years

the graph that reviews the history of civilizations from 4,000 years ago

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that the world is divided into blocks or powers It’s nothing new. What we live today is the foundation of what we will live in a few centuries, just as our society has been shaped by the empires that preceded us. For example, the Greeks laid the foundations of Western civilization and The Romans laid the foundations of today’s roads. But… what was happening in other parts of the world while Socrates or Philip II did his things? That’s where this graph comes into play, which is great for simplifying the life of empires and their influence throughout history. Simplifying empires. At Xataka we have already seen some graphics that seek to put visual order in the history of humanity. There is some tremendously elaborate and others that, being similar to the one you have on these lines, They are still somewhat complex because of the amount of information they show. The one we show you is a work of the Michigan Geographic Alliance created as a tool on which to work. It’s called the World GeoHistogram and it combines geography and time into a unified visual framework that clearly shows the rise and fall of empires. History is not a zero-sum game in which, when one falls, another immediately arises. It is somewhat more complicated, but precisely this graph allows us to appreciate in a very visual way not only the empires that follow one another, but also those that occur in parallel and with which they may come into conflict. It is organized in a very simple way, with lines that are “roads” that represent each of the world’s territories, and one of the first conflicts we see is with Greece, Persia and Alexander the Great. Fleeting expansion. It is a perfect example of how two great empires develop in unison. The Greeks and Persians had expansionist desires, but there came a point, with Alexander the Great, when these ambitions clashed with those of the neighboring empire. We can see how the blue spot of Greece grows rapidly through North Africa, the Middle East and Asia, encountering the Persians. It was a fleeting expansion that lasted only a few years and we can see that, after its influence, Greece did not return to what it was, giving way to other empires such as the Roman. But speaking of expansions, a notable one is that of the Mongols, who made the same movement as Alexander, but from East Asia to the Middle East and even part of Europe. In its expansion, it collided with other civilizations, but there came a point where they simply vanished and the Middle Ages began. Parallel powers. The caliphates, the Sassanids or the Byzantines also expanded their power for centuries, while in Europe the Celts or Vikings conquered territory, but were not an empire as such. Now, in the Late Middle Ages, things began to move in Europe. After years of empires like the Holy Roman Empire, France, Holland, Portugal, England and Spain They began to flourish as powers, and all with the same objective: to obtain land. This European imperialism is shown perfectly in the graph, where we can see that they moved throughout all the territories. In some they had more or less influence, but they were there for a long period of time until it was cut short with the world wars. However, this “European empire” developed in parallel to another also of colossal size: the Ottoman Empire. It also perfectly reflects how America had empires that were succeeding one anotherlike the Olmecs, Mayans or Aztecs… until they were nipped in the bud with colonization. Long lasting. We haven’t talked about China and Japan because the ambition was… different. Japan, until the arrival of the Meiji, developed on its island. He had contact with the Mongols and the Mingbut it was not until the aforementioned Meiji and the first Sino-Japanese war when they began to be interested in other territories. Before the Second World Warthat ambition was consolidated in China, but also in territories of Oceania and, like the European empires, it was nipped in the bud after the Second World War. In China things were different. By population and organization, China is the only empire (oversimplifying) that has existed for more than 2,500 years. They have gone through different eras (Qin, Han, Tang, Ming or Qing), but almost always focused on their territory, without those expansionist desires of the Mongols or the overseas conquest of the Europeans, Ottomans and Romans. After World War II, the world was divided into two large blocks, led by the United States and the Soviet Union. But the end of the Cold war and the fall of the USSR marked the United States as a hegemonic power. And, in recent decades, China has emerged as another great pole of power It’s not perfect. Like the graph, I have excessively compressed the information, since, as I said, history is not a zero sum, but a set of elements that take time and are highly complex. In fact, the graph itself, although very visual, has some limitations. For example, societies that do not fit the “big empire” model are left out. Those without centralized states, written records or expansive territorial control, such as indigenous American or sub-Saharan cultures, are not represented. But, despite that, it is a great graph that allows you to follow a narrative with empires from before 3,000 BC to the present day. Images | Visual Capitalist, Michigan Geographic Alliance In Xataka | The Allies took the beaches of Normandy by force. Before them, a Spanish spy paved the way

Meta has been bragging about LLaMa for years while missing the AI ​​party. And she’s already tired of being the Android of AI

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Close your eyes and think about AI. It’s easy for the names that come to mind to be ChatGPT either Geminiand it makes perfect sense: OpenAI and Google have focused on pushing solutions for real users. The one that may sound familiar to you, but you don’t even remember, is LLaMa. Meta has focused for years on AI for the sector, forgetting the consumer. And that’s about to change with Mango and Avocado. Because the “new” Meta no longer wants to be the Android of AI: it wants to embrace the Apple model. The ‘meh’ of LLaMa 4. Meta’s approach to artificial intelligence has been, and is being, curious. LLaMa 4 It was a frustrating release, one that hasn’t lived up to expectations. It competed with GPT-4 (let’s go for 5, whose launch also brought controversy), but while OpenAI and Google have struggled to position their AI models as options open to the user thanks to the chatbot, Meta has gone in other directions. They have their Meta AIbut LLaMa was the star product. They have ‘gone’ from the user and have focused on professional options. Meta opted for Open Source (in quotes) seeking to turn LLaMa into the foundation on which everything that has to do with AI is built. To make a simile, Meta wanted LLaMa to be the “Android of AI.” It hasn’t worked out, and now it wants to pivot to an Apple-style model: closed and consumer-oriented. 14.3 billion dollars. That’s the money that Zuckerberg, in full ‘founders mode’ like Florentino Pérez has been left in Scale AI. The startup has established itself in a very short time as the great promise of general AIone of the short-term objectives of the majors in the sector. And, now, it is owned by Meta. It is the Madrid of the galactics. Because even if Scale AI did not develop ChatGPT, Gemini or Claudehas built the infrastructure for proposals of this style. And with the purchase comes Alexandr Wang, who was CEO of Scale AI and now director of AI at Meta. It seems that the relationship is already bearing fruit. Mango and Avocado. As we read in WSJWang has mentioned two new AI models that will go live in early 2026. And the proposal is radical considering where the company came from: Avocado – This will be the brain and successor of Calls. It is scheduled for the first half of next year and is expected to be the one that begins the new era of privatization of the model: it would mark the transition to a closed system. Mango – If Avocado aims to be invisible to the user, Mango will be the complete opposite. It will be an image and video generation model to compete directly against sora, I see either Nano Banana from OpenAI and Google, respectively. Less papers, more chats. Thus, Zuckerberg and Wang will be able to have a model that people associate as synonymous with “artificial intelligence.” Google and OpenAI have come a long way, but if AI has taught us anything, it is that new tools can become popular in a heartbeat if they hit the right button. Midjourney was the grail of generative AIFor example… But of course, neither Google nor OpenAI are going to sit idly by. Both are burning money to continue developing their models and the problem is that, although what they get Meta works like magicthey will arrive years late consumer AI competition. They have dispersed their AI in WhatsApp, Instagram and professionals instead of having a single chatbot; have published studies on how capable your artificial intelligence is. In the middle of all that, they are late to the party. And, precisely, in that They look a lot like Apple. Images | Mark Zuckerberg, Dima Solomin In Xataka | “AI is unstoppable”: the CEO of Freepik talks to us about AI, entrepreneurship and the mistakes of an EU that only focuses on the dangers of AI

This year’s El Gordo is not in the Lottery. There are Christmas baskets that offer fortunes and the prize does not go through the treasury

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The Christmas basket, today converted into an almost mythological object of the work calendar and Spanish commercialwas not born as an innocent gesture or as a marketing strategy, but as a very ancient expression of power, hierarchy and dependence. If the Romans raised their heads today they would not believe it: their sportula is no longer a simple basket, it is something much bigger than the Christmas “Gordo” himself. Literally, From Rome to the draw of the 21st century. In imperial Rome, during the Saturnalia in December, patrons gave their clients the sportula: a wicker basket with quality food (figs, bay leaves, select products) that was offered during the morning greetingthe morning ritual in which the protected came to pay respect to the patron. That basket It wasn’t just food.: It was a tangible reminder of who protected whom and how subsistence was articulated around personal relationships of fidelity. Centuries later, this logic reappeared in other forms in the Anglo-Saxon tradition of Boxing Daywhen the wealthy classes distributed boxes with gifts to their domestic servants, and also in the medieval ecclesiastical sphere, where the “Christmas boxes” functioned as donations to the most disadvantaged. The central idea was always the same: close the year with a material gesture that strengthened social, work or moral ties. The Spanish basket. In Spain, the Christmas basket began to consolidate late 19th century in public organizations and administrations, but it was not until the 1950s when it became widespread as a recognizable business gift, first in the public sector and later in the private sector. Those baskets, wicker and almost Roman in appearance, combined Christmas sweets, sausages, cheeses and bottles of wine or cava, and were usually delivered along with the extra pay. They were not a luxury, but yes a symbol: the worker brought home something that was opened as a family and consumed on key dates, integrating the world of work into the domestic ritual of Christmas. As the decades passed, the lot stopped being an accessory and became an identifying gesture of the company, an object that spoke of both the budget and the corporate culture. From ham to musical. The social and labor evolution of the country has been pushing the basket to transform without extinction. Generational diversity, changes in consumption habits and new food sensitivities have made the unique model stop working. Today, traditional baskets coexist with digital catalogs where employees choose between technological products, cultural experiences or gourmet gifts. The whole ham gives ground to slicing for economic, practical and demographic reasons, and high-proof beverages are reduced. Vegan, gluten-free or alcohol-free batches appear, and more care is taken with design, sustainability and the continent. However, even those driving the change recognize that a “romanticism” that is difficult to replace persists: the experience of coming home with a box, opening it as a family, and associating that moment with the recognition of the work done during the year. An industry that lives on a month. Behind this apparently simple gesture there is a highly specialized economic sector that concentrates a good part of your billing in just three months. Companies that think about baskets all year round, that negotiate with suppliers, adjust prices in response to inflation of ham, cocoa or oil, and that have survived crises like that of 2008 by becoming professional and gaining scale. Large stores and wholesale distributors move hundreds of thousands of lots each campaignfrom modest baskets of less than 10 euros to premium proposals that exceed 1,000. At the same time, the basket has also become a delicate tax area: it is a remuneration in kind when the company delivers it, a capital increase when it is won in a raffle, and a detail that, depending on its value, may require taxation. That fiscal component, paradoxically, has driven some of the most striking innovations. Promotional image of the “basket” of El Paisano When the basket surpasses the Gordo. The definitive leap from the symbolic to the spectacular comes when the basket stops being a set of foods and becomes a great vital draw. The best-known case this year is that of the grill The Countrymanin the province of Seville, which since 2008 has been expanding its “Great Basket of Kings” until reaching a value in 2025 close to 850,000 eurosa figure that doubles the net prize of one tenth of the Gordo de Navidad. High-end cars, motorhomes, motorcycles, an apartment on the coast, technology, gold bars and food coexist in a single prize that, in addition, is awarded with taxes and expenses assumed by the organizer. For ten euros of participation, the winner can wake up with a completely different material life. Here the basket stops being a metaphor and becomes an economic, media and social event. The bizarre thing is also Christmas. But if anything shows how far this tradition has come, it is its ability to embrace the unusual without complexes. In Ourense, a funeral home decided to put together its Christmas basket inside a coffin displayed in the window. The content, valued at 2,300 eurosincludes everything from technology and appliances to ham and sweets, and the coffin itself can be carried “if the whim is too much.” Far from being a gratuitous provocation, the raffle has a solidarity purpose and seeks to energize the life of the neighborhood. The scene well summarizes the contemporary spirit of the basket: an object that no longer fears excess, uncomfortable humor or exaggeration, because its main function is to attract attention, generate community and close the year with a story to tell. Tradition that was never innocent. As we see, since the sportula roman to the basket that is raffled in a coffin or the one that is worth more than the Fat Man without going through the Treasurythe Christmas basket has changed in form, content and scale, but not in profound meaning. Deep down it is still a closing ritual, a material transfer loaded with social meaning, or a way of saying “you … Read more

We believed that everything happened because of the new fighters. The F-16 has been in the air for 50 years and continues to sell like hotcakes

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For years we have heard that the future of air combat is called F-35a program associated with stealth, advanced sensors and a very specific idea of ​​Western technological superiority. It’s the plane that makes headlinesbudgets and strategic debates. But while that conversation progresses, there is a much quieter reality that dislodges the story: a fighter designed in the seventies not only is it still in service, but construction continues in South Carolinaand continues to find buyers in 2025. The interesting thing about the F-16 is not only that it continues to fly, but to understand why so many countries continue to bet on it when there are newer alternatives. To answer that question you have to go back to its origin, follow its evolution and look at the present with data, contracts and calendars. It is also advisable to separate promises from real capabilities, because not all air forces buy the “best”, they buy what they can operate on a sustained basis. The secret of a fighter that does not retire The F-16 was born from an internal discussion in the United States about the drift towards increasingly larger, more complex and more expensive fighters. In the early 1970s, the United States Air Force promoted the Lightweight Fighter program to see if a lighter plane could gain maneuverability and be more affordable without sacrificing efficiency. The YF-16 prototype first flew in 1974 and, in January 1975, was selected in the Air Combat Fighter (ACF) competitiona decisive step towards production. The idea was simple: operational performance before unlimited ambition. That philosophy translated into very specific design decisions. The F-16 opted for a compact cell with controls fly-by-wire that allowed finer control and relaxed stability difficult to achieve with traditional systems. The cabin was also part of the approach, with a high visibility dome, a stick side and a reclined pilot position to better withstand G forces. Over time, this approach focused on air-to-air combat expanded. The F-16 incorporated improvements in avionics, sensors and payload capacity that they pushed it towards a multi-role capabilitywith room for ground attack and increasingly demanding missions. In parallel, its international expansion was supported by cooperation, standardization and support programs between allies, which created a broad community of operators. That network remains one of the reasons the plane stays alive. Almost continuous modernization is the bridge between the original design and the F-16 currently rolling off the production lines. In its most recent standards, such as the F-16V and the new Block 70/72updated mission displays and computing, data link systems such as MIDS-JTRS, and a AESA APG-83 radar as a central part of the equipment. These newly manufactured devices are offered with a declared structural life of 12,000 hours. Almost continuous modernization is the bridge between the original design and the F-16 currently rolling off the production lines. Here the question stops being just technical and becomes operational. The F-16 continues to fit because it offers a relationship between capabilities, cost and availability that is difficult to match in many defense plans. It is a well-known aircraft, with acceptable maintenancescalable training and a mature logistics chain, something especially valuable in periods of tension and urgency. In addition, it facilitates interoperability with allies and the integration of Western weaponry in a predictable framework. Recent contracts illustrate that pattern with names and numbers, and are often channeled through government agreements and programs like the Foreign Military Sales of the United States. Slovakia has been receiving new F-16 Block 70 from 2024. Bulgaria has also opted for this modernized aircraft. Taiwan maintains an order for 66 F-16Vs approved in 2019with deliveries and testing affected by publicly acknowledged delays.Bahrain ordered 16 Block 70 and Jordan signed an offer letter and acceptance for eight units. The case of Ukraine introduces a different dimension. Here the F-16 does not arrive as part of a planned modernization, but as rexposed to an ongoing war and the need to reinforce air defense. The transfers have been materialized by the Netherlands and Denmarkand deliveries have been confirmed in phases with a limited level of detail for operational reasons. Beyond the exact figures, the jump is relevant because it introduces a platform compatible with Western doctrines, support and weapons in a real combat environment. Argentina is a different example, but just as revealing. In this case, the F-16 arrives to fill a long gap in air defense capabilities and recover supersonic flight after years without an equivalent fleet. The operation is supported by the transfer of 24 used aircraft from Denmark, with deliveries in sections, and the first batch of six devices arrived in December 2025. For Buenos Aires, the value is not just the plane, but also the training and support package that accompanies it. If we look at the current Western catalogue, the temptation is to think that the future has already been resolved. The F-35 has become the great bet of several allies and, in parallel, Eurofighter and Rafale have continued to grow with new variants, radars and weapons. The problem is that an air force is not measured only by the most advanced aircraft it can buy, but by how many it can sustain, train and deploy on a continuous basis. That’s where the balanced fleet model gains weight and the F-16 falls into place again. And if we look one step further, the conversation is already in the sixth generation. The United States works in NGADEurope pushes FCAS and the United Kingdom has allied with Italy and Japan in GCAPa proposal that aims to redefine sensors, connectivity and cooperation with unmanned systems. But they are programs with long calendars and a very high investment, in addition to the uncertainty inherent in any technological leap. In that gap, the F-16 maintains a clear space, because it offers real and available capacity while the future finishes arriving. Images | United States Air Force (1, 2, 3, 4, 5,) | Volodymyr Zelenskyy | Ministry of Defense of Argentina In Xataka | The Comac C919 … Read more

The great Christmas revolution in Spain is not the millions of LED lights: it is the rise of "Good afternoon" and "New Year’s Eve"

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Don’t look for them in the RAE dictionary because academics have not yet found a place for them there, but over the last few years two words have been making their way into the national Christmas lexicon: “good afternoon and new year’s afternoon”. Just like Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, the canonical celebrations they have begun to complement. Actually both terms are self-explanatory: good afternoon and old afternoon They are nothing other than lateness (a phenomenon upward) transferred to the festivities of December 24 and 31. It’s that simple, that effective. The formula has caught on to such an extent in recent years that it has gone from being a diffuse and spontaneous phenomenon to a settled reality that moves thousands of peopleis organized with weeks in advancehas the institutional endorsement of the town councils and gives an extra boost to the coffers of the hoteliers. New times, new traditions. Christmas is (almost by definition) synonymous with tradition, but that doesn’t mean it’s immutable. On the contrary. Over the last few years, the holidays have been enriched with new habits that, through repetition, have already become established in Spanish ‘Christmas lore’: lighting parties of the lights, the fights between city councils to erect XXL luminous trees, the ‘pre-grapes’ and of course the good afternoon and old afternoon. New celebrations that take over from others that falter. ¿Good afternoon and old afternoon? Exact. Two expanding trends that are practically self-explanatory. The good afternoon and old afternoon They are nothing other than the adaptation of the late to the two big Christmas events: Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. The party no longer starts at night, with a copious dinner. It begins at noon and in the afternoon, with celebrations that usually leave homes and move to public spaces such as restaurants, bars, streets and squares. It is not about replacing the family dinner on the 24th or the one that precedes the 12 bells on the 31st, but rather about rethinking the celebration with friends and family, adjusting their schedules to bring them forward towards the afternoon (even at noon) in a ‘challenge’ to the traditional dinners that go on forever and the old party favors. A proven success. It may seem simple, but it works. If you open Google and type “New Year’s Eve” You will basically find two things: announcements from town councils that inform about their celebrations (the list is extensive: Petrer, Cartagena, Torremolinos, Boadilla del Monte, Two Sisters, Fuenlabrada…) and articles of regional newspapers that they count how the “previews” of December 24 and especially December 31 have gained popularity over the years. “It’s like reliving a day of the Pilar Festival in the middle of Christmas. A terrifying vermouth, but with wonderful billing,” explained last year to the newspaper ‘Heraldo’ a hotelier from Zaragoza who told how the good afternoon and old afternoon They have carved out a niche for themselves in December. There is nothing written about how to celebrate them, but the most common thing is that the afternoons start in the hours before dinner, even around noon (about one or even a little before), and continue for hours, until eight. In Xataka Nougat has always been the most popular and democratic sweet at Christmas. Now it’s becoming a luxury Searching for the causes. that the old afternoon is gaining strength precisely now and not eight, ten or eleven years ago is no coincidence. Although it is not easy to determine the reasons that explain why a trend succeeds, the truth is that the boom in Christmas “previews” is preceded by factors that have paved the way for it. The first (obvious) is the expansion of late in Spain. Whether causality or not, as the population pyramid of the country is thinning at the base and widening in the age group between 30 and 50, evening leisure has been gaining weight. That is, venues willing to offer experiences similar to those at night parties, only at an afternoon time that prevents the client from staying up late or waking up the next morning exhausted and hungover. The legacy of COVID. Another factor that helps understand the success of the good afternoon either old afternoon It’s the pandemic. COVID not only forced us to spend weeks confined at home, it also (and perhaps because of that) rediscovered the pleasure of going out and enjoying the streets and terraces, which is precisely where they are celebrated the afternoons of December 24 and 31. This is how hoteliers explained it to them in 2024. The Digital Confidential in an article in which it was stated that attendance at the Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve previews shot up by 25% in just two years. {“videoId”:”x80zm7f”,”autoplay”:false,”title”:”How your TOWN or CITY has changed in 40 years: this is the NEW GOOGLE EARTH feature”, “tag”:””, “duration”:”135″} Is there more? Yes. To all of the above, other equally important keys can be added, such as families being less willing to spend hours between stoves or the increase in ordered dishes to restaurants. If we enjoy more leisure on the afternoons of the 24th and 31st, it is simply because we organize ourselves differently on those days and we are less tied to the kitchens. Another key is the advantages to organize midday and afternoon plans instead of long dinners, especially if there are children involved. How icing is it the bet what have they done not a few town councils by the evening parties, especially in small towns where the afternoon has become an opportunity to celebrate (in community and with music) Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve. Images | Gijón City Council, Fuenlabrada City Council In Xataka |It has always been said that the King of Spain plays Gordo with the number 00000. There is a part of truth and part of a lie (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 = … Read more

The Earth has been providing heat for millions of years and now Google wants it for something very different from heating

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The race for artificial intelligence is no longer fought only in laboratories or chip factories. It is moving towards much more basic and, at the same time, more critical terrain: electricity. At a time when data centers are increasing their energy consumption and the electrical grid is beginning to show signs of saturation, an American geothermal startup has just closed one of the largest financing rounds in the sector. It is called Fervo Energy, it has raised $462 million and, among its investors, is Google. It is not just another financial movement. It is a clear sign of where big technology companies are looking to sustain their ambitions with artificial intelligence. First commercial project. The company has closed this financing in a Series E – one of the last phases of private investment before a possible IPO – aimed not at research, but at the deployment of large-scale energy infrastructure. The round, led by B Capital as lead investor, will serve to accelerate the construction of Cape Station, its geothermal plant in Utah, and advance the development of other projects. In other words, moving from technology demonstration to commercial production of firm electricity for the grid. In addition, the round has aroused the interest of a broad group of industrial, financial and technological investors. Among the new names are AllianceBernstein, Mitsui, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Breakthrough Energy Ventures and, especially significantly, Google. As reported by TechCrunchFervo has raised nearly $500 million in equity and debt in the last year alone, reflecting an unusual investment appetite for a technology that for decades was considered marginal. The Google entry. Fervo is not just a climate bet or an impact investment: it is a direct energy supplier for data centers. The company already maintains an agreement with Google to supply geothermal electricity to its facilities, something that turns the technology company into a client and investor at the same time. This move fits with a broader trend. The big tech companies they have stopped trusting only in the traditional electricity market. The explosion of generative AI has multiplied the demand for continuous, stable and emission-free energy, a profile that neither solar nor wind power alone can guarantee without massive battery backup. On the other hand, geothermal energy offers firm electricity 24 hours a day. How does the Fervo bet work? Fervo’s key It’s in your technology of Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS). Unlike traditional geothermal energy – which depends on natural hot aquifers – Fervo drills hot rock, injects water and creates artificial reservoirs that allow steam to be generated in a controlled manner. A direct adaptation of hydraulic fracturing and directional drilling techniques developed over decades by the oil and gas industry. It is no coincidence: many Fervo engineers come from that sector. The flagship project is Cape Station, located in Beaver County, Utah. According to the company’s planswill begin supplying 100 megawatts in 2026 and will reach 500 megawatts in 2028. One of the key factors is speed, as the company has drastically reduced the drilling time for its wells: from about a month in its first projects to a current average of about 15 days. As Sarah Jewett, senior vice president of strategy, explained, to TechCrunchapproximately half of the cost of a well depends on drilling time. Reducing it is synonymous with economic viability. AI as the engine of the new energy map. The rise of Fervo cannot be understood without the pressure that artificial intelligence puts on energy infrastructure. According to the International Energy Agencythe electrical consumption of data centers could double before 2030. An analysis by the Rhodium Group goes further and estimates that advanced geothermal could cover up to two thirds of new energy demand of these centers in the United States. Google is not alone in this race. The company is simultaneously exploring the reopening of nuclear plantsthe development of small modular reactors (SMR) and even experimental projects as solar-powered orbiting data centers. The logic is the same in all cases: ensure its own, stable, long-term electricity supply. In the words of the CEO of FervoTim Latimer: “There is a huge appetite to understand how the history of electricity demand is going to be resolved.” The answer, increasingly, lies in energy sources that previously seemed secondary. A sector that matters again. For years, geothermal energy was relegated to wind and solar energy. Today, United States live a true renaissance of the sector. The combination of new technologies, private capital, institutional support and demand from Big Tech is changing the landscape. Fervo is considered a pioneer within this new ecosystem. According to TechCrunchthe company is focused for now on the western United States, where the hot rock is closer to the surface, but does not rule out expanding to other states or abroad when its technology is even more optimized. The subsoil as a competitive advantage. While artificial intelligence is presented as the most ethereal technology of our time, its expansion depends on something deeply physical: constant, cheap and clean megawatts. In this context, Fervo represents more than just an energy startup: one more—but key—piece in the new infrastructure that supports the digital age. Google didn’t get here by chance. He has been exploring all possible avenues for some time to ensure stable power for his AI. And in that strategy of not closing any doors, while some look to the sky, others – like Fervo – look underground, kilometers underground, where the planet’s heat is beginning to emerge as one of the most solid responses. Image | FervoEnergy and freepik Xataka | The United States may win the AI ​​race, but its problem is different: China is winning all the others

Movistar Plus+ was making a comeback after four years of losing customers. Telefónica has decided to cut its workforce

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Telefónica has set 119 final departures in Movistar Plus+part of the ERE that will eliminate 4,554 positions in Spain. It is a reduction compared to the more than 200 losses initially planned, but it comes at the worst moment: when the platform was finally adding clients again. Why is it important. Movistar Plus+ has 3.75 million (the most recent data is from September 30) , the best data since 2018 after years of collapse. It lost almost 650,000 clients between 2019 and 2023, hit rock bottom, and was already beginning to recover. Now Telefónica is cutting muscle just when it needed to step on the accelerator. The paradox. The company bet a lot of money buying Canal+ and launching its own productions to compete with Netflix and Prime Video. When the numbers improve, he reduces the workforce. The inevitable question: how are you going to keep up with global giants with fewer people and a tighter budget? Yes, but. Subscriber growth does not guarantee profitability. Telefónica has reoriented Movistar Plus+ towards a more flexible and cheaper offer, unrelated to convergent packages. That adds customers but compresses margins. And competing in streaming without a global scale is very expensive. The unequal context. Netflix already has more than 300 million subscribers in the world. Prime Video exceeds 200 million. Disney+ around 120 million. Movistar Plus+ has 3.75 million in Spain, at the end of the third quarter of 2025. The difference in scale is brutal and translates directly into budget for content, technology and distribution. What works. Football continues to be the lifeline. LaLiga and the Champions League keep many subscribers hooked who, without that content, perhaps would not have stayed for so long. But a platform cannot be built only on sports rights that also increase in price every cycle, as we saw a few days ago. What deserves more luck. Movistar Plus+’s own series and documentaries have objective quality. ‘Poison‘, ‘The Messiah‘, ‘The Plague‘, ‘riot police‘, ‘The Pioneer‘ either ‘Rapa‘ demonstrate the ability to find powerful stories with local cultural sensitivity. Netflix and Prime also produce Spanish content, but Movistar Plus+ has built its own catalog that transcends obvious trends and connects with the public in another way. The problem is not the quality of the content. Quality is sometimes not enough when you compete against infinite budgets and recommendation algorithms fine-tuned with data from hundreds of millions of users. The big question. What will become of Movistar Plus+ if it continues to contract? It was beginning to regain ground, but doing so with 119 fewer people makes it difficult to maintain the pace. Without the investment capacity to match the Netflix-Amazon-Disney triumvirate, the room for maneuver narrows every quarter. The background. This ERE is not an isolated case. Telefónica has been thinning its workforce for years while it pivots towards infrastructure and gets rid of unprofitable Latin American subsidiaries. Marc Murtra, president for one year, has renovated its entire dome. The 2024 one cost 1,300 million and took 3,421 positions. This new adjustment will be more expensive and deeper. Between the lines. The unions have ended up accepting forced dismissals in minority companies such as Movistar Plus+, despite having set it as an initial red line. The pressure from the workforce to guarantee early retirements in other subsidiaries has weighed more than maintaining positions. UGT and CCOO have appealed to “common sense” and “responsibility”common euphemisms to justify a capitulation. In Xataka | Telefónica is preparing a tough ERE, but for many veterans it will be like a prize Featured image | Xataka with Mockuuups Studio

Mercadona invests heavily in AI. And it has an advantage built over 40 years

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The general overview. Mercadona has a turnover of 38.8 billion euros annually without being the cheapest supermarket in Spain. The slogan ‘Always Low Prices’ was left behind a long time ago because its focus became different. Their secret today is not in the price, but in constantly anticipating what their customers need. Now it wants to scale that capability with AI. Why is it important. Sergio Pajares, the company’s Director of Technology, sums it up bluntly in statements to The Spanish: The company does not seek to have AI for the sake of having it, but rather to develop “the best AI to sell lettuce.” A way to make it clear that they do not want a simple technological showcase, but rather tools that solve tangible problems of daily business. The context. Mercadona has been optimizing its supply chain for forty years and accumulating knowledge about what works in its stores and logistics blocks. That advantage built year after year is what now powers its AI models. It is not about integrating any API and bragging about innovation, but about training systems that understand the internal reality of the company. In detail. The company has developed an AI tool applied to product master data, the heart of its system. Automate the generation of information when new assortment arrives. And it detects inconsistencies that could break the chain: from label errors to coding mismatches. Pajares defends that therein lies the competitive difference: “There are very advanced models to program applications, but none natively understands how software is developed within a specific company.” The key is that the AI ​​knows and interprets Mercadona’s own context, in this case. Between the lines. The strategy has two speeds. For business processes, such as planning employee vacations that do not compromise operational continuity, the company trains its own models. For more standard tasks, such as automatically recognizing supplier invoices, use off-the-shelf generative AI, while maintaining flexibility to switch suppliers when appropriate. Yes, but. Mercadona does not want technological disorder. It has defined an internal strategy that standardizes developments, guarantees common practices in quality and security, and prevents each team from creating its own isolated solutions. “AI cannot grow in a disorderly manner,” insists Pajares. This last point is key: in many companies, AI has been assumed as an engine that each team executes independentlyoften with different tools between teams, complements disconnected from each other. Mercadona seeks that cohesion between departments. The background. Pajares is clear: it is not about having the best algorithm in the world, but about knowing where to apply it. “In technology we tend to fall in love with the algorithm; in real life, intelligence lies in knowing where to apply it,” according to The Spanish. Mercadona’s bet is to predict demand with more precision than anyone else. Four decades of data on purchasing behavior, product rotation and logistics efficiency are your moat particular. And AI amplifies that advantage. In Xataka | Mercadona grows, but the “shopkeeper” model is dead: Spain has lost 142,000 businesses in 10 years Featured image | Mercadona

A dog was lost in 2021 in the United States. Five years later it has appeared 3,700 kilometers from his home

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In recent years we have seen how the algorithm has taken over Christmasand Netflix to the head of the film industry competes to offer the most emotional miracle of the year, stories designed to reconcile us with chance, hope and those impossible endings. But this time, the story that best fits that mold does not come from a script or a streaming platform, but from real life, far from the screens and without special effects. The loss. The story has been collected by US media this weekend. Apparently, during almost five yearsPatricia Orozco lived with an unanswered question. Since Choco, the dachshund mix dog that he had adopted in 2016, disappeared in May 2021, his memory remained present in our daily lives. The uncertainty was constant: if he was still alive, if someone cared for him, if he had suffered. After months of posters, calls to shelters and no clues, the disappearance turned into mourning and a silent renunciation of having a dog again, as if accepting another company meant admitting that Choco would not return. The impossible message. Everything changed with an unexpected message from a microchip company. Choco had appeared, but not near Sacramento, where Orozco lived, but rather more than 3,700 kilometersin Lincoln, Michigan. At first, the woman thought it was Lincoln, California, just half an hour from her home. Surprise turned to disbelief when he realized that his dog had crossed practically the entire United States without anyone knowing how or when. Choco had been found tied to a fence in front of to a shelterand the photos confirmed what seemed like a mistake: it was him. The problem of bringing him back. The initial joy gave way to logistical anguish. With two small children, one of them barely four months old, Orozco saw no way to travel to pick him up. A message on social networks It activated an unexpected chain of solidarity. Volunteers, protectors and anonymous people began to look for solutions, from affordable flights to km donations (miles in USA). The possibility of someone traveling in his place took shape when Penny Scotta volunteer accustomed to complicated rescues, offered to make the trip. Orozco with his dog Choco, almost five years after he disappeared from his home in May 2021 A silent journey. The Washington Post told that Choco’s return was a small aerial odyssey. Scott flew from California to Detroit with stops and delays, picked up the dog thanks to the help of local volunteers and crossed the country again with the. A missed connection forced him to spend almost fourteen hours at the Chicago airport, where Choco, calm and docile, walked on his leash among travelers without a single complaint. For those who accompanied him, that behavior seemed to confirm that, despite everything, he was still the same calm and affectionate dog. The mystery of time. In the background of this most “Christmas” story, the great question: Nobody knows how the hell Choco ended up in Michigan or who he lived with during that time. The only thing that is clear is that he traveled through an entire country, far from the sunny climate that he had always known and that, according to its ownerI hated to leave. Now, at eleven years old, the dog had aged, but he had not lost his curious and affectionate character, the same one that led him to run away every time he found an open door. Return home. Finally, on December 3rd Choco came back to Sacramento. The reunion was immediate and left no doubt: when he got out of the car, he walked directly towards Patricia, as if he had never left. The same home from which he escaped years ago became his refuge again, yes, now withwith more precautions: a double door and the determination not to repeat history. For Orozco, the moment was unreal, a mixture of disbelief and relief that he still finds difficult to assimilate. A network and an idea. Beyond the happy ending, the story left a clear lesson. The microchip was the key piece that allowed us to close a circle that seemed broken forever, but so was the network of people who, without knowing each other, decided to act. Rescuers, donors and volunteers demonstrated that even after years and thousands of kilometers, a loss can be transformed into a reunion. For Patricia Orozco, there are not enough words to describe it: what happened, insistcan only be called “Christmas miracle”. A story with a happy ending that could be perpetuated on the big screen. The story of Choco and Orozco has all the ingredients to make the next Christmas list… in the home of the algorithms. Image | PexelsHelping Paws and Claws In Xataka | In 2019, Iberia lost a dog before flying. Now the European Justice says that it is worth the same as a suitcase In Xataka | The science behind your dog being able to find you 12 years after being lost

The last 15 years confirm that the Mediterranean is becoming radicalized

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This weekend the map of the southeast of the peninsula has turned red again. The maximum alerts issued by the AEMET in the Valencian Community and in Almería it has returned us to a reality that seems to repeat itself with a disturbing cadence. And this is precisely the question we can ask ourselves in this case: are these events of a more usual way? In a short way. What the data tells us From the last 15 years of analysis, it is yes. The long answer is more complex and involves a Mediterranean that works like gasoline increasingly volatile for these phenomena. What the data says. If we look back, the perception that ‘it used to rain, but not like this’ has very important scientific support. The analyzes carried out by the AEMET on extreme rainfall between 1965 and 2020 show a fairly clear pattern: storms with torrential rains are not only more frequent, but are more extensive and violent in the 21st century. The turning point seems to be in the last decade. The 2010-2020 period concentrates an anomalous number of extreme events, with the storm glory in 2020, setting previous records that the DANA of 2024 has pulverized. Furthermore, recent publications in EarthArXiv and compilations of Copernicus confirm this trend: the Spanish western Mediterranean is suffering an intensification of convective episodes. It is not a cycle. It is something that may come to mind, thinking that this is a streak that may be cyclical and that in the future the frequency may be decreasing. But the reconstructions dendrochronological based on tree rings they indicate that the intensity of the Levant events is outside the natural variability observed in previous centuries. The engine of disaster. To understand why we have more violent storms now, we have to go back to basic thermodynamics, since the Mediterranean is registering unprecedented surface temperatures. This made, for example, the Valencia DANA of 2024 to be between 12 and 15% more intense than this anthropogenic climate change. The equation used by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is relentless: For every degree the atmosphere warms, it can retain 7% more humidity. Something that directly affects meteorological events. The example. When a DANA that It’s literally a layer of cold air. At altitude it encounters an unusually warm Mediterranean, the result is a massive injection of water vapor. This is what Millán, historic director of CEAM, had been warning for years: we have turned our maritime basin into a pressure cooker. In this way, warming not only provides more water to precipitate, but also intensifies the force with which it does so and therefore greater destruction. The future. What is worrying is not only what has happened, but what the models say is going to happen. The projections cited by experts indicate an increase in up to 61% in extreme rains in the Mediterranean region under high emissions scenarios. Reports from the University of Zaragoza and AEMET indicate that, although the total number of rainy days could decrease in the future, the days that it rains will do so torrentially. Specifically, for the coasts of Valencia and Alicante, they are projected increases greater than 20% in intensity of extreme precipitation. This forces us to prepare containment plans that have us prepared for possible natural disasters. Images | Jason Sung In Xataka | Something strange has happened in the stratospheric polar vortex. And it is a hint of the winter that awaits Spain

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