world

The world wants to verify the age of children so that they do not access social networks. Children’s solution: paint a mustache

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The United Kingdom presume to have one of the strictest legislations in the world when it comes to protecting minors from social networks. The curious thing is that young people are managing to demonstrate that age verification technology has a unique Achilles heel: an eyebrow pencil. Look, I have a mustache. The British country has been forcing platforms to implement age verification measures in accordance with its Online Safety Act for months. However, a recent study from the NGO Internet Matters reveals that the limits imposed by these platforms are surprisingly easy to overcome. In fact, one of the methods is especially striking, because some children simply use an eyebrow pencil to paint a mustache and thus look older than they really are. Children 1 – Machines 0. This agency surveyed 1,000 children and parents in the United Kingdom and although it showed positive effects after activating these measures, it also made it clear that many children saw these systems as an easy obstacle to overcome rather than as a way to keep them safe. 46% of minors believe that the measures are easy to overcome. Only 17% believe that they are very difficult to avoid, while 19% say they do not know. Source: Internet Matters. Cheating machines is trivial. 46% of the children surveyed indicated that These age verification systems are easy to overcomeand only 17% found them difficult to avoid. There are several methods to overcome these systems, but most are simple. For example, using video game characters like ‘Death Stranding’ to show them in front of cameras trying to verify their age. Also show IDs of other people when asked, or simply use false birth dates. (At least) One in three skips the controls. But not everyone uses these methods: although the aforementioned 46% say that it is easy to overcome these systems and another 17% say that they are neither easy nor difficult, “only” 32% admit to having used some technique to overcome them. Of course, it is one thing that only 32% admit it and quite another that these figures are representative taking into account that they are confessing that they are doing something that they should not do. Methods vary, but many use fake birth dates or log in with their parents’ or siblings’ accounts. Complicit parents. The effectiveness of the Online Safety Act depends largely on the family environment, with data suggesting that at least a quarter of parents are uncooperative. The study indicates that 26% of parents have allowed their children to ignore or overcome these age verification systems, and in fact 17% admit have actively helped their children to evade these controls while 9% simply turn a blind eye. It’s not that big of a deal. Many parents justify this “help” by indicating that they understand the risks of their children accessing these platforms, but prefer to supervise the use of services such as TikTok or video games themselves. The idea: allow your children to bypass restrictions to play with friends or stream, but theoretically under your supervision. The failure of putting doors to the field. It’s not just that age verification systems are easy to overcome: The thing is that they do not eliminate risks completely either. In the Internet Matters study, almost half of the minors surveyed (49%) indicated that they had recently encountered toxic material on the Internet. This makes it clear that even children who do not try to bypass these controls still encounter inappropriate content. There are those who advocate going further and push for the end of online anonymity. Image | Jeremiah Lawrence In Xataka | The EU has just ready its app to verify age on the internet. And Ursula von der Leyen warns: “There are no more excuses”

first the Pentagon, then the rest of the world

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The United States had a maxim to win the AI ​​race: that there were no rules or limits. Politicians and regulators have turned a blind eye because what mattered was that US companies could develop the best AI models without restrictions. The problem is that some models have ended up being so good that now the US Government is beginning to fear their potential. Your easy solution: review them before anyone can use them. Is the open bar over? Donald Trump’s team is designing a plan intended to have a formal supervision process for new artificial intelligence models. Under this structure, a group of experts and government officials would analyze and review each new model and approve its launch. The implications are enormous, because the US Government would have preliminary and exclusive access to the model before its mass launch. Trump did not want restrictions on AI. Last summer, Donald Trump compared to AI with a “beautiful baby that has been born. We have to grow that baby and let it thrive. We can’t stop it. We can’t stop it with politics. We can’t stop it with absurd rules, not even stupid rules.” But he’s staying alone. This total support for AI is leaving the US president in an uncomfortable position. Both Democrats and Republicans they are worried over the risks posed by AI, and a Pew Research Center survey from last year Indian that half of all of them do not welcome how AI is increasingly used on a daily basis. Mythos as a turning point. This feeling of rejection has been growing among political groups, but fears have been reactivated especially after the launch of Claude Mythos Preview by Anthropic. The company only allowed access to the model to a small group of technology partners, claiming that it was too advanced in areas such as cybersecurity. The internal tests Of course They seemed to demonstrate their potential. Priority access. The White House wants to avoid political repercussions from a potential cyber attack created by AI, but at the same time the administration is assessing how these capabilities can be useful to the Pentagon and US intelligence agencies. Some government officials want this review system to be put in place that allows priority access to these models even if that does not block their launch. Good news for China. This type of plan has a big problem: it would slow down the development of new models and the innovation capacity of US companies compared to Chinese companies, which do not undergo this type of prior government review. And if they do, it is a problem that is not reflected in the advancement of the AI ​​models of Chinese companies, which are increasingly closer in terms of capacity to the best models of US companies. There is no more “AI czar”. These plans coincide with another unique event. In March, David Sacks, the so-called “AI czar” of the White House, left his position. He has been replaced by Susie Wiles and Scott Besset. While Sacks fully supported such a “no rules” policy for AI, both Wiles and Bessent intend to have more control over the policies that apply to AI. AI as a weapon. All events make it inevitable to compare the development of AI with the development of the atomic bomb in World War II. It was the US Government that led and controlled this technology in the past to have a definitive strategic advantage against its adversaries, and the same could happen with AI now that it is becoming a potential “cyber weapon.” In Xataka | Only a handful of US companies have access to Claude Mythos: the ECB already fears for the savings of all of Europe

In the year of the World Cup, the brand is betting everything on RGB MiniLED

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Hisense reaches 2026 playing a good part of its range on a single card: the RGB MiniLED. The Chinese brand has renewed everything your television catalog and has presented it to society exactly where it should be done in 2026: at the FIFA headquarters in Zurich, the same year in which the entire world will be glued to a screen watching the World Cup. This movement is not coincidental. According to Omdia data provided by Hisensethe manufacturer ranks second in the world in total television sales and first in the 100-inch or larger segment between 2023 and 2025. From that position, the brand has designed a catalog that ranges from a 116-inch giant to the most affordable models with MiniLED, through two high-end series that are going to be a lot to talk about in 2026. 116 UX RGB MiniLED Evo UR9 UR8 panel RGB MiniLED Evo (4th subpixel cyan), VA, 4K UHD, 8-bit + FRC RGB MiniLED VA 4K UHD, 8 bits + FRC, 180 Hz and 16:9 RGB MiniLED VA 4K UHD, 8 bits + FRC, 180 Hz and 16:9 resolution 3,840 x 2,160 points 3,840 x 2,160 points 3,840 x 2,160 points size 116 inches 65″,75″,85″ 55″, 65″, 75″, backlight RGB MiniLED Evo, FALD up to 8,000 nits, 3,584 dimming zones RGB MiniLED FALD, up to 4,000 nits RGB MiniLED FALD, up to 3,000 nits hdr Dolby Vision 2, Dolby Vision IQ, HDR10+, HDR10, HLG Dolby Vision IQ, HDR10+, HDR and HLG Dolby Vision IQ, HDR10+, HDR and HLG processor Hi-View AI Engine RGB Hi-View AI Engine RGB Hi-View AI Engine RGB operating system VIDAA U9 VIDAA U9 VIDAA U9 sound 2 x 15 watts + 2 x 10 watts + 2 x 5 watts + 2 x 15 watts + 2x 10 watts Dolby Atmos, DTS 2 x 15 watts + 2 x 10 watts + 20 watts + 2 x 15 watts + 2x 10 watts Dolby Atmos, DTS 2 x 10 watts + 2 x 5 watts + 20 watts Dolby Atmos, DTS connectivity 3 x HDMI 2.1 3 x HDMI 2.1 4xHDMI 2.1 wireless connectivity Wi-Fi 6 Bluetooth 5.0 Wi-Fi 6 Bluetooth 5.0 Wi-Fi 6 Bluetooth 5.0 price Not available Not available Not available FIFA, the World Cup and TCL in the background Hisense has renewed for the third time consecutively its official sponsorship with FIFA after the 2018 and 2022 editions, and in 2026 it goes further: it will be the official and exclusive supplier of RGB MiniLED TVs for VAR Video Operations Rooms throughout the tournament. Romy Gai, FIFA’s chief business officer, said the organization “partners with Hisense to welcome the best display technology to deliver an unprecedented World Cup experience for billions of fans around the world.” Hisense is not the only one bet on the king of sport as a sales driver by 2026, its competitor TCL has been official sponsor of the Spanish Soccer Team from 2023 and expanded that agreement in October 2025 to include new products and a renewed contract. The television market anticipates one of its best years in volume precisely due to the World Cup effect, and the big Chinese brands They are well positioned to take advantage of that momentum. The pie that manufacturers share in the Soccer World Cup is not small. It is estimated that the match played between France and Argentina in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar had a hearing of 1,420 million viewers and the tournament registered a average of 2.9 billion viewers from the different television signals. All glued to a television. That’s a lot of televisions. The 116UX and the fourth color that changes the image The most advanced model in the 2026 catalog is the 116UX, a 116-inch television that incorporates the RGB MiniLED Evo panel that Hisense already advanced at CES in Las Vegas. Its particularity compared to the conventional RGB MiniLED is the incorporation of a fourth cyan subpixel, an intermediate color between the blue and green that the three traditional colors cannot reproduce accurately enough on their own. Thanks to this fourth subpixel, the 116UX manages to expand the coverage of the BT.2020 color space, the standard used in professional film production. The change applied by Hisense has certain parallels with what LG has been doing for years in its WRGB OLED panelswhere a white subpixel is added to improve brightness. The difference is that in the case of the RGB MiniLED Evo the objective is not brightness (something that is necessary in OLED) but rather to expand the volume of color available, covering complex tones that were previously only approximated by combining the three RGB subpixels. The result is an image with greater fidelity in skies, vegetation and skin, exactly the elements that make a sports broadcast look more natural. With this new panel, the 116UX is positioned as the brand’s flagship for the domestic field of large-inch models with 116″ and 100″ diagonals. UR9 and UR8: the flagships in one size below 85 inchesHisense proposes two models within its high range: the UR9 and UR8. Both models are a technological showcase of what Hisense is capable of offering in its 2026 catalog, lowering RGB MiniLED technology to more accessible price ranges for users. Both mount RGB MiniLED panels (without the last name Evo and the fourth pixel, which is reserved for the UX), the Hi-View AI Engine RGB processor, and sizes of 65, 75 and 85 inches in the case of the UR9, and from 55 inches for the UR8. One of the arguments of the panels Hisense RGB MiniLED is the improvement in color representation and increased brightness. However, here is the main difference between the UR9 and UR8, depending on the brand, the UR9 can reach peaks that exceed 4,000 nits with 1,056 local dimming zones, while the UR8 would have its ceiling at 3,000 nits. Beyond that difference, both the UR9 and the UR8 share some elements that place them in a different category from the … Read more

The highway with the most lanes in the world is in China and has 50 lanes, except for one small detail: it is a lie

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Demographic growth, urban development and the great automobile boom crossed paths in the 20th century to give rise to some of the most spectacular roads today: from the Panamericana that has never closed to the road with the longest straight line in the world. Logic leads us to think: if there are more cars, then more lanes are needed to avoid traffic jams (spoiler: from one point on, not working). And if we talk about roads with more lanes, there is one place that takes the cake: the Interstate 10 in the United States. The point that interests us in question is in Houston, Texas: there an ordinary six-lane highway from the 60s became thanks to an astronomical widening of the widest road on the planet. It is this American highway that holds the record with 26 lanes and not a chinese highwaydespite the fame of the 50 lanes of the G4 Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao. The highway with the most lanes is in Texas. Within that highway that crosses the United States from Santa Monica in California to Jacksonville in Florida with a route of 2,460 kilometers in total length there is a specific section known colloquially as the Katy Freeway: a segment about 37 kilometers west of Houston. At its widest point, at Gessner Road, the road has 26 lanes in total: 12 main lanes (six in each direction), 8 service lanes (four in each direction) and 6 central dynamic toll lanes. This corridor is the backbone of mobility for the entire west of Houston, one of the largest cities in the United States and extremely dependent on the automobile (even for the United States): it has hardly any public transportation, little urban planning and decades of peripheral expansion. In this scenario, the I-10 is more than a highway: it is the artery of mobility and business parks, logistics centers, hospitals and universities that depend on private vehicles are concentrated around it. An unofficial record, not official. The Katy Freeway holds this record in practice, but it is not official (there is no Guinness for this) because no one has agreed on how to count the lanes. Do you only count those on the main road? There are 14. Do you add the side service lanes and the center toll lanes? You reach 26. Without a single, agreed upon criterion, Guinness cannot set a number and certify it. Brief history of its construction and expansion. The Katy Freeway was built in the 1960s and had six to eight lanes, sufficient for the mobility needs of the time. But between the 80s and 90s, Houston suffered spectacular urban growth: in 2000, traffic surpassed the 200,000 vehicles when had been designed for 120,000. In 2004, the American Highway Users Alliance (AHUA) classified it as the second most serious bottleneck in the country: they estimated that drivers lost 25 million hours a year. So the Administration planned a huge road expansion: an investment of 2.8 billion dollars and a four-year project between 2004 and 2008 to incorporate dynamic toll lanes inside an interstate highway for the first time. To make room they demolished an old railway corridor. As a curiosity, in 2014 there was another small expansion to add an auxiliary lane in each direction. Travel time from Pin Oak to downtown. Source: City Observatory / data: Houston Transtar More lanes and more traffic jams. Since a picture says a thousand words, above these lines is a graph from the non-profit organization City Observatory with data from Houston’s official traffic agency. City Observatory collects Although the AHUA described in a report that this expansion was one of the great success stories of traffic engineering to alleviate traffic jams and traffic jams, this was not the case: the congestion got worse. Just two years later, they recorded that travel times on that 47-kilometer route from the outskirts to downtown Houston increased by 13 minutes in the morning rush hour and 19 minutes in the afternoon. This phenomenon has a name: induced demand. Thoroughly developed by Gilles Duranton and Matthew Turner in “The Fundamental Law of Road Congestion: Evidence from US Cities“, offers a clear conclusion: vehicle kilometers traveled increase proportionally to the available lanes and the new roads attract more drivers and more trips until the added capacity is saturated. The G4 toll, seen in Street View What happens with the G4 Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao. It is common to find references to the G4 as “the 50-lane highway” thus overtaking the Katy Freeway on the right. The reality is another story: as verified by Africa Check with Google Mapsthe G4 is in practice a four-lane highway along almost its entire length of more than 2,000 kilometers. The expansion to dozens of lanes that usually appears corresponds exclusively to the Zhuozhou toll area (can be verified with Street View), near Beijing, where the number of lanes is expanded punctually to distribute the flow to the toll booths. Just half a kilometer later, it is reduced to four again. In 2015 there was a terrible traffic jam during the week of China’s National Day at that point that caused kilometer-long queues and the spread of that supposed “50-lane highway” when in reality it is the toll infrastructure of an ordinary four-lane road. In Xataka | The longest straight road in the world is a mental challenge: 240 km without curves, in the middle of the desert and with truck traffic In Xataka | The longest road in the world has been incomplete for 50 years: the 106 kilometers of jungle that no country has been able to pave

The megacity you haven’t heard of is in China and aspires to be the largest in the world

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In the world there are big, huge, huge cities and then others that are almost a country in themselves, like Jing-Jin-Jithe huge conurbation that has been taking shape in northern China for years. And “country” can be taken in its most expansive sense. If they are fulfilled the forecasts launched by its promoters more than a decade ago, the megalopolis will host between 110 and 130 million of inhabitants, in addition to a robust business muscle. Its size will also take away the hiccups: is spoken of more than 200,000 km2double that of all of Portugal. It may sound like science fiction, but there is a very simple explanation: Jing-Jin-Ji is not a city founded from scratch, but a new way of understanding and organizing Beijing, Tianjin and the province of Hebei to shape an urban titan. Rethinking Beijing. Although it does not reach the levels From Tokyo, Delhi or even Shanghai, Beijing is one of the most populous cities on the planet. Its stable population easily exceeds 20 million of people, more than all Romania or Netherlands. That huge number of people move every day to go to school, the doctor and of course to companies that may be close by. several hours of their houses. If we add to that the role of Beijing as the capital of one of the greatest potentials in the world, the result is an (almost) impractical megalopolis, polluted and in which complications the services. To face such a challenge and prevent the exodus from the countryside from ending up collapsing the city, in recent years the Government has resorted to several solutions. One has been limit the population. Another is to rethink Beijing itself so that it is no longer just the capital of China or a mere metropolis, but part of a much larger conurbation. The objective is twofold: to relieve pressure on the capital and to promote a new industrial hub, one capable of replicating the success achieved in the Yangtze River Delta or Guangzhou and Shenzhen area. A new giant: “Jing-Jin-Ji”. With this premise, a decade ago the Chinese authorities decided to go for what is probably one of their most ambitious projects: Jing-Jin-jia word that hides a nod to the cities of Beijing, Tianjin and Ji, which is how the province of Hebei is traditionally known. That business card speaks for itself idea. The idea is strengthen the bond between those three territories in northern China, distributing part of the crushing burden that now falls on the capital, improving communications and betting on a distribution of specialized roles. The story of Jing-Jin-Ji can soar at least to the National New Urbanization Plan presented by the Government for the period 2014-2020. In it, China, a nation already accustomed to megacities, advocated the promotion of a dozen “urban clusters.” The greatest of all would be Jing-Jin-Ji, in which Beijing would embrace (in an almost literal sense) with Tianjin, which is another of the biggest cities of the country and nearby cities in Hebei province. More than theory (and politics). The project received Xi JinPing’s blessing just 12 years ago, in April 2014and was sold with a display of astonishing data. Its objective was neither more nor less than to bring together a region of more than 215,000 km2 in which some 130 million people would live in 2050, generating a powerful industrial and commercial hub. It could have remained just that, an ambitious idea, but a quick review of the newspaper library confirms the extent to which China was determined to push it forward. The following year, in 2015, The New York Times confirmed that Jing-Jin-Ji was beginning to become a reality. Shortly after Guardian informed of the plans to create Xiongan, a large city located just under 100 km from Beijing that would allow the urban framework of Jing-Jin-Ji to be articulated. It was just one of the measures to consolidate the new megalopolis. The most effective of all was the reinforcement of rail and road communications. In 2016, China actually approved an ambitious investment plan to build kilometers and kilometers of roads and reach the middle of the century with about twenty of railway lines. Is it just infrastructure? No. Improving communications is a fundamental part of Jing-Jin-Ji, but not the only one. Another, equally important, is the distribution of roles between the regions. He starting point It was simple: Beijing would consolidate itself as a political, cultural and technological center while Tianjin would establish itself as an export port and manufacturing hub. As for Hebei, there was a commitment to also orient it towards industry and wholesale trade. In the background, slide China Briefingthere was the desire to bet on industrial clusters focused on emerging sectors, such as electric vehicles, the biopharmaceutical industry or robotics. To achieve this distribution, of course, it was not enough to set guidelines on paper. In 2015, the Beijing authorities announced his plans to refocus the capital, moving certain services, such as wholesale markets and administrative offices, out of the urban center and moving some services to suburban areas or even to Hebei province. The importance of gestures. Perhaps the best proof of the extent to which the Government wants to keep the project alive is that, from time to time, the Chinese press publishes articles reviewing the progress in the creation of Jing-Jin-Ji. It happened in April 2024coinciding with the tenth anniversary of the presentation of the plan, and it happened again in 2025, when CGTN He published an article to make it clear that Beijing’s suburban dream is advancing little by little. His chronicle highlights the increase in economic production in the region, the opening of new stretches of road that allow travel times to be cut, the reinforcement of public transport or collaboration at an economic level and when providing services. The local press also highlights that the region “has become an innovation center” capable of attracting companies. Of course, there are also important challengeshow to achieve greater … Read more

the incredible history of the largest castle in the world

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Europe is full of castles, but there are castles and castles and the one of the Teutonic Order in Malbork plays in another league: more than just a building, it is actually a superb Gothic brick complex built in the 13th century. In fact, It is the largest castle in the world on surface. To get the idea, it is four times that of Windsor. Furthermore, it is UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Castle of the Teutonic Order in Malbork stands imposingly on the southeastern bank of the Nogat River in northern Poland, and as interesting as its impressive construction and size is its history. Beyond being a witness to Central European history, this building was built by the Teutonic Knights, a militarized German Catholic religious order of crusaders that served to Christianize the entire Baltic coast for centuries. Among other things. A masterpiece of architecture. The intro has served to whet our appetite, but the Ordensburg Marienburg complex is architecturally a marvel: it comes with a huge palace, a monastery, three different castles and hundreds of auxiliary buildings. In essence, they are three castles separated by moats and towers, three castles in one. The castle began to be built around 1274 and reached its maximum splendor in 1406, that is, it took just over 130 years. The complex that had to expand to provide shelter to 3,000 brothers of the Order, thus becoming the largest fortified Gothic building in Europe. For its construction they were needed 30 million bricks. It was impressive inside and out: inside there were amazing innovations for the time, such as hot air central heating and an advanced sewage system. Its large halls have ribbed vaults that are authentic masterpieces of engineering secular gothic Entrance. Diego Delso Why was it built?. The construction of the Castle of the Teutonic Order in Malbork goes hand in hand with the history and future of said militarized religious organization. And at that time, the Teutonic Order was looking for a new Headquarters after its withdrawal from the Holy Land. After a time in Venice, in 1309 Grand Master Siegfried von Feuchtwangen transfer the seat of the Italian city at Malbork, in newly conquered Prussia. The main objective was to reinforce control over the area after the repression of the Great Prussian Revolt of 1274. Thus, that border area became the nerve center of a Monastic State that would govern much of the Baltic. In addition to its religious and military function, the castle was instrumental in establishing a monopoly on amber. thanks to your strategic location along the Nogat, allowing the Teutonic Knights to collect tolls from ships transiting the river to finance their military campaigns against the pagan peoples of Lithuania and convert the fortress into a commercial center integrated into the Hanseatic League. All this allowed them to ensure their economic power of the Teutonic State in the region. Historical context: the Baltic Crusades. Malbork reached its peak during the Baltic Crusades, a period when Germanic military orders sought the forced Christianization of the northeastern peoples of Europe. In this context, the castle not only acted as a military base: it was also its best visual propaganda. A complex of such dimensions is a financial and military ostentation to potential enemies. Come on, such an impressive architectural work shows that you have God on your side. Malbork became the most powerful manifestation of the Crusades in Eastern Europe. From 1309 it was the headquarters of the Order, a role it played until its decline at the beginning of the 15th century. This period coincides with the height of Teutonic power in the Baltic, with the fortress as the political, military and religious epicenter of a sovereign monastic state. Decline, destruction and rebirth. The Teutonic Knights were finally defeated decisively in the Battle of Grunwald on July 15, 1410 at the hands of the armies of Poland and Lithuania with the support of the Tatars. In 1457, during the Thirteen Years’ War, a Bohemian mercenary they sold the castle to King Casimir IV of Poland, becoming a Polish royal residence until 1772. However, the darkest chapter in its history dates back to 1945, on the verge of the end of World War II: the forces of the German army and the Red Army reduced more than half of the structure to rubble, as can be seen. see yourself in these photos. The landscape was so desolate that restoring it seemed like an impossible mission, but the process began in 1947 and is still continuing. Thus, with the passing of the year and the good work of specialists who have used historical documentation for a detailed restoration, they have managed, among other things, to recover the interior of Saint Mary’s church. In 1997 it was declared a World Heritage Site and since 1961 it has housed the Malbork Castle Museum. In Xataka | That Christian Friedrich von Kahlbut died in 1702 is nothing exceptional. That his corpse has not decomposed, yes In Xataka | We just discovered that a semi-legendary Nile king really existed thanks to a 17th century document found in trash Cover | Gregory

the savior of world energy

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When the price of fossil fuel tightensthe answer is not long in coming. The Iran war caused breaking the barrier of 100 dollars per barrel WTI. It was not surprising considering that the closure of the Strait of Hormuz led to the loss of 20 million barrels per day of crude oil and refined products, leaving the market with a net deficit of about eight million barrels per day. The world did not sit idly by watching the price of fuel rise and the reaction was immediate: buy solar panels at industrial levels. And, in that scenario, there is a very clear winner: China. Bottleneck. When the war startedsome of the first objectives had to do with energy. Through the Strait of Hormuz It moves more than 20% of the oil consumed by the world, being a strategic element and, therefore, vulnerable. With the closure of the Ras Tanura refinery and with the collapse of the strait itself, a brutal traffic jam was caused in which hundreds of vessels They moved at the speed of a bicycle. According to Bloombergthere were more than 800 stuck boats, and an Al Jazeera investigation pointed out that, in the first 40 days of conflict, 206 million barrels disappeared from the market. With that amount, 103 supertankers would be filled. The reaction of the governments was to begin releasing millions of barrels from their emergency reserves, as well as to call on citizens to spend as little as possible. Chinese panels. This is when countries have accelerated the transformation of their electrical network. As we read in Electrekwith data from Ember, China exported 68 GW of solar energy in March alone. The graph prepared by Ember speaks for itself, but that amount is double February’s total and 49% more than the previous record, set in August 2025. It is estimated that the solar energy installed in Spain is about 42 GW by the end of 2025and being Spain one of the powers in this sensespeaks volumes about the extent to which the world has turned to Chinese solar when the fossil fuel belt was tight. It goes through neighborhoods. The largest clients have been the logical ones: those most exposed to fluctuations in fossil fuel prices. Imports from Africa increased by 176%, reaching 10 GW with Nigeria, Kenya and Ethiopia being the largest importers. India imported 6.6 GW, Malaysia 1.8 GW and, in total, other Asian countries added 39 GW. Panels were also purchased in Europe, Japan and Australia, but the study points out that capacity was lower due to work carried out previously, and in the Middle East things were more complicated due to trade restrictions due to the war. Trend change. Something that the study points out is that, although entire panels continue to be purchased from China, there seems to be a turning of the tables because imports of solar cells are increasing, which are subsequently assembled in the destination country. For example, of those 68 GW exported, 32 GW belong to pre-assembled panels and 36 GW to cells and wafers. One is going down, the other is going up. And something important: it also means a relief for a China whose panel companies they were dying of success. Not just the panels. And this commitment to new energy not only translates into a greater amount of solar energy exported. Batteries and electric vehicles They are also booming and it is estimated that, as a whole, they increased by 70% year-on-year and by 38% compared to February. The Spanish lifeguard. Going down the data, the global implementation of solar energy is growing and it is being seen that it is not only a way to pollute less, but also to cushion the blow of the fossil fuel price increase that can suffer turbulence due to war, geopolitical issues or by accidents. It also shows that the fact that much of the world’s oil passes through a single point is something that can strangle the market in the event of a catastrophe, explaining why countries seek this transition to renewable energies that make them more self-sufficient. Images | Jenikir In Xataka | For the first time, 100% of Spain’s energy has been covered by renewables. The question is whether we can repeat it

The world depends on gas to produce food. Paraguay believes it has the definitive solution thanks to the Itaipú dam

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In the midst of a scenario of high tension in the Middle East and threatened trade routes, a project in the heart of South America promises to change the rules of the game for global agriculture. The British company Atome has given the final green light for the construction of Villetaa fertilizer plant in Paraguay valued at 665 million dollars, which will completely eliminate the use of fossil fuels in its production. A question of food safety. As detailed Financial Timesthe fertilizer industry’s dependence on natural gas is an Achilles’ heel for the global economy. Traditionally, most nitrogen fertilizer is produced by combining nitrogen from the air with hydrogen extracted from natural gas. However, Villeta will use renewable electricity to separate hydrogen from water (electrolysis). For Olivier Mussat, CEO of Atome, the project’s focus goes far beyond sustainability. “It’s not an ecological story, it’s actually a food security story,” declared in FT. Mussat’s warning is no small matter, since between a quarter and a third of global nitrogen fertilizer exports pass through the Strait of Hormuz. With the recent conflicts, gas shipments have fallen, raising prices and raising alarms about a possible food crisis. For Latin America, an agro-export power but highly dependent on imported fertilizers, the project works as a “structural hedge” against geopolitical volatility. The financial milestone that Wall Street observes. Atome managed to close a financing package that includes $420 million in debt and $245 million in equity. This backing comes from development lenders of the caliber of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the European Investment Bank (EIB), along with specialist hydrogen investment fund Hy24. “We have shown that you can actually close and finance a green fertilizer facility on an industrial scale. It has never been done before,” Mussat said. For his part, Pierre-Etienne Franc, executive director of Hy24, explained to the press that having cheap and non-fossil energy sources offers “a route to green fertilizer that will be localized”, making the industry independent of raw material prices dictated by natural gas. The technical feasibility. Green hydrogen has historically been too expensive to compete with its fossil counterpart. However, Paraguay’s competitive advantage changes the equation. The Villeta plant will operate with electrolyzers large-scale powered by the Itaipú hydroelectric dam (shared between Paraguay and Brazil). According to the company’s projections, electricity costs will be just under $30 per megawatt-hour under a long-term agreement. This technical and economic feasibility was enough to convince the Norwegian fertilizer giant, Yara International, to sign a binding contract of 10 years to purchase the entire production of the plant, estimated at around 260,000 tons per year, a detail exhaustively covered by the industrial press. The view from Asunción. For decades, Paraguay has exported its surplus energy generated in Itaipú to its neighbors, Brazil and Argentina, at very low prices. For the local pressAtome’s installation represents a historic paradigm shift. It means taking that clean energy and using it within the national territory to generate local jobs and produce a good with high added value. Although Villeta will represent less than 1% of the global nitrogen fertilizer market when it begins production in 2029, its backers and market observers agree on something fundamental: if the Paraguayan model works, it could become the definitive template for freeing global agriculture from its dependence on fossil fuels. Image | Atome Xataka | We are wasting a valuable resource: urine is helping solve the fertilizer crisis

The world has an insoluble problem with coal. China has found the solution and it does not involve burning it

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Decades ago, the world embarked on the decarbonization race. Each country has gone at a pace with nuclear, but gas, hydrogen research and the rise of renewables They aimed to be the impetus to close coal plants. That’s when artificial intelligence arrived and turned the plan upside down. The data centers They need a lot of electricity and, at peak computing, the demand is for immediate energy. This is where coal burning comes in, but in China they believe they have found a solution to avoid definitively bury the coal. Extract energy without burning it. ZC-DCFC. That is the not-so-friendly name that a team from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Shenzhen University has used. baptized what they call as zero carbon direct carbon fuel cell. The group, led by Xie Heping, has been since 2018 developing This concept is not so much a new way of using coal as a primary energy element, but rather a technique to exploit reserves in deep mines. How it works. To achieve this, carbon is pulverized, purified and introduced into the anode chamber of a fuel cell. On the other hand, oxygen is introduced through the cathode, which causes a reaction in the carbon: an electrochemical oxidation. This process generates electricity directly without combustion, without turbines and without emissions. According to those responsible, the efficiency in energy generation is notably greater than that obtained in conventional energy generation with coal and another advantage is that the system is silent, which also solves the problem of noise pollution that comes with the use of coal. Solving the big problem. The ZC-DCFC also works without CO2 emissions because the high-purity carbon dioxide generated at the anode outlet is captured on site and converted by catalysis into chemical feedstocks such as syngas or compounds such as sodium bicarbonate. But the system has not been made thinking about processing coal in a better way. For that we already have the response in the form of renewables and the green hydrogen. What Xie Heping’s team is creating is a solution to the big problem of harnessing coal from deep underground deposits. not so fast. The idea is to create systems that generate electricity, directly, in the depths of these mines. This way there is no need to launch the very expensive industrial network to bring the coal to the surface and then process it. Electricity would be generated two kilometers deep and it is that energy that is directly transmitted to the surface. Now, they have been investigating since 2018 and are already testing it, but although the project is framed within China’s great plan for the Deep Exploration of Earth and Mineral Resources, there is still a long way to go. This is a long-term plan to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060 and it is already point that these carbon cells are unlikely to come into operation on a large scale before 2045. Either way, if it makes sense for anyone to research alternatives to coal using coal, it’s… China. Despite being the power of renewables and be on top of the nuclear raceit is estimated that 60% of the nation’s electricity comes from coal. They have enormous reserves and somehow they have to be used. Image | Ministry of Energy of Chile In Xataka | To survive the end of oil, China has resurrected an old German technology from World War II: turning coal into plastic

The 6 best televisions that I recommend to watch the 2026 World Cup

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He Soccer World Cup 2026 It’s just around the corner. If there is something that defines this tournament (from a technological point of view we are talking about) it is the need for a good TV with extreme brightness (especially for matches that are held during the day), impeccable movement management (so that the moving ball does not get lost on the screen) and large inches, to enjoy the matches to the fullest. If you are thinking of buying a new TV to watch this year’s World Cup with the best qualitythese are some of the best TVs that I can recommend to you right now. TCL 65C8K 65 Inch QD-Mini LED Television The price could vary. We earn commission from these links LG OLED evo G6 by 1,247.46 euros: 55 inches and with 165 Hz refresh rate. Sony Bravia 9 QLED by 2,999 euros: 75 inches and with Mini-LED. TCL C8K QD-MiniLED by 1,149 euros: 65 inches and with 5,000 nits of maximum brightness. Hisense RGB MiniLED evo by 1,199 euros: 55 inches and with RGB MiniLED technology. Hisense 116UX RGB MiniLED by 17,999 euros: 116 inches and with a 6.2.2 channel audio system. LG OLED evo G6: the queen of contrast If you’re looking for the cleanest image on the market, the LG OLED evo G6 series is the answer. In your 55 inch versionyou can get it now, at the LG outlet on its website, for 1,247.46 eurosthus achieving a 48% discount on its recommended RRP (2,399 euros). Your technology Reflection Free Premium It is ideal for football, as it will allow you to watch a game at four in the afternoon, with the blinds up, so that you will not see a single reflection in your living room. Furthermore, by having 165 Hz refresh rate You can enjoy totally fluid movement. Smart TV LG OLED evo AI G5 55 inches 4K 2025 The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Sony Bravia 9 QLED: a TV with good processing 75 inches and ideal for watching big games, now you can get this Sony Bravia 9 at a discount at MediaMarkt. Its usual price is 75 inches, but you can get it now with 300 euros discountby 2,999 euros. If there is something that can be highlighted about this TV QLED Sony is its technology MiniLED backlight as well as algorithm XR Motion Claritywho is very good at managing ball movement. Furthermore, thanks to Acoustic Multi-Audioits speakers simulate the ambient sound of the stadium. 75″ QLED TV – Sony Bravia 9, XR | Mini LED, 4K HDR The price could vary. We earn commission from these links TCL C8K QD-MiniLED: a giant at a knockdown price If you are looking for a good TV but without having to break the bank, this is TCL C8K 65 inch It is a good option to watch the Soccer World Cup with excellent quality. You can take it, in its 65-inch version, for 1,149 euros. Its QD-MiniLED panel reaches a maximum brightness up to 5,000 nits. It has a refresh rate of 144 Hz and its audio system is signed by Bang & Olufsen. It supports Dolby Atmos, comes with Google TV as an operating system and a wide connectivity section. TCL 65C8K 65 Inch QD-Mini LED Television The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Hisense RGB MiniLED evo: a technological surprise Although it is not on sale yet, you can pre-purchase it for 1,199 euros and receive it at home from May 19, this Hisense 55UR8S TV aims to be a technological revolution (just as has happened with the new Samsung TVs for this year), thanks to RGB MiniLED panelwhich uses a much more precise light structure. This is a TV with very good value for money and its AI assisted sports mode automatically detects when the game starts and adjusts the saturation and image smoothing, without you having to touch anything on the controller. It supports Dolby Vision IQ and HDR10+. Hisense 55UR8S – RGB MiniLED Smart TV 55 Inch The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Hisense 116UX RGB MiniLED: a 116-inch beast And if you are not worried about the budget and want to set up your own VIP box at home to watch the 2026 World Cup, this gigantic Hisense from 116 inches It is one of the top on the market. Of course, don’t be scared by its price; costs 17,999 euros. This TV also debuts the technology RGB-MiniLEDwhich replaces the traditional standard blue LEDs with red, green and blue, which will allow you to enjoy greater color purity. It reaches 8,000 nits of brightness and has 165 Hz refresh rate and a 6.2.2 channel sound systemso you will hear the game as if you were in the stadium. 116″ RGB Mini LED TV – Hisense 116UXQ, UHD 4K 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 | Hisense, LG, TCL and Sony In Xataka | Best televisions in quality price. Which one to buy and seven recommended 4K smart TVs In Xataka | Best sound bars in quality price. Which one to buy and seven recommended models from 140 euros

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