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We’ve spent years unraveling a signal from space that shouldn’t exist. And finally we have a “Rosetta stone” to decipher it

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It was the year 2018 when a team of Australian scientists detected a strange radio signal in the plane of the Milky Way. The radio pulse was too slow for any known astronomical object. It seemed more like some kind of anomaly or error in the telescopes than a new discovery. However, in 2025 another similar signal was located. And then another and another. Currently, there are at least 12 of these signals recorded, which have been named long-period radio transients (LPTs). Each of them includes a new feature that makes it impossible to find a common thread. Or at least it had been that way until now, since a new group of Australian researchers has located a sign that brings together several of the pieces of the puzzle. It has been so useful that it has been colloquially dubbed a space Rosetta stone. All the pieces together. The signal located in 2018 (although it was published in 2022) occurred every 18.18 minutes. With this periodicity, a star in the Milky Way increased its brightness for 30-60 seconds, and then decreased it again. Later a similar phenomenon was located, in which it was possible to see further. A binary system consisting of a white dwarf and a red dwarf was identified. The interaction between the two produced the emission of radio waves. However, when another LPT was detected, the emissions were not radio waves, but X-rays. How was a single phenomenon going to be defined if each one was different from the previous one? The key, finally, has been another LPT, initially located by the ASKAP telescope, of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO). With it, and with the collaboration of other telescopes, a binary system composed of a white dwarf and a red dwarf has been identified, whose interaction gives rise to a periodic change in brightness, accompanied by the emission of radio waves and X-rays. All in one. With all the pieces, it has now been possible to reconstruct the event. Four telescopes to reconstruct history. The new LPT has been named ASKAP J1745-5051. It is not possible to know exactly how far away it is, although estimates place it between 1,300 and 30,000 light years away. Observations made with the ASKAP radio telescope made it possible to locate a periodic emission of radio waves every 81 minutes, which corresponded to a possible LPT. In order to check if the rest of the conditions that had been observed individually were met, it was observed with three other telescopes. On the one hand, space telescopes Swift and Einstein Probewith which X-ray emissions were detected. On the other hand, with the Southern Astrophysical Research Telescope (SOAR). With this, a binary system composed of a white dwarf and a red dwarf that orbit each other with a period of 81 minutes was identified. Everything fits. The full story. The conclusion when putting all the pieces together is the following. On each orbit, the white dwarf, which has a large mass concentrated in very little space, gravitationally attracts the red dwarf and extracts material from it. This is channeled by the magnetic field of the white dwarf itself until it reaches its surface, where it collides, producing a temperature increase of millions of degrees Celsius. Furthermore, this very violent interaction causes the release of energy in the form of X-rays. On the other hand, the gas accelerated by the colliding magnetic fields of both stars is what appears to produce the radio signals. A Rosetta Stone. The principal investigator of this new study It’s called Kovi Rose. We might think that this has had to do with the fact that the discovery is referred to as a space Rosetta stone. And maybe it has had a little influence, but the reality is that there are more reasons. The original Rosetta stone It was a fragment of Egyptian rock in which there was a text written in three different languages: ancient Greek, hieroglyphics and demotic writing. Because archaeologists of the time knew how to speak Greek, they were able to use it as a basis for understanding hieroglyphs. One language allowed them to reconstruct another. In this case, the new discovery is also in three languages: radio waves, detected by ASKAP, X-rays, with which Swift and Einstein Probe work, and visible light from SOAR. Three languages, three pieces that, when read together, can help to understand the whole much better. With this Rosetta stone, the authors of the study hope to be able to unravel many of these mysterious signals from the Universe. Image | Hans Hillewaert (Wikimedia Commons)/Magnific In Xataka | We believed that the pyramids of Giza did not hide any more secrets. we believed wrong

We’ve been sold melatonin as the ultimate harmless sleep supplement. Science does not think the same

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By taking a walk through any pharmacy, supermarket or online store, it is easy to find melatonin as the definitive solution to sleep problems and with the great claim of being something totally natural that our body secretes. Pills, drops, infusions or even gummies are some of the presentations in which we find a product that for many should not be available to everyone and that, in their opinion, It should be regulated like any other medicine. The alarm voice. The scientific community and regulatory bodies They are starting to sound the alarm and the central idea is clear: melatonin is not as harmless as it is often promoted and, according to experts, it should be treated with the same rigor as a medication, and not as a simple vitamin supplement. The labels. One of the biggest problems with melatonin, especially in countries like the United States where it is regulated as a dietary supplement, is the lack of strict control over its production. Here a study published in 2017 put a worrying fact on the table when seeing that there are a great variability between what the labels say and what the bottle actually contains. And when analyzing multiple brands, researchers found products that contained from 83% less melatonin than declared, to an alarming 478% more. And if that were not enough, the study detected the presence of serotonin in several of these supplements, which is a neurotransmitter that is regulated. It’s not something magical. Marketing has positioned melatonin as a universal solution for sleep that can be consumed without almost any type of control or limit. But here the different reviews conclude that its benefits are modest, without having a powerful hypnotic effect, but rather that its real usefulness lies in adjusting specific circadian rhythm disorders such as jet lag, so use should be selective and not routine. Furthermore, it is not without risks. One of the most striking is the incompatibility that taking melatonin may have. with anticoagulant medicationswhich requires medical supervision. This is something that a priori is not known to patients as they do not go to the doctor for a prescription and have melatonin available on a supermarket shelf. The silent danger. The rise of melatonin in gummy form has brought with it very serious collateral damage, since children may see it as a candy, which has led to an increase in visits to the emergency room in the United States due to excessive consumption of melatonin. In Spain, The approach taken is more strict, since drug regulatory agencies evaluate the safety of this substance in the key of medicinealthough you can buy it almost without any type of control when going to any supermarket. The positive part here is that the highest concentrations of melatonin can only be prescribed by a doctor in consultation so that the pharmacy can make a master preparation, considering it as just another medication, which is what is requested internationally. Images | James Yarema Slaapwijsheid.nl In Xataka | Someone has said that melatonin damages the heart. The reality, according to science, is that we can be calm

We’ve found molecules linked to life on Mars, but let’s not break out the champagne just yet

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The Curiosity rover has carried out a chemical experiment on Mars that has never been done on another planet. Thanks to it, it has detected organic molecules that until now had gone unnoticed by us. Does that mean that there is or was life on the red planet? It could be, but it could also be due to many other things. Although we always read this type of news with joy and it gives a lot of sensational headlines, we must analyze the results with the optimism of what they mean for science, but the caution of what they imply in the search for extraterrestrial life. Chemical advances millions of kilometers away. Curiosity’s SAM instrument has carried out an experiment known as thermochymolysis. In it, a reagent called tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH) is used. to break large molecules into small fragments. Thanks to this, organic molecules can be detected that are invisible with other methods. Among other organic molecules, some rich in nitrogen have been found, which could be related to DNA synthesis. The discovery of benzothiophene, present in some biological processes, also stands out. Let’s not go up. The authors of the study that has just been published thanks to the Curiosity rover they call for caution with its results. They insist that all the molecules found could come from abiotic processes or have reached Mars from other points in space. For example, benzothiophene could be formed by geological or hydrothermal processes. In addition, its presence has been found in meteorites and asteroids on Earth. It could also have reached Mars like this. Only two tries. Regardless of whether the findings have to do with life or not, this study is very relevant for two reasons. On the one hand, because it was the first time that this experiment could be carried out outside of Earth. And, secondly, because Curiosity I only had two tries to do it, but he made good use of them. This is because TMAH was in the exact dose needed, inside two sealed capsules. If the first failed, the second could be tried. If this one did it too, goodbye experiment. That it was done without problems has been a great achievement. This is an annotated close-up of three holes that NASA’s Curiosity drilled into Martian rock at a location nicknamed “Mary Anning” in October 2020. The sample where the rover found a large number of organic molecules came from “Mary Anning 3.” (A nearby site nicknamed “Mary Anning 2” was left unused.) NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS A very old search. Science has been obsessed with the search for life on Mars since in the 17th century some scientists detected with their telescopes what appeared to be the presence of water ice. Already in the 21st century, advances in space exploration allowed orbiters and rovers to be sent to Mars in order to analyze possible signs of life. Some were found. For example, in 2018 methane was detected in its atmosphere. This could be the result of microbial activity, but also geological processes. In 2020 Curiosity found carbon isotopes and later, in 2025, the longest carbon chain found to date. It is true that carbon is necessary for life, but it can also be related to many abiotic processes. In none of these cases has it been possible to demonstrate that there is life behind it, so we still cannot prove that there is life on Mars. Maybe we lack tools. In 2023 a study was carried out in the Atacama Desert to analyze the tools normally used to search for life on Mars. This desert is one of the largest Martian analogues we have on Earth. It has many similar characteristics to those of the red planet; but, of course, it also has more than proven life. However, when analyzed with Mars exploration tools, many of the traces of life that should have appeared were not detected. This shows that perhaps we haven’t found life on Mars yet because we don’t have the right tools. Although there may also simply not be any. The future. Curiosity has carried out this experiment directly on Mars. However, the ideal would be to send rock samples to Earth, to use other more complex analysis technologies there. Another rover, Perseverance, is prepared to collect samples and send them to Earth. In fact, it was scheduled to do so. However, the mission was canceled by the United States Congress last January. Meanwhile, other space agencies aim to replicate the TMAH experiments. This is the case of the ExoMars mission of the European Space Agencywhose Rosalind Franklin rover will also travel with this reagent to carry out thermochemolysis. We’ll have to wait to see what he discovers. Whatever it is, as always, we will read it with caution. Image | POT In Xataka | ExoMars, this is Europe’s most ambitious mission to Mars

We’ve found the secret ingredient for using desert sand in construction: sawdust and a giant sandwich maker

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At a time when humans do not stop building and erecting large buildings, there is a problem that should concern us more and more: there is a lack of sand to make concrete. But here anyone can laugh, since we have great deserts on the planet where there is a huge amount of sand that we could use without any problem. But it’s not that easy. The problem. Today, traditional concrete is quite exquisite, since river sand is necessary to achieve a good result. And it has to be that way, because the desert sand is too round and fine to be able to “stick” well. But the truth is that we were running out of this sand so necessary to continue building. In Xataka The rain has transformed the driest desert on the planet into a sea of ​​flowers. It’s a sight to behold and a problem for experts We have a solution. The University of Tokyo and the University of Norway they have hit the key to turn the tables, and the solution is not only to use the desert sand that a priori we have left over, but rather it is to mix it with plant waste to create a material that has received the name Botanical Sandcrete. The recipe. The recently published study details a process that deviates from traditional cement setting, using a hot-pressing technique instead. And for this you only need two ingredients: Fine desert sand which, as we have said before, is useless for conventional concrete due to its morphology. Wood particles and plant additives that act as organic “glue.” All this, together with a temperature of 180 ºC and high pressure, means that the wood components help create a solid matrix that traps the grains of sand and transforms them into a handful of powder in a block that has great mechanical properties. {“videoId”:”x7znesx”,”autoplay”:false,”title”:”Self-consumption building THIS IS HOW THEY WORK – Solar panels in apartment blocks”, “tag”:”solar”, “duration”:”564″} What is it for? Here we should not be happy to find an alternative to a problem that we already had on our heads, since we are not going to be able to build skyscrapers with these tomorrow. Here the researchers point out that the material, as it is right now, is a non-structural alternative.  In this way, its use is mainly focused on pavements, urban tiles and enclosure blocks or outdoor furniture. Things that are ultimately not pillars for large buildings, but do allow us to save river sand. Your advantage. Having an alternative, although it cannot be used in everything, allows us to drastically reduce dependence on quarries and the transportation of river sand. An action that results in the destruction of river ecosystems around the world by removing a fundamental element. In addition to all this, using wood waste and plant additives means that it has a much smaller potential carbon footprint than concrete based on classic cement. In Xataka 30 years ago the US was the country that dominated rare earths. This graph shows how China devastated at dizzying speed Its importance. To date, most attempts to use desert sand involved expensive chemical treatments or mixing them in very low percentages with conventional sand. But the focus of these researchers involves the use of biomass, making us a perfect example of a circular economy. And if we see the full context of the situation, we are taking advantage of a resource that is very abundant but a priori useless like desert sand, along with a byproduct of the logging industry. But logically it still remains to be seen how it behaves over time and how well it endures adverse conditions. Although a priori we are facing great news. Images | Keith Hardy rawpixel.com In Xataka | A 29-year-old young man has invented a cement that makes magnetic walls: a solution to hang things without a drill or screws (function() { window._JS_MODULES = window._JS_MODULES || {}; var headElement = document.getElementsByTagName(‘head’)(0); if (_JS_MODULES.instagram) { var instagramScript = document.createElement(‘script’); instagramScript.src=”https://platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js”; instagramScript.async = true; instagramScript.defer = true; headElement.appendChild(instagramScript); – The news We’ve found the secret ingredient for using desert sand in construction: sawdust and a giant sandwich maker was originally published in Xataka by José A. Lizana .

Do you think we’ve had a cold winter? Arctic sea ice has things to tell you

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It’s easy to look out the window on a January morning, see the frost on the car, feel the icy wind on your face and think: “What a winter we’re having.” Our perception of the weather is often terribly local; However, while we shelter ourselves to combat the seasonal coldthe global thermometer tells a very different story. And if we want to know how “cold” this winter has really been, the best place to ask is not our street, but the top of the world, that is, the Arctic. A technical tie. Every year, during the dark and frigid months of the northern winter, the Arctic Ocean freezes, expanding its ice sheet until it reaches its maximum annual extent. Something that normally occurs between February and March. but this year control data of this ice expansion have pointed out that the winter limit of Arctic sea ice was reached on March 15, 2026 with an extension that reached 14.29 million square kilometers. This is a number that in isolation may seem like a large amount of ice has formed, but the reality is that 2026 has tied statistically with the historical minimum recorded in 2025. It’s a problem. Although this year’s extent is nominally lower by just 0.02 million km² compared to last year, the NSIDC considers any fluctuation within a margin of 40,000 km² a “technical tie”. In other words: we have never had two winters with so little ice in the Arctic since satellite records have existed since 1979. It’s a problem. To understand why we should worry, we have to look back. Here climatologists usually use the average of the period 1981-2010 as a base reference, and if we compare the maximum of 2026 with that historical average, the reality is that we are missing a piece of ice the size of 1.3 million square kilometers. We are talking about a reduction of between 8% and 10% of the frozen surface, and to put it in perspective, it is as if a block of ice equivalent to the surface of Spain, France and Germany combined had disappeared. Something that confirms a trend that already points to a loss of this maximum limit of 12% per decade since the end of the 70s, since the ice is not recovering, but is systematically retreating. It’s not just quantity. The drama of the Arctic is not only read in two dimensions, but also in three, since thickness is essential in this situation. And to measure it the mission comes into play ICESat-2 from NASA, which has already ‘seen’ how much of the current ice, especially in the Barents Sea and the Sea of ​​Okhotsk, It’s much finer than in past decades. Thinner ice is bad news, since it means it is much more fragile and fractures sooner in spring storms and, more critically, melts much faster in summer. Its consequences. This last point is fundamental, since seeing how the winter maximum falls is bad news, since the structural weakness of that ice guarantees that, when summer arrives, the thaw will be more aggressive. And if we continue advancing in this chain of events, we find in the end that the dark ocean will be able to absorb a greater amount of solar heat, which will heat the waters even more and make it difficult for ice to form in the following winter. In the end we are seeing a textbook vicious cycle. Images | Cassie Matias In Xataka | China has turned the Arctic into its own “Panama Canal.” And that explains the US obsession with Greenland

Magnetic maps had been marking something strange under Antarctica for centuries. So we’ve started drilling to find it

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For years, magnetic maps of East Antarctica have shown something strange about the region from Princess Elizabeth Land: a large amplitude linear magnetic anomaly under kilometers of ice that runs along the coast parallel to the margin of the continent. It was something that satellites and planes could detect, but no one knew exactly what rock was producing it until now. Discovering it. If the problem is that this anomaly was under a large amount of ice, a team of researchers within the framework of a Russian-Chinese cooperation He has done the most logical thing to find what was happening: start drilling. What they have found after putting a large drill to work is not only a magnetic rock that gave that peculiar pattern, but it is the geological “scar” of an ancient island arc that collided with the continent almost 1,000 years ago, when the supercontinent was forming. Rodinia. A challenge. The study that includes this discovery focuses mainly on the Rayner tectonic province, an area that is geologically critical because it is considered a “mobile belt.” That is, it is a collision zone where ancient blocks of crust were crushed against each other. The problem with Antarctic geology is that almost everything they are interested in is buried, and in this case the team had to cross 541 meters of ice to be able to reach the rock that interested them. What did they find? What they took from the bottom of Antarctica was not common granite as can occur in other areas, but rather the core recovered is a mafic granulite. Something that is very important, since granulites are metamorphic rocks that have suffered infernal temperatures and pressures. After power analyze this rock So interesting, it was seen that this was what was causing the linear anomalies seen from space. And as we say, it is not a very normal stone, since it is rich in ferromagnetic minerals, capable of altering the magnetic field locally. Investigating Rodinia. Once with the sample in hand, the team applied geochemistry techniques and dating to be able to counterbalance these data with everything that was known in previous research. What was seen is that there was a great violent history behind it, since it was known that the rock was originally born as magma about 970 million years ago. From its birth, that rock was pushed into the depths and “cooked.” The data indicate that it was subjected to temperatures between 650 and 790 ºC and pressures equivalent to depths of 15 to 18 kilometers. In this way, the researchers’ conclusion is that this rock was part of a volcanic arc of islands like those of Japan. But the most interesting thing is that this arc was not originally in Antarctica, but was forcibly “stuck” against the ancient continent during a massive collision that gave rise to the formation of Rodinia. The Indian connection. To understand the magnitude of the find, you have to look beyond Antarctica, as geologists have long suspected that the Rayner Province in Antarctica and the Eastern Ghats Province in India They are twins separated at birth. And the new data reinforces this theory, since the conditions of “high temperature” metamorphism found in this drilling are almost identical to those documented in India. This leads us to conclude that 900 million years ago, the east coast of India and this part of Antarctica were joined, forming a huge mountain range created by the collision of tectonic plates. Images | 66 north In Xataka | In the United States there is an incredible river that does what seems impossible: defy the laws of gravity

We’ve been believing oatmeal is the perfect breakfast for years, but science has a warning: there’s a limit

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Over the past few years, oatmeal has been crowned the undisputed queen of healthy breakfasts. And you just have to look at the internet a little to see the porridge from Instagram wave cardiologists recommendation to think that we are facing a perfect food without any type of failure. However, everything can have fine print and oatmeal is one of them. Investigating. Even if you eat healthy, there are people who experience abdominal bloating, gas, or general digestive discomfort with oats. And it’s not that oats are bad, but there are chances that we are eating them wrong. This is something you have already researched. to Monash Universitya world leader in digestive health, by putting an exact figure on the table: 52 grams. This is something that also the nutritionist has put on the table Óscar Hurtado who points out that oats are healthy, but they have a very strict “tolerance curve” for some intestines. The reason. The problem with oats is found in the FODMAPs (oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides and fermentable polyols). These are nothing more than short chain carbohydrates that the small intestine cannot absorb well, and that is why They continue their ‘journey’ to the large intestine where the bacteria found here rapidly ferment them. producing gas. But not only this, it can drag water causing diarrhea. And this is where Monash University comes in, which has measured the effect that these compounds have on our body. One of its main conclusions It is in that 52 grams of oats (which is half a cup) is the safe amount of fructans for most humans. If we go too far. In the case of passing the barrier of 60-70 grams, the fructan content in the intestine it triggers and begins to cause problems. Something that is of great interest to those who suffer from a digestive problem such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)since it would be going from an ‘anti-inflammatory’ breakfast to a trigger for abdominal distension and pain. More studies. This is not a warning from now, but has great support in science. An example is the Halmos pivotal trial that showed that a low-FODMAP diet reduces gastrointestinal symptoms. between 22% and 45% more than usual diets. This was because they reduced the amount of fructans, very present in oats, in the diet they ate. But in addition, a 2022 study also confirmed that portion control of this type of fermentable carbohydrates significantly improved life in patients with IBS. And it wasn’t about eliminating oats from the diet, but about keeping them in a “safe zone.” There is no need to demonize. With these studies, logically we do not have to reach this point with oats, since it has many benefits behind it. The Spanish Heart Foundation and multiple nutritional studies remind us why it rose to the breakfast throne in the first place. And it has the ability to give satiety, which helps with weight control, and also delays the absorption of carbohydrates to prevent insulin spikes that are really harmful to the body. Although it doesn’t stop there, since for people with high cholesterol its high amount of beta-glucans can reduce the “bad” cholesterol known as ‘bad cholesterol’ or LDL. Based on tolerance. The conclusion we can reach is that if you have an iron stomach and a good oatmeal breakfast does not affect it at all, you can continue taking it normally. But in the event that symptoms such as bloating or diarrhea begin to appear, it is better to start lowering the dose to see if this “perfect breakfast” begins to feel good again. In this way, we are left with its beneficial properties without the digestive discomfort that we can hate so much. Images | Dor Farber In Xataka | We have been relying on the Nutri-Score in stores for years. Science believes that its real impact is zero

China’s drone shows in 2026 are nothing like we’ve seen before

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Without being me the viral Uruguayan lady from TikTok who thought they were something paranormal, it must be admitted that some drone shows leave people speechless. Spoiler: the one in Barcelona, ​​with all due respect, was not that big of a deal. Especially if we compare it to what China is doing. From a technical point of view, drones evolve the compositions of classic fireworks, but the Asian giant stands out for its handling of this device in every sense: on a military level, making it shoot with surgical precision from 100 meters away or 200 units are carried out by a single soldieror in the playful. And as an example, some of their shows from recent months that show that China plays in another league. Note: To enjoy the audiovisual content more, we recommend that you set the videos to the highest quality possible. China’s big coup in authority over drone shows came with the 75th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China: to date, the records for the number of units controlled by a single team (do not confuse with that of Ras Al Khaimahthat of the largest aerial image of a phoenix made by drones) there were around 5,000 drones, but for the occasion more than 10,000 units (10,179, specifically) crossed the sky, controlled by a single computer, forming figures as culturally iconic as a red dragon crossing the bay of Shenzhen. That they are capable of emulate the dragon’s scales or how it executes a complete turn It’s amazing, but the evolution of drone shows in the country has been such that it has already become outdated… and has dropped to bronze in the Guinness Book of Records. And as an example, what better than to see what he did at the beginning of February of this year as a rehearsal for the next Chinese New Year (the Spring Festival) in Heifei (Anhui): more than 20,000 drones tracing three-dimensional figures with such complexity and density of light that it almost seems solid. And it’s just a test, hence it doesn’t count for records. Tap to go to the X/Twitter post Tap to go to the X/Twitter post Weeks before, the China Science and Technology Innovation Gala also took place in Heifei, where they recreated the Anhui Opera and a historical event: the arrival of the four opera companies to Beijing for Emperor Qianlong’s 80th birthday. It would be the birth of what is known today as Peking opera. The important thing here was not so much the number of drones, but rather the artistic fusion. Nevertheless, according to the China Global Television Network10,000 drones illuminated the sky with iconic images of Chinese opera sharing performance with human and robot performers in a curious mix of tradition and innovation. China Science and Technology Innovation Gala. CGTN In Heifei they have taken a liking to drone exhibitions and last fall there were another more modest (by Chinese standards) of “only” 1,024 units to celebrate the upcoming science and technology exhibition, as CGTN explains. On this occasion, more than something artistic or record-breaking, its approach was purely scientific and technical, with the drones forming robotic or DNA structures. There may be few drones, but the fluidity of the transitions is notable. 8th World Voice Expo. CGTN To welcome 2026, the city of Chongqing hosted a show Of “only” 8,000 units on the Yangtze River they formed figures like a dragon, the essential countdown and the galloping horse (because this Chinese New Year will be the year of the horse) in a spectacle that played with air, land and water. Also in Guangzhou They celebrated the end of the 15th National Games of China and the arrival of 2026 at the same time with the massive deployment of more than a thousand drones over the Pearl River to reproduce sports figures or the mascots of the games from the countdown of the year. The number of drones may be lower than in other events, but the quality is striking: the representation of fluidly moving silhouettes is striking. Going back to the records, Guinness still boasts it Liuyang city, Hunan province. In fact, the company High Great he managed to beat it twice in October 2025: on the one hand, it managed to have 15,947 drones synchronized from a single computer (the largest number to date) and not only created figures, but launched “cyber fireworks” (there were real pyrotechnics loaded into the devices). How many? 7,496 units, the largest number of fires launched from drones. Coincidentally, that city is known as the “world capital of pyrotechnics” and the milestone took place at the Liuyang Fireworks Festival, showing that drones do not come to replace fires, but to complement them. The fusion seems like magic. Given China’s rapid pace with drones, that record has its hours numbered. Nevertheless, today the Guinness silver It is displayed at the DAMODA exhibition in July 2025 in Heyuan (Guangdong), where 11,198 drones created enormous figures over Lake Wanlvhu representing the evolution of the area in recent decades. Behind these records are companies like High Great and Damoda and beyond getting headlines, there is a real technical challenge behind: Keeping thousands of devices in the air without colliding and with a latency of milliseconds requires extremely high GPS precision and computing power that is not available to everyone. In Xataka | The Vatican drone show was commissioned by an unexpected businessman: Elon Musk’s brother In Xataka | Climbing Everest in person costs 50,000 euros. Uploading it in 4K from the sofa at home is now free Cover | High Great

We’ve been telling ourselves for 100 years that breakfast is the “most important meal of the day.” The problem is that it is not true

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They’ve been hammering us with that slogan for so long that it should be true. That is, if from different speakers they proclaim that under no circumstances should we skip breakfast, it will be because it is lunch. most important of the day. But how we already pointed herethe studies on which they have relied to affirm this are conclusive. It also does not seem true that it is good to have breakfast to “start the day with energy”, nor that it reduces our appetite throughout the day. So who and why started proclaiming it? The history of breakfast is like many other social uses, something that has more to do with the roots of the context from which it came than with an innate need of our body to practice it. Several things came together between the 19th and 20th centuries so that breakfast became established as just another meal in Western societies. The first, the change of production model. Before, workers, mostly rural and dedicated to work in the fields, ate breakfast quickly whatever was out therelike last night’s leftovers. It wasn’t so much a meal as it was an appetizer. With the arrival of cities and the industrial revolution, work schedules were established. The workers, who spent the entire day working, saw the benefit of eating something before going to work. From 1822 onwards And here things started to get interesting. Progressively, the more money American workers were able to earn, they ate more meat. It was the star product to eat in the morning. They could prepare a meatloaf, a chicken or beef dish in the same way they would at lunch or dinner time. And all of this cooked with butter. The dyspepsia or indigestion became a public health problem on the level that obesity is now. The people of North America ate poorly, foods that were too heavy and altered their intestinal flow. People who needed to eat very well to go to work. The 19th century was also the time when western doctors They began to worry about nutritional health, germs and, later, vitamins. Thus, while the newspapers and magazines harshly criticized the problems caused by dyspepsiathe industry and the market naturally looked for a substitute. There came muesli and cereals, then minimally processed flour or corn that in many cases had to be soaked before consumption. The initial flavor and appearance of the cereals was that of military porridgebut they were attractive to a large part of the consumers: it seemed like a “health” productnot like those red meats that prevented good circulation. Furthermore, it was a food that I didn’t need to be preparedas easy as putting them together with a little milk so you can swallow them and go to work. Replacing big meals in the morning with a light product The health of the population improved, which is why many doctors and cereal merchants used this slogan to expand their consumption: breakfast is the most important meal of the dayand that is why you should take care of yourself early in the morning. Is practically the same idea of ​​health that whole grain houses continue to sell us so that we can lose weight. Corn flakes arrive Breakfast then began to be seen as the solution to all the problems. For the little ones, without a good breakfast they would not be able to reach their maximum level of effort at school. Also alcoholism It was caused by lack of food in the morning. According to certain prestigious doctors of the period, morning hunger encouraged the employee to begin to abuse the bottle until he became dependent on it. Some vendors went even further and talked about how their cereals They could cure malaria and appendicitis. Already then the cereal was promoted as “organic” foodAs we see today, some products are sold more expensive and not necessarily with better nutritional results. But the beneficial halo of the cereal remained and extended to the breakfast ritual, whether it was processed wheat, fruits or other foods. breakfast had come to stay. From the 19th and 20th centuries we move to the 21st century, when the saying, never sufficiently proven by science, has already been established as an immovable truth. Cereals have long been no longer tasteless porridge but small ones processed sugar balls in boxes with smiling animals that bill billions of dollars a year. And there is another agent that, for years, has been interested in making sure you remember that “breakfast is the most important meal of the day” and, therefore, eat quite well: fast food chains. Some essays have pointed out how the marketing of companies like McDonalds or Starbucks is being much more aggressive in morning products such as McMuffins or cheesecakes than in foods at lunch or dinner time. According to them, the new big dispute is here. While many workers have already decided on their meal locations, there is an increase in people who is going to breakfast at chains outside the house. And how mornings are the time for routinehumans tend to choose one place or another to have our breakfast and not leave the pattern except in case of emergency. If McDonalds gets you to go to their establishment in the morning, in a way you are marrying them gastronomically. And, well, you know, it’s the first meal, so it’s okay if it’s a little excessive, you’ll burn it off throughout the day (this, as we already explained, it is not completely contrasted). Thus, from a creditable beginning in which citizens’ nutrition was improved, we have moved to a point where the industry has been adapting to our tastes and modifying our diet to the point of harming us all. Although, if we think about it, the phrase is still as true now as it was 300 years ago: “breakfast is the most important meal of the day.” It is the most important. And the most discussed. In Xataka | We knew … Read more

We’ve been hearing for years that washing your hair too much causes it to fall out. It’s exactly the other way around

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Enter the shower, wash your head and when looking at your hands or the floor find a tangle of hair. A scene that can be everyday for some people and that can lead to conclusions, such as if you wash your hair very often. falls more and can lead to alopecia much earlier. Something that is nothing more than a myth that is quite widespread, but that dermatology tries to disprove. We don’t tear it off. The idea that you can have in mind with this scene that we have related is that by rubbing your head you are pulling out your hair from the roots. But this is a serious misconception, as you remember the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS) when pointing out that hair loss in the shower is not related to the mechanical action of rubbing. The hair that we see between our hands or on the floor was already loose before entering the shower as it found itself in what is called telogen phasethat is, fall or rest phase. The only thing washing does is make it come off more easily, something that also happens when we comb our hair or when we rub the pillow. Because that hair was already unsalvageable. This is something that the Spanish dermatologist Óscar Muñoz himself defends, who in a recent interview which stated that “h“There are those who believe that when they wash their hair falls out more, but the only thing they are seeing is the hair that was already destined to come off.” A bad idea. At the point of not washing your hair in order to save it, it is not the most advisable thing to do. Especially because it can have the completely opposite effect. All this because the fat accumulation or sebum in the hair, beyond being an aesthetic problem, it is also a breeding ground for fungus like the Malassezia which can give us more headaches. All this because a fungus on the scalp It generates a response from our body as it is a threat that results in seborrheic dermatitis that generates a state of inflammation in the scalp that aggravates androgenic alopecia, which is what we are seeking to control. The medical recommendation is clear: regular hygiene (even daily if necessary) with mild shampoos to keep sebum and inflammation at bay. The stress. A clear culprit It has nothing to do with shampoo. The. scientific literature confirm that there is a clear link between stress levels and the follicle since when cortisol, the classic stress hormone, is triggered, it is also generated an inflammation which can cause the follicle to go into a shedding phase. Although this effect is not seen at the time of upset or peak stress, but 2 or 3 months after the stressful event. The good news is that it is a reversible condition, but a sustained state of stress can create a vicious cycle that perpetuates the problem. What works. Although we have seen that the myth of not washing your hair does not work to prevent hair loss (it even aggravates it), the question we ask ourselves is what works. Science has a great battery of options such as broccoli and soybeans. In this case there are interesting studies in mice where broccoli extracts either phytoestrogens Soybeans modulate hair growth. Although logically eating more broccoli does not stop androgenic alopecia, it does open up very interesting avenues for further research in the field of aesthetics. The drugs. Beyond diet remedies, which can be more homemade, dermatologists have a range of treatments that offer great results. The first-line ones are finasteride and minoxidil, which have demonstrated with robust evidence behind them a good ability to stop miniaturization and improve capillary density. Although the fear of sexual adverse effects exists, trials indicate that the incidence rate is low. Images | Donald Teel Towfiqu barbhuiya In Xataka | When they told us all the advantages of intermittent fasting, they forgot one small detail: that it could make us bald.

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