work

The US has realized that millions of workers have no future because of AI. And he got to work

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A question has been going around the councils of ministers and the main world economic forums since ChatGPT showed its capabilities in November 2022. How many jobs is going to destroy the AI? The founder of OpenAI himself has been one of the more pessimistic voicesand has even financed studies and pilot tests on universal basic income as a tool to mitigate the impact of AI in the world of work. Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, is also not optimistic about the impact of AI on the labor market: up to half of office jobs of recent graduates They could disappear in five years. Now, the same people who develop the great AI models are putting money on the table to cushion the coming labor blow. The concern about a labor apocalypse is such that it is even uniting political adversaries to find a solution together. United against the AI ​​workplace apocalypse. As and how he published The Wall Street Journallast week he was born RAISE USa non-profit organization that aims to train US employees in profiles with a future within the new AI economy that is coming in the coming years. The organization will be led by Democrat Gina Raimondo, former Secretary of Commerce in the Biden administration, but, what is more curious, is that she will do so together with the former Republican governor of Indiana Eric Holcomb. Yes, AI has achieved something that seemed impossible: that political parties and rival companies join forces to prevent millions of employees from being left without jobs due to the arrival of AI. The problem also wants to be the solution. The initiative starts with more than 500 million dollars already committed, half of a budget goal that is set at 1,000 million for several years to come. The goal of RAISE US is to harmonize the evolution of the AI ​​career, but without leaving people behind. “If we build the best AI systems in the world and leave millions of Americans behind, we will have gained nothing,” said Raimondo in the presentation of the project. The most striking thing of all is that, among the main donors of this initiative we find some of the main protagonists of the race for AI. Namely: Amazon, Microsoft, Bank of America, IBM, Cisco or the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly. Of course, Anthropic and the OpenAI foundation have also joined in. That is, the same people who are building the tools that can put their users out of work want to provide them with training for a future in a sector less exposed to AI or to cover the new professional profiles that will be created. AI is going to change everything. AI is evolving much faster than systems designed to protect workers, and that makes them more vulnerable. Goldman Sachs calculated that some 300 million jobs globally will be affected by the automation of generative AI. In the US, young people between 22 and 25 years old with jobs exposed to AI they already accuse the blow and its unemployment rate has risen almost three points since the beginning of 2025. The problem is that the current unemployment aid and subsidy systems are not designed to cover employees of entire sectors who, suddenly, lose their jobs. for AI automation. In Spain, unemployment benefits it is more guarantee when an employee becomes unemployed, but in countries like the US, only 27% of the unemployed receive unemployment benefitaccording to data from 2025. RAISE US objectives. An analysis 2025 Brookings Review reviewed decades of job training and retraining programs, and concluded that their results have been modest at best. RAISE US wants to redesign incentives so that companies prefer to retrain their employees rather than lay them off. It also proposes reforms in US unemployment benefits, so that a laid-off worker can continue collecting unemployment benefits while starting a business or starting training, instead of losing it as soon as he signs a new contract, something similar to what It is already applied in Spain in some specific cases to encourage their reintegration into the workforce. Get it started before it’s too late. The first pilot tests of the job training platform are already underway in four US states. In Arkansas, an AI-based career guidance platform is being tested that connects students and unemployed people with training programs tailored to their profile. In Maryland, the focus is on expanding a paid course program of at least nine months that gives candidates real-world experience in sectors with high demand of personnel, such as healthcare. The biggest fear of those who promote the platform is that their measures arrive on time. Labor markets already show signs of adjustment with changes in demand for certain technological profiles on the rise, while junior profiles they are in free fall in technology, law firms and consulting firms. In Xataka | We believed that AI was going to retire an entire generation of workers early. The opposite is happening Image | Unsplash (Shamin Haky)

More and more people work after 70 years of age

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The situation demographic of Japan is forcing the government and companies to adapt their regulations to maintain the balance between a very aged workforce and a serious labor shortage young man who has caused decades of drop in birth ratedropping to its historic low of 1.15 children per woman. One of the measures that is being applied most in companies is the extension of the mandatory retirement age. In this way, the most senior employees they can continue working even beyond the age of 70 if they wish. 9.14 million senior employees. According to data published by Nikkei Asia, Japanese companies employ more than 5.4 million employees aged 70 or over. If the focus is expanded to those over 65 years of age, the Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs estimates that 9.14 million people in that age group returned to work in 2024, approximately 25.3% of that population group. According to a report According to the Japanese Business Federation of 2024, the employment rate among those over 65 years of age in Japan is 25.2%, well above the 18.6% in the US, 10.9% in the United Kingdom or the 3.9% recorded in France. According to that same report, 99.9% of Japanese companies had measures to guarantee the employment of its workers beyond the age of 65, following the 2025 labor reform of the retirement age in Japan, which went from 60 to 65 years. However, Japanese companies have taken the legislation a little further: 29.7% of them have measures that guarantee employment up to age 70 and beyond. In Japan, 70 is the new 60. According to the data of a survey conducted in 2023 by the Japanese Ministry of Labor, 80% of workers of retirement age wanted to continue working beyond the legal retirement age. Of them, 70% of them would prefer to do it in their current job. Part of this desire to continue working beyond the age of 70 is due to the fact that Japan has one of the highest life expectancy rates on the planet. According to data from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare of Japan published by Nippon.comJapanese life expectancy is 87.14 years for women and 81.09 years for men. This means that Japanese employees reach their legal retirement age in good health, which allows them to extend their working lives by adapting their working hours to their physical limitations. “60-year-olds are young. In this era of labor shortages, managers need to find ‘older men who add value,’” said Atsushi Morishita Morishita, 78, founder of Tenpos Holdings. Pensions in Japan. Another reason that is leading retirees to delay their effective retirement age as much as possible is the amount of their pensions. With an aging population, the pension budget balance suffers since there are more people in a position to receive them what contributors youths. Retirees can only receive from the Public Pension System a maximum of 831,700 yen annually (equivalent to about 5,100 euros), which are added to the allocations from the private pension funds that workers and companies have contracted (or not) throughout their working life. According to estimates Bloomberg, that leaves them with an average monthly public pension of 40,000 yen (about 245 euros per month). An income at all insufficient to survive. The Japanese government approved in June 2025 a reform of the pension system with changes that benefit those who continue working at retirement age. In April 2026 he entered in force The last change, which raises the income threshold from which the benefit is penalized or reduced, rising from 510,000 to 620,000 yen per month. This will allow some 200,000 active retirees to collect their full pension even if they continue working. The reform also extends the maximum age to subscribe to private pension plans to 70 years. Companies tailored to the elderly. According to the published figures by Nikkeiemployees over 65 years old represent around 15% of the company workforce in Japan. These employees are given the least demanding day shifts. “Rather than fitting people into a system, it is essential to manage work hours in a way that adapts to our diverse talent,” Kazushige Mori, president of Gashouen, a company that operates senior care centers whose workforce is made up of 15% people over 70, explained to Nikkei. Those who work 20 hours or more adopt the status of contract employees, which implies a higher hourly wage than those considered part-time workers. “Compared to young people, who have a high turnover rate, senior professionals who work with us for a longer time are the backbone of our company,” said Kimino Osada, president of Seisei Server. A version of this article was published in May 2025. In Xataka | Japan has the jobs, but it lacks the workers. So they are already paying up to 6,000 euros to go there In Xataka | Japan believed it had a demographic problem. Until he looked at his census and discovered that he was missing three million people Image | Unsplash (Jaipreet Singh)

work until 70 years old

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In 1889, Otto von Bismarck invented the public retirement pension in Germany and set the retirement age at 70 years. At that time, only a lucky few made it alive to collect it. Now, 137 years later, Germany has proposed recovering that age limit so that its employees can retire. So that they later say that history is not cyclical and pendulous. As and how to collect ReutersChancellor Friedrich Merz last week presented a 33-point plan to reform the German pension system. Merz’s plan has a priority objective: that the pension system does not collapse. To achieve this, the German chancellor is betting on a package of measures that involves working more and forgetting about early retirement. Germany doesn’t get it right. Germany has one of the oldest pension systems in the world, but also one of the most stressed. Germany’s problem is an old acquaintance for Spain: every time there are fewer workers to pay the pensions of more and more retirees. According to data According to the German Federal Statistics Office, there are now 33 pensioners for every 100 people of working age. In 2070, that figure could reach 61 pensioners for every 100 contributors. That means less than two workers per retiree. By 2035, the forecast is that one in four Germans will be over 67 years old. With the current financing system, today’s German workers pay the pensions of today’s retirees. Without a sufficient workforce to contribute contributions, the scheme does not hold. and the baby boomers They are reaching retirement right now. We live longer, we work more. The most striking proposal of those presented by Merz is to link the legal retirement age to life expectancy in Germany. That is, since we live longer, employees must also contribute for more years. The easiest way to do this is to delay the minimum legal age for retirement. Currently, anyone who retires before 2023 will be able to do so at 67, just like that in Spain. However, with the new plan that the Foreign Ministry has put on the table, that age would rise to 67.5 years in 2041, to 68 in 2051, and would evolve until reaching 70 years by the end of 2090. We are not facing a sudden change, but rather the executive seeks to progressively adapt to the demographic ramp of its population, trying to cushion the strong impact that the planned mass retirement will entail. for the next decade. Merz sold it as a guarantee for young people: “No citizen has to worry,” he said. The system, according to him, is not going to collapse, but “All the elements of this reform package must be implemented quickly and make up a comprehensive concept that only works as a whole.” Goodbye to retirement at 63. In addition to extending the legal age to access retirement, the German Chancellor’s proposal is complemented by a tightening of the requirements to qualify for early retirement, the so-called Rent mit 63the formula that allows you to retire at age 63 without penalty if you have contributed for 45 years. It is estimated that about 270,000 Germans take refuge each year in a early retirement without penalty. Unions see it as a direct blow to blue-collar workers. In statements collected By DW, Christiane Benner, leader of IG Metall, pointed out that the proposal “completely ignores” the conditions of those who work in factories or construction, because spending the last few years behind a computer is not the same as spending the last few years on a scaffold. To reduce this difference, the Government proposes that those who cannot continue for health reasons have easier access to this early retirement, which will no longer be automatic for those workers with long-term careers. The Swedish model as inspiration. Along with the changes in the retirement age, the package of measures proposed by Merz also points to a change in the way in which Germany manages its employees’ pension funds, opting to invest part of them in capital markets. The chancellor has not invented anything that is not already being applied in other European countries. An example would be the swedish systemwhere 2.5% of employees’ salaries go to individual accounts that are invested in funds. In Germany, the proposal is to start with an additional 0.5% on the salary and gradually reach 2%. Each worker would have their own account. Merz estimates that the fund would channel at least 30,000 million euros a year to the markets. Critics warn that the stock market could fall, and that a sharp decline at the wrong time could pose a serious risk to the liquidity of the pension system. In Xataka | Collecting two retirement pensions is the dream of any worker. What we didn’t know is that Social Security allows it Image | Unsplash (Maheshkumar Painam, Oxana Melis)

There are people recommending putting a coin on the WiFi router to make it work better. It’s stupid like a temple

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The WiFi coverage problems They are a common evil in many homes and that causes all kinds of problems to arise. tips and tricks to improve itsome of them quite questionable. One of the viral tricks that has been circulating the most lately is the one that ensures that simply By placing a coin on top of the router we can amplify the signal of our WiFi. I wish it were that simple. The trick has been successful because it combines several factors: it is very easy to do, problems with WiFi are very common and it has a certain scientific basis. The logic is that, as the antennas are metal and the coin too, if we put it on top of the router we will make the signal increase. Let’s explain to you why it doesn’t make any sense. Debunking the myth of the coin and the router Placing a coin on the router has the same effect on the signal as leaving it next to it: none. For a metal to act as an antenna, it has to be connected to the circuit that emits the signal, but this is not the case. Between the coin and the circuit are other components, air and a plastic casing. Come on, it’s not going to have any effect. Placing metal near a router can even worsen the signal. If we surround a signal emitter such as the router with metal, we will achieve the well-known effect Faraday cagethat is, the signal is blocked. Obviously with a single coin we are not going to make WiFi worse, but this destroys the belief that a metal object on top of the router is going to amplify the signal. Photo by Pierre G on Unsplash As we said, the basis of the trick is that the antennas are made of metal, but there is a key issue and that is that not just any metal will do, it must be one who is a good driver. The metal that conducts electricity better It is silver, followed by copper, gold and aluminum. Euro coins are made of different materials depending on what currency it is. The 2 euro one combines a copper-nickel exterior with a nickel and brass interior; those of 50, 20 and 10 cents are made of Nordic gold (an alloy of copper, aluminum, zinc and tin) and those of 5, 2 or 1 cent are made of copper-coated steel. Even if the trick worked, none of these materials would be ideal for building an antenna. Tips that will improve your WiFi Most WiFi problems at home have their origin in one very specific thing: the router is incorrectly placed. The usual thing is that the installation comes through a wall and that we install the router right there, but it is a mistake. The more focused you are, the better. The router emits the signal in all directions, so if we put it at one end of the house we will be making the signal very good in that room and outside (on the other side of the wall), but it will be increasingly weaker as we move away from it. The best location for the router is to place it as centrally as possible within our house. Another issue to take into account is the obstacles. The walls, the closets full of clothes, the appliances… all of this will weaken the signal of our WiFi, so the fewer obstacles you have to cross, better. There is more tips that allow you to optimize the WiFi signal at homehow to keep your router updated or choose well what we connect to each bandbut if nothing works you can always turn to additional devices such as a WiFi PLC amplifier or what is by far the most effective: a WiFi Mesh system. I myself have suffered problems with WiFi at home due to a poorly placed router and The only thing that solved it was installing two additional mesh routers. I wish it had been as simple as putting a euro on top of the router. Image | Alex Alcolea, Xataka In Xataka | The new WiFi 7 router from Movistar compared to the previous one with WiFi 6: a leap that is worth it in almost everything

Amazon Prime Day reduces these five fans and air conditioners without work to survive the heat at home

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With the first heat wave of summer already underway (and the next ones just around the corner), stretching out the house is no longer an option if you want to sleep well in the summer. Luckily, today Amazon has kicked off its Prime Day and we have made a selection with the best deals on portable air conditioners and fansso you can survive the summer at home without having to do any work. Of course, you have to keep in mind that these offers are only for Prime members. If you are not yet, you can request the 30 day free trial in this Amazon service. Olimpia Splendid, Dolceclima Slim 10 SWS WiFi The price could vary. We earn commission from these links portable air conditioner Midea Penguin by 429.99 euros: works as a fan, dehumidifier and air conditioner. portable air conditioner Olimpia Splendid Dolceclima Slim 10 SWS by 279 euros: with WiFi connectivity and function Follow Me. Fan and air purifier Rowenta Eclipse QU5030 by 249.99 euros: very quiet and without blades. Standing fan Rowenta Turbo Silence by 75.99 euros: with five blades and 12 speeds. ceiling fan Create Wind Clear Studio S by 60.95 euros: with LED lamp and retractable blades. Midea Penguin portable air conditioner With a discount of 50 euros, this penguin from the Midea firm can be purchased now for 429.99 euros. This model has a cooling power of 3,000 frigories and is a 3 in 1 since serves as a fan, dehumidifier and air conditioner. It includes two transport wheels and a practical window kit so you can start using it right out of the box. In addition, it will also be useful for winter since it comes with a heat pump. MIDEA Penguin Portable Air Conditioner Hot and Cold 3000 Frigories / 12000 BTU The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Olimpia Splendid Dolceclima Slim 10 SWS portable air conditioner Another of the portable air conditioners without works that are worth it on this Prime Day is this one from the firm Olimpia, which you can now buy for 279 euros. has a 10,000 BTU cooling power and also offers fan and dehumidifier functions. Furthermore, its function Follow Me makes the remote control act as a remote thermostat to ensure adequate control of the room. It also has WiFi connectivity so you can control it from the app. Olimpia Splendid, Dolceclima Slim 10 SWS WiFi The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Rowenta Eclipse QU5030 Fan and Air Purifier If you are looking for a bladeless fan, this one from Rowenta is one of the bargains on Amazon Prime Day thanks to the 200 euros discount that he has. Now, you can buy it for 249.99 euros. It is a air purifier and ventilation capable of filtering fine particles up to 99.95% and which is controlled by remote control. It also stands out for being silent, since it operates at 32 dB at minimum speed. Rowenta 2 in 1 Air Purifier and Fan The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Rowenta Turbo Silence Standing Fan If you’re looking for something simpler like a regular fan, this one from Rowenta is now on sale on Prime Day. It has gone from costing 99.99 euros to 75.99 euros. It is perfect for sleeping since operates at only 35 dB in mode Silent Night. It has five blades, offers 12 speeds and you can control it using a digital LED display and remote control, as well as setting a timer. Rowenta Turbo Silence – Standing Fan The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Create Wind Clear Studio S Ceiling Fan The last of the bargains that has caught our attention on Prime Day (as far as air conditioning devices are concerned) is this one. ceiling fan from the brand Create, which you can take with you 60.95 euros. It is a compact fan in an elegant white and wood color combination and has retractable blades and a LED lamp with three light temperatures (warm, neutral and cold white), in addition to having the reverse turning function ideal for winter. CREATE / WIND CLEAR STUDIO S/Ceiling fan with light white and light wood with control The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Note: some of the links posted here are affiliate links and may provide a profit. Images | Olimpia Splendid, Midea, Rowenta and Create In Xataka | Buying guide for connected fans: recommendations for choosing a “smart” model with WiFi and six models from 50 euros In Xataka | Five things to consider before buying a ceiling fan

It is not enough to work hard, it is more important to get along with the boss

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There is a widespread belief that if you try hard at workIf you arrive early and leave later, job success comes on its own. Is a nice idea. But, several psychological studies have shown that it is absolutely false. According to the conclusion of psychologists, what really determines whether an employee is promoted, if he is evaluated well or if he simply survives staff cuts In a company it is not only what it produces. It has a lot to do with the relationship you have with your boss and other employees. And that depends, to a large extent, on your social skills and the relationship that exists between them. The bias that no one recognizes, but everyone practices. Since the 1970s, researchers have been studying something they call LMX or Leader-Member Exchange (Leader-Member Exchange Theory). The idea behind this theory is simple: bosses do not treat all their employees the same. With some of them they build a relationship of trust, support and access to opportunities, while with others they maintain a colder and more distant bond. According to a study By Josephine Campbell, that difference has direct consequences for performance reviews, promotions, and career development. The most striking thing about the different studies that have been carried out is that the quality of this relationship predicts work success more accurately than one would expect. Research on the persistence of the LMX phenomenon carried out at the University of Portland, show a clear link between supervisors’ ratings of the possibility of promotion, salary progression and professional satisfaction. The employees most valued by their bosses are usually the ones who get along best with them, even if they are not the ones who put in the most hours at the end of the day. Seeing your boss’s face matters more than it seems. According to published data by Euronewsemployees who work 100% remotely have 31% fewer promotion options and 38% fewer bonuses than their in-person counterparts. All this based on the same performance as his office colleagues. A 2019 study from the University of California, collected in Organization ScienceI had already observed it previously: the fact that your boss see you face to face generates positive results for the employee, regardless of their work performance. This has a name. Is called proximity bias or proximity bias and is an unconscious behavior of the human being, in which prioritize people more or events happening around you. Bosses tend to favor those who are closest to them, not necessarily those who perform the most. It is estimated that 96% of managers admitswhich perceives more contributions from those who are physically in the office than from those who work remotely. Communicating counts a lot. There is one more factor that also decisively influences how bosses and supervisors perceive some of their employees: whether you say what you think. a study carried out by researchers from the universities of Waikato (New Zealand) and Bergamo (Italy) published in Personnel Review analyzed the behavior of 218 employees and supervisors in a Japanese company. Employees who expressed opinions out loud got better ratings from their bosses. Their superiors saw them as more capable. More involved. The voice, in itself, and its reputation was built. However, the study itself recognizes that this factor cannot be extrapolated to all companies. “It is important to carefully consider the degree of politics in the workplace before expressing one’s opinion,” the study’s authors note. In business environments with a lot of internal politics and hierarchies, where power dynamics are complex, speaking up can be counterproductive. Working more hours does not move the marker. a report from the employment platform Deel Using data from more than a million employment contracts around the world, it showed that remote workers work almost twice as much overtime as their in-person colleagues, but they are still less likely to receive promotions. The extra effort, if it is not visible, does not translate into recognition and, therefore, does not materialize in promotions or opportunities for professional growth. This connects with something that psychology has been telling us for decades: The boss’s perception of you is not built only on your results. It has a lot to do with you saying good morning every morning at the office. The merit exists, but it goes faster if, in addition to doing it, you tell your supervisors about it. In Xataka | Productivity has doubled in recent years. Stanford believes it’s not AI: it’s teleworking Image | Unsplash (Vitaly Gariev)

“Cyclical” productivity sounds great as a way to organize work according to the rule. The problem is that it’s a bluff

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Patricia Gosálvez told that for some time now talks about how to organize the work agenda according to the phase of the menstrual cycle have been the order of the day. There are different approaches and different discourses, but the general idea is the same: “do social tasks when you are ovulating and reserve planning and solitude tasks for your period days.” We knew that ‘cyclical productivity’ swept TikTokWhat we didn’t realize was that he was already proselytizing among the management class throughout the country. And we shouldn’t be surprised. A priori, the idea sounds like empowerment and militant feminism. The question, however, is whether it makes any sense. But… what exactly are we talking about? In general terms, we can see it as a work adaptation of something that has been talked about for quite some time: the cycle syncing. A self-care practice in which things like diet, exercise routines, or lifestyle habits are adjusted to match the hormonal fluctuations of the menstrual cycle. Applied to the workplace, the month is divided into four phases and tasks are distributed: planning is reserved for bleeding, during the follicular phase work is brought forward, ovulation are “ideal days to negotiate, ask for a raise and everything that needs power and security” and the luteal phase is fantastic for detailed work. It sounds good, but it’s a bluff. Especially since the model assumes a hormonal cycle that most women don’t really have. In general, cycle syncing is right that there is an infradian hormonal cycle (that is, with a period longer than one day), but it jumps to the idea that it is a closed scheme that is easy to program without a break in continuity. In fact, there are two large systematic reviews on this sort of thing that do not support the ideas of cyclical productivity. According to the latest meta-analysis from 2025there is no robust evidence that cognitive performance (neither attention, nor memory, nor executive function, nor spatial ability) changes over the cycle. On the other hand, the most robust studies of physical performance also find that the cycle effect is “trivial”. This does not mean that menstruation does not have an impact very significant in the lives of women and that pain in many cases is a huge problem. It doesn’t even mean that PMS doesn’t exist. What this means is that the hormonal cycle does not seem to serve to schedule tasks with that level of detail in the general population. But it does have a problem. And behind the façade of ’empowerment’, the truth is that there is a very problematic message that “women’s competence fluctuates with hormones.” It is something that reinforces stereotypes and, as we have seen, is a lie. As the endocrinologist Carme Valls said to Gosálvezis an idea that “makes women too biological, too animal.” And he does it without contributing too much. Above all, because as Valls continues, in a normal cycle the variability is minimal: “40% of women hardly feel anything.” That is to say, although from an individual point of view knowing the cycle is very useful, from a population point of view it introduces noise. The problem is not the initial intuition, nor the idea that talking about the rule is good. The problem is the promise of productivity associated with it. A promise that, as we see, in general terms has no relationship with reality. Image | Annika Gordon In Xataka | Period pain in adolescence is not “normal”: massive study links it to increased risk of chronic pain in adulthood

a colossal work of engineering that has been waiting for 150 years

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The project has lurched back and forth for decades, but Norway has finally kicked off one of its most amazing engineering feats: the Stad Ship Tunnel. It is the first tunnel in the world designed for ships to navigate inside. After many years of debatea budget that did not stop growing and a failed attempt to cancel it by the Government, the project is resurrected with approved financing and works planned to start in early 2027. We will tell you all the details. What you are looking to solve. The Stad Peninsula, on the west coast of Norway, is one of the most dangerous areas for navigation in the entire country. With no nearby islands to act as a natural barrier, the Stadhavet Sea has very rough waters, as for about 100 days a year it has waves that can exceed 30 meters arriving from several directions at the same time. That’s a problem for ships, as both fishing boats and cargo ships are forced to wait days (and sometimes weeks) until the weather eases enough to safely navigate the peninsula. Being late when transporting fish has serious consequences, since perishable products spoil, the railway network collapses as an alternative and companies in the sector lose money. “If we are going to export salmon from Trøndelag to the mainland, we cannot risk it getting stuck in Stad due to bad weather. Because it would arrive on the mainland as rakfisk (Norwegian fermented fish) and not as sushi,” counted Tore O. Sandvik, regional mayor of Trøndelag. The boat tunnel. The answer that has been gaining weight for years has been drilling the mountain. The Stad Ship Tunnel will cross the narrowest point of the peninsula (just 1.7 kilometers) between Moldefjord and Kjødepollen, in the Vanylvsfjord. With its 36 meters wide and 50 meters total height (33 meters free from sea level to the roof), the tunnel will be able to accommodate everything from small fishing boats to ferries and cruise ships, including ships on the Hurtigruten coastal route. The ships would pass through the tunnel in about 10 minutes, at a speed of 8 knots. Century and a half of history. The first sketches of crossing the Stad peninsula They date from 1874although the technology of the time condemned it to be considered a utopia. In the eighties the Norwegian government took up the idea, and in 2013 the tunnel finally managed to enter the National Transportation Plan. In 2021, Parliament gave the project the formal green light and talk began about the imminent start of works. But there was a problem: money. Lots of fights. The tunnel budget has been its biggest enemy. From the initial 267 million dollars it went to estimates of 325 million, then to 690 million in 2023 and finally to about 780 million dollars (around 8.6 billion Norwegian crowns) according to the most recent data. In October 2025 Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre announced the cancellation of the project within the framework of the presentation of the 2026 state budgets. “The cost will be so high that we consider it not responsible to continue with the project,” he declared then. The argument was that the country preferred to prioritize other areas, such as health, defense, or municipal investment, rather than assuming that expense. green light. The Støre Government did not have a majority in Parliament to impose the cancellation, and the pressure between the parliamentary opposition and that of more than 500 companies in the fishing, maritime, tourism and industrial sectors ended up tipping the balance. The center-left parties reached a budget agreement which includes financing to start construction. “We are ready to initiate the necessary processes to facilitate the start of works in early 2027,” counted Einar Vik Arset, director general of the Norwegian Coastal Administration (Kystverket). About 15 million dollars will be allocated for the initial phase, within a total budget estimated at around 888 million dollars (about 8.6 billion Norwegian crowns). How it will be built. “The selected contractor will then be able to begin preparations with the aim of starting works in early 2027,” assured Harald Inge Johnsen, project director. The Norwegian Coastal Administration has already evaluated the offers of three finalist consortiums: AF Gruppen, Eiffage Génie Civil and the consortium formed by Skanska and Vassbakk & Stol. If the schedule is met, the tunnel could be inaugurated around 2032. Of course, the excavation will require removing nearly three million cubic meters of rock and earth. Why it is unique in the world. Just like they point out Since El Confidencial, boat tunnels have existed since 1679, when the Malpas tunnel was opened on the French Canal du Midi. But all of them serve inland waterways (canals and ports) and have never been designed for ocean shipping traffic. The Stad Ship Tunnel will be the first in its category. According to estimates from the Norwegian Government itself, the infrastructure also promises to reduce fuel consumption and emissions by up to 60%, by eliminating long waits and forced detours around the peninsula. In Xataka | Building tunnels is very good, but in China there are regions that are doing other things: cutting mountains in half

when AI doesn’t free you from work, but instead creates a new task that ends up exhausting you more

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Imagine that you hire someone to help you manage your email. Of course, the first week you have to explain to him how you like him filter messages and tell you the most urgent thing. The second week, you correct the mistakes he is making and, for the third week, you have to explain again what you already taught him the first week because he forgot the instructions. At the end of the month, you have a helper, but it takes longer than before because not only do you have to be aware of what he is doing, but you also have to manage your email. That is, in essence, what is happening right now with AI at work, according to the report. Work AI Index of the Glean Institute, carried out by researchers from the universities of Stanford, Berkeley and Notre Dame. According to their findings, employees spend an average of 6.4 hours per week making AI work. Almost one day of work lost every week. Time is not saved, it is transformed. 87% of workers who participated in the study acknowledge that they use AI at work. Of these, 75% affirm that AI makes them more productivesaving them approximately 11 hours per week with automation alone. However, only 13% of companies claim to obtain a real increase in productivity. The gap between what the individual perceives and what the companies’ results show is enormous, and the report has an explanation: those hours do not disappear, they are only redirected towards a new layer of work that no one was taking into account. The authors have called this new task botsitting (a play on words that translates as “bot care”) which consists of little more than “AI kangaroo” to give context to the tool, review errors in the results it generates, relaunch prompts that do not go well and clean up results that seem correct, but are actually full of invented data or hallucinations. As Rebecca Hinds, director of the Work AI Institute, describes, this guardianship is “often tedious and exhausting work”, which no one measures or rewards, so the time that AI saves ends up being a loan that you have to return a few hours later. Too many tools and context switches. The researchers highlight that part of this excess time spent using AI not only comes from reviewing its results but also from how each tool is used. 77% of respondents use multiple AI tools each week, and a third of participants combine four or more. Each jump from one app to another has a cost of time which is rarely countedbut that implies repeating the same instructions or rewriting the prompt on another system because the previous model did not deliver the expected result. Nearly half of workers (46.5%) have to jump between two or more AI tools to complete a single task. Researchers call it the “toggle tax”, the cognitive tax of constantly changing context. Harvard Business Review already calculated the cognitive cost of changing applications and the consulting firm McKinsey calculated that workers waste an average of almost two hours a day searching for information between tools, inboxes and chats. AI, which is sold as the panacea of ​​productivityhas only added a new layer to that chaos instead of reducing it. Of the botsitting to the botshitting. The study found that when the worker spends too much time fixing AI bugs and maintains its delivery deadlines, begins to skip reviewing the results, generating something that the report has called botshitting or “bot crap” which would be delivering work generated by AI without having previously verified. 69% of the participants admitted to having done this at least on occasion. The consequences go beyond the quality of the work itself, when that content reaches the next link in the production chain. without anyone having reviewed itsomeone who did not produce it you have to clean it. That is, both the cost and the time are transferred to another person, but you don’t save that much as it seems. To no one’s surprise, more AI doesn’t solve the problem. Bob Sutton, professor emeritus at Stanford and founding member of the Work AI Institute who produced this report, has pointed out On other occasions, one of the solutions usually taken from management positions when a process generates friction is to add more of that element. In this case, trying to solve a problem of misuse of AI…with more AI. The data in the report suggests that the organizations that are ahead are not those that use AI the most. They are those that have built what the authors call “human infrastructure.” 53% of workers say that the information they need does not come through their AI systems. In companies where it does arrive, employees are 64% less exhausted and are 52% less likely to deliver works that have not been reviewed. In Xataka | OpenAI assures that AI has not had that much impact on employment. Anthropic believes just the opposite and therein lies the problem Image | Unsplash (Flipsnack)

five portable air conditioners without work or installation ideal for your home

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The heat is here to stay until the summer ends, so it is a good time to buy a device that allows us to cope better with it if we have not already done so. If you cannot install a split air conditioner or you are simply looking for something better than a fan, in this article we are going to review five portable air conditioners that do not require works or installation. Comfee 3 in 1 by 224.99 eurosa portable air conditioner that includes its own window kit. Midea by 429.99 eurosa model with a window kit that offers 3,000 frigories. Cecotec ForceClima 7100 by 179 eurosthe best-selling portable air conditioner on Amazon. De’Longhi Compact PAC ES72 by 419 eurosa model that also has a dehumidifier and ventilation function. Create Silkair 5000 by 155.95 euroswith a dehumidifier function and its own window kit. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Comfee 3 in 1 He Comfee 3 in 1 (224.99 euros) is a particularly interesting device for those people looking for a triple function of air conditioning, air conditioning and dehumidifier. It offers 2,000 frigories, can be used with your mobile phone and includes its own kit for sliding windows. If you have folding windows, the kit is not useful, so we recommend taking a look at the Hoomee insulating coverwhich is ideal for both this model and the following ones. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Midea The model Midea (429.99 euros) can be used for both summer and winter because it incorporates a heat pump. It offers a cooling capacity of 3,000 frigories, can be controlled via the touch panel or with a smartphone and also comes with its own kit for sliding windows. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Cecotec ForceClima 7100 On the other hand, if you are looking for a more economical model, the Cecotec ForceClima 7100 (179 euros) is not far behind in terms of specifications. It is the best seller on Amazon for several reasons: because of its price, because it offers a cooling capacity of 1,750 frigories and because it comes with a ventilation and dehumidifier function. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links De’Longhi Compact PAC ES72 He De’Longhi Compact PAC ES72 It is not a particularly cheap model (419 euros), but it is quite complete. It offers 8,300 BTU, has a timer of up to 24 hours, is quite compact and has three speeds. In addition, it does not make too much noise, since the minimum noise is 47 dB. De’Longhi Compact PAC ES72 The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Create Silkair 5000 Lastly, the Create Silkair 5000 (155.95 euros) is a portable air conditioner that has a cooling capacity of 7,000 BTU, allowing it to cool rooms of up to 20 square meters. It also comes with a fan and dehumidifier function and includes its own kit for sliding windows. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Some of the links in this article are affiliated and may provide a benefit to Xataka. In case of non-availability, offers may vary. Images | Comfee, Midea, Cecotec, De’Longhi, Create In Xataka | Buying guide for connected fans: recommendations for choosing a “smart” model with WiFi and six models from 50 euros In Xataka | Silent ceiling fan: which one to buy? Tips and recommendations

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