wrong

We have had a nautical chart for almost two centuries in a drawer because we thought it was all wrong. we were wrong

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Sometime in 1835, on the northwest coast of India, Alexander Burnes purchased a roll of paper. Inside was a handwritten navigation chart of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden that the British officer came to describe as a “specimen of naval survey without equal in the cabinets of Europe.” Burnes donated it to the Royal Geographical Society, where a team of experts examined it and put it in a drawer. Since then, the diagnosis has been unanimous: the letter was very beautiful and very attractive, but completely wrong. For 189 years, we have believed it was wrong. But we were wrong. And it’s not that we hadn’t studied it. In the last century alone it has been studied in detail on up to five occasions (1947, 1987, 2002, 2012 and 2022). However, all efforts had been futile. However, in recent years, John P. Cooper of the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies at the University of Exeter and his team They have studied the subject in depth. Without much success, really. Until they realized one thing: what if instead of a document, what they had in their hands was a tool? I mean, what if it wasn’t a map to hang on the wall, but something else? How did the thing work? The key, always according to the researchers, is that the letter was only opened to the section that the navigator was using at that time. If you look at the map as a whole (more than 180 islands, plus reefs, land landmarks, religious buildings and flags), you don’t understand; above all, because they do not have continuity. But if you analyze the references fragment by fragment, the idea emerges that it was used to maintain the navigation line, to remind the sailors what they had to do. Its purpose was mnemonic and operational; not representative. How curious, isn’t it? Yes and that is the main problemto think that all this is just ‘curious’. But no, what the letter puts on the table is the Eurocentric bias that still prevails in the history of science: For almost two centuries we judged an Indian tool by the only yardstick we knew (the geometric correspondence to the terrain) and declared it “defective” for not meeting that yardstick. How many thousands more things will we have out there lost, without fully understanding? It never hurts to remember that there are many things that we do not fully understand. Image | University of Exeter In Xataka | Urbano Monte’s world map, one of the most amazing and grandiose cartographies in history

We have spent decades blaming a lack of willpower for obesity. Genetics Just Proved Us Wrong

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For decades we have heard about overweight and obesity that it is a problem of lack of willpower, of eating too much or moving too little. However, science has been trying to find more causes for years that we do not see with the naked eye about obesity to treat it as a complex, chronic disease with many different factors. Two great studies recently published studies have provided very important evidence that suggests that the way we relate to food and the size of our body in childhood are not always ‘choice’, but are, to a surprising extent, an inheritance dictated by our DNA and amplified by the environment. The weight of inheritance. The first of these studies published in PLOS Medicine analyzed to 86,000 children belonging to the Norwegian MoBa cohort. The goal here was to understand the extent to which parents’ BMI determines body size and the eating behaviors of their children at eight years of age. The results have exceeded what many geneticists expected, since, using structural equation modeling, researchers discovered that genetics explains about 79% of the association between the mother’s BMI and that of the child. When we look at the father, the figure is even more compelling, since DNA explains approximately 94% of the association between the paternal BMI and that of the child. Its importance. This means that when we see patterns of obesity that are repeated from parents to children and the determining factor is not mainly that “that house eats badly”, but that genetic variants are being transmitted that regulate key physiological aspects, from basal metabolism to the brain architecture that dictates the mechanisms of satiety and reward when eating. The environment. At this point, it is inevitable to ask a reasonable question: if genetics is so determining, why have obesity rates skyrocketed in recent decades if our human genome has barely changed? The answer the second study gives itpublished almost in parallel in PLOS Genetics where British researchers analyzed four large birth cohorts in the United Kingdom, namely people born in 1946, 1958, 1970 and 2001. The goal here was to measure how genetic risk interacts with the passage of time and changes in society. Its result. What they saw was precisely that the genetic variants associated with obesity have become much more predictive of BMI in more recent cohorts. That is to say, having a genetic predisposition to gain weight in the forties did not necessarily ‘condemn’ obesity, because the environment did not support it. However, being born with that same predisposition in 2001 exposes you to a much greater risk. Our genes interact with what epidemiologists call the obesogenic environment, which are sedentary urban environments, chronic stress, sleep disturbances and, above all, a constant, cheap and ubiquitous availability of ultra-processed, high-calorie-density foods. The modern environment acts as the trigger of a weapon that genetics had already loaded. Much further. This avalanche of empirical data collides head-on with social stigma. As organizations such as the Spanish Society for the Study of Obesity have been warning for some time, it is urgent banish “Eat less and move more” is the only recommendation given in medical consultations. It is for all this that understanding that obesity is a condition with a very deep genetic root, strongly conditioned by the environment, completely changes the rules of the game. Images | i yunmai In Xataka | We thought that quenching hunger with Ozempic was the definitive remedy against obesity. Until we look at the muscle

We thought we had passed the worst of the memory crisis. We were totally wrong

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A new report from the consulting firm Jefferies Equity Research paints an even more terrible picture than we expected for the immediate future of the memory crisis. These components have already risen in price extraordinarily in the last nine months, but wait: it hasn’t ended there by any means. The rest of 2026 will be horrible. According to its analysts, memory prices will experience an increase of between 40 and 50% in the third quarter of 2026 compared to the current quarter. But the increases will not stop there, because in the fourth quarter, between 30 and 40% price increases are expected compared to the third quarter. Let’s do the math. According to this prediction, the prices of memory modules for our PCs will be absolutely exorbitant: 16 GB DDR4 module: the current price is around 139 euros. Applying these increases, in the third quarter this product will cost up to 209 euros in the third quarter, and up to 292 euros in the room. 16 GB DDR5 module: the current price is around 240 euros. Applying the same percentages, in the third quarter we would pay up to 360 euros for it, and in the fourth quarter up to 504 euros. Bad for (almost) everyone. These increases will therefore make prices much worse than they are now, and although we have given the example of memory modules for the PC, this problem extends to all types of electronic products that have this component. Mobile phones, tablets, graphics cards, Smart TVs, routers, consoles (Hello Steam Machine) or cars will also be affected, and this could therefore significantly impact the future prices of these products. Let them tell Apple: we could see how this and other companies are forced to raise prices again. 2027 will be bad too. This report also reveals that the crisis will persist in 2027, although the growth curve will reduce slightly: increases of between 40 and 45% are expected from year to year. It is a very bad figure, but not as bad as what is expected for this second half of 2026. Why does the crisis last so long?. AI is to blame for this memory crisis, and what is happening is that manufacturers are not only unable to cope: the “little memory” they are manufacturing is being reserved for long-term contracts. Micron, for example, has already signed 16 strategic contracts with large firms and hyperscalers, and in the global market 50% of what is manufactured is already reserved for those large clients. That percentage could rise to 70%, they say at Jefferies, which will make it even more complicated (or rather, more expensive) to access memory modules for PCs, laptops, consoles or mobile phones. The end of the crisis, in 2028? This analysis also indicates that 2028 could finally see prices begin to fall slightly. The reason: a slowdown in demand and a slight increase in supply of between 15 and 20%. China manufacturers won’t save us. He Chinese manufacturer CXMT it seemed the great hope for consumers, but as seen at Computex, their prices they are similar to those of Micron, Samsung or SK Hynix. Apple is trying to work with that Chinese firm and is pushing for the US I took it out from your “Entity List”, but it remains to be seen what will happen. The only advantage of this and other Chinese manufacturers such as YMTC is that they do have modules in their inventory, but most are intended for domestic consumption by Chinese firms. In Xataka | Samsung had been the absolute king of technology in South Korea for decades: SK Hynix has just surpassed it

We believed that Meta would have learned his lesson after his privacy scandals. We were totally wrong

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The internal environment in Meta is not at its best. Workers who do not have been fired were relocated to a new AI department described as “the gulag”. Additionally, the company recently installed software on workers’ computers that recorded everything they did. Well, they had to pause it because there was a leak that left the data exposed. what has happened. They tell it in Wired. Meta has had to pause its employee tracking program due to an internal leak. The program, called Model Capability Initiative or MCI, was launched in April and was installed on all company computers. This software recorded screen content, keystrokes and clicks. It was not to control employees (or not only for that), but to train AI agents who, presumably, will one day replace them. As expected, employees were not amused, nor were they amused that a security issue left their data exposed to other workers. The reaction. The notice came from an employee who detected that he could access the MCI data of other employees. According to Meta, the bug was solved in four hours, although the first solution was not permanent and they had to reinforce the data access block. During those hours, employees, who had already expressed their discontent with this program, filled the internal forums with criticism and Meta finally suspended the program. But be careful because it is not goodbye, but see you later. Speaking to Wired, AI research vice president Stephan Kasriel said that “we will reactivate MCI when we are confident in the effectiveness of our data protection controls.” And now they go… The case adds to Meta’s long history with leaks and privacy issues. The clearest and most resounding was the Cambridge Analytica scandal in 2018, but there have been many morelike the massive data theft which affected a whopping 533 million users in 2021 or the use of facial recognition without permission in 2024. We recently learned that Meta’s glasses record even when we take them offmeaning contractors in Kenya have seen users having sex, going to the bathroom or accessing their bank accounts. This questionable way of treating its users’ data and repeated scandals have earned the company a reputation for being unreliable when it comes to privacy. We now know that even employees themselves are vulnerable to this. Fed up employees. As we said, to the employees They were not happy that the company installed this software on their computers. In fact, at least 1,600 employees had signed a petition in which, in addition to describing the program as invasive, they warned that it posed a risk from a security point of view. All this was happening at a time when Meta had announced layoffs, but had not yet communicated who those affected were. For a month, the staff worked without knowing if they were going to be fired, but the anguish did not end with the “execution.” Meta laid off more than 8,000 employees and relocated another 7,000, who now work in the Applied AI department. Many high-level engineers have ended up here and describe the work as mechanical and uncreative. Now, in addition, they leak their private data from the program they were using to control them. It is not surprising that the internal environment is going through its lowest hours. Image | Xataka with ChatGPT In Xataka | Soon you won’t need to remember anyone’s name. Meta’s glasses will do it for you

We’ve been looking for aliens the wrong way for decades. The solution could be in the dust of the Moon

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It is possible that we are looking for the wrong traces of extraterrestrial civilizations. According to a study published recently by Oxford astrophysicist Brian C. Lacki, the mistake has been in looking for active technological signatures. That is, signals derived from extraterrestrial technologies that have been emitted directly. These signals are lost over time. On the other hand, technological signatures that passively act on the light of a star are easier to detect. And the best thing is that, if you can’t find them, you could always search in the middle of the lunar regolith. This all sounds very crazy, but it actually makes sense. Active or passive signatures? That’s the question. Traditionally, search projects for extraterrestrial civilizations, like SETIhave focused on the detection of possible radio signals coming from their technologies. These are not signals emitted on purpose so that we can find them, but rather the result of their own technological activity. The problem, according to Lacki in his study, is that, if they have followed an evolution similar to ours, they may not be broadcasting on the radio for more than 100 years. We ourselves have been replacing emissions in this range with fiber optics or satellites with directed emissions and very little “noise” that can reach “intergalactic gossip.” What leads us to think that they continue century after century using the same technologies? They may continue to emit, but no longer in radio waves that disperse into space. The Oxford astrophysicist proposes changing this position by searching for passive technosignatures. That is, signatures derived from the interaction of smart technologies with starlight. three types. There are three types of passive technosignatures: obscuring, flashing and diffusing. The former act in a similar way to an exoplanet passing in front of its star. When a large object, such as an artificial satellite, passes in front of a star, it temporarily obscures it. This could be confused with an exoplanetbut the idea is to look for concealments with unconventional shapes, that do not resemble anything known. In the case of flashing signatures, they would be those produced by devices with mirrors aimed at concentrating the star’s light. As if they had their own solar plants. At some point, these types of mirrors could generate flares observable from Earth. Finally, the diffusion signatures would spread the light in all directions, so that a fainter change would be observed, in the form of a color modification in the light spectrum. What if they are no longer there? If it is already difficult to find other intelligent civilizations, it would be even more difficult to find one that is contemporary with ours. We may simply find technosignatures of a civilization that has already died. In that case, or even if the technologies have simply been abandoned for another reason, there would no longer be intelligent beings in charge of maintaining the devices, so their orbit would end up shifting and they could collide with each other. If this happens, it is possible that very small fragments will be generated, which this scientist calls technograins. They are so small that the star’s gravity is not able to attract them any more than the stellar winds push them away. Therefore, they would end up swept away from their neighborhood and become a cloud of dust that our solar system could eventually encounter on its journey through the galaxy. The Moon comes into play. If all of the above occurs, Lacki considers that it could be that some of that dust settles on the Moon, where there is no wind nor are there geological processes that alter the surface, so it could remain for a long time. Therefore, for him, one way to look for technosignatures would be to inspect the lunar regolithlooking for dust that appears to have a technological origin. That, perhaps, could lead us to some intelligent civilization that has gone unnoticed by us. In short, according to the curious perception of this scientist, when trips to the Moon become more common than anecdotal, we could have an easier time finding technosignatures. Of course, for this, fewer telescopes and more sieves. Images | Leo Visions (Unsplash) In Xataka | TRAPPIST-1 was the most promising solar system to search for life. Now our joy is in a well

something is wrong with the relationship between the sea and the atmosphere

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We are in the middle of June and it doesn’t seem like it, but the western Mediterranean is burning. And no, it is not an exaggeration: we are talking about a marine heat wave with peaks of surface anomaly greater than 5 degrees in specific areas. It is what experts call in technical jargon, a gigantic problem. Especially, facing autumn. A ticking time bomb. The great temptation when we see this type of data is to plot a direct line between sea temperature in June and DANAs in October. But it would be a mistake. The mechanism exists, of course. However, the matter is a little more complex than we might think. This is because the overheated sea is not a forecast of how much autumn rain we are going to suffer: it is a gauge of the ceiling of intensity that these rains can reach. The effect of an anomalously warm Mediterranean is to charge the atmosphere with water vapor and thus raise the amount of water that a DANA can precipitate. But, and this is crucial, the trigger is atmospheric. It is useless to have a charged atmosphere without a mass of cold air at altitude that is detached from the general circulation. What’s new? What is genuinely new is not that the Mediterranean is hot. It is, in fact, from 2022 on a sustained basis. What is new is that we have had a marine heat wave since May. That is, long before the historical calendar and still very far from the warmest moment (August). Furthermore, whether we want to see it or not, El Niño is just around the corner and, although we hope not to receive its wildest impacts, the heat it will bring to the world makes experts very worried. Why is it relevant? The data is clear. The Mediterranean basin heats up around 20% faster than the global ocean average and is trailing a streak of unprecedented records: 18 of the 20 highest daily values ​​since 1982 were recorded between 2023 and 2024 (with a maximum of 28.15 °C on August 10, 2024). The memory of the DANA of Valencia is still fresh and the certainty that the situation is getting worse It is a slab for the national climate conversation. Are we going to get worse? It’s pure physics: a warmer sea increases evaporation and the water vapor content of the atmosphere (at a rate of 7% more vapor for each degree). The best example is Storm Daniel which, as the researchers showedit would have been much more unlikely without climate change. That is why it is advisable to be precise and not take things out of context. The current scenario is problematic because if a DANA forms on the Mediterranean coast this autumn, it will have more fuel available to discharge more intense rains than with a cold sea. If it is not formed, nothing has to happen. Image | Copernicus In Xataka | We already know exactly how much climate change was to blame for DANA in Valencia (and the figures are devastating)

We have been thinking for decades that plastic recycling was worth something. Maybe we were wrong

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That the plastic recycling system is broken is an open secret. But it is only little by little that we are realizing the dimension of the problem. The American association Center for Climate Integrity (CCI) published the year 2024 a report on plastic recycling. In it, they attacked the plastics industry, which they accused of having promoted the recycling of these materials even while knowing of the poor technical and economic feasibility. A difficult task. Recycling plastics is not an easy task. In our daily lives we use a wide variety of materials of this type, each one with certain functional and chemical characteristics. They all end up in the same container, the packaging, but from there it is necessary to separate each type of plastic to proceed to recycling when possible. It is not always possible. Disparate data. According to Ecoembes data, in 2024, 589,885 tons of plastic packaging were recycled in Spain, although NGOs such as Greenpeace cast doubt. According to GreenpeaceIn other years, the difference between the plastic recycling rate declared by Ecoembes (89.2%) and that estimated by the NGO itself (34.8%) is notable. It should be noted that it is still higher than the world average of 9% estimated by the OECD. According to the reportfigures like these are just a reflection of an impossibility: effectively recycling plastics is out of our reach. Not only from an economic perspective but also from a technological point of view. Single use. However, the report emphasizes an accusation: even knowing this impossibility, the industry promoted the idea that recycling was possible and viable to pave the way for single-use plastics like the ones we use in packaging. “They knew that if they focused on single-use (plastics) people would buy and buy,” explained to Guardian Davis Allen, CCI researcher and co-author of the report. Another point of view. The reaction of the industry did not take long to arrive. The American Chemistry Council, in a statementnoted that “American plastic manufacturers are investing billions of dollars in better, innovative products and technologies that separate, capture and recycle larger quantities and more types of plastics.” They allege that the “erroneous report” made reference to obsolete technologies and that it represents a misleading characterization of the industry and the present capacities for recycling plastics. “As is typical, instead of working together toward real solutions to plastic waste, groups like CCI choose political attacks over constructive solutions,” protested Matt Seaholm, president and CEO of the Plastics Industry Association, in a statement also collected by Guardian. Be that as it may, California took legal action in the matter. Will we make it? We may never achieve an efficient system of recycling that we can apply to the plastics of our daily life. In fact, the UN Global Plastics Treaty has failed again and again. But perhaps one day we will be able to treat this waste so that its waste does not contaminate our environment. One of the big bets In this sense, it is the discovery of enzymes capable of decomposing plastic polymers, breaking these chains to convert them into harmless molecules. It is undoubtedly a great promise that is getting closer and closer, but it is still far from being able to solve the problem. Although time is not what is left over. Pollution caused by microplastics is already a reality. These wastes have appeared in the most remote places on Earth, a sign of the great reach of these contaminants. Furthermore, we know very little about the potential impacts on health and the environment of this waste. In Xataka | I’ve always been curious about what they did with the yellow containers: so I followed one In Xataka | “In 200 years, archaeologists will search through our trash and find a terrible image of ourselves”: the dirty reality of what we throw away Image | Krizjohn Rosales *An earlier version of this article was published in February 2025

Hubble made us believe that this exoplanet was impossible. James Webb just explained why we were wrong

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In 2014, the exoplanet WASP-94A b was discovered, a hot Jupiter with an anomalous amount of oxygen and carbon in its atmosphere. The first observations pointed to hundreds of times more of these two gases than in the atmosphere of the Solar System’s Jupiter. This did not fit with standard models of planetary formation. It could be that there is some error in the models. However, according to what has just been verified with the James Webb Space Telescope, the problem was rather that the right telescope was not being used. Closer observation has shown that oxygen and carbon levels are actually much lower, consistent with known physics. Also, as a tip, something very curious has been discovered: that the planet has rocky clouds during the day that disappear when sunset arrives. A very useful transit. The authors of a study recently published in Science They took advantage of a transit of the planet in front of its star to study its atmosphere with the James Webb telescope. Previously, observations were made with the Hubble telescope. With it, the light spectra coming from the atmosphere could be analyzed and, with them, their composition could be established. However, since it was not a telescope capable of distinguish clouds from the rest of the atmospherethe calculations were an average of the gases of everything together. Said by one of the authors of the studywith Hubble the result was something like looking through a foggy window. Now, after giving the window glass a good look, they have been able to see exactly the composition of both the atmosphere and the clouds. Tidal lock. This exoplanet is tidally locked. This means which takes the same time to orbit its star as it does around itself. The result is that it always has the same face facing the star, so on half the planet it is always day and on the other half it is always night. It’s something like what happens to us on Earth with the Moon, which always has a hidden side for us. Despite having perpetual days and nights on each face, on this type of planets you can distinguish between sunrise and sunset, depending on the flow of gases in the atmosphere. The limit at which cold gases from the night side pass to the day side is considered the dawn of the planet, while the limb in which the opposite occurs is sunset. Different compositions. When observing the planet in full transit, the day side could not be seen, since it was looking towards the star. On the other hand, the James Webb has been able to capture the emissions from the two limits with the night side, considered sunrise and sunset. In this way, he has been able to verify two important pieces of information. On the one hand, what we mentioned: the levels of carbon and oxygen in the atmosphere are only five times higher than those of Jupiter. It is something that corresponds to other hot Jupiters and does not defy known physics. On the other hand, it has been seen that on the sunrise side there are clouds composed of silicates. That is, rocky clouds. However, these dissipate until they disappear on the evening side. Thanks to this duality, it has been possible to explore the pure atmosphere, with hardly any clouds, in the area of ​​the planet close to sunset. Unknown causes. The authors of the study do not know what causes this strange behavior of the clouds. However, they have two hypotheses. The first would be something similar to the process that gives rise to fog on Earth. The clouds would form in the darkness on the night side, then enter the intense heat of more than 1,000 degrees on the day side. The substances that make up the clouds would boil and the clouds would vaporize throughout the day, disappearing completely at night. Then, on the night side, the process begins again. The other hypothesis, on the other hand, suggests that there may be intense winds on the planet that are dragging the clouds into the interior of the planet and taking them out of sight by sunset. And now what? These scientists are already studying other hot Jupiters. At the moment, they have already detected two others with the same distinctive cloud cycle: WASP-39 by WASP-17 b. There is nothing like a good sample to properly study any scientific phenomenon. The more planets that are detected with the same circumstances, the better the reasons can be clarified. Image| John Hopkins In Xataka | The James Webb has broken another historical record: a supermassive black hole older than expected

“We recognize that we have done things wrong.” Peugeot apologizes for the PureTech and presents the engine that wants to make us forget it

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Peugeot has decided to close one of the most uncomfortable chapters in its recent history. The lion brand gathered the motoring press in Madrid a few days ago to do two things at the same time: apologize for PureTech engine problems and introduce your substitutethe new Turbo 100, a block designed from scratch that is in fact already available. Bad reputation. For years, the PureTech 1.0 and 1.2 gasoline engines that the Stellantis Group installed in brands such as Peugeot, Citroën and Opel have had a considerable bad reputation for two of their most common breakdowns: their oil dipped strap deterioration and excessive oil consumption. Now Peugeot has come forward and publicly acknowledged that it was wrong. “We recognize that we have done things wrong,” admitted those responsible at the press event, according to collect I amMotor. And, above all, that They took too long to respond to clients and workshops. Figures. In Spain alone, around 500,000 units of these engines were sold, adding the three affected brands, and more than five million were manufactured throughout Europe. Furthermore, Spain is more affected than other territories by how things go for Peugeot, since as they mention Our colleagues at Motorpasión, Stellantis produces up to 14 models here in its plants in Vigo, Figueruelas and Villaverde. The brand closed 2025 with more than 81,000 cars sold in our country, so regaining trust is a priority for the company. Issues. On the one hand, the timing belt deteriorated due to chemical aggression, because on short, daily city trips (3 to 5 kilometers), the fuel mixed with the oil, swelled the belt and ended up releasing fragments that clogged the oil pump, which led to quite serious breakdowns. On the other hand, in the first generation PureTech (2014 to mid-2018) the repeated cycles of cold and heat accumulated carbon in the piston rings, which increased oil consumption. As the Stellantis engineers explained, the determining factor was not the total kilometers of the car, but the “quality” of those kilometers. Between the lines. Peugeot insists that this was not cost cutting. Its engineers denied that controls were eliminated to save and they remembered that “non-quality in the end is very expensive”, alluding to what extended guarantees now cost. The real failure, according to the brand, was in testing protocols that did not take into account the intensive urban use that a good part of the drivers in Spain, Portugal, France or Italy do. The wet belt, by the way, was chosen around 2010 because it was then a technically sensible solution, being quieter and with less friction than a chain, and useful for balancing the internal pressures of a three-cylinder engine. A decision that other manufacturers madeincluding Japanese (like Honda, although in a much more conservative way, until it turned out that it was not a good idea). The new engine. Here enters the Turbo 100presented by Fabien Gouzonnat, Director of Engine Development in Europe at Stellantis, and Vincent Jaquier, Engine Project Manager at Peugeot. At first glance it looks similar to the PureTech, because it had to fit in the same cars, but inside it is something else. In fact, the brand states that 70% of all the components that make up the engine are completely new and of the above the only thing they say is preserved is screws and some gaskets. The most notable change is that it dispenses with the belt and adopts a silent and maintenance-free distribution chain throughout the life of the car. And not just the chain. The Turbo 100 is a 1.2 three-cylinder engine with 100 HP and 205 Nm that debuts technology that has hitherto been unusual in high-volume gasoline. It works with a Miller cycle, direct injection at 350 bars and a variable geometry turbo (the first that Peugeot uses in a mass-produced gasoline engine). To reduce oil consumption, the pistons have been completely redesigned, with an internal cooling gallery and reinforced segments, as well as a new oil separator with a more resistant membrane. The brand assures have reduced mechanical wear up to 80%. To validate it, he says that he has subjected the block to more than 30,000 hours of bench tests and more than three million kilometers in real conditions. The guarantees. The other front is customer trust. New cars with the Turbo 100 extend the usual coverage up to 8 years or 160,000 km through the Peugeot Care program, as long as maintenance is carried out on the official network. For those who already have a PureTech, there are a web tool that reimburses for repairs paid between January 1, 2022 and December 31, 2024, providing the invoice for the repair and the three previous maintenances. And if the engine has not failed, the Check Plus certificate (free) covers up to 10 years or 180,000 km, even for second-hand cars or those with maintenance carried out in independent workshops, as long as they can be accredited. And now what. The Turbo 100 is already available in the Peugeot 208 and 2008, and serves as the basis for the 110 and 145 HP hybrid versions that are fitted to the 308, 408, 3008 and 5008, in addition to being extended to the rest of the group’s brands. It’s clear that Stellantis is making a monumental effort to eliminate the footprint left by its PureTech engine. Time will tell us if this new engine lives up to its promise. Cover image | Xataka and Stellantis In Xataka | Europe promised them a happy time by turning off 2G and 3G. He did not take into account that there are 64 million cars that need it

We have been searching for extraterrestrial life for decades. According to these astrobiologists, we have been doing it wrong all this time

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We are very used to hearing that someone has found possible signs of life in space. Then life is never found, but the trail seems to be there. All of these findings often end up being false positives, something astrobiologists are more than familiar with. However, According to a study just published in Nature Astronomy, They could be overlooking false negatives and that would be serious. Pass life long. What the authors of this study point out is that false negatives could be more common than we think. That is to say, many of the times when it is clearly concluded that there is no life in a place in space, it could be that it did exist, but it had been passed by without being detected. The causes. There could be three reasons why these false negatives occur. On the one hand, no traces of life are preserved. That is, it exists or has existed, but has not left a detectable trace. It could also be that this fingerprint is difficult to detect. Or, perhaps, that the methods used to detect it have limitations. Along these lines, the authors of the study give an example. Let’s imagine that there is a living being that, through its metabolic reactions, generates some gas that is understood as a trace of life. Maybe oxygen or methane. But let’s also imagine that there is a geological activity in that place that captures that gas from the environment. I wouldn’t have time to measure it. Therefore, the detection of life would have to be covered from other points. The risks. There are two main risks of not paying attention to false negatives. On the one hand, instruments that would help find even more traces of life would be deprioritized. If we do not find anything that justifies its development, we limit the possibilities of continuing searching. On the other hand, if life is not adequately searched for, resources from other planets where such life is found could be exploited. We would destroy it before we even knew it existed. Solutions. These scientists believe that searching for patterns using artificial intelligence could be an option. If the usual methods have not worked so far, perhaps we should ask an algorithm to detect patterns that have gone unnoticed to find new search paths. Along the same lines, it would also be necessary to study the terrain better and pay attention to anomalies. For example, if an unconventional type of oxidation is detected on a planet, inexplicable with what we know on Earth, it could be that it was associated with some form of life. It may not look like the oxidation carried out by terrestrial living beings, but who says it has to be the same? You have to think outside the box. Combine different types of work. In short, these scientists consider that to adequately search for life it is necessary to combine laboratory experiments with modeling and field work. But, above all, it is important to change the questions we ask ourselves. What if it has already been found? In 2019, a former NASA scientist told in an article for Scientific American that, according to himhis agency found life on Mars, but accidentally destroyed it. Supposedly, it all happened in the 1970s, in an experiment that was part of the Viking mission. This consisted of depositing nutrients in the soil and checking if gases typical of microbial decomposition were produced. Then, to ensure that it was not a coincidence, they would repeat the process, but adding a substance lethal to living organisms to the soil. In that case, gases should not be produced. And no, they were not produced, so there was something alive generating the gases. It was great news, but NASA did not publish that result, because when trying to replicate the experiment it came back negative. In science it is very important to replicate the results, so they concluded that it must have been a false positive. However, this former member of NASA, Gilbert V. Levin, believes that they destroyed life unintentionally and that is why they could not replicate it. This is no longer an anecdote. Most likely, they would not have found life. However, this story shows that we are always more predisposed to false positive than false negative. The focus would have to be changed a little. Maybe then we will finally find some life beyond our own planet. Images | Eric Erbe and Christopher Pooley (illustrative image of E.coliit has nothing to do with the study)/ Brett Ritchie (Unsplash) In Xataka | Life on Earth underwent a spectacular change 540 million years ago. We have a new explanation why

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