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The ‘Improved Games’ wanted to show that the future of sport is doping. Things didn’t go as expected

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It is still too early to know if the Enhanced Gamesthe famous ‘Enhanced Games’ that were held this weekend in Las Vegas with some rules on doping infinitely more lax than those of any competition recognized by the IOC, will achieve their commercial objectives. Whether or not it has been an effective marketing campaign. What is already clear is that they have deflated at a sporting level. Its organizers promised an evening full of heart-stopping records and marks by athletes ‘enhanced’ with steroids, EPO or testosterone, but they have obtained only one record. The question that remains is… And now, what? Doped athletes? To the Enhanced Games Many things may be blamed on them and their philosophy will be more or less convincing, but there is one thing that cannot be blamed on them: going head-on. The event, held over the weekend in Las Vegas with the pomp of a great showadvanced its objective already in its name: ‘Improved Games’. Its purpose was to organize an athletics, swimming and weightlifting competition in which athletes could doping almost without restrictions. The only limit was that they did not use illegal drugs and the drugs had been prescribed by a doctor. From there, wide Castilla: anabolic steroids, testosterone, EPO… The use of prohibited equipment was even allowed, such as polyurethane suits similar to those that the International Swimming Federation (FINA) banned years ago. The idea was very simple: to prove that, in order not to remain “stuck” and allow athletes to give “the best version” of themselves, official sport must rethink its vetoes. @enhanced_games A $1,000,000 WORLD RECORD SWIM! Kristian Gkolomeev wins the Men’s 50m Freestyle in 20.81 and takes home $1,000,000 bonus + 250,000 first place finish and reclaims his 50M Freestyle world record. ♬ original sound – Enhanced Games The value of a good show. Although the idea is provocative and has earned it enormous media exposure, the organizers of the Enhanced Games wanted to give the event the appearance of a great show. The competition was held at Resorts World in Las Vegas, in a stadium with capacity for 2,500 people and after months of a speech measured to the millimeter to generate expectation. In his favor he had two great claims, beyond the controversy. The first, a team of media athletes. Among the athletes who agreed to participate, Olympic medalists or podiums from world tournaments such as Leidy Solis (silver in Beijing 2008), Fred Kerley (silver in Tokyo 2020), Kristian Gkolomeev (silver at Gwangju 2019) or Hafþór Björnssonweightlifter who reached a world record in 2025 and is famous above all for playing “the Mountain” in ‘Game of Thrones’. And that among a wide etcetera. 42 athletes. In total, 42 athletes (sprinters, swimmers and weightlifters) participated in the Enhanced Games, the vast majority of whom were doped. Guardian precise that of all of them there were only three people who chose to participate in the tests in a ‘clean’ way, without consuming chemical substances that would be equivalent to a disqualification in any official tournament. Their participation in the event gave an extra point of epicness to the Enhanced Games and reinforced its main challenge: Can the consumption of testosterone, EPO, steroids or polyurethane suits really make a difference? Don’t say sport, say money. The second claim that we referred to before explains what Gkolomeev, Björnsson and many other athletes who agreed to participate in the Enhanced Games were doing yesterday in Las Vegas. Beyond their greater or lesser harmony with the underlying message, if they decided to compete it was because the organization promised great awards: $500,000 per test, half of it for the winner. If he also managed to set a world record in one of the “definitive tests” (100 m dash and 50 m freestyle) he could earn an extra one million. And how was it? Not as good as the organizers (probably) expected. Despite the expectation generated, the advertisements who claimed that records were already being broken in training and throughout the hype generated around the use of chemicals, the reality is that the first Enhanced Games only managed to crown a world record. The Greek swimmer did it Kristian Gkolomeevalmost in extremis. Under the watchful eye of the organizers, he managed to complete the 50 meter freestyle in 20.81 seconds, slightly lower than the 20.88 official record achieved by the Australian. Cameron McEvoy in March. Proof of the relief that this meant for those responsible for the Enhanced Games is that, after the race (and in further demonstration that the tournament was more intended as a show than a sporting event), the executive director of the ‘Games’, Max Martin, he knelt before Gkolomeev to proclaim his victory. The mark of 20.81 will not be officially valid, but it will allow the Greek to pocket the bonus of one million dollars. “Maybe next year I’ll beat it again,” he said. A pyrrhic victory. Martin did not save on superlatives when evaluating the competition and went so far as to celebrate that the Enhanced Games have “changed the world”. “We have seen how records were broken and how 12 athletes broke personal bests,” celebrated. The reality is that the balance of the first ‘Improved Games’ has been discreet and has certainly fallen far below the expectations generated by the organization itself. Beyond the consumption of doping substances allowed in the event, Gkolomeev, for example, scratched his record with the help of a ‘supersuit’ banned by FINA. Doped vs ‘clean’. Apart from the fact that there were athletes who broke their “personal records” thanks to doping, as the organization claims, in some cases the competitions were won by the few athletes who claimed not to use drugs. This was the case, for example, of Hunter Armstrong, who won the 50 m backstroke against two doped rivals, or the sprinters Tristan Evelyn and Fred Kerley, who in addition to taking the winner’s check he threw a jibe to their opponents: “They have to train a little harder, … Read more

In the 16th century, Spain wanted to control the Strait of Magellan by founding a city. It became a cursed settlement

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A coin is a coin. And a compass, a compass. What seems so obvious changes when we talk about the old (and ephemeral) city ​​of King Don Felipea Spanish settlement founded more than four centuries ago by Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa on the northern shore of the Strait of Magellan. Its objective was to become a fortress that would reinforce the control of the Spanish Crown in a strategic maritime passage, but the mission became so complicated that the town ended up becoming a death trap for its settlers. Things went so badly that with the passage of time the citadel ended up being renamed ‘Port of Hunger’a name much more in line with what happened there in the 17th century, and its memory it faded in the mists of history. We had to wait until well into the 20th century so that the secrets of King Don Felipe would emerge from oblivion… and the earth. Now the archaeologists have found among its ruins a small piece of silver that in March 1584 Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa himself deposited there during the founding ceremony of the town. In its day it was a simple currency (a real of eight) that was used for ritual purposes. In 2026 it has become something more: a compassa guide that will help researchers better understand the structure and location of the city of Rey Don Felipe, the cursed citadel in the Strait of Magellan that should never have existed. At the ends of the world Today the world lives pending what happens in the Strait of Hormuz. Almost five centuries ago the eyes of the Spanish Crown were directed towards another maritime strait with important strategic value: that of Magellana navigable strip located south of what is now Chile and that stands out as the natural connection between the Pacific and the Atlantic. Since Ferdinand Magellan crossed it for the first time, in the autumn 1520the pass became an object of desire for the Spanish Empire, especially after other expeditions managed to cross it successfully and the English entered the race for its control through late 1570s from the hand of the corsair Francis Drake. To guarantee Spain’s geopolitical plans and its exclusive control of the transoceanic passage, the authorities had an idea: found permanent settlements in the area. The mission fell to Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboaa hardworking sailor who, among other missions, had participated in a (frustrated) mission of the Viceroyalty of Peru to hunt down Drake. Sarmiento first undertook an expedition with two ships in the autumn of 1579 to reconnoiter the coastline of the strait and explore its coasts and, once back in Spain, in 1580 he played a decisive role in getting the Council of the Indies to decide to build citadels and fortifications in the transoceanic passage to America. The expedition left Sanlúcar at the end of September 1581 with a fleet of 23 boats and around 3,000 men, including sailors and future settlers. Despite his enormous ambition, the adventure started badly. And not only because of the differences between Sarmiento and Diego Flores de Valdeswho had been appointed captain general of the Strait Navy. Before even leaving Cádiz, a storm sank half a dozen ships and killed 800 men. What followed next was a journey marked by disagreements between Sarmiento and Valdés, illnesses, the inclemency of the ocean and storms that caused the expedition to lose ships, crew and supplies. After various incidents and vicissitudes, Sarmiento and his men arrived at the strait at the beginning of 1584 and founded a city that they named ‘Purification of Our Lady’. It didn’t work. The location and climate did not help, so Sarmiento looked for a new enclave, near Cape Vírgenes, and founded a settlement which he called ‘Name of Jesus’. Determined to continue with the mission, the sailor chose part of the 340 people he kept and looked for a third location to create another citadel. On this occasion he baptized it with a nod to the Habsburg court (King Don Felipe) and celebrated the founding ceremony in March 1584. We know that Sarmiento himself participated in the ritual. On March 25, he laid the first stone of the citadel church and, with it, in the foundations, buried a real of eight silver. As they explain from the Bernardo O’Higgins University of Santiago, it was “a symbolic gesture that marked the birth of the city.” If the ritual was intended to promote the settlement’s fortunes, it only half worked. It has served archaeologists of the 21st century, who have just found the coin “in place and position” described by Sarmiento in his writings and now, thanks to that clue, they will have an easier time interpreting a map of the 16th century in which the buildings of the town are represented. The one who certainly had no use for the currency was the colonists who settled in Rey Don Felipe city. Theirs was a tragic story from the beginning. a cursed city Ciudad Rey Don Felipe may have enjoyed a privileged location from a geopolitical and strategic point of view, but the truth is that it soon became hell for its settlers. And not only because the crew of the ill-fated (and diminished) Armada del Estrecho arrived in Magallanes at the limit of their strength. In ‘Port of Hunger. Beyond the legend’a work signed by the historian Soledad González and the archaeologist Simón Urbina, a key piece of information is provided: “On board the ships or on land they saw people die or desert. nine out of ten colleaguesfriends or family. As if that were not enough, after founding the Nombre de Jesús settlement, the crew divided into groups to expand towards the Santa Ana peninsula, precisely to establish Rey Don Felipe. Once there, and despite the fact that Sarmiento de Gamboa was quick to lay the foundations of the new citadel (both in a metaphorical and literal sense), things did not improve. The scene looked so bad … Read more

LaLiga wanted to fine VPNs that did not block IPs during matches. A court has been set up

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LaLiga has been waging an all-out war against football piracy for months and, with the support of a court ruling obtained in 2025, LaLiga had the power to ask operators to block certain IP addresses. The result? Websites that stumbled on match days due to some locks which were a clear example of kill flies with cannon shots. In a process in which it seemed that no one could stop these actions, LaLiga They got it in February of this year what seemed like another victory: a court in Córdoba ordered NordVPN and ProtonVPN Block certain IPs. Not even the judges themselves They knew if that could be done. and VPN tools evidently responded. Now another court in Córdoba has put some sense into all this, dismissing LaLiga’s request to impose fines on VPN platforms for failing to comply with the indiscriminate blocking order. The twist in the story of LaLiga and VPN blocks Through a release On its website, one of the companies affected by the initial ruling (NordVPN) has commented on the result of the ruling of the Commercial Court of Córdoba in what they have described as the dismissal of the request to impose coercive fines on NordVPN. The statement they have shared is the following: On May 19, 2026, the Commercial Court of Córdoba rejected LaLiga’s request to impose coercive fines on NordVPN for alleged non-compliance with the precautionary blocking order issued in February 2026. NordVPN had already warned at the time that the order was not technically viable without harming thousands of legitimate websites in Spain and abroad. Now, the court has accepted the independent technical evidence presented by NordVPN and ruled that it cannot be concluded that the company violated the order deliberately and without justification. The order issued in February required NordVPN to block a list of IP addresses that allegedly hosted unauthorized La Liga broadcasts. NordVPN’s technical experts have shown that target IP addresses change constantly, often within hours, meaning that the lists supplied do not correspond to the actual addresses at the time the blocking can be implemented. It was also demonstrated that the massive blocking at the IP level would have left thousands of completely legitimate websites without access for users in Spain and outside of it. After considering the conflicting expert reports, the court found a genuine technical dispute and ruled that the fines were not justified. It goes on to detail that this is a procedural resolution in the preliminary phase, so it does not resolve the underlying issue: the entire procedure that is still ongoing. nordVPN points out that it will continue to collaborate with the Spanish courts and points out that cloudflareone of the most affected in all this, also follows its own path of collaboration with the courts. What CloudVPN points out is that they are committed to the legitimate protection of intellectual property and the application of measures, but those measures must be proportionate, technically sound and respectful of both users and services that depend on the shared Internet infrastructure, stating that this massive IP blocking imposed on VPN providers, precisely, lacks all of these aspects. And most importantly, NordVPN points out something that is obvious: these measures “do not stop violators, who adapt in a matter of minutes while imposing real costs on legitimate users, companies and services that have no relation to the dispute.” In Xataka | LaLiga’s massive IP blocks are making life impossible for users, companies and developers. So you can claim

Japan wanted its roads to be more than just a place of passage. And they thought of something: vending machines

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There are many, many things that catch your attention when you arrive in Japan. At first, it is difficult to understand how this country of ancient traditions and quiet Buddhist or Shinto temples that seem to be everywhere can mix with the most hilarious bustle of stores like the Don Quixote. As the days go by, little by little, one begins to assimilate what one sees and begins to focus on issues just as curious but not as striking. When you want to realize you are in the konbini in turn choosing which of the 12 types of cold coffee and the eight hot ones you want the most. Or if you dare with that lemon soda marked by some kanji as attractive as they are threatening. A few days later, you are picking up any of those soft drinks in the middle of a road, in a layby where there is nothing… Where there is nothing but a vending machine. And then you ask yourself: but what is this machine doing here? Vending machine culture And in Japan there is something as ubiquitous as shrines: vending machines. The Japanese have a passion for jidouhanbaiki either jihanki. Obviously, the most famous and used are those that sell something to drink, but there are all kinds of them and for all kinds of objects. My colleague Javier Pastor already pointed out in 2017 that there were an estimated five million vending machines distributed throughout the country. Some with objects as extravagant “like this one from used panties either it’s poop“. But in addition to selling products, these vending machines have found another function: that of promoting national and inland tourism by road. The country has been fighting rural depopulation for years and has found in vending machines a great support for travelers to opt for the car and motorcycle instead of the very crowded bullet train. The formula is as simple as it is Japanese: make the traveler comfortable. With that premise, many vending machines have been popping up on lay-bys and rest areas in the country. A tremendously simple formula for the traveler to stop and even deviates from its path. With a density of less than 40 inhabitants for each machine vending machine, this option has not only become a tool to assist the traveler, It is already a tourist attraction in itself. And that has encouraged an increase in the number of people who see here as another incentive to go out with their car or motorcycle for the weekend. When the Japanese have an obsession, it is very difficult for others to catch up to them. If we talk about motorcycling and motorsports, Japan is one of the most cultural countries. Hence, some roads have simply become a hobby. One where the customer simply pays to drive but to which some auxiliary services have been added to improve the experience. like the ubiquitous vending machines. It is not the only tool they have found to encourage this type of pure leisure travel. There are musical highways where the asphalt emits a melody as the car or motorcycle passes by, using the roughness to create scores that the traveler plays as they pass over it. Or the michi no eki, something like the latest evolution of the service area where the gas station has the obligation to have another business or to offer a local product. There are those that only sell local food but there are those that even have their own natural science museum. A perfect opportunity to collect your stamps or banknotes, other tourist attractions of these spaces. And Japan is an obsessed country for collecting and making everyone as comfortable as possible. And for that jidouhanbaiki They are perfect. Photos | Xataka In Xataka | Japan is searching for the person who built a road on the country’s largest lake. It leads nowhere

I was looking for a good keyboard and I wanted one that would help me work faster (and more comfortably). I already know what I want

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Between the time I spend working and the time I spend playing on the PC, it can be said that I have my hands on the keyboard for many hours of the day. For years, peripheral that has accompanied me has been a Logitech G513 from which I have learned that I love the wrist rest. However, I think it’s time to retire and I want something different. Since I spend all day browsing almost every store and looking at all kinds of devices, I admit that I have spent more time than necessary searching for a new keyboard. And, in that search, I have found The keyboard that I would like to be part of my setup: This is Corsair Galleon 100 SD and costs 349.99 euros. It has a high price, I know, but there are several reasons why I love it. Corsair Galleon 100 SD RGB Wired Mechanical Gaming Keyboard – Spanish QWERTY, Stream Deck Integration, Pre-Lubricated and Interchangeable MLX Pulse Key Switches, SOCD FlashTap, 8000Hz The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Keyboard with wrist rest and Stream Deck. all together As I say, there are several reasons for this and the first and foremost is what stands out most about this Galleon 100 SD: it is the first keyboard to have a built-in Stream Deck. Beyond the fact that it eliminates something that I had left over from my Logitech (the numeric keypad), this part is super useful and, although it is a gadget that has gained popularity among streamers, It is the best there is to increase productivity. What can be done with it? Well, that’s the fun, since it is very customizable. The simplest thing is to assign each key to open an app, such as Slack or an email manager. This is great, but you can go much further by making A single button opens all the applications you need to work at once. What’s more, you can place specific functions from programs like Excel or Photoshop as well, which allows you to optimize (a lot) the workflow. And to place certain functions when playing it also seems wonderful to me. I have talked about the wrist rest as a point that I love, but a small nuance must be made here. Many of these accessories that can be found on Amazon or similar stores are made of plastic and, although they do not have to be bad, I find them uncomfortable. However, this Corsair has a memory foam wrist rest like the Logitech keyboard I already have, which provides great comfort even if you spend a lot of time with your wrists resting non-stop. Finally, two more details. Its switches, which are MLX Pulse, have short travel and, although they offer an audible response, They don’t sound like an old typewriter.. Furthermore, although it is not something that matters for working, it has a polling rate of 8,000 Hz, which makes its response time very top. I left out some extra things that this Galleon 100 SD has such as the LCD screen, the wheels to control the sound or the materials of its keys, but even so it is an option that seems like a real spectacle to me. It is not a keyboard for everyone nor is it an economical option, as I say above, but it is a very interesting option if, like me, youYou spend many hours with your hands on the keyboard to work and play. You may also be interested CORSAIR K70 RGB PRO Wired Mechanical Gaming Keyboard – Cherry MX Red Linear Switches, SOCD, Double-Shot PBT Keycaps, 8000Hz Hyper-Polling, NKRO, Tournament Switch, QWERTY ES – Black The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Corsair Vanguard Pro 96 Hall Effect Magnetic-Mechanical Wired Gaming Keyboard – 96% Format, MGX Hyperdrive Switches, 8000 Hz, Rapid Trigger, Virtual Stream Deck, Flashtap SOCD, QWERTY ES The price could vary. We earn commission from these links CORSAIR K70 PRO TKL RGB Magnetic-Mechanical Wired Gaming Keyboard – Pre-Lubricated MGX Hyperdrive Adjustable Switches, Simultaneous SOCD and Quick Trigger, 8,000 Hz, QWERTY – Black The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Some of the links in this article are affiliated and may provide a benefit to Xataka. In case of non-availability, offers may vary. Images | corsair In Xataka | Best keyboards for writing and working at value for money. Which one to buy based on use and seven recommended models In Xataka | Ultrawide monitor vs two monitors: productivity science says it’s not just inches that matter

60 years ago a student wanted to study the mountains of the United States. Unknowingly felled the oldest known tree

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At a glance ‘Prometheus’ It was a twisted, rugged, whimsically shaped pine tree that stood on a Nevada mountain. Nothing to do with gigantic sequoias of Redwood National Park, also in the USA, where specimens of more than 100 meters high with bases that are around 30 m in diameter. That, of course, at first glance. Although its size was not striking and it barely stood out in the grove in which it sprouted, ‘Prometheus’ was a tree of almost 5,000 yearswhich made it one of the oldest in the world. Why do we talk about him in the past tense? Very simple: because in the 60s a student who was especially diligent with his research felled it with permission from the authorities. With you, the Pinus longaeva. Its name may not be as well known as that of the redwoods, the baobabs or the Douglas firstrees that have been fascinating humanity for centuries due to their colossal dimensions, but the bristlecone pines (Pinus longaeva) are just as amazing. Not because of its size, but because of its age. Located primarily in the higher altitude mountains of California, this species has managed to survive for several millennia. As? Its growth is very slow and they usually sprout separately from each other, which allows them to adapt to harsh habitats and withstand fires better. The key to its longevity however lies in its “architecture” and adaptations. As remember from the US National Park Service (NPS), the roots of the Pinus longaeva They only nourish the part of the tree that is directly above them. If that root dies, it only affects its section of the tree. Hence, it is not unusual to see specimens with dry bark on one side and that, however, continue to grow healthily. an old acquaintance. In Wheeler PeakNevada, stood years ago a magnificent specimen of Pinus longaeva. Its height was nothing out of this world, but it was so twisted and had such an ancient appearance that mountaineers in the area They baptized him ‘Prometheus’. Seen in perspective, the nickname is still ironic. In the classical mythology Zeus imposed a horrible punishment on the titan of that name for giving humanity the gift of fire and metallurgy. At Wheeler Peak the ‘Prometheus’ that grew rooted to the mountain ended up perishing precisely because of the efforts of a university student to understand the geology of the region. To understand it you have to go back to summer of 1964when Donald R. Currey, a graduate student studying the ice age of eastern Nevada, had an idea: To better understand the formation of glaciers, he decided to extract samples from the oldest trees that grew in the region. It wasn’t anything groundbreaking. The dendrochronologythe discipline that is responsible for studying climate patterns by analyzing tree rings, dates back to the beginning of the 20th century. In fact, the idea of ​​obtaining samples from the logs sounded so reasonable that authorities raised no objections when Currey asked for permission to study them. The great unknown. In theory, what Currey proposed was to use a drill bit to remove small samples of the trunk, a kind of cylinders from the trunk. pencil size that could later be analyzed in the laboratory. It came with the different rings and their characteristics being appreciated. When it was ‘Prometheus’ turn, something went wrong. Or so it is believed, since more than six decades later it’s still not entirely clear what exactly happened at Wheeler Peak. Some accounts claim that Currey’s drill bit broke while the geologist was trying to make his way through the dense pine wood, so he requested help from the Forest Service. To solve it, the workers opted for the most radical solution: they took out the chainsaw and cut down the tree. Other versions claim that Currey did not know how to work with such a complicated specimen or that there was simply no error and from the beginning he needed a complete cross section to study the trunk. Regardless, there are two clear details. First, that was the end of ‘Prometheus’. Second, Currey did not work as foreigners. He had permission from the Forest Service. And the surprise came. It was not necessary to cut ‘Prometheus’ in two to intuit that it was a very ancient tree. If Currey looked at this pine and others in the area it was precisely because he assumed that they were old enough to give him a broad ‘snapshot’ of the climatic events that had occurred in the region. The surprise came when he took the piece of wood to his laboratory. As ancient as I suspected ‘Prometheus’ to be, one thing is clear: Currey fell short. When he started counting growth rings, he added neither more nor less than 4,862. Given the harsh conditions in which the pine grew, which could have influenced the formation of the layers, the experts ended up concluding that its age was most likely closer to 4,900 years. That is to say, the ancient tree already appeared on the Nevada mountain when the pharaohs reigned in ancient Egypt or Hammurabi ruled in Babylon. The oldest in the world? Although environmental awareness in the 1960s was not the same as it is today, the mistake was considerable. Especially since it was the Forest Service itself that made it possible. The age of ‘Prometheus’ is in fact so astonishing that the NPS itself recognize which at the time was considered “the oldest tree ever dated.” It even surpassed the famous tree ‘Methuselah’other Pinus longaeva of California that is around 4,850 years old. Today that title is in question. Especially after a theoretically even older tree was discovered in 2012, another bristlecone from more than 5,000 years. The US authorities recognize in any case that it is “very likely” that there are other, even older, undated specimens of the same species. “The bristlecone pines of the Great Basin are notable for being the oldest non-clonal species on the … Read more

The day Spain wanted to be Spielberg doing science fiction. It was such nonsense that Tarantino ended up claiming the film

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In 1982, during the filming of Fitzcarraldo In the Amazon jungle, Werner Herzog heard a completely real proposal from several local indigenous people: they offered to kill Klaus Kinski to put an end to the problems he was causing on set. The German director rejected the idea, but years later he would admit that for a few seconds he seriously considered accepting the offer. The impossible movie. In the mid-80s, Spanish cinema was still very far from Hollywood. Science fiction blockbusters seemed to be the exclusive territory of Spielberg, George Lucas or Ridley Scott, while comedies and much more modest films in terms of media predominated here. Then the director Fernando Colomo appeared and decided do exactly the opposite of what seemed sensible: raising a medieval science fiction epic with aliens, castles, special effects, international stars and the largest budget in the history of Spanish cinema up to that point. The result was so enormous, chaotic and Martian that it ended up becoming a symbol first of absolute failure…and decades later in a cult film claimed even by Quentin Tarantino himself. movie poster Spain in Hollywood style. The dragon knight was born as a completely improbable idea: mixing the myth of Sant Jordi with Encounters in the third phasemedieval fantasy, absurd humor and romantic science fiction. The story began with a spaceship mistaken for a dragon in the middle of medieval Europe and a silent alien (played by Miguel Bosé) falling in love with a princess after accidentally kidnapping her. Colomo came from triumph with the comedies of the Madrid Movida, but decided to launch into a gigantic project by Spanish standards. The budget is over exceeding 300 million of pesetas, a crazy figure for the time. Huge sets were built, models and storyboards that were unusual in Spain were designed, and some of them were experimented with. the first digital effects of national cinema. The problem is that Spanish cinema in 1985 simply did not yet have the necessary industrial infrastructure to build something like that without everything exploding into the air. Martian Bosé, Keitel sunk and Kinski unleashed. The casting seemed like an international frenzy. Harvey Keitel accepted the project at one of the lowest moments of his career after working with Scorsese. Miguel Bosé finished turned into an alien because Imanol Arias “did not have the face of an alien,” according to Colomo himself. And then there was Klaus Kinski. The German actor arrived at the filming as a ticking bomb human. He constantly insulted the team, shouted “What a shitty movie!” During the days, he demanded more money, disappeared when he wanted and turned any technical delay into an attack of fury. Apparently, he only respected Miguel Bosé (and for being Picasso’s godson) and the gypsy animal caretakers on the set. To give us an idea, Keitel even offered to pay out of pocket to settle one of Kinski’s contractual tantrums. The atmosphere was so unbearable that Colomo tried to film all the German scenes before meals so I can have a quiet lunch without him. History left the moment when Kinski finally finished his sequences and left the shoot, when the team celebrated his departure. opening bottles of champagne All wrong. The film was shot amidst constant rain, delays, cost overruns and situations almost surreal. An extra was about to drown during a sequence on a lake because the armor was too heavy and he couldn’t stay afloat. An electrician managed to rescue him at the last moment and then used that anecdote for years to demand work in new Colomo films. Not only that. The castle where they were filming was so poorly located that the crew had to upload loading material on exhausting days every morning. Miguel Bose I could barely breathe inside his spacesuit and diving suit it continually fogged up. Meanwhile, money was disappearing at breakneck speed. What had started as an ambitious fantasy ended up becoming something of a kind. suicide expedition where every day seemed to bring a new logistical disaster. The final failure. When The dragon knight It hit theaters in 1985, the reaction was brutal. Part of the criticism destroyed her describing it as a botched, absurd and inoperative fantasy. Although the film was relatively seen and became the seventh highest-grossing Spanish production of the year, that it wasn’t enough to recover such a crazy budget. To make matters worse, the American distributor broke agreements due to delays in the delivery of the material and Colomo lost a trial in Hollywood that left him without international rights. The director finished in debt with 50 million of the old pesetas and, according to would count Years later, he only kept “a Renault 5.” The experience was so traumatic that he thought he was going to have a heart attack. In fact, to survive financially he wrote almost as an emergency The joyful lifewhose subsequent success allowed him to pay off the debts accumulated by that medieval space madness. From disaster to cult movie. For decades, The Dragon Knight was remembered as one of the big hits of Spanish cinema. But over time something began to happen that has been repeated in many other celluloid productions: many people began to see it with fascination. Its impossible mix of genres, its naive tone, its disproportionate ambitions and the chaos that each scene gives off transformed it into a unique rarity. Festivals like CutreCon They claimed it as a cult work and the film ended being restored in 4K forty years after its premiere. The definitive turn came when Colomo remembered a conversation in Sitges with Quentin Tarantino. The American director, always obsessed with strange and failed films, immediately recognized Star Knight (his international title) even before Colomo himself remembered what it was called in English. It turned out that that martian medieval that almost ruined half the world ended up surviving in the most improbable way: converted into a delirious relic of a moment in which Spanish cinema believed, … Read more

Microsoft wanted to create a mega data center in Kenya. To function, half the country had to live without electricity

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In May 2024 Microsoft announced what seemed like a historic agreement for Kenya’s technological development. The goal: create a gigantic data center that would be powered by geothermal energy. This center was going to be created in the Olkaria region, but the Kenyan president, William Ruto, has been blunt with Microsoft’s energy claims: to power the total requested 1 GW capacity, the country “would have to shut down half the nation.” too fair. Kenya has an electrical capacity installed capacity of between 3 and 3.2 GW, with peak demand that already reaches 2.44 GW. Microsoft’s project would consume approximately a third of the country’s total capacity. Even the first phase, which requires a capacity of 100 MW, would take a huge bite out of the production of the Olkaria geothermal complex, which generates about 950 GW in total. Kenya seems to be clear that sacrificing domestic consumption was not worth it when most of the project’s profitability will end up in the hands of a large foreign technology company. Financial disagreement. In addition to the energy problems, the negotiations have ended up getting stuck in the economic field. According to sources close to the process cited in BloombergMicrosoft and the investment firm G42 have reportedly asked the Kenyan government for a financial commitment. Specifically, payment for a certain amount of capacity each year, something with which the Kenyan leaders did not fully agree. The project has not been canceled. John Tanui, head of Kenya’s Ministry of Information, explained that his country is still in negotiations with Microsoft and G42, and that the agreement “has not failed or been abandoned. The scale of the data center they needed requires some structuring,” and that includes solving both the energy and economic problems. A project with a lot of geopolitics behind it. This project was not only a technological milestone for Microsoft and Africa, but also a diplomatic one. It is part of a $1.5 billion deal between Microsoft and Abu Dhabi-based G42, which was designed to counter potential deals on this continent with China. In fact, as a condition for the G42 agreement had to divest its Chinese assets and remove Huawei equipment from their systems. While the project is on hold, however, the Chinese company continues to expand in this region and has recently launched new broadband services over fiber with the largest Kenyan operator, Safaricom. Bottlenecks everywhere. The case of Kenya is not the only one that is stopping Microsoft’s plans. The company has announced a capex of 190 billion dollars by 2026 that will be invested in data centers, and the company is adding approximately 1 GW of computing capacity each quarter globally. However, about half of the data centers planned in the US this year have been canceled or delayed due to the shortage of electrical infrastructure. Image | Microsoft In Xataka | In 2024, Big Tech spent absurd amounts of money on AI. In 2025, they managed to spend 77% more

A family wanted to live with only solar panels, well water and a garden. Until Italy took away her children

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High in a forest in Abruzzo, Italy, a stone house fell completely silent in November last year. Until then, that place was the self-sufficient refuge of Nathan Trevallion, Catherine Birmingham and their three children. However, on November 20, 2025, a judge decided to remove them of family custody for living disconnected from the grid, without schooling and in an environment that he considered unhealthy. The resolution started a fire political and social in Italy. What for the family was a self-sufficient life project—solar panels, well water, compostable toilet, garden—became a court case with enormous international repercussions. The story, however, goes beyond an Italian court order. It is the symptom of something bigger: a growing movement in Europe—and also in Spain—of families and communities seeking to get out of the urban grind, disconnect from the electrical grid and live self-sufficiently. How far does the freedom to choose that lifestyle go? And where does the State’s intervention begin, especially when minors are involved? The case that divided Italy. The family, of Australian and British origin, had been living in a forest in Palmoli since 2021. The house was precarious but, according to themenough: electricity with solar panels, well water and an outdoor composting area as a toilet. In autumn 2024, all were hospitalized due to accidental mushroom poisoning. That episode was the one that activated the alarms of social services. As collected Corriere della Seraa technical report described the home as “ruin” and “without adequate conditions for minors.” That’s when social services intervened. The lack of schooling of the minors, the absence of pediatric follow-up and the almost total isolation in which the family lived set off all the alarms. Following these reports, a court in L’Aquila ordered in November of 2025 the withdrawal of parental authority and the transfer of the children to a center, where the mother could stay with them temporarily. The decision has caused a real political earthquakewhere political leaders and several judicial associations denounced pressure from the Government. At the same time, more than 150,000 people signed online petitions demanding that minors return to their parents. The family breakup and tensions in Vasto. The litigation is still in full swing. The development of the case during the first months of 2026 has been marked by institutional complexity, friction and the desperate search for reunification. The deepest wound of this process is, without a doubt, separation. According to Il Messaggerothe situation reached a critical point on March 6, when Catherine, the mother of the minors, was removed from the Vasto family home. In her only in-person visit after the expulsion, social services reports indicated that the woman showed “hostile” attitudes and incited other residents to rebel against the educators. This episode led to the drastic decision to cancel subsequent meetings, limiting maternal contact to video calls, in an attempt to preserve the children’s serenity. However, distance is taking its toll. A forceful technical report presented on April 3, 2026 before the L’Aquila Court, signed by the psychiatrist Tonino Cantelmi and the psychologist Martina Aiello, set off alarm bells. The experts They noticed that children show obvious “signs of psychological distress” and deep trauma resulting from the separation. The document is clear: there is no evidence of abuse or mistreatment by the mother. For this reason, specialists have asked the court for the “urgent and unavoidable” reconstitution of the family, warning that prolonging this fracture will only aggravate the damage to the mental health of the children. An institutional clash in the middle of the crossfire. The family drama has transcended the walls of the reception center to become a political and institutional powder keg. The management of the case provoked an open and public confrontation, collected by RaiNews. On the one hand, the Ombudsman for Children of Abruzzo, Marina Terragni, visited the minors in March and publicly reported having found some children with “notable psychomotor agitation” and obvious trauma due to the repeated changes. The response from social services was immediate. They flatly accused Terragni of exposing the professionals to a “public pillory” based on statements that, according to them, did not correspond to reality, ensuring that the climate in the family home had returned to being “serene.” Polarization and media pressure have escalated to worrying levels: The tension even manifested itself with screams inside the court itself, and the judge of the Juvenile Court, Cecilia Angrisano, had to receive a police escort after being the target of continuous threats on social networks. The countdown. While the courts decide, the family tries to put the pieces back together and comply with the State’s demands. Nathan, assuming a conciliatory role, has moved to regularize his situation. As detailed Il Messaggerothe father delivered to the City Council of Palmoli a personalized study plan, supported by the Libera Schola Foundation of Milan and inspired by the Waldorf-Steiner method. In addition, the family has begun to comply with the vaccination schedule and the children have been receiving in-person classes with a tutor since January, as pointed out by Corriere della Sera. The most tangible progress has come from the municipality itself. In a gesture of support, the Palmoli City Council has given the family, free of charge and for an initial period of two years, a newly renovated 70 square meter house. As detailed Il Giornale, The house, financed with European PNRR funds, has solar panels, heating and all health guarantees, thus solving the judge’s main claim. At the moment the house remains empty until the family is complete, as detailed by Nathan. Everyone’s eyes are now on the Court of Appeal, which has a key hearing set for April 21, 2026. Off-grid: from bucolic dream to global phenomenon. To understand the background of this trend, just open Instagram. As the magazine explains Ethicsit is enough for the algorithm to detect a certain interest in self-sufficiency to fill the feed of videos of families drying their own food, women showing their renovated campers or couples who live half a year off … Read more

We wanted electric cars and solar panels. The Hormuz blockade has returned us to the era of coal and nuclear energy

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The Third Gulf War has caused what decades of climate summits tried to avoid: the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz has erased 20% of the world’s supply of oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) in one fell swoop. Faced with the imminent threat of a large-scale blackout, governments around the world have put their energy transition plans in a drawer. However, to keep the lights on and the economy afloat, the immediate response has been to look back to the past: burn coal by the piece and resurrect nuclear power. The mirage of “bridge fuel.” Asia buys more than 80% of the crude oil and gas that transits through Hormuz, but the problem goes far beyond a simple ship jam. This crisis has destroyed one of the great pillars of the energy transition. As explained The New York TimesLiquefied Natural Gas (LNG) was sold during the last decade as the perfect “bridge fuel”: less polluting than coal, more reliable than intermittent renewables and capable of being transported by sea to any corner. That bridge just blew up. The damage is far from being repaired, and it is estimated that the infrastructure attacked It will take years to operate again. Added to this is that Iran has turned the Strait of Hormuz into a kind of maritime “VIP discotheque”deciding by hand which ships can cross. No one can depend on LNG ships to guarantee their sovereignty. The main problem: live without pantry. But there is a technical factor that has turned this crisis into an immediate catastrophe: lack of storage. Unlike the West, most Asian countries lack underground gas stores, leaving them completely exposed to supply disruptions. While nations like South Korea can last up to 52 days and Japan about three weeks, Taiwan walk on a wire extremely fragile, with a legal security threshold of just 11 or 12 days of reserves. Without a “pantry” to store the LNG, Asia has no room for maneuver: if the ship does not arrive on Monday, the blackout begins on Tuesday. This structural vulnerability is what has forced an unconditional surrender to coal. Coal’s dirty lifesaver. As Jonathan Teubner, the aforementioned analyst, perfectly summarizes by Financial Times: “No coal ship passes through the Strait of Hormuz.” That is the key to everything. Being a cheap, abundant resource that does not depend on the troubled waters of the Middle East, the most polluting mineral has returned with a bang. According to FortuneSouth Korea has removed the 80% operational cap for its coal plants, a decision that has drawn the ire of environmental groups who accuse the government of using “energy security as a pretext.” Thailand, for its part, is restarting plants it had dismantled last year. From Seoul to New Delhi: the dilemma of the powers. Japan, one of the world’s largest gas importers, has also bowed to the evidence, allowing its least efficient coal plants to operate at full capacity for a year. Energy desperation is such that in Japan There are already voices demanding cancel the emissions trading system, calling it a “death sentence” for the coal plants they now need to survive. In India, the situation is critical. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has warned of a “major challenge” ahead of the summer. To avoid massive blackouts, New Delhi has commanded giants such as Tata Power and Adani Power operate at full capacity, while Bangladesh seeks multi-billion dollar loans. Sam Chua, analyst at Rystad Energy, sums it up in Financial Times: We are not seeing a transition, but a brutal “destruction of gas demand.” Although it is not that simple: the money wall. This coal revival has a glass ceiling. As experts point out in Japan Timesthe banking sector flatly refuses to finance the construction of new coal plants for fear of being left with “stranded assets” (stranded assets) in the face of global climate commitments. That is, countries are squeezing their dirty old infrastructure to the last drop, but they can’t build new ones. Charcoal is the assisted respirator, but not the cure. The atom as a shield: the great redemption of uranium. Panic too has broken atomic taboos. Taiwan, whose government promised a “nuclear-free homeland” in 2016, has announced plans to restart two decommissioned reactors. The Philippines has charted a fast track to atomic energy by 2032, and Vietnam has just struck a deal with Russia to build its first reactors. Uranium is no longer seen as a threat, but rather as the only way to protect the electricity supply against maritime blackmail. The domino effect reaches Europe. What started as an emergency solution in Asia is already infecting the West. The crisis has forced the European Union to break its own historical taboos, admitting that Europe committed a “strategic mistake” by moving away from atomic energy. Brussels has already put 200 million euros on the table to develop Small Modular Reactors (SMR) by 2030. This shift shows a continental fracture: while France entrenches itself protecting its nuclear investment of 300 billion euros and blocks energy interconnections with the Iberian Peninsula, Europe assumes that it cannot guarantee its future solely with the sun and the wind. War rationing in the 21st century. While the plants uproot, the daily suffocation hit the streets. Philippines has declared a “national energy emergency.” In South Korea, the government implores families to take short showers and Samsung has prohibited its employees from driving to work based on the license plate. In Thailand, officials operate with work weeks for four days and they are prohibited from wearing ties in order to raise the temperature of the air conditioning. The collapse is so severe that Thai ambulances have taken to Facebook to beg gas stations to reserve diesel for them to save lives. The collateral damage. The scope of this blockage transcends the electricity bill. If the conflict lasts until June, Bloomberg alert that the barrel could touch $200, a price designed to cause “demand destruction.” This would lock global inflation at a chronic … Read more

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