war

China did not intervene in the war to protect Iranian oil. Because your plan is longer than the conflict

by

For years, the relationship between China and Iran has been underpinned by a constant oil flow. However, the recent conflict between Iran and Israel caused Beijing He ordered his ships to turn in the Ormuz Strait. A seemingly technical gesture revealed something deeper: the limits of Chinese energy diplomacy. From partner to spectator. The recent climb between Iran and Israel, which included direct attacks and cross reprisalshe tested the link between China and the Islamic Republic. Although a truce promoted by Washington was declared, these weeks the gaze was set on this part of the planet. In that context, the international community looked towards Beijing, waiting for a clear gesture of support or at least mediation. But China opted for a prudent position: verbal sentences, called to dialogue, routine statements in the UN, According to Apnews. No military support, technical assistance, or real involvement. And that caught the attention, especially for what is at stake: between 80% and 90% of the oil that will export ends in Chinese refineries, which represents approximately 1.2 million barrels per day, According to France 24. Even so, Beijing chose diplomatic silence before the conflict. China is not the United States. And it does not intend to be either. While the United States maintains a network of military basesnaval fleets and strategic alliances in the Middle East, China has no comparable presence. Your only regional base It is in Yibutiand his attempts to expand to Oman or the Arab Emirates have been stopped, in part, by Washington’s pressure. As He explained The Interpreter, China has opted for a non -intervention policy. Its diplomacy in the region is pragmatic, transactional, guided by commercial interests rather than ideological affinities. “China’s footprint in the Gulf is commercial, it is not ready for combat,” said Craig Singleton, of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. For his part, William Figueroa, expert in China-Iran of the University of Groningen, It has been overwhelming In The Washington Post: “China has no capacity to militarily influence this conflict. Nor does it benefit from a broader war.” Although it is a matter of pragmatism. From Beijing, Zhu Feng, Dean of International Relations at Nanjing University, He has remarked In AP News that volatility in the Middle East “directly affects China’s economic security.” However, that does not mean that it will be absent. His greater diplomatic letter In the region was the 2023 agreement between Iran and Saudi Arabia, negotiated in Beijing. Although he was read as a Chinese geopolitical triumph, The Interpretter He has nuanced: “The distension had already been brewing with the help of Kuwait, Iraq and Oman. China simply gave him the final touch.” That discreet presence in the diplomatic field contrasts with its constancy in another key front: the energy. China has continued buying Iranian raw at reduced prices, Taking advantage of Tehran isolation For US sanctions. As has reported on their networks The journalist, Bachar el Halabi after the recent US bombings against Iranian nuclear facilities, oil exports to China did not stop, and in fact, they reached record levels. However, the relationship is fragile. In 2020, Iranian president Mahmud Ahmadineyad criticized the agreement of 25 -year cooperation between the two countries for considering it opaque and suspicious. Rumors about alleged Chinese military bases in Iran They circulated in the local pressfeeding distrust. When there is a dependency. This week, Reuters He has revealed that Washington has authorized that ethane cargoes – a key natural gas for the petrochemical industry – are loaded in US ports to China, as long as they do not end in Iranian territory. The operation, according to the letter released by the Office of Industry and Security of the Department of Commerce, is approved under the condition that the product is not discharged or redirected towards Iran. It may seem a bureaucratic technicalism, but it really says much more. This type of movements exposes how the United States continues to set the rules of the global energy game, even when it comes to exchanges between its two main strategic rivals. For China, the message is clear: its energy trade with Iran is still under surveillance. And for Iran, the warning is even more evident: Any attempt to avoid economic isolation, even indirectly, can be blocked from afar. The dragon rhetoric. Beijing wants to be a global referee, but he is behaving as a spectator. A recent example is the Defense Summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (OCS), held in Qingdao, where Chinese Minister Dong Jun spoke of a world in “chaos and instability,” According to Deutsche Welle. The meeting was attended by their counterparts from Russia, Iran, Pakistan and Belarus. China projected symbolic power, but did not offer concrete solutions. In fact, even when they will threatened to close the Ormuz Strait – where 20% of the world crude, vital for China – pekin transits only the diplomatic tone, without major consequences. And, as multiple analysts explain, China has little appetite for risk. It is not yet willing to “risk the neck” in others. As It has concluded Craig Singleton in AP News, “When missiles fly, the so promoted ‘Strategic Association’ of China with Iran is reduced to communications. Beijing wants Iranian Iranian oil and headlines as a peacemaker, but let Washington load with the risks of hard power.” A strategic patience. China remains a key actor of the global economic order, but its energy diplomacy does not obey improvisation or shyness. On the contrary, its caution in the Middle East can be a symptom of a deeper strategy: observe, resist external pressure and prepare the terrain before intervening seriously. Beijing is not dragged by the logic of immediate power. He knows that in regions as volatile as Middle East, the cost of acting too soon may be greater than waiting. His silence, far from being absence, can be part of a longer play. Because oil unites, yes, but it also marks the rhythm of a power that is not in a hurry, … Read more

Uranium centrifuges have triggered war between Israel and Iran. Without them it is impossible to have the atomic bomb

by

Uranium centrifugers monopolize a good part of global attention since it began The last episode of the conflict between Israel and Iran on June 13. The government led by Benjamín Netanyahu has set as a fundamental objective dismantle the Iranian nuclear program that presumably seeks to develop the necessary technology to Manufacture atomic bombs. And to achieve it Israel and the US have bombarded The facilities in which Iran was carrying out the enrichment of uranium, such as the plants of Fordo, Isfahán and Natanz. According to Israel and the US, these Iranian nuclear facilities housed several hundred uranium centrifugers. It can even that several thousand of these machines. Its role in the nuclear program not only of Iran, but in that of any country with the ability to manufacture nuclear weapons, is to enrich 90%uranium. Otherwise it is not possible to use it to produce atomic fission pumps o Thermonuclear devices that combine fission and nuclear fusion. However, in these last pumps uranium is only used in the fission stage, which acts as a detonator of the nuclear fusion. In this last reaction two isotopes of hydrogen intervene: the deuterium and the tritium. Uranium-235 is the true protagonist of this story To precisely understand what is the purpose of uranium centrifuges it is necessary that we previously investigate in two isotopes of this chemical element Metallic, heavy and radioactive. Uranium is present in nature in very low concentrations, normally in rocks, land and water. Hence, its obtaining is expensive and its complex treatment, since it requires chemical processes capable of separating it from the other elements and impurities with which it usually lives. It has 92 protons and many other electrons orbiting around the nucleus, and the latter incorporates, in addition to the protons, between 142 and 146 neutrons. It is important that we remember that the nucleus of an atom is usually constituted by a certain number of protons and neutrons (although not always: the protio, the isotope of the most abundant hydrogen, has a single proton and no neutron in its nucleus), as well as by some electrons that orbit around it. The fact that the number of neutrons of the uranium nucleus may varyas we have just seen, it indicates that there are several isotopes of this chemical element, which are nothing other than atoms with the same number of protons and electrons, but different number of neutrons. In fission reactors and nuclear weapons it is used as uranium-235 fuel The reason why in the fission reactors and nuclear weapons is used as an uranium-235 fuel, and not another isotope of this element or any other chemical element, it consists that by bombarding its nucleus with a neutron (a process that is known as induced fission) the uranium-235 is transformed into uranium-236, which is a more unstable element. This simply means that Uranium-236 cannot remain long in its current state, so it is divided into two nuclei, one from Bario-144 and another of Crypton-89, and also emits two or three neutrons. And here comes the really interesting: the sum of the masses of the Bario-144 and Crypton-89 nuclei is slightly lower than the Uranium-236 nucleus from which they come (“disappears” around 0.1% of the original mass). Where has the mass we lack? Only one can be left: has been transformed into energy. Formula e = m c²probably the most popular in the history of physics, relates mass and energy, and what it says is simply that a certain amount of mass equals a specific amount of energy, even if the dough is at rest. In fact, the equivalence between mass and energy, proposed by Albert Einstein In 1905, he tells us something more important. The C of the formula represents the speed of light in a vacuum, which, as we all intuit, is a very large number (299,792,458 m/s). In addition, it is squared, which means that even a very, very small mass, such as the portion of the nucleus of an atom, although it is at rest contains a large amount of energy. This is what we know as resting energy. If the mass is in motion its total energy is greater than its resting energy. And, if we observe the equivalence between mass and energy, it is easy to realize that the mass of a body in motion too is greater than its resting massa phenomenon that It introduces us fully into relativistic physics. In any case, the energy we obtain by merging or fissting atomic nuclei comes from the force that keeps them together: Strong nuclear interaction. Understanding with some precision the relationship between mass and energy is important because it helps us understand how it is possible that a mass as small as that of an atom allows us to obtain such a large amount of energy. In any case, the nuclear fission process does not end here. And it is that each of the neutrons that we have obtained as a result of the disintegration of the Uranium-236 nucleus in the Bario-144 and Crypton-89 nuclei can interact with other physically nuclei, causing a chain reaction. However, not all neutrons emitted during the disintegration of the Uranium-236 nucleus will interact with a physirable nucleus. But they don’t need to do it all. It is enough that only one of those neutrons achieves it to obtain a stable number of fissures, and, therefore, a controlled reaction, which is the objective of the reactors of the nuclear power plants. Centrifugators serve to increase uranium-235 concentration The most abundant uranium isotope in nature is uranium-238. In fact, it represents approximately 99.3% of the total uranium. The problem is that this isotope is not physically. The uranium enrichment process seeks to increase the proportion of uranium-235, which, as we have seen, is physically, within the total mass of uranium. However, this last isotope is very scarce in nature. So much that only represents 0.7% of natural uranium. The nuclear reactors of the power plants require … Read more

Whenever there has been war in the Middle East the price of oil has shot. Now something different is happening

by

A truce between Iran and Israel announced by President Donald Trump had an immediate impact on energy markets. According to Financial TimesBrent’s crude oil fell up to 5.6 % on the morning of Tuesday, June 24 – having $ 67.50 per barrel – after the news of the high to fire. However, market volatility has not ceased during the day. Prices have partially rebound after Israel accused Iran of raping the truce and threatened with a “blunt response.” At the end of the day, According to Oilprice dataBrent’s price remains around 67 dollars. This sway reflects how the oil market is still extremely sensitive to geopolitical holders. Hadn’t they shot each other? Less than two months ago, A perfect sinking storm The price of oil below $ 60, for tariffs, refinery closure and overproduction. With the outbreak of the conflict between Iran and Israel, oil prices They had shot. As He explained Bloomberg, the military offensive revived one of the greatest fears of the oil market: an interruption of the supply from Iran, the third largest producer in the region. However, that climb lasted little, exceeding the breeze price of $ 80 per barrel only for a few hours. Operators did not detect concrete damage to critical infrastructures or interruptions in crude oil flow, which quickly cooled expectations. A persistent threat. Despite the initial containment, the Ormuz Strait remains the great friction point. For this narrow one – just 9 kilometers at its closest point – circulates around 20 % of the world crude. Iran has repeatedly threatened to close it if the scale scale, which would activate one of the worst scenarios for global markets. The tension has generated concrete reactions. Several Chinese oil ships They have received instructions to avoid the area. This gesture suggests that, although there is still no open conflict, navigation risks are real and affect logistic decisions of key actors such as China. There is a superlative difference. Despite tensions, prices have not climbed as in past crises. This is due to several structural factors such as high production and sufficient reserves. Thanks to the rise of Shale Oil in the US and the increase in production in Canada, Guyana and Brazil, the global market has a wide mattress. Even if Iranian exports were stopped – about 2 million barrels per day – OPEC+ could supply the void without great shocks, According to Bloomberg. On the other hand, in the same medium, they have stressed that even China, the largest oil consumer in the last decades, shows signs of having reached a roof in its demand, added to its own national production. A fragile balance. The immediate future of the oil market will depend on three major factors. The first, and more critical, is the Ormuz Strait: if Iran decides to close – or threats credible with doing it – this strategic route, prices could be shot. Second, there is the response from the United States and Israel. If the truce is officially broken or military reprisals intensify, a new cycle of uncertainty and volatility in markets would open. Finally, China’s position, the main Iranian crude buyer. Any decision of Beijing – is a tactical withdrawal, greater caution in transport or diplomatic pressure – could alter the current balance. For now, operators seem to assume that the situation will remain contained, without a real interruption of the supply. But with the atmosphere so loaded, a single spark could return to oil to the center of the hurricane. Image | Pexels Xataka | Geography has given Iran its best weapon against the US: a red button to shoot the world oil price

The war now happens thousands of kilometers from our heads

by

It could be material for a apocalyptic science fiction film. A missile of the future with antibalistic, hypersonic and exoatmospheric capabilities, triggered in search of its goal to intercept it: a ballistic missile to Match 5 whose technology literally exceeds the same line of karm at 1,500 km away. Both sophisticated systems are in the exosphere to elucidate a single winner. And yet the scene It is happening in These momentscompletely changing what we understood by war conflict. Invisible theater. The war Between Israel and Iran marks an unprecedented inflection point in the history of the armed conflict, not only for its political implications, but for the radicality of its means and dimensions. What began as an announced escalation, backed by decades of latent tensions, has become a confrontation Without borderswithout terrestrial fronts and without armies facing face to face, an “improved” version of what already We had seen in Ukraine. Because more than 1,500 kilometers away Among the capitals, without sharing borders and without direct implication of the intermediate countries, both states They are attacked flying over and overcoming alien geographies. Israel displays its aerial power over Iran thanks to a fleet of F-35, F-15 and F-16 long-range, replaced in flight and operating on foreign airspace with total impunity. That operational freedom is only possible because they will go, after years of sanctions, it lacks of air capacity To offer resistance. Thus, in the Iranian heavens, any object that moves must be considered an enemy. ASIMETRÍAS AIR WAR. It I remembered On the weekend the historian and professor in Columbia, Adam Tooze. While Israel uses guided fighters and pumps precision attacks (including those Antibunker bombs Made in USA), Iran responds with a more economical strategy but No less ambitious: long -range ballistic missiles. It is an asymmetric war. Israel flies thousands of kilometers to launch bombs. Iran launches missiles that travel that same distance through the air. It We have counted before. Each of these projectiles can cost millionsalthough together they represent a fraction of the value of the Israeli aircraft. The extraordinary thing is that these missiles not only reach objectives to more than 1,000 kilometers away, but also cross The karm linethe border of exterior space, reaching altitudes of up to 400 kilometers Before rushing to your whites. It’s about Exoatmospheric trajectories unpublished in real conflicts, a direct evolution of the technical legacy of the V2 rockets of Nazi Germany, recycled by Soviet and Iranian programs. The “star” shield. Here appears one of those elements that seem taken from fantastic literature. Because the Israeli response to these attacks Cosmic is Equally Futuristto. Thanks to decades of collaboration with the United States, Israel has deployed the Arrow 3 systeman interceptor capable of neutralizing ballistic missiles in The emptiness of space. Derived from SDI program from Ronald Reagan, the system (developed by IAI, Boeing, Elta and Elbit Systems) Base on the premise of “impacting a bullet with another bullet”, yes, with a “deficit”: a cost of 2 million dollars per unit. These interceptors reach the Iranian missiles at their highest point, even before they enter the Israeli atmosphere. In fact, the first successful interception in combat occurred November 9, 2023marking a milestone: the first time a missile was destroyed in space during a war. Kárman line The dome and the price to pay. Tooze told An anecdote that betrayed the heart of the use of these “stellar” defenses. During The massive attack April 2024, more than 550 projectiles (between ballistic and cruise missiles) launched against Israel. The aerial defense responded successfully, avoiding the closest to a cataclysm. He also counted That the tangible result of that night was that the population returned to work normally. However, this degree of protection has an exorbitant price: up to 285 million dollars by night in defensive operations, According to the Washington Post. In addition, interceptor missile production is limited. Israeli and American factories simply They cannot manufacture enough Arrow 3 to hold that rhythm for a long time. Hence, in the current conflict, the great strategic question is Who will exhaust before His arsenal: They will go with their missiles or Israel with their interceptors. Europe and a shadow. Thus, while the United States and its allies carefully observe that kind of “Star Wars in real life” that reagan pursued, Europe seems determined to acteven convincing Spain. We count it months ago: under the Sky Shield project promoted by Germany, they have Batteries in charge of the Arrow 3 system for billions of euros for that promoted rearme How much Ansia the United States and his wallet. Although the Israeli experience does not automatically translate into the defense of the American continental territory against ICBM, it does for the European continent, which sees in this shield an response to coming threats. New war paradigm. In the background, something that It intuited From the drone war triggered after the Russian invasion of Ukraine and that this confrontation Missilistics Between Israel and Iran He has enhanced: The beginning of a new military era. Gone are conventional wars where the fronts were measured by terrestrial kilometers. Today, war is no longer A geographical matter and attack trajectories cross continents and atmospheres, battles are fought From the exosphere Even nuclear facilities basements buried in mountains. What seemed science fiction (intercept rockets in space, living under invisible defensive domes or coordinating surgical bombings at 1,500 km away) is now part of the Routine Arsenal of the most militarized states in the world. An unpublished experiment. First It was Ukraine. Now, the war between Israel and Iran has confirmed, in geostrategic terms, a Radical rupture. Not only because of its extension or its protagonists, but for the type of technologies That he uses, the scenario in which he is fought and the fundamentally technical, automated and remote nature of his operations. It is no longer just a regional confrontation: now it points to the beginning of An orbital era of distance war, where supremacy is defined in … Read more

In order for 125 airplanes and 14 bombs to arrive in Iran, the US used one of the oldest tactics of war: perfidy

by

The baptized as Hammer operationhe greater furtive attack From the United States against several of Iran’s critical facilities, it was based on a highly sophisticated tactical architecture, one where, above any other trick, the key was the total surprise. To do this, the United States began with one of the most tactics old and effective of war. It all started 48 hours before the offensive, when Trump It gave two weeks To “avoid” the attack. Perfidy. Those two weeks They never existed in the head of the United States, and Israel knew and few more actors. In fact, most European allies were trying to Find a dialogue A few hours before knowing the operation that was underway. From the diplomatic and ethical point of view, Washington was carrying out a form of political perfidysince Iran was participating in conversations that the United States used for the secret offensive. The maneuver also followed a strategy of classical military deception, a series of lures and public messages that, as we will see, avoided any suspicion while secretly prepared one of the most brutal offensives that are remembered in the history of modern wars. The hammer operation. The aerial offensive launched by the United States against the main nuclear sites of Iran represents not only the greatest operational use in the history of the BB-2 Spirit bomberbut also a unprecedented sample of tactical coordination, strategic deception and technological capacity accumulated throughout years of preparation. The attack included use for the first time in combat of the GBU-57/B antibunker pump Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), of 13,600 kilograms, specifically designed to destroy deeply buried and protected facilities Like Fordow. In total, 14 of these bombs were thrown on Fordow and Natanz, while more than two dozen Tomahawk cruise missiles They hit In Isfahánthrown from a submarine Ohio class nuclear positioned in the area of ​​operations of the US central command. The art of deception. It all started on Saturday morning, when flight observers They detected several bombers furtive B-2 Spirit taking off from the Whiteman Air Base, in Misuri, and heading Towards the Pacificwhich seemed to indicate a display towards Guam or missions related to Asia. However, this movement was a decoy: the true bombers in charge of the attack departed shortly after In the opposite directioneast, in mode completely stealthycrossing huge distances without being detected until you reach the Iranian airspace. Fordow after air attacks, seen in a satellite view of the underground complex, on June 22, 2025 The surprise. As we said, the key to operational success was the Deliberate deception: both the visible deployment towards the Pacific and Trump’s statements in the previous days, where he claimed that he would take up to two weeks to evaluate a possible intervention, created the false perception that there was still diplomatic margin. In fact, on Saturday morning, senior officials indicated that it had not been issued No order of attack, reinforcing that illusion. Then, on the afternoon of that same day, from his private club in New Jersey, Trump gave the final order. According to A senior official From the administration, the objective was precisely “to create a situation in which no one would expect.” A graph with details about the hammer operation that the Pentagon published in the last informative session The B2. The main actors were those seven bombers that left in stealth to the east from Misuri. Throughout a 18 -hour flight, with multiple repayings in the air, a profile of minimum communication. Synchronization with escorts, fourth and fifth generation fighters, intelligence aircraft, electronic warfare and air replacement It was millimeter: The fighters released preventive fire to neutralize Iranian air defense threats before the bombers cross the enemy airspace, without detecting hostile activity. The full air package exceeded 125 aircraftincluding platforms such as F-35, F-22, EA-18G Growler and possibly not revealed active. A view of the Iranian nuclear installation in Isfahán on June 22, 2025, after the attacks of the hammer operation Objectives achieved. Between 6:40 and 7:05 pm Washington time (2:10 to 2:35 am in Iran), all nuclear objectives FThey were shocked. The bombings on Fordow, Natanz and Isfahán used 75 precision weapons guided and achieved what the Pentagon described as “severe destruction” of infrastructure. The first satellite images Disseminated by Maxar Technologies showed craters of more than five meters, layers of bluish ash and tunnel entries blocked by landslides. Although Iran did not fire a single antialea defense or deployed fighters, the blow was deep and difficult to reverse in the short term, particularly in Fordow, buried under a mountain and considered so far impenetrable. Hidden cooperation. As we indicated, if someone knew what the United States had in hand, It was Israel. Before the attack, the United States shared with Israel a Systems list of air defense that wanted to neutralize, and the previous Israeli campaign facilitated the opening of the air corridor for the B-2. Coordination included the shared use of intelligence and operational synchronization (in that sense, The F-35 Israeliswith their ability to collect data, they played a key role in the collection of information on Iranian defenses). During the previous weeks, they were made Large -scale exercises that simulated similar missions, and They invested years in the development of technical capacities to integrate armament, sensors, furtive platforms and unified command in a single operating flow. Operation closed? It is one of the great unknowns. Despite the magnitude of the attack, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth emphasized that the operation does not mark the start of an open campaign, but A punctual action With a clear objective: neutralize Iranian nuclear capacity. Even so, he acknowledged that US forces remain on maximum alert to possible reprisals. In His words“This was not an attempt to change regime; it was a precise operation to defend our national interests and those of our allies.” For now, Iran has limited its responses to new attacks on Israel, but senior Iranian officials already They have declared your right to respond directly against … Read more

Israel’s great goal in his war against Iran is to destroy Fordow. And you can only get it with a bomb that has USA

by

It happened a few hours ago and American media They are taking it on their covers. Trump and Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, spoke on the phone. It is not clear what they said, but the call occurred while the president has been considering a distant option: that the United States intervenes directly in the Israel’s efforts for damaging the nuclear capacity From Iran. In the background, an idea that was intuited from the beginning of the conflict: the only way to reach Fordow was Through Washington. A key decision. On a day that could define the rest of its presidency, Trump faces one of the decisions more transcendental Of his mandate: or not to the Israel War against Iran. After returning from the G7 summit in Canada, the president held a high -level meeting and talked directly with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. While, In your social networks He proclaimed that the United States had “total control of Iranian airspace,” warned Supreme Leader Ali Jameneí who was an “easy white” and demanded an “unconditional surrender”, without defining the terms. Although until recently Trump had advocated a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear program, his rhetoric and his most recent military movements (such as the deployment of bombers and Naval destroyers) suggest that this direct intervention is seriously considering. The change of posture. Had the New York Times In an extensive report how that turn to action in Washington’s position has been brewing. Throughout the last weeks, Trump has traveled from diplomatic containment to a growing acceptance of the military road to the Iranian challenge, largely pushed by the constant pressure of the Israeli prime minister, Netanyahu. While Trump tried to keep negotiations with Tehran (even sending A personal letter Ayatolá Jamenei and presenting nuclear cooperation proposals with regional participation), American intelligence began to warn that Israel He planned an attack Imminent against the Iranian nuclear program, with or without the support of Washington. Israel and pressure. The Times explained That Netanyahu, tired of years of containment by successive US presidents, seemed willing to launch a large offensive, not only on nuclear facilities, but potentially on the Iranian regime itself. This direct threat, added to the growing Trump skepticism Regarding the Iranian will to reach a real agreement, it caused an inflection: although at the beginning it rejected deliver the antibunker bombs requested by Netanyahu, the president ended up offering support in intelligence and now even values ​​the use of b-2 bombers and heavy armament against Fordowhe heart Underground Iranian nuclear enrichment. Symbolic weight. It is the other leg that explains the turn of events. It is not only a product of intelligence reports or impatience to stagnant negotiations, but also symbolic and media weight of the Israeli attacks and the role that Trump You want to project before its base: that of a strong, decisive and protective leader of Israel’s interests. Gathered with their advisors at Camp David, the media have counted that the President debated various optionsfrom passivity to total implication, and opted for a Intermediate strategy that would allow him to maintain a certain political distance while offering operational support. However, as Israel He obtained tactical victories (Including the murder of Iranian military leaders and the possible penetration in Natanz’s facilities), Trump began to change his public position, hinting at a more active role in the United States in the campaign. The goal. Because the key, againis in Fordow, the Iranian uranium enrichment center excavated under a mountain, a fortress that could only be destroyed by a name: the gigantic GBU-57 pumpsthat only B-2 can launch. The possibility of attacking with this arsenal, added to the perception that Israel cannot destroy underground installation without US support, feeds the sensation of imminence. MOP underground at White Sands Missile Range before his first explosion test in 2007 The bomb that drills mountains. Thus, and in the midst of a conflict that does nothing but grow, the potential role of the United States in an air operation against Iranian nuclear facilities brings to stage one of the most feared and less used artifacts of the US arsenal: the GBU-57A/B. Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), a 13,600 kilos bomb Designed to do precisely what its name indicates: to penetrate deeply into the earth and destroy underground fortifications. Unlike conventional mass dispersion pumps, MOP is a precision weapon, not saturation. Its forged steel structure and its guide by GPS allow it excavate up to 60 meters in solid rock (or even more, after years of improvements not revealed) before detonating in the heart of bunkers, tunnels or underground laboratories designed to resist the apocalypse. It is not the volume. Although it is the explosive non -nuclearly heavy of the US military inventory, its effectiveness does not depend on the destructive volume, but on its surgical capacity to eliminate what is beyond the reach of any other pump. Despite its devastating potential, it has never been used in combat, but its deployment is contemplated only for missions that alter the global strategic balance. B-2’s first public flight in 1989 19 B-2. And here appears the other fundamental leg of the strategy of this deterrent pump. The MOP cannot be launched from any aircraft. Only the B-2 Spiritthe stealthy strategic bomber of the United States Air Force has the structural and technological capacity to load it and deliver it in the target. With just 19 operational units (a good part parked On Diego García Island), The B-2 is not a bomber: it is a platform designed to go far, avoid radars and attack in depth, literally. In the past, these devices have flown round trip missions of more than 30 hours From Misuri until Libya or Kosovowithout scales except reposses in the air. Plus: the Recent updates to the MOP system they have sought to perfect the Integration between bomb and planein addition to improving the capacity of the intelligent spolet to detect structural “empty” (floors, cameras, tunnels) and exploit exactly at the most … Read more

When the British wanted to terrorize the Nazis during World War II, they chose a peculiar weapon: pump rats

by

Think about the Second World War is to think of large -scale battles, tremendous operations and epic skirmishes. And, although it is true that there were imposing deeds, we are also tremendously influenced by cinema and video games. Because doing one spy movie or a ‘Save Soldier Ryan‘is’ easy’, but … and one above the inflatable tanks or of pigeons piloting missiles? That is more complicated. Because, In a moment of despaireverything goes. And if the Americans gave them to devise a bomb -loaded bomb To set the Japanese houses, the British be occurred Something that looks like a joke, but that made a lot of sense: filling rats with plastic explosive and waiting to be triggered in Nazis facilities. The Germans They were caught at firstbut far from being a fudge, it turns out that discovering the pump rats was what made the operation a success. Exploding Kittens Rats 1941 was a key year in the Second World War. The Nazis gave the green light to the invasion of the Soviet Union, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, the United States entered the war officially and began the Mass deportation of Jews to the extermination fields. There were too many open fronts and the war had just become a global phenomenon, but the British wore years fighting the Nazis. The first quarter was crazy, with bombings of the British to German possessions and intense German bombings in English territory, attacking cities such as Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham and, above allLondon, who for almost two months He suffered night bombings. Apart from in the air, the war was fought on land, and one of the plans of British intelligence revolved around the industrial sabotage. Damaging the factories, Germany would lose war power, it is evident. Thus, the British Special Operations Office, or SOE for its acronym in English, devised a strategy which would consist in wasteing pump rats near German infrastructure. They would not put a “backpack” pump to the rat and leave it free out there, no: the plan It consisted In getting dead rats, open them on the channel, empty them, fill them with plastic explosive, place a detonator that would come out for what would be the anus and strategically locate each animal near the boilers of the factories and key buildings of the Nazis. The goal? That when a worker found a rat, he directly threw it into that boiler, turning on the wick and causing the structure to fly through the air, interrupting the Nazi war machine. That said, the truth is that it was a brilliant plan because it was easy to think that workers would not bury the animal or throw it out there, since it could spread diseases, that cremation in the boiler being as fast. And they got with a hundred of them. There was a problem: the Nazis intercepted the first sending of explosive rats before they were deployed. Far from thinking that the plan failed, it turns out that The caught was much more effective that what they could have achieved if the rats had managed to be thrown into the boilers. And the reason is obvious: the Nazis, when discovering the Artimañathey wondered how many explosive rats before that interception they could have placed the British. That sowed a more explosive doubt than the rat itself because the Nazis launched campaigns to search for similar devices and, if they found a dead rat, began to tremble. Would it be a rat or a pump? Although any exploded, the operation was never considered a psychological success for the general paranoia that caused in the German ranks. The possibility of such unconventional sabotage forced the Nazis to divert resources to counteract similar threats. In the official SOE archives, they detail that the device “caused considerable problems to the enemy, but not quite in the way it was intended.” In the end, it was an effective form of psychological war because there were Germans trying to counteract a non -existent threat. As concluded Soe himself, “the problem that rats caused to the Nazis was a much greater success for us than if the rats had really been used.” Today is an anecdote or an object of collecting, like the main image rat, sold In 2017 for more than $ 1,800. Also as a much less crazy idea than those of those pilot pigeons … or that of the incendiary bats. Images | Charles Merrell, The National Archives, Bonhams In Xataka | 80 years ago the US threw a bomb in Japan that nobody agreed again. He has just exploded at an airport

Intel and TSMC lead the revolution of photonic chips. His problem is that China has just done fully in this war

by

Douglas Yu, a TSMC executive, The biggest chips manufacturer on the planetwith responsibility in the field of systems integration Explain clearly The disruptive capacity of integrated photonic circuits: “If we manage to implement a good system of integration of silicon’s photonics We will trigger a new paradigm. We will probably be placed at the beginning of a new era. “ The photonic silicon seeks to develop the technology of this chemical element to optimize the transformation of electrical signals into light pulses. The most obvious field of application of this innovation is the implementation of high performance links that, on paper, can be used both to solve communications between several chips and to optimize the transfer of information between several machines. Advanced packaging technologies with which the main semiconductor manufacturers work, such as TSMC, Intel or Samsung, can benefit a lot from a communication mechanism between very high performance chips. And the large data centers in which it is necessary to connect a large number of machines, too. However, there is a particular discipline to which it would be wonderful about the advantages proposed by the photonic silicon: the artificial intelligence (AI). China plans to use this technology in AI, 6G communications and quantum computers Intel and TSMC are some of the companies that have been working on the development of their technologies linked to the photonic silicon, and, as we can intuit, this innovation is no stranger to Chinese companies and research centers. In fact, in mid -May 2024 the Institute of Information Technology and Microsystems of Shanghai (China) in collaboration with the Lausanian Institute of Technology (Switzerland) reached a crucial milestone. Until that time one of the fundamental ingredients of the integrated photonic circuits was the lithium niobate. The lithium tantalate allows the manufacture of large -scale photonic chips and with much lower costs This synthetic salt intervenes in the manufacture of these integrated circuits because its physicochemical properties allow it to optimize the conversion of electricity into light, but it has a problem: the industrial exploitation of this technology is conditioned by The high cost that each wafer hasand also for the size of each of them. What these scientists have achieved is to replace the lithium niobate with other semiconductor material whose properties are even more attractive: the lithium tantalate (litao3). Ou Xin, one of the scientists who have led this project, assures That in addition to paying better than the lithium niobate, the lithium tantaloate allows the manufacture of large -scale photonic circuit and with much lower costs. This is because the manufacturing processes are similar to those currently used to produce conventional silicon semiconductors. This is the context in which, according to SCMPthe chips center for integrated photonics Xplore (Chipx) of the Jiao Tong University of Shanghai has announced that it has started the production of 6 -inch wafers for photonic chips. Interestingly, this production line Use Lithium Niobateso it still has a room to advance and take advantage of the properties of the lithium tantalate. Be as Professor Jin Xianmin, the director of CHIPX, says that the photonic integrated circuits have a huge potential not only in the training and inference of AI models, the classical supercomputing and Quantum computersbut also in the development of communications 6g. Image | TSMC More information | SCMP In Xataka | Today China and the US have parked their differences for a good reason: they will analyze together the risks of AI

OpenAI has cut the price of O3 80%. And as a gift to the sector has sent a price war that will destroy margins

by

Openai has moved token: the same day as presented O3 pro The price of O3 cut 80 %. It may only be segmentation, but very possibly it is also an advance of the price war that starts when the rivals already touch their performance and internal efficiency allows us to serve Tokens for cents. The new step is like this (prices per million Tokens): ENTRANCE EXIT OpenAi O3 $ 2 (before $ 10) $ 8 (before $ 40) OPENAI O3 PRO $ 20 $ 80 Gemini 2.5 Pro $ 1.25 $ 10 Claude 3.7 Sonnet $ 3 $ 15 Deepseek R.1-0528 $ 0.55 $ 2.19 That price narrowing comes because quality already converges in practice: almost all models “reason” comparable in common tasks, and hardware and inference efficiency improvements (on the side of OpenAi and the rest) reduce the marginal cost of serving each Token. The result is manual: The price becomes the main lever and segmentation appears as a containment dike —How the creation of O3 Pro, designed for customers willing to pay a lot due to low latencies, huge contexts or formal audits. For developers this is fertile land. 2 dollars a million tokens, AI ceases to be a luxury expense and looks like a CDN: Payment for use, without permanence contract. Yes tomorrow Gemini either Deepseek They offer better value for money, change is reasonably simple in infrastructure and Prompts. The blocking effect is transferred to the layer that surrounds the model (tools, data, user experience), not the model itself. At the contrary end of the cost spectrum, Apple has integrated its foundational models directly into operating systems. Any app can be invoked at home, free and without counters from Tokens No invoices at the end of the month: AI becomes as invisible as GPS or camera. It is another function. The play Remember the emergence of WordPress in the early 2000s. At that time, publishing online required or a lot of knowledge or a lot of money to pay someone to have it. WordPress loaded that barrier and democratized the publication. Twenty years later we gave the xataka legend to its creator precisely because of that. And now what? Possibly, an adjustment downward the margins in the base models and a migration of the business towards higher level services: observability, management of the management Fine Tuningprivate data accommodation, vertical agents … exactly what happened with the cloud when the price of the gigabyte sank and the value moved to the management layers. The “magic” of AI is blurred, but its usefulness – now much more affordable – opens the door to a much wider market. Just what Openai needs. In Xataka | O4-mini is much more than another model of AI. It is the Tesla Model 3 of OpenAI Outstanding image | Ilgmyzin in Unspash

If the question is how far Russia’s help comes to North Korea, the answer has a war name in Ukraine: Shahed

by

At the beginning of June more than what is behind that convergence between Moscow and Pyongyang was known. It was known by The protagonists themselves that North Korea had been sending armament for months and soldiers to Russia in his invasion to Ukraine. In return, Russia was giving him what Kim longed for: A functional army. Therefore, the question in the air seemed clear: how much “? The answer has name and origin … in Iran. The Moscow-pyongyang axis. Revealed it in an extensive interview The War Zone Medium General Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukrainian military intelligence. Apparently, Russia has begun to transfer critical technology to North Korea for the Drones production Long -range Kamikazes and high -precision ballistic missiles, transforming Pyongyang into a key node of Russian war machinery and altering military balance in Asia. Shahed. Among the ceded systems, the ability to manufacture the Shahed-136 drones (known in Russia as Geran), originally from Iranian design and responsible for much of the massive air attacks About Ukraine. Russia already manufactures about 2,000 drones Shahed a month and plan to raise that figure 5,000so the outsourcing towards North Korea responds to a need to maintain the offensive rhythm without saturating its own industry. Providing Pyongyang with this capacity also means giving the possibility of saturate the defenses South Korean antialeas or even re -export drones to Russia for use in Ukraine, feeding a cycle of arms collaboration that consolidates a new authoritarian axis in the global war setting. A Shahed 136 Iranian drone The KN-23 under Russian tutelage. The benefits for North Korea do not end in drones. Budanov details How Moscow has significantly improved North Korean ballistic capacity, especially the KN-23 missile (also known as Hwasong-11), that in its first lots sent to Russia It was useless for its low precision and structural failures. However, thanks to direct technical cooperation with Russian specialists, the missiles have been redesigned until reaching a level of lethal precision, with implications that greatly exceed the Ukrainian conflict. The technological transfer also extends to the system of Air-Aire missiles long range and, possibly more worrying, to submarine systems capable of launching nuclear ballistic missiles. KN-23 The nuclear unknown. Although Budanov does not reveal exact details in the interview, Yes, it makes clear that the development of the naval component of the North Korean nuclear deterrence It is being directly supported by Moscow, which clearly amplifies the destructive potential of Pyongyang and, what is doubtful, alters the strategic balance in the Asian northeast. Korean ammunition. Support is not just technician and we have gone counting. North Korea has provided Russia with an artillery arsenal that includes since Obuses D-74 122 mm to self -propelled cannons 170 mm Koksan and multiple launcher 240 mm mlrs. The latter, According to Budanovthey have proven precise and troops in the field Battle, which explains that Russia has already received 120 units and it is expected that the shipments continue. And much more. In addition, Korea has sent about 11,000 soldiers To the Russian Oblast of Kursk, evidencing that his commitment to Moscow goes far beyond logistics. He also recalled the agreement reached by the Secretary of the Russian Security Council, Serguéi Shoigú, during his visit to Pyongyang, whereby the Entrance of “Labor migrants” North Koreans to replace the exit of Central Asian workers, considered vulnerable to Western infiltration. Budanov warns That many of these “workers” could end up signing military contracts, becoming de facto in Russian soldiers of North Korean nationality, thus expanding the North Korean presence in the front without officially declaring it. Military survival. If you want also, strengthening North Russia – Corea It responds not only to immediate operational needs, but to long -term strategic interests. Moscow obtains armament, soldiers and time. On the other sidewalk, Pyongyang receives technology, implicit diplomatic support and A unique opportunity to position themselves as military power beyond the Korean peninsula. Collaboration is based on a logic of mutual survival: While Russia seeks Nuclear weapons Operational and advanced drones, raising their threat capacity, for example, South Korea and other actors in the region. Challenge to global balance. The alliance, therefore, is not just a regional problem as we indicate A few weeks ago: marks a change in the dynamics of global power, where authoritarian actors share sensitive military technology to avoid sanctions, accelerate their ambitions and challenge established balances. The battlefield in Ukraine, in this context, becomes, again, the laboratory of a new war architecture that now It transcends its borders. Image | National Police of UkrainePresidential Executive Office of Russia, MEHR News Agency, VITALY V. KUZMIN In Xataka | North Korea has been sending armament for months to Russia. In return, Russia is giving him what longs for her: a functional army In Xataka | Russia has confirmed one of the great unknowns of war in Ukraine: North Korea accompanies them and not only with troops

Log In

Forgot password?

Forgot password?

Enter your account data and we will send you a link to reset your password.

Your password reset link appears to be invalid or expired.

Log in

Privacy Policy

Add to Collection

No Collections

Here you'll find all collections you've created before.