to use driving aid functions or Autonomous drivingwhich force the land to map, have to receive the approval of the government. A good that passes, evidently, to associate with a Chinese manufacturer. But, in addition, Lidar sensors are very expensive. The savings obtained in his commission to Hesai would have inclined the balance in favor of the Chinese company by Mercedes, they explain in Reuters. And it is that a vehicle can offer Semi -automated driving systems Without the use of these pieces but it is shown that, for the moment, The use of Lidar makes the difference. Although it may be more unknown in Europe, Hesai Group is a giant that is already present in 37% of vehicles that are assembled in the world, according to South China Morning Post. The company provides this type of giant sensors such as the Geely group (owner of Volvo or Polestar) and Li Auto, one of the great Chinese startups of recent years and employs more than 1,000 people, according to Electrek. But just as it happens to Chinese automotive themselves, Hesai is trying to open up to the rest of the world. With the local market already covered, they need to continue opening new trade agreements and that of Mercedes can be just the first, according to South China Morning Post. In the middle they point out that this agreement opens the door to multiply the current economic performance of the company by 14 times. Despite being present in almost four out of 10 vehicles that are sold worldwide (Only in February They already supplied pieces to 20 different brands and 120 models), the company gave brief benefits last year (14 million yuan, about 1.8 million euros in 2024) and He came out of losses of more than 241 million yuan (30.5 million euros) of the previous year. However, by 2025 they already expect net benefits of between 200 and 350 million yuan (between 25 and 44 million euros) achieved thanks to a scale production that supplies their products to about 15 million vehicles. That scale economy has allowed it Five years ago Each of them cost thousands of dollars. In view of a calculated expansion, the company, indicate in CNEVPOST Study to open its first floor to produce Lidar sensors outside China this year. Although it is not specified what places could be chosen, they do notice that they hope that the production of start in 2026. Photo | Hesai In Xataka | That Byd gives his autonomous driving is the first step: the real business will be to see a Madrid-Osasuna in the car

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