world

In 1990, the Internet was science fiction for half the world. And in Japan they already played the Sega Mega Drive online

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We live in a highly connected world in which the Internet is present on our computers, mobile phones, consoles and even refrigerators. Never in history has it been so easy to access information, play online or control devices from a distance. However, as we all know, this has not always been the case. The year is 1990. It may be a little surprising to think that in 1990 Japan not only were already connecting to the Internet, but some people were connecting modems to their video game consoles to play online. And the most curious thing about this service is that the country was not even among those that had the most developed connectivity offer. The data. To give a little context, according to Worldmapper dataAbout 3 million people had access to the Internet in the inaugural year of the 1990s. Most of the users were distributed between the United States and Europe. In the connectivity ranking, Japan was far behind, outside the top 10 positions. Pioneers. However, the Japanese company Sega did not hesitate to embrace the network of networks with its Mega Drive console (known as the Sega Genesis in other markets). It was its fourth-generation 16-bit console that had been launched in 1988 and had been a success. The device had a 7.6 MHz Motorola 68000 microprocessor to run the games and a Zilog Z80 coprocessor. The console thus had 64 KB of RAM, 64 KB of VRAM, 8 KB of audio RAM. Two years after its launch, specifically on November 3, 1990, Sega launched the Mega Modem in Japan. It was an accessory that connected to a DE-9 port located on the back of the console and that allowed it to connect to the Internet. Dial-up. As you can surely imagine, the offering of online services back then was very primitive. However, the Japanese company was encouraged to distribute games through dial-up connection as well as to allow online play in some of its titles. All this was done through a telephone connection whose speed was around 1200 bauds (1.2 kbit/s). And, since there was no additional storage device, all downloaded games had to be stored in the Mega Drive’s memory. Variety of games. At that time, Sega offered two options to access the Mega Modem. On the one hand, players could purchase the accessory with a cartridge for 12,800 yen. This enabled the aforementioned connectivity and gave access to a range of included games. Titles included ‘Nikkan Sports Professional Baseball VAN’, ‘Cyberball’, ‘Advanced Grand Strategy’, ‘TEL/TEL Stadium’, ‘Forbidden City’ and ‘TEL/TEL Majan’. The last one was a mahjong game with individual or online play capabilities. Mega Modem Purchasing separately. On the other hand, the company only offered the Mega Modem for 9,800 yen. In this case, users should purchase compatible cartridges separately to take advantage of the connectivity benefits of the accessory. One of the most successful cartridges was Sansan. It was a Go strategy game with online play capability. The developer, White Box, allowed owners of the cartridge to play through the Mega Modem with others using their Sansan ID. The proposal, without a doubt, was enormously interesting. However, it did not have the expected success and the Japanese company decided to discontinue it at the end of 1992. The new versions of the Mega Drive, in fact, were launched on the market without the modem port. Images | SEGA | boffy_b | In Xataka | The PS5 Slim has removable Blu-ray drives. This modular option carries a penalty called DRM

The Alhambra and its environment are a jewel of world heritage. Now a threat has emerged: solar panels

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For decades Granada can boast of having a world category jewel, the set formed by the Alhambra, Generalife and Albaicín, registered all three in The list Unesco World Heritage. Now the city sees how clouds loom About them. And for an unexpected azón: a photovoltaic plant that, according to icomos (An organism associated with UNESCO) threatens the environment. In fact advises “Slighted” that is paralyzed. What happened? That Icomos (The International Council of Monuments and Sites) has just yielded a jug of cold water on a project that It has been weating for some time Granada local policy: a photovoltaic plant of something more than three hectares that will be built in The Farguea neighborhood of Granada. What Icomos said is that, if carried out, the installation will negatively affect the Alhambra, the Generalife and the Albaicín neighborhood, three Historical jewels included for years in the Unesco World Heritage list. Beyond its content and arguments, the warning is important because Icomos is not any entity. The Council is associated with UNESCO and is dedicated precisely to ensure the “Protection and value” of heritage. Its report also includes some ears to the Spanish authorities and has served to enliven (even more) the debate that For months surrounds a plant that has encountered the opposition of politicians, neighbors and Ecologists. What would the installation be like? The plant is called San Gregorio I and, As needed The countryI would occupy about three hectares to produce 4.95 MW. It is actually part of a broader project that includes two others facilities, stadium plus i and sotoscuro i, of a size more or less similar. The key is where it is projected: The Fargue (Alquería del Fargue), an area of ​​Granada located in the district of Albaicín. In June the PSOE proposed In full paralyzing the macroplanta to “protect the landscape and cultural heritage of the city”, especially the surroundings of the Alhambra and the Darro valley, considered a good of cultural interest (BIC) Since 2024. It is not the only one. Neighbors and Ecologists in Action also mislead the impact that the project would have in the area. What has Icomos said? That criticisms are more than founded. In your report the agency concludes that the photovoltaic plant entails “a very high risk of negative impact” for the surroundings of the Alhambra, the Generalife and the Albaicín, a set including on the UNESCO heritage list. Hence, their authors “strongly advise the stoppage of the planned actions” and give a small touch of attention to the Spanish authorities, to which they warn that they must be “much more vigilant and careful” in the face of projects that affect the protected heritage. How would the plant affect? It depends on what we are talking about exactly. The effect would not be the same in all cases. If we focus on the Alhambra, Generalife and Albaicín the problem is the visual impact. “The Alhambra is more than the fortified monumental complex. The Alhambra territory includes the general’s past Point out in The country José Castillo Ruiz, professor at the University of Granada (UGR). Is it so serious? “The visual impact of an industrial element like this goes much further than a simple discordant element (…). They seriously alter the heritage values ​​of the Alhambra as a historical set, monument and world heritage,” insists The expert, who warns of the loss of centenary olive trees or the alteration of the environment, breaking “continuity” between the Alhambra, the city of Granada, the Valley and the rest of the environment. If we speak specifically of the Valle del Darro the report, in fact warns of a clear environmental impact. Things are very different for project promoters, which They assure that the final affectation will be “minimal” and already contemplate incorporating “corrective measures.” Does it say anything else? Yes. The report remember That San Gregorio I is only one of the three photovoltaic plants that you want to boost in the area, so it slides that its promoter seeks avoid An environmental impact statement (DIA). In total the three photovoltaic plants will approach (although staying below) of the ten hectares that would require activating that procedure. As for processing, icomos insists in which it does not arrive with opening a public exposure process “without effective advertising”. The ideal is to find a way to guarantee “a public participation” during the process, a “real nature”. Why is it important? The controversy around the plant It is not new. A months ago environmentalists and neighbors They already warned of their impact on the territory, the olive groves and holm oaks, biodiversity and even spoke of “disorder and speculation.” The Icomos report is relevant because it has fueled the debate and oxygen to critics, For whom The document “Raises Project death certificate”. Right now its promoters They are pending of construction permits (in which the City Council plays a key role) and the resolution of allegations. Their critics rely on the ICOMOS document for claim That the Alhambra Board or the rest of the institutions move token, which goes even to transfer their complaints to UNESCO itself. Images | Wikipedia (Jebulon) and Sharon Mollerus (Flickr) In Xataka | Mediterranean countries seemed ideal for solar panels. Until the dust storms arrived

There is more renewable electricity in the world produced by coal

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Ten years ago, coal lit half planet. Today, it is solar panels and wind turbines that illuminate statistics. In the first half of 2025, the renewables not only covered all the increase in global electrical demand: they exceeded it. A global sorpasso. The report, prepared by Emberanalyze data from 88 countries that represent 93% of global electric demand. Its conclusion marks a before and after: solar and wind energy grew so much that they compensated all the increase in global electrical consumption and still generated surplus. However, there is an even more important point that is that coal generation fell worldwide. Carbon participation fell to 33.1% of global electric mix, while renewables rose to 34.3%. For the first time, the coal was behind. The descent was especially clear in China and Indiawhere coal has always dominated and, therefore, that descent is noted. On the other hand, both in the European Union and in the United States a small rebound was observed, caused by hydroelectric drought and the Gas increase. Renewable energies produced more electricity than coal for the first time recorded in the first half of 2025 | Ember Radiography of the change. The transition is not a statistical anecdote, but a structural phenomenon. World demand increased 369 twh (+2.6 %), moderate growth that was widely covered by solar and wind expansion. On the one hand, the sun remains the most dynamic source on the planet. The solar generation grew 31%, reaching a global quota of 8.8%. However, this is because China It was the great enginecontributing 55% of world solar growth, followed by the United States, the European and Indian Union. On the other hand, the wind keeps the pace. The wind generation increased by 7.7%, to represent 9.2% of the global mix. Although Europe and the United States suffered adverse weather conditions, China increased, registering a 16% increase in their wind production. The money also changed sideways. The other great indicator that this change is structural is in the markets. According to the International Energy Agencythe global investment in energy will reach 3.3 billion dollars, a fairly striking figure. Only ten years ago, renewables were seen as An idealistic bet: faces, intermittent and subsidy dependent. Today they are the new center of financial gravity of the energy system. The proportion of clean investment against fossil went from 2 to 1 in 2015 to 10 to 1 in 2024, a change that reflects a collective market decision. However, not everyone is invited to the party. Emerging markets and developing economies barely receive 15% of world investment In clean energy, despite the fact that its electric demand is the one that grows the most. In addition, they are still trapped between high financial costs, fragile networks and regulatory uncertainty. As Ember warnswithout international financing and technological cooperation, the global rhythm towards zero net emissions could be stopped before achieving the objective. China drives the global transition. Behind the world sorpasso there is an undisputed protagonist: China. Not only leads the production of clean energy, but also the industry that makes it possible: panels, turbines, batteries and smart networks. Its industrial policy has made the country what some analysts describe as an “electrostate”capable of dominating the energy value chains of the 21st century as it dominated the manufacturing. In just six months, China installed 380 GW of new solar capacity – more than all the total capacity of the United States – promoted by a wave of projects prior to new price standards. Thanks to this, its mixture Electric is already renewable 24%, and the emissions of the electrical sector fell 1.7% in half a year. Global challenges. According to Emberthe electricity grid is already the main obstacle to renewable expansion. Solar and wind production increases faster than lines and storage grow. In countries such as Spain or Germany, specific cuts have been registered in solar parks by network saturation. In Japan, operators reduce solar generation on weekends to avoid overloads. This forced disconnection –The call Curtailment– shows a paradox: we have more sun than cables. To the saturation of the networks is added the inequality of access to capital. While China and other economies install renewable gigawatts every month, Africa and Latin America are still waiting for sufficient investments. Hence the urgency of new global mechanisms to channel green capital towards emerging economies and ensure that the transition is truly global. An irreversible turning point. Just a decade ago, coal generated twice as much electricity than renewables. Today, clean energy has surpassed the most polluting source and dominates the growth of the electrical system. China leadsIndia accelerateEurope It adapts and the United States It stops. Prices fall, investments grow and emissions begin to stabilize. The energy transition is no longer a matter of political will: it is an economic law. The turning point is not in the future: it is happening right now. Image | Freepik and Pexels Xataka | In his career for the total domain of the solar panels, a rival has come out: the Spanish Perovskita

The electronic war is lying the technologies in Ukraine. So Russia has returned to World War II: horse soldiers

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In the month of June Some images They highlighted a dangerous evolution of assault tactics, one where the Russian army began to Use motorcycles as a main tool to move towards the Ukrainian lines, in an attempt to avoid the destruction of their armored Modern to the power of drones. Now, the electronic war in Ukraine has turned each technological innovation into a weapon with the days counted. Solution? The return of the cavalry. A symbolic return. Yes, the war in Ukraine, characterized by a massive deployment of drones, precision artillery and electronic war, has led the Russian army to explore solutions of archaic appearance: the Reintroduction of horses On the battlefield. What began as improvisations With donkeys and horses To transport supplies in the front, it has evolved towards formal training units mounted, according to The Kommersant newspaper. The idea greatly reflects the point of the dead to which modern technologies have reached a saturated front of electronic interference, where even the most sophisticated systems have been limited, forcing resort to basic methods that evoke the wars of the past. Training and tactics. In the Donetsk region, the commander of the “Storm” unit of the 9th Brigade has organized Horse training for assault troops. Exercises, video recorded and released in pro -government channels Like “Wargonzo”show soldiers galloping through open fields, some sharing a mount: one controls the animal and the other prepares to open fire. The approach is that, once the objective is achieved, both combatants dismantle and advance on foot against the enemy position. The tests also seek that horses get used to noise of shooting and explosions, minimizing the risk of being scared in combat. Its alleged advantages include the ability to move at night, accelerate without roads and, according to Russian controls, guide themselves by instinct to avoid mines. Limitations and symbolism. Despite these virtues, the use of horses raises important inconveniences: their weight can detonate antipersonnel mines, require constant food and care, and have a load capacity much lower than that of armored vehicles. Therefore, even Kommersant emphasizes that the cavalry will hardly be deployed on a large scale and that the measure is, above all, a symbolic gesture in a conflict that, despite being the scene of leading technologies, has forced the parties to also resort to rudimentary solutionsfrom analog telephone lines to cargo animals. The stamp of Russian soldiers on horseback contrasts with the official story of technological innovation and highlights the material and tactical wear of the campaign. Cavalry Brigade of the SS in Russia, 1941 The vintage resource. The resource for horses is not the first Russian attempt to use unconventional alternatives in the front. It We have counted before: units have been documented in motorcycles, quads, and even E-SCOOTERS AND MONOCICLOS electric, with unequal results. In particular, motorcyclist brigades destined to evade Ukrainian drones have suffered Massive casualties: The open field exposure and the absence of coverage made them easy blank, with most bikers eliminated before achieving their goals. The commitment to cavalry reflects the same logic: Quick and low -cost solutions to an enemy with technological advantage, although without guarantees of real effectiveness in combat. Military stagnation The context of this equine return is the stagnation of the Russian offensive. Between September 20 and 30, Moscow only achieved advance 29 square kmand although in the whole of the month he added 447, most of the profits occurred in little disputed rural areas. In Donetsk, where the “Storm” unit is concentrated, Russia barely He won 181 square kilometersone of its lowest records in a year. The front has been practically frozen for weeks, which has forced the Kremlin to resort to propaganda measures To show dynamism, while Ukraine recognizes difficulties, but maintains resistance in key nuclei such as Pokrovsk and Dobropillia. Echoes of the twentieth century. The return of horses to the battlefield is not an exclusive phenomenon of war in Ukraine. During World War II, both Germany and the Soviet Union They used cavalry In patrol operations and logistics support, while Poland was hard stigmatized by the famous riders of riders against tanks in 1939a partially exaggerated myth but showed the obsolescence of classical cavalry against mechanization. In the Soviet Union, however, mounted units are They used effectively In wooded environments and in the antipartisan struggle, where their mobility offered advantages that vehicles could not match. In subsequent conflicts, horses They reappeared in low intensity wars or in difficult access scenarios. Afghan resistance against Soviet invasion in the 1980s depended largely of horses and mules to transport weapons in mountainous terrain. Paradoxically, after 11-S, the US special forces deployed in Afghanistan They turned to horses To move with its local allies, an image that became a symbol of the clash between the technological war of the 21st century and the indomitable geography of the Hindu Kush. The paradox. The image of Russian soldiers galloping Between drones and artillery summarizes the paradox of the war in Ukraine: in a conflict turned into a showcase of military innovations (Drones swarms, artificial intelligence applied to combat, Hypersonic weapons and Electronic War), the fatigue of materials and the tactical blockade have returned to the battlefield tools typical of another era. While it is unlikely that modern cavalry changes the course of the contest, His mere reappearance It is a powerful symbol of to what extent the war in Ukraine has stressed the limits of technology and has forced to reimagine, even with primitive means, the way of fighting. Image | Wargonzo In Xataka | An AIM-9X missile cost a million dollars to tear down a Russian drone. Ukraine has found the solution for 2,000 dollars In Xataka | In a crucial Ukraine agreement he has given the US his best weapon. In return he has received something unpublished: a map to knock Russia

The World Fruit Fair

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Above and below the ground. It doesn’t matter. Madrid is collapsed. Every morning, going to work is a headache. It doesn’t matter taking the car, the subway or vicinity. The city has divered in gigantic improvement works That they will bear fruit to their neighbors but the city has taken the calendar leaves, has wrinkled them and threw them with all their forces in the trash. A funnel The capital is reforming the entrance to the same for the A-5, the north of the Paseo de la Castellana (one of its main arteries), covering the sales passage on the M-30. All while public transport faces a Remodeling in Chamartín which seems to always be about to end, the complete remodeling of the Count of Casal exchanger and the Modernization of Metro Line 6another of the great paths for those who take this means of transport. In order not to put more pressure on the express pot in which Madrid has become, the City Council has decided delay the works in the surrounding area to the door of Alcalá. And the result is a funnel with a public transport that It fails to absorb the cuts for their own remodeling And, of course, he has problems to serve those who have chosen to park the car and take transport underground. Videos and Collapsed Metro photosthe company Deriving workers to manage entry to the vehicles and stations in which access to waves is controlled to avoid massifications at the foot of the way. The Madrid subway has said enough. And the lace to this unsustainable situation has not been put by a macroconcierto reahíla. Nor football. The last event that has ended up filling the subway and that has caused waiting times to at least reach the platform of the Metro lines of the Nuevos Ministries Station (exchanger with five nearby lines and three subway lines of which one of them is cut) has been the World Fruit Fair. And it is that those who aspire to reach IFEMA by subway from the city have to pass yes or yes by this station, which connects line 8 with access to the fairgrounds with line 10, one of the most used in the suburban because it crosses from north to south the city. They explain in The confidential that Fruit Attraction, as this fair is called, has attracted 2,200 companies from 150 countries different between September 30 and October 2, days in which the Metro has been especially collapsed and when those videos that demonstrate the problems to manage the accesses have been recorded It will not be so much, you can think. Well, in total the fair has occupied 10 of the 12 pavilions that IFEMA has available and accumulating 120,000 visitors. In total, those who went to IFEMA had 70 km2 of exhibitions. The event organization itself Explain in this video that special accesses had been enabled for the entry of visitors. The event, although punctual, demonstrates that the city is having important problems to absorb the demand for trains in its hours and that continuing to add pressure to the system even if it is promptly ends up overwhelming it. Beyond the circumstances 715 million travelers. That was the figure that moved the Madrid subway in 2024. Absolute passenger record with a growth in demand of 8% compared to the previous year. According to Metro data, four out of 10 displacements in the Community of Madrid add their company. The figure is slightly higher than 2007 when the previous record had been registered, when 100,000 passengers were added. Since before the 2008 crisis, the Madrid Metro had not added so many Displacements. They were years in which the trips multiplied. In 2000, 525 million passengers had registered according to the Madrid City Council. But the figure exploded in the later years. In 2000, the Madrid subway had 201 stations and in 2007 it added a total of 285 stations. It was those years in which line 12 was opened, known as Metro Sur, which serves all the southern belt peoples of the capital, adding 28 stations and more than 40 kilometers of travel. Of course, those inaugurated between 2006 and 2007 (42 stations) corresponded mostly with the Three light subway lines They move a very low passenger figure. And shortly after line 7b, which also adds stops and kilometers but its performance has been very low by the constant closures and reopening motivated by structural problems that, in fact, He has forced some neighbors to leave their homes. Once it was done That huge investment (Of which part were peripheral lines that have not added a large number of travelers) The infrastructure of the Madrid Metro has stagnated. Public transport It has not grown at the same pace than the city. Since then adds 17 new stations and 10 kilometers more of tracks but there are a lower number of cars available 2,083 in 2024 facing 2,157 in 2005. Nor does the same number of people live in the city. Last year the capital exceeded the barrier of 3.53 million people, which is also an absolute record. In 2006, the figure was 3.12 million inhabitants. And the population of the metropolitan area He has shot in a million inhabitantsmoving from the six million almost 20 years ago to the more than seven million. And to this we must add that Madrid lives a tourist explosion. 2024 has also been the year in which the city has received the most visitors, accumulating 11.19 million visitors. To get an idea of ​​the explosion, There are almost 800,000 people more than in 2019 and the 7.3 million that were recorded in 2007the year in which the last works of the Madrid Metro were completed. The problem is that the last part of the expansion of the 2000s focused on lines that have fattened the infrastructure but It has not served to absorb the number of travelers. In fact, the company is undertaking … Read more

CUDA is the standard that grips the world and Nvidia is the only company with chips capable of running it. Until now

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Goal will acquire rivos, a Californian startup specialized in the design of chips based on RISC-Vaccording to sources of Bloomberg. In addition to the capabilities of its chips, the operation is part of a broader strategy: free itself from the NVIDIA dependence and thus take control of its infrastructure for artificial intelligence without its chips. What is at stake. Throughout these last years, Nvidia has dominated the GPUS market For the thanks to CUDAits owner development platform that has become the de facto standard to train and execute artificial intelligence models. Today, we have reached the point that whoever wants to make a large scale needs Nvidia chips, and that gives the company a huge market power, since they put the necessary hardware for an industry in which everyone wants to enter. Goal, despite having some of the best open models in the sector with Callskeep spending billions annually in Nvidia hardware. The strategic movement. With rivos, goal not only buys a company, buy an alternative to the current technological stack. The startup Develop GPUS and RISC-V-based acceleratorsan open source architecture standard that threatens the traditional X86 (Intel and AMD) and ARM. Goal already works in its own internal chip, the goal Training and Inference Accelerator (Mtia), designed next to Broadcom and manufactured by TSMC, but the advances are not as fast as Zuckerberg would like. According to sources cited by Bloombergthe CEO would have been actively looking for market reinforcements to accelerate development. It is not the only one. Goal adds to a career in which their technological rivals already have an advantage. Google has His tpusAmazon has Trainium and Microsoft has developed Maia. The AI ​​war does not win only with the best models, but also With the chip that executes them And goal, despite being burning hundreds of billions of dollars in AI, it was staying behind in this front. The context. Rivas acquisition is not an isolated movement. Target there was already tried to buy furiosaaia South Korean startup specialized in chips to train AI systems, but the offer of 800 million dollars was rejected. In addition, the company has recently announced An investment of 29,000 million dollars To build a huge data center in Louisiana and plan to spend up to 72,000 million this year on infrastructure related to AI. The RISC-V challenge. Rivas represents an ambitious bet. Although RISC-V has not yet managed to penetrate massively into US data centers (its presence is mainly limited to microcontrollers and IoT devices), its potential is undeniable. China is already launching tablets and laptops with this architecture. If Meta manages to develop an AI accelerator based on RISC-V capable of replacing The NVIDIA H200 In its internal operations, it would be a considerable blow for the dominant standard. Cover image | Nvidia and Goal In Xataka | Openai has just presented Sora 2 with a Tiktok -style app. This is outlined a new wave of viral videos

The poison of the Cobras is one of the most feared and mortal in the world. AI is very close to neutralizing it forever

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After the mosquitoes and the man himself, snakes usually take third place in The list of more deadly animals for the human being. According to estimates of the World Health Organization (WHO), between 81,410 and 137,880 people die every year as a result of the bite of these reptiles. AI can help change this. AI to the rescue. A group of researchers has demonstrated the utility of deep learning tools (Deep Learning) In the design of proteins capable of neutralizing, at least partially, the effect of the venom of some the steps (Elapidae), The snake family that includes the cobras, coral snakes and mambas. Three fingers. The study focuses on the calls “Toxins of the three fingers”(3FTX), called by the form of tridents that have the proteins that make up this family. These compounds are potentially lethal neurotoxins, that is to say they have the ability to attack our nervous tissue and involve a risk to the lives of people who are poisoned. As the team explains, these toxins are responsible for the anti -speakers, the antidotes used to counteract the venom of snakes, are not effective. The reason is that these toxins are capable of “evading” To our immune system, reducing the effectiveness of some treatments. For now, in mice. The team responsible for the development of the new antitoxins put them to the test in mice. The team experienced with different types and doses of poison and different antitoxins, achieving survival rates of between 80% and 100%. The details of the study have been published In an article In the magazine Nature. Lowering costs. The new technique opens a new way to the creation of molecules aimed at counteracting the different toxins that affect people who receive the bite of a poisonous snake, offering new advantages. First, to reduce the time dedicated to the process of searching for new useful compounds in this field. Less time dedicated to research implies a lower cost, but it is not the only factor that would help reduce the “invoice” of antidotes. According to the equipment, the new compounds can be synthesized using microbes, which would avoid traditional production methods. “The antitoxins we have created are easy to discover using only computational methods. They are also cheap to produce and robust in laboratory tests,” stood out in a press release David Baker, study co -author. Better access.Under costs and higher production facilities imply better access to these antidotes, something key if we take into account that it is in developing countries where snake bites more problems cause. “I trust that protein design make treatments against snake bites more accessible to people in developing countries,” Susana Vazquez Torres addswho led the new job. The inheritance of a Nobel. David Baker’s name can be familiar: in 2024 He received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry “For the computational protein design”, a prize he shared with Demis Hassabis and John M. Jumper. Baker’s prize recognized his work in the construction of proteins never observed in nature, all through the combination of amino acid sequences. In Xataka | Some engineers have simulated 500 million years of evolution with an AI. Now we have a fluorescent protein Image | Anil Sharma

The amount of nuclear energy generated by each country in the world, exposed in this graphic developer

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The use of nuclear power It is still one of the most controversial issues in the energy debate. It is worldwide due to economic, social factors and concern for something very concrete: Waste management. It seemed like him Huge deployment of renewables would end the debate, but the truth is that there are countries that follow depending greatly on nuclear energy. And this graph reflects it clearly: Three blocks. The graph is the work of Visual Capitalist with data of the ‘Energy Institute Statistical Review of World Energy’ and the estimate is that nuclear plants generated 2,818 THW of electricity in 2024. Approximately 10% of the electricity generated worldwide during the world during the last year, but beyond the total, which allows us to see is that there are three very even and perfectly identifiable blocks. On the one hand, that of the United States and Canada. Here Canada has ‘little’ to say, and also its centrals generated 3.6% less than the previous year, but The United States is still a giant. It generated 823 TWH that, put in context, represents about 30% of all global nuclear energy. It has 94 operational reactors and that huge amount of electricity accounted for 18% of the national total. In the Asian block we have China standing out With 451 TWH produced, 3.4% more than the previous year, South Korea with 189 TWH and both Japan and India contributing, but with lower productions. And in the European bloc, France and Russia stand out above all, which among them have a much more similar production. The interesting thing here is to see the speed at which the world in a nuclear question moves. Promoting nuclear. Because we have already seen that, although the US generated more electricity with the nuclear, it was a small percentage. If we look at the European block, we have that there are those who grow 4% (Sweden) and who decreases 4% (Spain), But we have a France that increased the production of its centrals by 12.2%. With 57 operational reactors, if there is a country that depends on nuclear energy, that is France. HE esteem that 67% of its electricity comes from nuclear. Countries such as Slovakia, Belgium, Hungary or Bulgaria also depend largely on nuclear energy. In the case of Spain20% of their energy comes from these centrals. But if we look at the Asian block, the thing changes. China impulse Its nuclear generation These last monthsbut Japan did it in 9.3% and India, who wants to consolidate as a new technological core worldwide, generated 13.3% more. In the Middle East highlights United Arab Emirates that, whose four reactors generated 22% of their electricity. Old reactors. In total, I know esteem That there are 416 operational plants worldwide (France has the same as China, a fact that reflects the importance for the neighboring country) and a problem is that most are quite old reactors. Around two thirds of them are over 30 years old and, although the estimated life is usually between 30 and 40 years old, it is easy to prolong it more time with modifications and extensions. New reactors. There are also about 70 reactors Under construction. They are distributed, but most are concentrated in Asia, especially in the two countries that are leading that world nuclear expansion: China and India. New reactors use refrigerants that can operate with more energy safety and efficiency, also generate less waste and have an estimated useful life of more than 50 years thanks to modular designs. As we say, China is one of the countries that is best betting on this energy (despite the impulse that is also giving to renewables), and within its new plants, the fourth generation reactors stand out, like the one used by molten salts or thorium. They are not the only ones, as the US, France and India are also investing in research programs to develop reactors that generate electricity from the thorium (three times more abundant than uranium) Data centers. The truth is that, although sources like RENVOABLE EXPOSEDit seems that We are far from folding both fossil fuels and to nuclear energy. Much of the fault is very demanding data centers in energy terms that even need Punctual gas supply or even coal in demands of demand peaks. In fact, some of the main technological ones such as Amazon, Google or Microsoft announced Plans to create or reactivate nuclear centrals to satisfy the energy need for your data centers for artificial intelligence. And all this while we look at a future in which the norm should be the SMR reactors… And the nuclear fusion still is on the horizon. In Xataka | Europe and Japan are working side by the greatest technical advance of humanity: the nuclear fusion reactor

The longest railway tunnel in the world

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China is the name that comes to mind to Talk about megaconstructions. The country has faced some of the more complex works of these last years and has pharaonic projects such as the New largest dam in the world or the more complicated tunnel. In this matter, Europe is not far behind with two projects that want to be the longest tunnels in the world in different fields are fields: that of the Greater tunnel submerged, with 120 kilometersand the longest rail tunnel in the world: Brennero base. A 2006 project that finally gives results. Brennero’s base tunnel. We are talking about a work that has been dilated a lot, with several changes in estimated plans and dates of completion. Construction officially began in 2007but the excavations did not start until 2015. It is part of the European Scandinavia-Mediterranean (or Scan-Med) and will have the Munich-Verona axis. The objective is to facilitate communication between countries by saving an imposing natural obstacle: Alps. This is something important in order to improve Commercial and passenger network in Europe because trains are becoming the tool for depend less on the plane in full way to decarbonization And, in addition to allowing a faster connection between Germany and Italy, much of the Alpine merchandise traffic from the road to the railroad will be transferred. The idea is less traffic jams on roads, less CO₂ emissions and, obviously, a Acceleration in logistics between northern and southern Europe. Colossal. The characteristics From the tunnel, they impose. In total, it will have a length of 64 kilometers, which will make it, according to its drivers, into the longest railway tunnel in the world when it enters into operation. The main section between the Italian city of Fortezza and the Austrian Innsbruck will have about 55 kilometers in length and will be composed of two parallel tunnels with a single route each. They will be connected every 333 meters by service tunnels to allow rapid evacuation in case of failure and something unique is that it will be a “flat” tunnel, with almost the entire journey to about 794 meters above sea level. This is necessary to allow operating the trains with lower consumptionsince in some current paths through the Alpine region there are trains that need several locomotives due to the inclination of the road. Beyond transportation. The idea is that it allows the passage of merchandise trains of up to 3,000 tons and passenger trains that can circulate at high speed (250 km/h compared to the current 50 km/h average due to the demands of the land), but since they are piercing the mountain, they will take advantage of something else. A dozen meters under the main galleries, there will be another five -meter diameter tunnel and others almost 56 kilometers long. Will be what is known as a Exploratory Tunnela channel that will allow geological research in that mountainous area, in addition to facilitating a drainage of groundwater. State and next steps. At first, the bridge was going to be ready by 2025, but the estimates were changing. The Alps is a complex area Due to the presence of failures and groundwater, which has forced both excavation methods and solutions to pass under rivers and the isarco. Administrative delays have also played a role in this story because Austria and Italy are building their respective sides of the tunnel. And the Covid-19 pandemic forced the work. All this raised the initially planned budget of 6,000 million euros to almost 8.4 billion, but recently we have witnessed a green outbreak. Using excavators like ‘Flavia‘That they allow digging while the tunnel has, on September 18 the Italian and Austrian tunneladoras They found themselvesachieving the underground connection between the two countries. It was a milestone, but there is still work to do to cover the tunnels, display rail infrastructure and add both technical equipment and ventilation and signaling systems. Piercing the Alps. The view is set in 2032, when it is estimated that the works will end and the tunnel can be exploited to move goods and passengers. Now, although colossal, it is not the only project that is currently under development in the Alpine region. Interestingly, several compete for being the longest railway tunnel in the world. The other great exponent of this corridor is that of Mont Cenis That, with 57.5 kilometers, Lyon will join with Turin. There is also the San Gardardo base with 57.1 kilometers (It will link the Swiss towns of Erstfeld and Bodio in Italy) and more ‘modest’ projects such as those of Koralm (32 km), Semmering (27 km), Ceneri (14.5 km) and Lötschberg (34.6 km). Of course, the objective is the same: to facilitate transalpine transport to reduce CO₂ emissions and speed up the movement of both travelers and merchandise. We will see if, now, construction deadlines are fulfilled. Images | BBT-SE In Xataka | Japan created an artificial peninsula to make an airport. You will soon have an submarine airport

While the world desperately seeks rare earth, China has an overwhelming advantage: it’s called Wem

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It seems clear that it has begun A race On the planet: the search for Rare earths and the essential critical minerals for many of the sectors that mark the geopolitical agenda. The problem for 99.9% of nations is the same: when they seem to have reached a deposit there are already A Chinese flag. What is not usually explained so much is how Beijing does. The miliar origin. Deep in the mountains of center of China extends A monumental installation that transforms both the landscape and the global competition for strategic resources. It is a gigantic antenna of 500 kilowatts, with lines that are deployed over 80 and 120 kilometers, originally conceived to maintain communication with underwater underwater. This electromagnetic colossus, whose extension exceeds in five times the New York surfacehas been converted into a decisive instrument for the exploration of critical minerals, projecting signals capable of penetrating kilometers in the earth’s crust and revealing deposits that previously remained out of human reach. What began as a military project has become a Scientific and Technological Weapon which gives Beijing a remarkable advantage in the race for the resources that will define the future of energy and industry. Electromagnetic exploration. A study of the China Geological Survey (CGS), published in the Geophysical & Geochemical Exploration magazine, has detailed how the country has managed to monopolize Electromagnetic systems of ultra-high power. All platforms that exceed 100 kW are in Chinese territory, while the most powerful tool in the United States barely reaches 30 kW. The difference is not trivial: this technological leap has allowed Chinese geologists to discover in recent years sites of historical magnitude, such as the Greater gold deposit of the world, reserves Lithium ultra-extends and uranium veins in depths Never achieved. The research led by Chen Hui and his team affirms That these innovations consolidate China’s world position in electromagnetic exploration theory and technology, placing it far ahead of any western competitor. The challenge. As the superficial deposits of copper, lithium, cobalt and rare earths are exhausted, the exploration has moved to what geologists call The “Second Mineral Space”: An underground strip that extends between 500 and 2,000 meters deep. In this environment, the signs issued by mineral bodies are extremely weak and are usually buried under the cultural noise generated by electricity lines, urban infrastructure and extractive operations. The Chinese response has been to redefine the scale of prospecting: multiply the transmission power by above 100 kWflooding the subsoil with signs capable of crossing interference and reaching depths of up to 3,000 meters with unprecedented clarity. Advances in the subsoil cartography. The jump is not limited to power. While conventional techniques relied on two -dimensional models not suitable for complex structures, Chinese systems use Sensors distributed networks and multidirectional field sources that allow a real three -dimensional image of the subsoil. In the Jiama copper mine, in the Tibet, a controlled audio-magnetothelúrica tensorial study (CSAMT) reached unpublished resolutions at more than 3,000 meters, subsequently confirmed with drilling nuclei. These results They far exceeded to the Magnetotheluric of Natural Source, usually ineffective in saturated noise environments. The methods. One of the most prominent advances is the Electromagnetic method wide field, developed by Professor He Jishan, which allows you to obtain reliable data even in the so -called “nearby field zone”, where the records were not very useful. At the same time, the time-frequency electromagnetic systems are expanding the available information by measuring not only the resistance of the materials, but also its polarization and permeabilityessential parameters to distinguish between different types of deposits. The Wem project. And so we reach the clearest symbol of this ambition: The Wem project (Wireless Electromagnetic Method), whose colossal structure crosses China’s heart with two antenna lines arranged almost at right angles. This system, which began as a naval communication tool, has become the First electromagnetic transmitter of continental scale used in the prospecting of resources. In a national test carried out in 2023its signs were detected from Tibet to Interior Mongolia and Guangdong, more than 2,000 kilometers away. In the area of ​​Xiong’an there were magnetic fields up to seven times higher than the natural background noise, an unequivocal demonstration of the system’s capacity to impose itself on the most complex interference. Strategic advantage. In other words, with these Beijing technologies It is placed at the head of the struggle for the essential mineral resources for the energy transition and the green technologies: lithium for batteries, cobalt for high resistance alloys and rare earths essential in modern electronics. In contrast, most Western countries lack comparable systems and, except Russia, almost none use ultra-high power instruments in terrestrial prospecting. Even the most powerful teams manufactured in the West have been designed at China, which underlines the existing technological dependence. A new geopolitical board. China’s ability to identify deep deposits quickly Not only is it a scientific advantage, but also strategic. Control over technology and data places Beijing in a position to mark the rhythm of the discovery of resources in the coming decades. If you want, in a context where the energy transition redefines the global value chains, who controls access to lithium, cobalt and rare earth will control much of the industrial future. With the deployment of Giant antennas and electromagnetic systems Of unpublished power, China is making it clear that it does not intend to participate in the race: its goal is to win it. Image | Ilo Asia-Pacific, Herry Lawford, Terence Wright In Xataka | The great covered in the War of Critical Minerals is Tungsten. The US needs it and 83% have it China In Xataka | In 1978 Chinese engineers visited two key US companies. On his return an empire began: the rare earths

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