women

We have been believing for years that women live longer because of their lifestyle. Science has a much deeper explanation

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If we take a look at the World Bank’s global statistics, there is an unbreakable pattern that repeats itself in practically every country in the world: Women live longer than men. Conventional wisdom often dismisses this phenomenon with a quick response based on lifestyle or “men take more risks.” And although there is some truth in this, the scientific reality is much more complex. Because? To understand female longevity, We must focus on the DNA that we have in all our cells. Something very basic is that women have two X chromosomes, while men have one X chromosome and one Y chromosome. A fundamental difference, because that second X chromosome in women acts as a kind of backup. This means that if a gene on one X chromosome suffers a mutation or is damaged, the female body can turn to the healthy copy on the other chromosome. Men, however, play a single card, since if their only X chromosome has a defect, there is no plan B. In addition, this chromosome is vital because it houses a large number of genes related to the immune system, which gives women a more robust response to infections. It goes further. Genetics is not everything here, but the body has an ace up its sleeve, which are the mitochondria, which are nothing more than the “power plants” of our cells. These organelles are inherited only maternally and, as proposed in 2007sexual differentiation has a direct biological cost for men, translating into lower mitochondrial function and, therefore, greater cellular oxidative stress that accelerates aging. The hormones. Beyond genetics and mitochondria, we must mention sex hormones, which are in very different proportions between sexes. Estrogens, for example, are the main female sex hormones that, in addition to regulating the reproductive cycle, act as a powerful antioxidant shield. Among its effects stands out maintaining the flexibility of blood vessels, reducing “bad” cholesterol and preventing inflammation. This largely explains why the incidence of cardiovascular disease in women is significantly lower before menopause. In the man. On the other side of the coin we have testosterone. Although it is crucial for the development of muscle and bone mass, high levels of this hormone in men are historically associated with increased cardiovascular risk at an early age and long-term depression of the immune system. The evolution. Someone may fall into the idea that this system is something exclusive to humans, but evolutionary biology shows us otherwise. Here, a 2025 study analyzed 1,176 species and the results revealed that in mammals, females live on average 13% longer than males. The reason lies in reproductive strategies and the biological wear and tear derived from male sexual competition, such as fights over territory or mating. However, it was seen that andIn birds, males live 5% longer; since in the avian world, males usually have two identical sex chromosomes (ZZ) and females have different sex chromosomes (ZW). Furthermore, in many bird species, parental care is shared or falls to the male, which reduces their risk behaviors. Human behavior. Of course, biology does not operate in a vacuum and genetic and hormonal factors must be added. the behavioral gap and social. For example, the consumption of toxic substances has a greater prevalence in men, being associated with cancer, cirrhosis or respiratory diseases. But, as we have said before, testosterone is also linked to a greater propensity to take risks, which translates into higher mortality rates from traffic accidents or cases of violence. On the other hand, women suffer from “invulnerability syndrome” which causes them to seek preventive medical services much more frequently. Men tend to postpone visits to the doctor until diseases are in more advanced stages, making treatment difficult. In addition, women tend to build stronger social and emotional support networks, a factor directly linked to greater survival in old age. Images | Age Cymru In Xataka | 5 minutes of sleep, 2 of exercise and half a serving of vegetables: the macro study that supports a great longevity ‘hack’

Why are there only women?

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A little over a decade ago in a cave in South Africa we discover to a distant relative of homo sapiens: the Homo naledione of the most enigmatic hominids in evolution. Its body had a curious shape from the point of view of paleontology: the head and shoulders were similar to Australopithecusbut hands, feet and face gave an air of the genre Homo. His brain was also about a third of ours. Something that caught our attention from the beginning was how homogeneous the skeletons found in the Rising Star cave system were with each other. Perhaps, too much so. So they assumed the usual: that there were males and females and that the largest skeletons corresponded to the males. They were wrong. The discovery. This assumption was never verified on a molecular scale, something that has now been done: for the first time a team has analyzed his teeth. More specifically, the enamel of 23 teeth from at least 20 specimens. What they were interested in was looking for the Amelogenin-Y protein, which only exists in males since it is encoded in the Y chromosome. They did not find it. What does that mean? That all the specimens analyzed were biologically female. Why is it important. Because this analysis is the largest scale carried out on an extinct hominid population and suggests that Rising Star is the first exclusively female burial site created by a species that was not Homo sapiens. In other words, hundreds of thousands of years before we thought, funerary rituals already existed. And it also solves one of the enigmas of the homo naledi: why they are so similar to each other on a morphological level. Well, because what seemed like a biological characteristic of the species is simply the result of all known individuals belonging to a single sex. Context. He naledi has been a controversial species for paleontology from the beginning. When was discovered in 2015the researchers already pointed out that it was the ancient hominid species with the smallest difference in size between its adult individuals ever found. Now we know why. Tooth enamel is the hardest tissue in the body, so much so that it protects proteins from environmental degradation for an eternity. For this reason, the technique has been used on remains that are up to two million years old: the fossils of H. naledi They are “only” between 241,000 and 335,000 years old, so they are within that analysable range. In detail. To validate the results and rule out internal errors, the analysis was carried out in two laboratories independently and the team from the University of York also analyzed the amino acids to rule out that the proteins were a product of contamination. Lee Berger, one of the authors of the study, holds That if the adults lived separately by sex, we would expect to find at least male babies in the cave, but this was not the case. More than a coincidence, it suggests that this segregation was a mortuary practice. The paper also explains that the Homo naledi has a unique amino acid never seen in other hominids and that shares a characteristic in a bone protein with the Paranthropus robustuswhich helps contextualize both species in the tree of evolution. Yes, but. The study includes a possibility to take into account: that the absence of a male marker is due to a mutation or disappearance of the gene throughout evolution, which would make biological males indistinguishable from females with this technique. Elizabeth Sawchuk, curator of human evolution at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History and outside the study, sums it up: “it is a strange result in a species that was already strange.” The most spectacular interpretation, which H. naledi buried their dead separated by sex, is also the most difficult to prove. In Xataka | A remote cave in Africa has revealed something about humans from 200,000 years ago: they already changed the clothes on their beds In Xataka | 77 skeletons, a single head: the mystery of the Slovak mass grave that torments archaeologists Cover | Rising Star Program (Hawks et al., eLife (2017))

pay the same to women

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Japan faces a unprecedented challenge. On the one hand, the labor shortage has forced companies to rethink their labor policies if they want to take advantage of the economic boom period what the future poses to them. On the other hand, its low birth rate collides head-on with the problem of labor shortage, since they would have to do without (at least temporarily) the female half of their workforce. Quite a dilemma. The complicated demographic situation has forced Japanese companies to consider a measure unprecedented in the last two decades: equalizing salaries between men and women. Two birds with one stone. While diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies have been reversed or limited in the US, Japan has chosen to take the opposite path and equalize salaries between men and women to attract female talent and encourage their professional careers. In addition to the practical point of view of attracting a skilled workforce that is in short supply, this change also responds to other economic reasons. Japan is hoarding a good part of the investments with environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria that are leaving the US after Trump’s arrival at the White House. For both reasons, Japanese financial firms such as the insurer Nippon Life Insurance or the bank MUFG have eliminated administrative professional categories Mostly occupied by womenin which between 39% and 50% of a male salary was earned. Two decades of wage discrimination. For the past twenty years, Japanese women have been paid less than men for doing the same job. According to data from the Ministry of HealthLabor and Social Welfare of 2026, on average women earned only 75.8% of men’s salaries in 2024. In prefectures like Tochigi, the gap is even greater, with women barely seeing the 70% of male salary. To put it in context, the wage gap between men and women in OECD countries was located around 11%, while data from 2023 suggest that in Japan this gap had grown from 21.3% to 22%. This discrimination has deep roots in the Japanese labor system. Traditionally, companies offered men lifelong jobs with promotions and pay increases tied to their seniority. Women, upon becoming mothers, were pushed into temporary or part-time jobs, with lower incomes and few opportunities for advancement. This phenomenon, known as the “L-curve,” reflects the sharp drop in participation and women’s salaries after motherhood, making it difficult for them to return to positions of responsibility in companies. Without labor. Japan suffers from a severe labor shortage. a study of the Recruit Works Institute, estimates a shortage of 11 million workers in 2040. The aging of the population and the decrease in the birth rate have reduced the available workforce, and forecasts suggest that the labor supply will decrease from 65.87 million workers in 2022 to 57.67 million in 2040, making it essential harness female potential to maintain productivity and economic growth. This has forced Japanese companies to reconsider your labor policies to attract more women, offering them the same salary as men to encourage their return to the labor market after motherhood, and resume their professional careers, also offering equality in promotions and rewards for seniority. More than salary: family conciliation. Women have a very marked role in Japanese culture with respect to child care. The official studies They point out that equalizing salaries is not enough to attract and retain female workers. Japanese companies have begun to offer work conciliation measuresas reduced hours and teleworking optionsso that women can take care of their children without giving up your professional career. In cities like Tokyo, shorter work days have been implemented and the four day work week for its employees, with the aim of encouraging births and facilitating family conciliation. Salary equalization can favor the adoption of these measures in other regions of the country, allowing more women to access stable jobs without sacrificing their family life. A version of this article was published in April 2025. In Xataka | Construction has been left without generational change: they have discovered that no one is a bricklayer by vocation Image | Unsplash (EMANUELE Ricciardi)

NASA has left women out of Artemis III. The Princess of Asturias has taken the opportunity to reward one of her astronauts

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NASA astronaut Christina Koch has been awarded with the Princess of Asturias Award for Concord 2026, as announced this Wednesday, June 17. The jury wanted to highlight his figure as an inspiring reference for new generations. It’s no wonder, well this crew member of Artemis II He became a mass idol, especially for girls, during the time of his mission to the Moon, but also before and after. The most curious thing is that this news comes just a week after NASA announced the Artemis III crew in which, contrary to expectations, there is no woman. With this, the Princess of Asturias Award jury makes clear what it seems that NASA has failed to see. That including women in their new lunar project transcends far beyond the mission. A woman who breaks records. Christina Koch has reached a great peak of fame by becoming one of the four crew members of Artemis II. However, she had already broken records before becoming the first woman to travel to lunar orbit. She is also the woman who has spent the most time in space, with a stay of 328 consecutive days on the International Space Station. Additionally, along with Jessica Meir, he was part of the first all-female spacewalk. A true reference. As a child, Koch had a poster in her room with the famous Earthrise image, taken by the Apollo 8 astronauts. Every night she looked at it before going to sleep and wished she could travel beyond Earth and see what those astronauts had managed to observe. For this reason, before her trip to the Moon as a member of Artemis II, she declared that it was an honor for her to “take all the girls in the world to the Moon.” With that inspiring phrase He made a great statement of intent. I wanted to show that dreams come true and, above all, become a reference beyond the typical male photos of astronauts walking on the Moon. The case of Cassius. In Spain, Casio holds a competition from time to time for boys and girls, in which they must present drawings of scientists that inspire them. The winners become part of this brand’s special collection of calculators focused on the role of women in science. The schools freely choose the scientists they want to present; but, logically, current events play an important role. For this reason, this year there have been many children who have chosen to Koch to be part of his drawings. NASA doesn’t know. After the absolute masculinization of the astronaut crews of the Apollo program, NASA had decided to compensate with the Artemis program and include more women in its crew. Koch was the first, but the idea was to maintain this inclusivity until the end, so that even the next person to step on the Moon would be a woman. However, on June 9 there was a big turn of events when it was announced to the crew that they will be traveling aboard Artemis III. Neither the four official astronauts nor the reserve astronaut are women. The advertisement led to a wave of criticismwhich forced NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman to intervene and ensure that the people considered most qualified and available for this specific mission have been selected. Even so, there are those who consider that this could be more related to Donald Trump’s order to federal agencies to eliminate Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs and references. We will have to wait for Artemis IV to see who finally steps on the Moon. At least Christina Koch has seen her work recognized with the Princess of Asturias Award and, above all, with the love of all those girls who, as she promised, have accompanied her on her trip to the Moon. Image | NASA/Bill Ingalls In Xataka | How many times have we gone to the Moon and why have only 11 military aviators and one geologist set foot on it in all of history?

Facebook Marketplace ads are filling up with sexy AI-generated women and there’s a very specific reason behind it

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What of sell on trading platforms It is not always a simple task. It is quite common for ads to go by for weeks without anyone being interested in them, especially if what we want to sell is something expensive like a car or a motorcycle. Faced with this problem, there are Facebook Marketplace sellers who have found the formula to stand out from the crowd without having to pay to promote their ad. Women generated with AI. They tell it in Business Insider. On Facebook Marketplace in the United States, it is increasingly common to find ads for cars and other items in which one or more beautiful women appear; motorcycles, cars and even tractor parts surrounded by suspiciously perfect women, smiling at the camera as if they were posing for a magazine. In the ‘isThisAI’ subreddit many users discuss these imageswhich as we have already mentioned are generated with AI. The objective behind it is obvious: to capture the attention of potential buyers. The case of the Jeep Wrangler. The report tells the story of Rogelio Llamas, a Californian who is trying to sell his Jeep Wrangler. In the ad, next to the car, there is a woman in a bikini, shorts and cowboy boots, but it is not real, but was added later with AI. The striking thing about her case is that she was not a thin woman, but rather opted for a more voluminous one. He says he got the idea from a trading YouTuber who said that this would generate more curiosity. Lots of clicking, little purchase. The goal is to make your ad stand out from the rest, thus increasing the chances of a sale, or at least that’s the theory. According to this seller, the ad got a lot of views and he even received messages from people asking things like if the girl is included in the car. The reality is that 19 weeks later, the car is still for sale. The pretty girl’s claim. Advertising and sexism have gone hand in hand for decades, especially in certain traditionally masculine items such as carsboats and even We have seen it at technology fairs such as the Mobile World Congress. Fortunately we have been removing that burden, but these “AI stewardesses” serve the same purpose: to be the attraction to attract the attention of the male audience. Of course, not all ads that use AI to stand out are along those lines, there are others that simply seek to shock and exploit the surprise factor, like this one from a sumo wrestler inside a toolbox. We have looked around Facebook Marketplace in Spain and also other platforms such as Wallapop and Milanuncios and we have not found examples of this practice. It seems that, at the moment, it is a trend from the United States, but who knows if we will end up importing it. Image | reddit In Xataka | The protein product craze is taking over supermarkets. And that’s why now we have tuna for males

no women on the crew

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NASA today announced the crew that will travel aboard Artemis III and we have found one pleasant surprise and another quite unpleasant one. On the one hand, in Artemis II was criticized that there were no European astronauts, despite the very important role of the European Space Agency (ESA) in the development of the engines that propelled the Orion ship to the Moon. A Canadian astronaut was then chosen as the only non-American member of the crew. This time there is a European. However, the announcement is muddied by the fact that no woman’s name has been announced. The crew. As announced by Jared Isaacman, current NASA administrator, the Artemis III crew will be made up of four people: Luca Parmitano, from ESA, and Frank Rubio, Andre Douglas and Randy Bresnik, all of them from NASA. No woman. All the astronauts who have walked on the Moon so far have been white men. For this reason, since the Artemis missions began to be considered, NASA has shown a great willingness to compensate. There was talk that the next person to set foot on the Moon will be a woman and the second an African-American person. The program’s first manned mission, Artemis II, It had a representative from each group. On the one hand, Christina Koch and, on the other, Victor Glover. It was expected that with Artemis III there would be a similar representation. However, while there is one African-American (Andre Douglas), the crew does not have any female astronauts. This has generated a stir in the chats of the YouTube channels in which the announcement has been broadcast. There is no shortage of candidates. In 2020, NASA advertisement the names of the 18 astronauts who would train to be part of the Artemis program. Half of them were women: Kayla Barron, Christina Koch, Nicole Mann, Anne McClain, Jessica Meir, Jasmin Moghbeli, Kate Rubins, Jessica Watkins and Stephanie Wilson. Therefore, there are more than enough candidates to be able to include at least one in each crew. At the moment, the reasons why there are none among the ranks of Artemis III have not been made known. Yes there is a European. The Orion capsule, in which the astronauts of the Artemis missions travel, is directed, guided and propelled by a set of engines and instruments for power generation, thermal control and water and oxygen supply called the European Service Module. As its name indicates, this has been developed in Europe. For this reason, there was much criticism that no ESA astronauts flew on Artemis II. That has been solved by including Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano in the Artemis III crew, who was received with great applause at the NASA press conference. A whole mission ahead. Contrary to what was initially projected, Artemis III will not fly to the Moon. In fact, it will remain in Earth orbit. It will be there where the docking of the Orion capsule with the human landing system will be tested. SpaceX or Blue Origin (the first, if everything goes well). One or more of these astronauts may also try to move from one ship to another after they dock. It will be a step prior to the real moon landing. A moon landing in which, hopefully, there will be women as originally projected. Image | POT In Xataka | We have not yet colonized the Moon and we have already filled it with garbage: there are even abandoned golf balls

Archaeologists have found the bodies of two women embracing in a medieval tomb. Now they are a huge mystery

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There are eternal hugs, there are mysterious hugs, there are hugs with so much sentimental charge that only those who melt into them understand them and then there are hugs like that of the two corpses from the Middle Ages. located a few years ago next to Opole Cathedralin southern Poland, which add up to all these characteristics (and some more). When archaeologists discovered their intertwined bodies underground in 2023, they began to ask questions that they hoped to resolve by analyzing DNA samples. They have achieved it… halfway. Experts now better understand who the bodies belonged to, but are even more confused about how to interpret their eternal embrace. In a place in Poland… To understand the mystery you have to go back three years ago, between May 2022 and November 2023when a group of archaeologists began to excavate around the cathedral of Opolea small city in Upper Silesia (Poland) located on the banks of the Oder River. The origins of temple They date back to the 11th century (in the 13th it was expanded thanks to the support of the local nobility) and researchers hoped that their tombs would help them better understand the funerary rituals of the time. In total they discovered 46 burialsalthough there was one in particular that caught his attention: a grave that contained two skeletons, baptized ‘nº31′ and ’32’. What was so special about them? To begin with, his tomb was located in the northern area of ​​the cathedral, near the walls and foundations of the temple. That is relevant in itself because not everyone could hope to have their remains rest in a place like that. When both bodies were buried, in the Middle Ages, the burial areas so close to the consecrated temple and its relics were usually reserved for the most powerful and wealthy people. The bones fell apart 154cm deep and were very deteriorated by the passage of time, which greatly complicated their identification. The reason: they were once deposited in the ground, only with shrouds and on stretchers, so parts of the skeleton have been lost and others are fragmented. An enigmatic position. Although the above is interesting, there was another reason that made archaeologists interested in bodies numbers 31 and 32: their posture. The first skeleton (31) reveals that the body was buried face up, in the position in which the deceased were usually buried. The 32nd, however, was lying on his side, leaning on his side, with one leg half bent and his right arm stretched under his partner’s skull. The composition is as clear in 2026 as it probably was in the 13th century: both corpses they are hugged in a position that denotes intimacy. Add and continue. Those in Opole are not the first centuries-old burial sites in which we have found hugging bodies. In 2007 We saw something similar in Mantua, where archaeologists also discovered the remains of two bodies buried 5,000 years ago in an intertwined position. And that is just one of several examples. We located another one in 2015 in the Peloponnese, where a couple from 3,800 BC was found buried in a similar pose. And what does it mean? The big question. The most logical thing is to assume that the two people buried in Opole maintained such a close relationship that those who survived them believed that it was most appropriate to bury them together, in an intimate position, with their bodies intertwined. The key is… Why? Were they family? Did they have a romantic relationship? It is not a simple question because by asking it from the 21st century we run the risk of trying to answer it with a presentist approachbased on our own vision of the world. The DNA wild card. To clear up unknowns, a group of researchers turned to DNA analysis. Their goal was to subject the bones unearthed next to the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Opole to an archaeogenetic examination in search of some answers: What age and sex were both deceased? Were they family? Maybe they were father and son, brothers, an uncle and his nephew? The results have just been published in an article published in the magazine Archaeological Science: Reports and they are surprising. Although the bones have degraded and do not allow tooth enamel to be analyzed, a study carried out by experts from the Kiel University Yes, it has revealed three clues. First, the bodies belonged to two people who were around 40 years old. Second, both correspond to women. And third, there was no relationship between them. There is a link, but… what? “Our DNA analysis shows that the two women were not closely related by blood, but genetics cannot tell us how they were socially or emotionally connected,” recognize to The Country Joanna Romeyer-Dherbey, one of the researchers who signed the paper and who highlights how “extraordinary” it is that centuries later archaeogenetics can reveal to us the secrets of two people buried together. If they were not direct relatives, and in view of how they have been found buried, does that mean that the two women from Opole were lovers? Are we looking at a homosexual couple buried together and embracing in the middle of the Middle Ages? Researchers cannot rule it out. Nor affirm it “with confidence”. Theorize yes, but with caution. What your article does insist on is the call for caution: “Archaeologists should avoid projecting modern cultural categories onto past practices when material evidence does not distinguish between multiple plausible explanations.” After all, both women could be lovers, but also friends, relatives without a biological link (through adoption, for example) or even members of the same religious community. To put it another way, what if they had tragically died at the same time and the community decided to bury them together? Are there more clues? Yes. One. and it is fundamental. The bodies have not only appeared in the same grave, in a position that denotes an embrace. … Read more

“Women continue to look for answers outside the health system”

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For decades, the menopause It has been a topic relegated to the private sphere and, too often, silenced in medical consultations. Given the lack of accessible clinical information, the Internet has become the great refuge for many women who need to resolve their concerns and do not know where to turn. However, what search engines return has changed drastically: health has given way to marketing. What has been seen. A new study published in JAMA has put figures on this phenomenon by analyzing search patterns in Google Trends over two decades in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia. Based on all this information, researchers have detected an increase of between 15 and 20 percentage points in searches aimed at commercial products and services. That is why the internet is no longer just a place to search for the meaning of a symptom; It is an immense showcase of payment solutions. The health system. This commercial shift in search engines does not occur in a vacuum, but, as Nuria Marín, a menopause specialist, points out, in his analysis for the Science Media Center Spain, the massive increase in these searches reflects a worrying reality: there are fundamental needs not covered in the traditional health system. Women turn to the Internet because they do not find the time, specialized management or comprehensive answers to their routine consultations. However, the study of JAMAdespite being published in a high-impact journal, has a methodological limitation that Marín highlights: Google Trends is an algorithmic and “blind” tool. It does not tell us the age, biological sex, or exact menopausal status of the person typing, which prevents us from establishing direct cause-and-effect relationships at a clinical level. The misinformation. The real problem with seeking answers to questions about our own health is that the algorithm rewards economic profitability over scientific rigor. This means that when a patient searches for information about menopause, she enters a digital ecosystem full of interests. Here is a 2025 study published in B.M.J. revealed that 77.2% of online content on hormone replacement therapy to ‘treat’ menopausal symptoms presented commercial conflicts of interest. But even worse is that 67.2% of the medical claims on these pages They openly contradicted official clinical guidelines based on medical evidence. The quality of the information is quite doubtful, since it was seen that 35% of the websites on menopause had some type of medical quality certification, and more than half required a level of reading comprehension much higher than that recommended for health dissemination. Side B. Not all of the technological landscape is negative, but we have tools that, when designed based on scientific evidence and not aggressive marketing, prove to be a great support for women. Here we have, for example, mobile apps to monitor symptoms which point out that women can see their physical symptoms reduced due to the very fact that the patient structures what is happening to her. That is why the challenge we have ahead of us right now is to offer access to this type of tools and to destigmatize menopause in society. Images | Pexels In Xataka | You get up, you get a cup of hot water, you drink it: more and more people are embracing Chinamaxxing

As towns dry out and the desert advances, women in Morocco climb the mountains to capture the fog and turn it into drinking water

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A chance experiment took place in the 1980s. Some researchers working in the Atacama Desert accidentally left a simple metal mesh exposed to wind at night. The next morning they discovered that it was covered in water droplets in one of the driest places on the planet. That seemingly trivial scene ended up inspiring an idea that decades later would change the lives of entire towns. Capture the fog before it disappears. As the desert slowly advances over southwestern Morocco and traditional wells begin to dry up, several villages in the Aït Baâmrane region have found a solution which seems closer to a science fiction image than to conventional hydraulic infrastructure: capture the fog from the mountains and convert it into drinking water. For generations, the women of these communities spent up to four hours a day walking to remote wells and returning carrying barrels weighing almost 25 kilos on their heads. That routine organized the entire life of the villages, kept many girls out of school and reflected the extent to which the lack of water conditioned any daily activity on the edge of the Sahara. Giant nets convert air into water. The change began when huge polymer networks They appeared on the slopes of Mount Boutmezguida, at more than 1,200 meters above sea level. The idea is surprisingly simple: take advantage of the moisture from the Atlantic fog that regularly passes through the Anti-Atlas mountain range. The tiny droplets become trapped in the mesh, condense and end up descending towards deposits connected to kilometers of pipelines by gravity. Without complex pumps or large industrial infrastructure, the system manages to carry water directly to homes using only wind, altitude and ambient humidity. Thanks to the advances in materials engineeringthese modern networks are much more efficient than the experiments carried out decades ago in countries like Chile, Yemen or Eritrea. And the fog reached the tap. When the system went live, neighbors gathered to see something they had never seen before: water coming directly from a faucet inside a home. That “fog water”as they began to call it, quickly transformed the daily life of the villages. Women stopped spending part-time carrying water and many girls were able to attend school regularly again. The project, promoted by the NGO Dar Si Hmadnot only modified water management, but also the social balance of communities where transporting water had been an exclusively female responsibility for centuries. The cultural challenge of drinking water that did not touch the ground. The technology worked from the beginning, but convincing everyone was much more difficult. Some inhabitants they distrusted of a water that had never passed through the earth and that, as they believed, lacked minerals and “life”. The fog represented something ambiguous, almost unreal, too far from traditional sources. Over time, the rejection disappeared as the families verified that the water was safe and constant. The transition also forced us to work unexpected social issues: Some women felt that they were losing part of their central role in the home by no longer being in charge of fetching water. That is why the project ended up incorporating literacy, technical training and community management along with hydraulic infrastructure. Finding water is impossible. The UN has recognized this May 2026 that the Moroccan system is one of the more interesting examples of climate adaptation against desertification. The project shows that some extremely dry regions can still take advantage of invisible resources which until now were hardly used. However, it also makes clear that does not exist a universal solution: capturing fog only works where mountains, ocean humidity and very specific atmospheric conditions coincide. Still, the image is powerful for a planet increasingly affected by water scarcity: as wells empty and temperatures rise, there are entire communities in Morocco that have literally begun to harvest clouds to survive. Image | Aqualonis In Xataka | Satellite images leave no room for doubt: it has rained so much that Morocco has not looked so green for a decade In Xataka | France and Morocco have teamed up to flood Europe with green ammonia. And they compete directly with Spain

the “manfluencers” who record women without their consent

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While some They try to reinvent the smartphone (without success, so far), there is a gadget with AI that is catching on among the general public. AI glasses are becoming more popular and are already being targeted controversies and social debates. Is it ethical to wear a camera on your face that may be recording without others realizing? Not much, especially when those videos are used for extortion. What has happened? In BBC They tell the story of Alice (not her real name) and how she was recorded without her consent at the entrance to a London shopping center. The man was actually a content creator who gave dating advice to other men. She published the video of their interaction and it went viral to the point that it reached the protagonist herself. Alice says she was shocked because the man “didn’t have a phone, he didn’t have a camera pointed directly at my face.” If you want me to delete it, pay me. Alice said she felt humiliated and contacted the account that had posted the video, requesting that it be removed, but the response was not what she expected. The man who had recorded it asked him for payment in exchange for removing the video, since according to him it complied with the platform’s rules. Finally, it was TikTok that deleted the video, but reuploaded it to another account, which has been deleted for violating its rules on harassment and bullying. There is more. Alice’s is not the only case of videos of this type recorded with AI glasses. In a previous reportBBC narrated the cases of two other women who had also been recorded by one of these “manfluencers.” The modus operandi is to approach women to ask for their phone number or start a conversation and then upload it to networks, where they often go viral and generate all kinds of comments. Something similar also happened in Spain, a man filmed hundreds of women in the streets of Barcelona without their knowledge. He ended up being arrested for a crime against privacy. We have also seen how AI glasses are used to cheat on examswhich already has the authorities alert in cities like Valencia. Why is it important. Much of the success of the Ray-Ban Meta is due to the fact that they are normal glasses, which you can wear on a daily basis without squeaking (hello, Google Glass). Their main attraction is precisely what makes them perfect for recording without anyone noticing. Yes, they have an LED light that lights up when the glasses record, but there are two circumstances: the LED can be modified and many people do not even realize that that light indicates that they are being recorded. Reaction. Although AI glasses are still an emerging product category, a wave of social rejection and criticism is already emerging, especially in the US where they are most popular. Many people find them invasive and they don’t feel comfortable if someone is wearing someeven if the LED is off. We have also seen the response of the Chinese startup Even Realitiesglasses without a camera whose selling point is precisely the weak point of glasses with a camera: they do not spy on you. Image | Xataka with Gemini In Xataka | I’ve been testing the Ray-Ban Meta 2 for weeks and I’ve discovered something: Meta has made brilliant glasses with disappointing AI

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