Year

A half-ton metal ring fell from the sky in Kenya. More than a year later we still don’t know where it came from

by

For years we have talked about the space debris as a distant problemalmost abstract, that occurs far above our heads. We know that, from time to time, some debris from launches or satellites re-enter the atmosphere, although we almost always perceive it as something remote. Until it isn’t. What happened at the end of 2024 In a Kenyan village it was precisely that: the moment when a technical discussion became a tangible fact. A metal object of large dimensions fell from the sky without warning. On December 30, 2024, in the rural area of ​​Mukuku, the object was left lying on the ground after the impact, with dimensions that soon caught the attention of technicians: around 2.5 meters in diameter and an estimated weight of about 500 kilograms. The intervention was quick. Police cordoned off the area and an inter-agency team, led by the Kenya Space Agency (KSA), recovered the remains for analysis. From that point, a complex question arose: what exactly was that piece and where did it come from? Open investigation, official promises and a mystery that remains unsolved Just 48 hours after collecting the remains, the Kenya Space Agency offered a first explanation. In its statement of January 1, 2025the agency indicated that, according to preliminary evaluations, the piece corresponded to a fragment of a space object, specifically a launch vehicle separation ring. It was a relevant conclusion, but partial. The agency did not link the object to any specific rocket and described the incident as isolated, while announcing the opening of an investigation under international legal frameworks that regulate activities in space. The statement from the Kenya Space Agency (click to see the original publication in X) As the days progressed, the case began to generate interpretations beyond the official statements. Some local media, including Nation Africa, They pointed out that the Government of Kenya would have initiated a compensation claim addressed to India, suggesting that the object could be linked to a specific mission. The reaction of the Kenya Space Agency was immediate. On January 3, 2025, The agency denied that information and he was clear in his message: “The alleged compensation claim presented by the Government of Kenya is false and should be ignored.” In that same update, he also stressed that the investigation was still ongoing. With the official investigation without a specific attribution, the case began to attract the attention of independent analysts. One of the most detailed was that of the astrodynamicist Marco Langbroek, from the Technical University of Delft, who explored the possibility that the fragment corresponded to an adapter SYLDA from an Ariane release 2008. Their analysis suggested that the location and timing of impact were compatible with re-entry of that particular object, but also made clear that this was not a conclusive identification. In fact, in a later update of its analysis, it included doubts attributed to Arianespace engineers about that hypothesis, considering that the dimensions did not fit. On paper, the case was not closed in those first days. The KSA assured on January 1, 2025 that its experts would analyze the piece, identify the owner and keep the public informed about next steps. Weeks later, Nation Africa collected Furthermore, the investigation was at an advanced stage and, once concluded, the case would be transferred to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to hold the owner of the object accountable. However, when following the public trail of that promise, there is no new data. A subsequent resolution on Mukuku does not appear on the agency’s official communications page, so more than a year later there is no official and definitive attribution of the fragment. There is also no new information in local media. If we look at the case with perspective, Mukuku leaves us two clear readings. The first is that space debris is no longer just an orbital phenomenon, but also an issue that, under certain circumstances, can have an impact on the surface. The second has to do with the limits of this type of research. Even when an object of these characteristics reaches land and activates international mechanismsa clear public conclusion is not always reached. We know how the agency described the piece in its preliminary evaluations and we know the main hypotheses that attempted to identify it, but no origin has been officially confirmed. And that void, more than a year later, is still open. Images | KSA In Xataka | Artemis II has a toilet that evacuates the astronauts’ urine into space. The problem is that it has frozen

OpenAI is the most successful company on the planet. Also the one that plans to lose 85,000 million dollars in a single year

by

Something special is going to happen in 2026: both OpenAI and Anthropic are going public. This will finally mean that individual investors can invest in them and bet on their future with their money. It will be the definitive exam for the credibility of companies that have grown exceptionally in recent years but also They have burned the money as if there were no tomorrow. But be careful, because there is a compelling reality here: they are going to continue burning it in an even more astonishing way. The two sides of the IPO. The Wall Street Journal has had access to the financial documents submitted to investors before the IPOs proposed by both OpenAI and Anthropic. They reveal extraordinarily striking data that have two sides. Amazement and concern with OpenAI. For example, OpenAI has indicated that it will almost double its revenue this year. According to their forecasts, they could become profitable in 2026 if one excludes the cost of training their models (which are stratospheric, of course). But there is the other reality: OpenAI expects to spend $121 billion on computing power in 2028, so even doubling revenue it will lose, attention, $85 billion. No company has ever lost this amount of money and survived, but OpenAI not only promises that it will survive, but that those losses will end up being almost anecdotal. I tell you the truth, but only part of it. Both companies wanted to show two different versions of reality when talking about how they present their profitability. In one, the very expensive model training processes are included, and in others in which these costs are excluded under a heading called “computing for research.” Excluding those costs, OpenAI is on track to achieve a small pre-tax operating profit this year. Anthropic also promises to achieve this if its most optimistic scenario comes true. Excluding the cost of training models, both OpenAI and Anthropic could be “profitable” this year. Source: WSJ. Until 2030, no real profitability. If the costs and investment in model training are included, OpenAI indicates that it will end up being profitable in 2030, a fact that They had already planned a long time ago and that could not hide a forceful reality: the company has not only not stopped spending money until now: it is going to continue spending it, but to an even greater extent with projects like Stargate to the head. Saying that in 2026 they will be profitable if we do not consider training costs is like an airline telling us that it is profitable excluding the cost of fuel. Anthropic, by the way, expects to be fully profitable in 2028. Revenues growing fast, costs even faster. In addition to those training processes, both OpenAI and Anthropic are spending billions of dollars every year in inferencea section that is beginning to be even more important at an operational and strategic level. Currently, these inference costs represent half of each company’s revenue, although inference technology is expected to becomes cheaper and therefore the costs too. Here, however, there are two big differences between both companies: OpenAI: most ChatGPT users do not pay to use the service, so OpenAI assumes these inference costs without making them profitable. According to OpenAI, this facilitates adoption and will allow users to become subscribers in the future, something that is not happening too much at the moment. Anthropic: This startup has managed to win over many companies that pay to use their models, and it is evident that the company is absolutely focused on making you pay to use their models if you want to use them. And if not, Tell OpenClaw. Betting on the future. The companies and venture capital funds that have invested billions in OpenAI or Anthropic have made a bet on the future. They have blind faith that these companies will end up taking over the world, so the fact that today they are still not profitable does not scare them… or not enough to withdraw from this expensive race. Both have experienced spectacular growth that serves as an argument for investors. In addition, the growing interest of companies in integrating AI solutions by paying for them has boosted Anthropic and even caused OpenAI to reorganize and change its strategy. Less fireworks and hypemore focus in what makes money. The IPO as a trick to survive. Both companies are going to continue burning money like there was no tomorrow in the coming years, but now they hope that investors will be the ones to sustain their businesses. The amount of money they will need has made even the Nasdaq make things easier: It will allow newly listed companies to join its renowned index more quickly, giving them access to larger capital reserves. Now it will be the public market and to a large extent the individual investor who will decide whether they want to bet on that future or not. A small survey. Would you invest in OpenAI or Anthropic if it went public? It is evident that both companies generate different impressions, and although their strategies and ways of doing things are different, it is clear that this public sale offer is going to be very striking when it occurs. So, it is a good time to find out a little about what you, the xatakeros, think about this financial movement of these companies. Image | TechCrunch | Wikimedia Commons In Xataka | NVIDIA has so much money that it is becoming something different: the largest startup incubator in the world

a million Spaniards continue to watch it every year

by

Each Easter weekWithout fail, something happens that defies any logic of the audiovisual market: millions of Spaniards sit down to watch a film that they have already seen, which lasts almost four hours, which was filmed 65 years ago in Rome and which is not recommended by any algorithm. A chariot race that, for some reason, continues to draw viewers as if it were a recent release. The figures. Since 2008, the film ‘Ben-Hur’ has been broadcast on Spanish channels (free and pay) a total of 85 times over 17 Holy Weeks. That is equivalent to an average of five passes per holiday period, according to data from the consulting firm Barlovento Comunicación. has provided ‘El País’. No other religious-themed title has accumulated so many broadcasts in that interval. It is followed by ‘Quo Vadis?’, with 73 appearances on the grid, and ‘The Ten Commandments’, with 61. Completing the usual group are films such as ‘Barabbas’, ‘Spartacus’ or ‘The Greatest Story Ever Told’, almost all of them produced between the 1950s and 1960s. It doesn’t sound familiar to me. Well, they are all titles from a time in which Hollywood turned the biblical epic into an industrial venture, with million-dollar budgets and excessive technical ambition. ‘Ben-Hur’ cost $15 million in 1959 (the largest budget of any film up to that time) and grossed approximately $80 million worldwide. It won eleven Oscars from twelve nominations, a record that only ‘Titanic’ (1997) and ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King’ (2003) have equaled. Why do they still work? ‘Ben-Hur’ has an advantage: Jesus appears in it as a peripheral figure, with his back turned or in the distance, which turns the film into an epic adventure production with a Christian subtext, rather than a typical religious film. The chariot race, filmed in five weeks with 15,000 extras and on a gigantic set in Cinecittà, works as a hook regardless of the viewer’s beliefs. ‘Quo Vadis?’ places Saint Peter fleeing Rome during Nero’s persecutions, but a vision of Christ appears to him asking where he is going, and Peter turns around and returns to the city to remain with the martyrs. It is the only scene in which Jesus has a direct presence, since he always appears mediated by his apostles, or with the conversion process of the Roman commander Marcus Vinicius. But the spectacle that the film sustains for the non-believing public is another: the burning of Rome, the circus with the lions, the megalomania of Nero… The hearings. Since 2021 La 1 has programmed ‘Ben-Hur’ every year on the after-dinner meal on Thursday or Good Friday. The results: screen shares of 11.4%, 10.7%, 12.5%, 11.3% and 11.1%, with figures around one million viewers in the three and a half hours that the film lasts. Today few programs achieve those numbers on a regular basis. The record remains the Holy Thursday screening of 2012, when more than two million people watched it on the night of La 1. For this year, RTVE has confirmed that La 1 will broadcast ‘Ben-Hur’ and ‘Pompeya’ on the afternoon of Good Friday, and ‘The Ten Commandments’ during the weekend. La 2 will offer ‘The Sacred Robe’ on Holy Thursday at 10:00 p.m. The private ones, less pious. Since 2018, La 1 has broadcast a total of 45 films with religious themes or those linked to Holy Week. Antena 3 barely reached seven. Telecinco, four. Atresmedia and Mediaset are betting on other types of programming on these dates, leaving the religious field almost exclusively to RTVE… …and the autonomous ones. These have turned this niche into their own asset. Between 2018 and 2025, Telemadrid programmed 99 films with religious themes, Canal Sur 82 and CMM (Castilla-La Mancha Media) 72. These are figures that reflect both the cultural harmony of these stations with their territories and a very economically efficient programming strategy: the rights to these classic titles are considerably cheaper than those of recent productions. And Channel 13. This is what takes logic to its ultimate consequences. The Episcopal Conference network has broadcast almost 300 religious films during Holy Week over 17 years. In 2025 alone, it programmed 19 different titles in that week, with more than 50 hours of special content that included broadcasts of processions, connections with the Vatican and film series ranging from Cecil B. DeMille classics to premieres such as ‘His Only Son’ (2023). Thirteen seems like a television built specifically for these dates. Last stop: ‘The Life of Brian’. There is a case that deserves separate analysis: ‘The Life of Brian’, the 1979 Monty Python film, has been broadcast at Easter on Spanish channels on 22 occasions over 17 years. In most cases it was on thematic channels, and La 2 only dared to program it in 2020 and 2021. The results were clear: a 7.4% share in full confinement and 5.5% in 2021, figures well above the channel’s usual average. Neox issued it the last two Good Fridays with equally notable results for its usual figures: 2.6% and 3.4%. The data is revealing because it makes it clear that the viewer of Holy Week is not necessarily looking for devotion, but rather cultural markers of the period. ‘Life of Brian’ fits that way just like ‘Ben-Hur’, albeit from the opposite end of the spectrum. In Xataka | We believed that Generation Z was returning en masse to the Church. An error in a survey is to blame for the mirage

If you downloaded the wrong game on Steam a year ago, now the FBI is looking for you. And yes, it’s the real FBI

by

By now, we have all learned to distrust a little of what we see on the internet. Alarmist messages, supposedly official warnings, stories that sound too serious to be true. Therefore, if someone tells us that the FBI could be looking for people for having downloaded a game on Steam, the normal thing is to think that it is another hoax and move on. However, in this case it is worth stopping for a second, because what we see before us does not fit into that usual pattern. The advertisement. As Mein-MMO explainswhat we know part of a clear warning from the FBI itselfwhich has launched an investigation to identify users who may have been affected after installing certain games on Steam. Specifically, the Seattle division notes that these titles included malwaresomething that would have gone unnoticed by those who downloaded them. The time frame is broad, from May 2024 to January 2026, and that is where the agency believes the activity was concentrated. When Valve has to confirm it. The curious thing about this case is that the communication itself with users has had to overcome an obvious barrier, mistrust. Several users on Reddit point out that Valve sent messages to those who may have been affected to inform them of the investigation, but added a clarification that is unusual in this type of notice. The message said: “We can confirm that the message and the linked website are, in fact, from the FBI.” It is not a minor detail, because it reflects the extent to which the context can seem suspicious even when it is legitimate. What games are reached? The FBI has been narrowing the case down to a series of games. Besides, Bitdefender describes them as indie titles with little visibility within the platform, something that could have made it easier for them to go unnoticed for longer. The games mentioned so far are the following: BlockBlasters Chemia Dashverse/DashFPS Lampy Lunara PirateFi Tokenova What were they really looking for?. At this point, it is important to understand what type of threat the cybersecurity sources that have analyzed the case describe. According to the aforementioned cybersecurity firm, we would be facing what is known as an “information stealer“, a type of program designed to collect sensitive data from the device without the user realizing it. Among the information it could extract are credentials stored in the browser, authentication cookies that keep sessions open in different services or even data linked to cryptocurrency wallets. The steps to follow. The agency is asking those who believe they may have been affected to fill out a form specific to provide information to the investigation. As detailed by the agency itself, the responses are voluntary, but they can serve to identify victims of a federal crime and, in some cases, provide access to services, restitution and rights provided for by law. The FBI also adds that the identity of the victims will be kept confidential. Images | FBI | Compagnons In Xataka | There are people earning up to $600 a week talking to strangers. The goal: teach AI to sound human

AEMET points this year to the opposite

by

We are already in Holy Week and the question that is asked a lot during all holy days is the same: is it going to rain? And it is no wonder, because practically every year during Holy Week there is some day that is quite bad and forces the much-loved processions to be suspended, causing sad scenes of people crying for not seeing the image to which they have devotion or for not being able to show off the work of an entire year. An exceptional year. But this year This does not seem to be the case, since, after the logical doubts of the previous weeks, the AEMET has confirmed that climatological stability will be the norm this Holy Week. The sun as the norm. The dominant note of this Holy Week will be thermal recovery, causing the cold fronts to be left behind and maximum temperatures to experience again. a general rise in most of the country, leaving us with a fully spring atmosphere. In the case of the regions of Andalusia and the Levant, they will be in luck as they will benefit most from this rise, causing the thermometers to be at a very pleasant 20-25 ºC. In the case of the center and north of the peninsula, they will also see mild weather, moving in a range of between 15 and 20 ºC. There is small print. Just because we are talking about general stability does not mean that the entire country will have clear skies. As is usual when Atlantic anticyclones dominate, the extreme north and some areas of the Mediterranean will bear the brunt, although without major storms in sight that are practically reduced to zero probability. In this way, the AEMET maintains active warnings in areas such as Empordà and the Balearic Islands due to strong winds from the north, which will alter the maritime situation. Something that has already resulted in the closure of the main port of Menorca. Some exception. Until Holy Thursday, the weather map will leave us with some weak rainfall on the Cantabrian coast, and there could also be scattered showers in the Balearic Islands and the southeast of the peninsula. Furthermore, the intense cold is relegated to the mountains, meaning that only weak frosts and some light snowfall are expected, but at altitudes above 1,500 meters, affecting the Pyrenees and the Iberian System. At the end of the week. Unfortunately, weather doesn’t mix well with long-term planning. This means that right now, for April 4 and 5, the predictive models point to possible instability that suggests some rain in the west and south of the peninsula, but nowhere near something widespread in a large area of ​​the region. But the a priori idea that we should have is that the sun will prevail in a good part of the peninsula, and will ensure that all devotees can enjoy a good Holy Week. In Xataka | The Polytechnic University of Valencia has fulfilled the ancient dream of farmers: predicting drought

I’m not leaving Easter this year without an eSIM on my mobile: these are the ones I’m considering

by

I’m going on vacation for a few days at Easter and the last thing I want is worries. Not having Internet on your mobile is something that can be avoided by arriving at your destination and using roaming, public WiFi or buying a SIM from a local seller. What’s happening? That the first thing can cause a scare on the mobile bill, that the second may be unsafe and the third, a torture. Because I want to avoid this (and also because I admit that I like to have everything tied up before getting on a plane), I’m going to get an eSIM these days. It is installed on the mobile in just a few minutes and in a simple way, without using any skewer. Besides, you can leave it configuredto and, when you arrive, have Internet on your mobile to take a look at Google Maps or to use WhatsApp, for example. {“videoId”:”xa0p3mw”,”autoplay”:true,”title”:”How an AI DEVICE saved me 1 month of taking notes: This was my experience with PLAUD NOTE PRO”, “tag”:”Webedia-prod”, “duration”:”1611″} I’m still not sure which one I’m going to choose, but I can show you. the eSIMs that I have on my radar right now. eSimFLAG This company offers unlimited data plans at quite attractive prices, especially now that it has an active promotion. Using the code ‘XATAKA’, we get three days of free unlimited data by signing up for four days or more. A practical example: six days of eSimFLAG in Argentina have a price of 21 euros, but if we use the code above, the final amount remains at 10.50 euros. Saily Another top option is offered by Saily, a company owned by NordSecurity (which is also behind NordVPN, one of the best VPNs). That translates to being a very secure and easy-to-use eSIMbut it also offers very good prices. Here we must keep in mind that Saily does not offer unlimited plans, although the ones it offers are very interesting, especially if we are going to be away for a long time. For example, thirty days of eSIM in Argentina costs 5.29 euros (with 3 GB of data). Air it Airalo is an option halfway between the previous two in terms of plans, since it allows us to choose if we want a fixed amount of data or prefer unlimited data. That makes it versatile.plus it is also easy to install. Returning to Argentina, for a 7-day trip, having an eSIM with 3 GB of data costs 9 euros. If we prefer unlimited data, then the price is 31.50 euros for the same period of time. Hellofly One of the most popular eSIMs for travel is Holafly, which also offers unlimited data. It is an interesting alternative if you plan to spend a lot of data, watching videos, for example. It is also quite configurable, being able to choose the number of days and the number of days we are going to travel. Repeating destination, seven days in Argentina of unlimited data come out 33.90 euros (that is, 4.84 euros per day). In Compradicción El Corte Inglés offers a 50% discount on the coffee maker with integrated grinder that fits in any kitchen 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 | FreePik, eSimFLAG, Saily, Airalo, Holafly In Xataka | From eSIM to SIM: how to go back to the physical card if you regret the change In Xataka | How to request an eSIM from each operator in Spain: in which cases it is free and application methods (function() { window._JS_MODULES = window._JS_MODULES || {}; var headElement = document.getElementsByTagName(‘head’)(0); if (_JS_MODULES.instagram) { var instagramScript = document.createElement(‘script’); instagramScript.src=”https://platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js”; instagramScript.async = true; instagramScript.defer = true; headElement.appendChild(instagramScript); – The news I’m not leaving Easter this year without an eSIM on my mobile: these are the ones I’m considering was originally published in Xataka by Juan Lorente .

A year ago, the blackout caused the Spanish data network to collapse. The CNMC believes it has the solution

by

In April 2025 Spain suffered a zero energy of which, precisely now, we are going to begin to pay some of its consequences. I remember quite clearly being cut off, not being able to call or send messages via data connection. However, when I changed locations and arrived at my relatives’ houses, some of them could do it. The fall of telecommunications It was uneven in Spainand the CNMC has published a document with preventive measures in case a similar situation occurs again. What happened. The energy blackout that left Spain plunged into darkness resulted in a large part of the population being cut off from communication. However, some operators They managed to keep their mobile network active for hours. Backup generators, generating sets moved to each area, backup systems… The challenge for operators to maintain coverage in Spanish territory was a titanic challenge, quite dependent on internal logistics, the state of the reserve batteries (some of them run on fuel), and the network infrastructure itself They were variables that influenced such unequal conditions to be experienced. A single network. In its statement, the CNMC proposes that the four giants of the Spanish territory put roaming plans at the service of the population in emergency cases. The experience of other countries shows that it is viable to incorporate roaming plans between operators in case of emergency. In this way, in areas where this was necessary due to the unavailability of service in an operator’s mobile network, the networks could be prepared to quickly enable the basic telecommunications services of the affected users through roaming in the networks of other operators. According to the regulator, this is an “ideal measure to strengthen resilience”, but it is not so easy to apply. Yes, but. What the CNMC proposes is a cross-roaming service between Telefónica, Vodafone and MásOrange, something that requires coordination and agreement between the three giants. The best example is Sweden where, after two years of preparation, any mobile phone can connect to any operator. Go deeper. In addition to this proposal, the CNMC requests the mandatory nature of the alert system HANDLE in those cars with DAB+ radio receivers (the evolution of FM radio). Although DAB+ works via antenna (like AM and FM radio), its signal is digitally encoded. The ASA system allows you to automatically activate a DAB+ radio connected to power, being able to quickly launch alerts. At the moment, there is a distance from proposal to fact. In Xataka | Europe has a million reasons to fear an increase in the price of electricity. Spain has something else: renewables

We have been talking about “time immemorial” all our lives as if it were a remote past. Well it’s a specific year

by

You’ve heard it a thousand times. Someone is talking about a custom, a tradition, a deep-rooted habit and suddenly, to underline that idea, they pompously claim that it dates back to “immemorial times”. You, too, have probably uttered that phrase more than once. What you may not know is that “immemorial times” does not take us back to a very distant and diffuse past of which there is no written record, but to a date very specific and not so remote: the summer of 1189. That is, just under 840 years ago. To understand it you have to travel to medieval England. Of laws and customs. It’s easy to forget when you get a fine, but living in a world regulated by clear laws is a fortune. For example, if you believe that your neighbor has taken something that belongs to you, you know exactly what to do: find a lawyer, go to court and appeal to legislation that applies equally to everyone. In medieval England the thing was more complicated. Justice was dispensed, but in a way that would seem rudimentary to us today. “Until 1275 law in early medieval England was constantly evolving and was based largely on the idea of ​​long usage, custom and royal decrees,” explains Amy Irvine in Histoy Hit. “The legal framework was decentralized, with no unified or systematic legal code for the entire country. Individual regions and communities had their own local courts and were governed by customary laws developed over time. These rules were often unwritten and passed down from generation to generation.” putting order. Over time that framework evolved. An important change came with the ratification of the Magna Carta of 1215, which placed certain restrictions on royal authority. Another (key) was completed in 1275, with the Statute of Westminstera document that codified the laws in force throughout the kingdom. Throughout his 51 chapters The statute addresses issues such as criminal legislation, the rules that regulate commerce or an issue that may seem minor to us today but in its day played a fundamental role: consolidated rights. As Irvine recalls, during the reign of Henry II (1154-1189), as the legal system consolidated, more and more people began to defend their rights, claiming legitimacy over plots or grazing areas. What arguments were they using? The custom. Often those who claimed a right relied on the fact that they had enjoyed it for a long time. The problem was how to prove it. The Statute of Westminster wanted to clarify that point with an ingenious solution, one that played with the idea of ​​’memory’. “Immemorial” times. Basically what the statute of 1275 did was divide history into two large blocks, at least for legal purposes. What divided them? The ‘legal memory’. On the one hand, there was the vast period that came to be considered ‘time immemorial’. On the other hand, the valid ‘memory time’. Today it may sound far-fetched to us, but it made sense in the eyes of medieval Englishmen. At that time one of the arguments usually used in property trials was oral tradition transmitted from one generation to another. That is, someone claimed a piece of land arguing that their father, grandfather, great-grandfather… claimed that they already farmed on that plot of land. The Statute of Westminster wanted to put some order in this mess, establishing a time of ‘legal memory’, a border between an oral company and another regulated in writing. What exactly did he do? “It became the date of legal memory,” explains Russell Sandbergprofessor at Cardiff University, in statements reported by IFL. That is, he established a framework that anyone who wanted to defend that something had happened “since” time immemorial “had to adhere to.” The change also had important advantages for English landowners, who until then had to go back several centuries, until the norman conquest of 1066, to demonstrate the validity of their property titles. One year: 1189. The next question is obvious: What barrier separated ‘immemorial’ time from the time of legal memory? What year made the difference? The answer is 1189, the year of the coronation of King Richard I of England, better known as Richard the Lionheart. Taking into account that the Statute of Westminster dates back to 1275, this means that legal memory was limited to 86 years, a reasonable time to use the testimonies of parents and grandparents. ‘Immemorial time’ thus became limited (at least in the eyes of medieval English law) to any time prior to the summer of 1189. When exactly? It is not easy to define it. There are those who set the exact border July 6 1189, the day of Richard I’s accession to the throne after the death of Henry II. Others delay it until his coronation, September 3 of that same year. Laws… and something more. That 1189 was chosen as the temporal border also has a symbolic reading: by choosing that date, Edward I paid tribute to his predecessors, the monarchs Henry II and Richard I, which in a way also served to reinforce his legitimacy on the throne. The truth is that the formula worked and still today is used frequently the concept of “time immemorial”, although those who use it do not always have Richard I and medieval legislation in mind. For the RAEFor example, “immemorial” is that time “so old that there is no memory of when it began.” Images | Andrik Langfield (Unsplash) and Wikipedia In Xataka | In the Middle Ages it was common to sleep inside wooden closets. The big question is why we stopped doing it.

Psychology says that the best time of year to set resolutions is not January 1: it is now in spring

by

It is a classic among many people: reach January 1 and resolve to go to the gym, eat better, learn a language or quit smoking. But in many cases by mid-February this purpose has already been abandoned and waiting for a new year to start the cycle again. We usually blame our lack of willpowerbut science has a much more compassionate and practical explanation, since, according to experts, winter it’s not the best time to change life. The real mental and biological “reset” happens now, in spring. It has a name. The basis of this phenomenon is known in psychology as the “fresh start effect.” Here our mind does not perceive time as an uninterrupted continuum, but as a book divided into several chapters, so the change of season, birthdays or the beginning of the month act as temporal milestones in which we seek to make this change in a lifestyleFor example. Because? Having a temporal milestone for the brain has an interpretation, and that is that it creates a psychological barrier that allows us to disconnect of our “imperfect self” from the past who, for example, smokes or doesn’t go to the gym. This is something that was demonstrated in 2014 in an investigation where it became clear that these symbolic dates such as birthdays restructure our temporal perception. Precisely in one of their experiments they compared how participants reacted to the same date presented in two different ways. The results. Based on this study, they compared two different dates: The first day of spring, since we are facing a temporary milestone and specifically 25.6% of respondents chose to set reminders to start new goals right here. In comparison, a normal day of any day was used, such as Thursday, where only 7.2% of participants showed motivation to make a habit change. That is why, comparing this data, it was seen that such a simple change of perspective can quadruple the intention to pursue healthy goals, causally validating that emphasizing a milestone as a “new beginning” triggers our motivation. The spring. Here the question we can ask ourselves is if the new year is also a temporal milestone because we begin a new year… Why is spring superior? The answer lies in biology and the environment. And while in January we are coldshort days and the dreaded economic downturn, in spring we have a progressive increase in sunlight. An environmental factor that joins a series of physiological advantages. When we talk about spring ‘altering blood’, we are not telling lies because it has been seen that sunlight raises serotonin and dopamine levels, drastically improving mood, increasing energy and a willingness to make changes. Furthermore, the end of winter eliminates physical and psychological barriers such as external cold and frees energy to begin investing it in creating habits. Motivation is not enough. Logically, we talk about factors that help, and seasonal change gives a boost to people. Psychologists here explain that the new seasons offer us the ideal mental framework to “evaluate” and plan fresh strategies without the weight of guilt from previous failures. However, there is a warning backed by scientific consensus: although symbolic dates are excellent psychological catalysts for starting a habit, the initial motivation always wanes. That is why, for the habit to last beyond the spring fever, it is strictly necessary to accompany this “rush” of energy with a solid structure, realistic routines and repetition systems. Images | Mink Mingle In Xataka | Three morning habits that will help you be happier and more productive at work, according to science

A robot rental industry has been created in China that has plunged prices in a year, but it has an asterisk

by

From spring 2025 to winter 2026, renting a humanoid robot for a business event in China has gone from costing between 10,000 and 20,000 yuan a day to being listed at 1,796. Robot dogs already cost 78 yuan a day in JD.comless than 10 euros. A drop of 80% in twelve months. Why is it important. Beyond the price war, this is the first real scale laboratory in the humanoid robot business, and what happens says a lot about the real state of an industry that moves a lot of money in financing but still needs a human behind each machine. In figures: Between the lines. The most interesting number in this matter is not any of the above, but this: every robot deployed today arrives with a human engineer behind it. This technician assumes transportation, calibration, live operation and unforeseen events. The actual model is not ‘Robot as a Servicebut rather ‘Robot + Person as a Service’. The logic of SaaS (marginal costs that approach zero when scaling) does not apply here. Each new unit in the catalog implies a new payroll. The bottleneck is therefore not in the supply of machines, but in the supply of people capable of operating them. The context. Qingtianzu, the platform controlled by Zhiyuan Robotics and backed by Hillhouse Capital, connects more than 200 suppliers with companies that need robots for presentations, inaugurations or weddings. like a marketplace. During the Chinese New Year, their orders grew by 70% and exceeded 5,000 orders in one week. JD.com saw searches for “robot” increase 25-fold. The demand exists, the problem is the cost structure. Yes, but. Rent has fallen by 80%, but operating costs have barely budged: transportation, engineers, insurance, logistics… Everything remains basically the same.. The payback period cited by operators (about six or eight months) assumes about ten monthly orders at 2,500 yuan on average. But that works during peak demand. Outside of the holiday weeks, that rhythm is broken. The big question. 65% of orders are for entertainment and marketing: robots that dance or parade at fairs and those types of cute but short-lived acts. Intermittent uses by definition. To have a stable base, the sector needs to enter factories, hospitals and logistics. But experts have already warned: the majority of current humanoids are in the “cerebellum” phase, executing instructions without autonomous decision. That jump, according to the most optimistic estimatesit will take about five years. The panoramic. In a matter of months, China has built an industry with funded platforms, distributed logistics and real demand. It is the first country that has brought humanoid robots to the mass market, even if it is to perform in shopping centers and shake hands in dealerships. TrendForce foresees more than 50,000 units shipped in 2026, 700% more. The sector has its own precedent: drones for shows, which did not take off for their industrial uses but for the shows nightlife in cities across China. Robot rental can follow the same script. The difference is that an autonomous drone no longer needs a pilot. The humanoid robot still does. In Xataka | There is a Chinese startup creating the most amazing robots of the moment. It’s called X Square Featured image | Andy Kelly

Log In

Forgot password?

Forgot password?

Enter your account data and we will send you a link to reset your password.

Your password reset link appears to be invalid or expired.

Log in

Privacy Policy

Add to Collection

No Collections

Here you'll find all collections you've created before.