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Google has solved problems in two hours that would take three years on a supercomputer. It’s the quantum advantage we needed

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Google has taken a notable step into the field of quantum computing with a new algorithm called Quantom Echoes. This algorithm has been able to demonstrate for the first time a “practical and verifiable quantum advantage” that makes its quantum computer make fools of today’s large supercomputers. 13,000 times faster than a supercomputer. The new algorithm, called Quantum Echoes (“Quantum Echoes”), has made it possible to demonstrate that a quantum computer – based on Google’s Willow quantum chip— successfully executes a verifiable algorithm that exceeds the capacity of today’s large supercomputers. Thus, that computer managed to execute that algorithm 13,000 times faster than the best current classical supercomputer when executing similar code. “Quantum verifiability”. Google’s quantum supercomputer solved the problem in just over two hours, when in the second supercomputer most powerful in the world, Frontier, would have taken 3.2 years. But it also did it in a verifiable way: the result can be repeated in the quantum computer itself or in any other of similar caliber. Quantum echoes. The algorithm resembles an advanced echo: you send a signal to the quantum system, perturb a qubit, and then precisely reverse the evolution of the signal to “listen” to the resulting echo. This echo is special because it is amplified by constructive interference, a quantum phenomenon where waves add up to become stronger, which allows this effect to be precisely measured. The algorithm allows modeling the structure of systems in nature, from molecules to black holes. An achievement with a lot of Nobel Prize behind it. The milestone is based on decades of research in this area, including that carried out by the recent Nobel Prize winner, Michel H. Devoretwho is part of the Google team. Together with his colleagues John M. Martinis and John Clark he laid the foundations for this advance at the University of California at Berkeley in the mid-1980s. “Quantum verifiability”. Google’s quantum supercomputer solved the problem in just over two hours, when in the second supercomputer most powerful in the world, Frontier, would have taken 3.2 years. But it also did it in a verifiable way: the result can be repeated in the quantum computer itself or in any other of similar caliber. Quantum echoes. The algorithm resembles an advanced echo: you send a signal to the quantum system, perturb a qubit, and then precisely reverse the evolution of the signal to “listen” to the resulting echo. This echo is special because it is amplified by constructive interference, a quantum phenomenon where waves add up to become stronger, which allows this effect to be precisely measured. The algorithm allows modeling the structure of systems in nature, from molecules to black holes. An achievement with a lot of Nobel Prize behind it. The milestone is based on decades of research in this area, including that carried out by the recent Nobel Prize winner, Michel H. Devoretwho is part of the Google team. Together with his colleagues John M. Martinis and John Clark he laid the foundations for this advance at the University of California at Berkeley in the mid-1980s. Hello qubit. His discovery: the properties of quantum mechanics could also be observed in electrical circuits large enough to be seen with the naked eye. That gave rise to the creation of superconducting qubitswhich are the basic blocks with which Google has created (like other companies) its quantum computers. Devoret joined Google in 2023, thus strengthening the company’s trajectory in its search for the now famous “quantum supremacy”. Promising practical applications. The advance is directed directly to the solution of important problems in fields such as medicine or materials science. Quantum computing remains an experimental technology and faces a key challenge with error correction, but Quantum Echoes demonstrates that “quantum software” is advancing at a pace parallel to hardware. Google applied Quantum Echoes to a proof of concept experiment for Nuclear Magnetic Resonance. This technique acts as a “molecular microscope”, a powerful tool that will help design drugs or, for example, establish the molecular structure of new polymers. a marathon. This new milestone demonstrates the progress that this technology has made in recent years, but Google is not alone here. Microsoft or IBM have also made notable advances in recent years, and of course there are numerous startups both in the US like in china who work in this area. In Xataka | Decoherence is the biggest problem with quantum computers. This superconductor wants to end it

The border between Morocco and Algeria was closed in 1994. 30 years later, the fight threatens to claim its most unexpected piece: the date

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A strong, dry, accurate blow is enough. Only one, in the center of the chest. When this happens, the diaphragm contracts violently and the body exhales all the air it has inside: the person is temporarily unable to inhale. That is exactly what happened to the international date market on October 10, 2025: it was left breathless. And the reason was a misunderstanding. That and a very long diplomatic conflict that always ends up affecting Spain. What has happened? October 10. The advice of GIDattes (the Tunisian interprofessional date group) published a statement in which the start of exports was announced of dates. Business as usual, really. But they added a clarification that set off all the alarms: “to all markets except the Moroccan one.” In a matter of hours, everyone interpreted that Tunisia was vetoing the export of these fruits to the west. October 13 and 14. Given the widespread noise and uncertainty in the sector, the GIDattes He clarified that there was no type of exclusion. Simply put, as it is the main export market, These required a special calendar that would be approved on October 20. October 19, 20 and 21. But it was too late, the Moroccan employers’ associations and producer groups had smelled blood. For the first time in years, there was a 20% chance (19.7% in 2024) of the dates consumed by the country would disappear from the equation: the profits for local producers would be enormous. October 21. After the meeting on the 20th, the Tunisian press reported that there would indeed be exports to Morocco at the end of October: “like every year“. What does Algeria have to do with all this? Moroccan farmers have gone directly to where it hurts most: they have accused Tunisian dates of be Algerian. It is, moreover, a classic accusation of the Moroccan countryside. Something that no one can completely rule out (due to the traditional traceability deficits of the Maghreb), but that no one really takes seriously. Although it is not going through its best moment, Tunisia is a giant in the world of dates. He doesn’t need Algeria at all. But Algeria is a sensitive issue in the western end of North Africa. A little context. The historical enmity between Morocco and Algeria can be traced back to the very independence of these territories: border disputes ended up leading to the War of the Sands of 1963 and, above all, in the Algerian support for the Polisario Front in Western Sahara. In 94, an attack in Marrakech (in which two Spaniards died) caused a diplomatic conflict that closed the enormous land border between both countries. They have not been reopened and, in fact, in 2021, diplomatic and commercial relations they are broken. Suffice it to say that, if the accusations of the Moroccan producers are confirmed, the Tunisian date would disappear from the markets of the Alawite state. Why is all this so important? This has had an impact on the international date market because, although Tunisia is in the doldrums (and Saudi Arabia has overtaken it in recent years) it is still the second country in date exports. A decision such as that of vetoing the largest importer of dates in the world, Morocco, would have caused a violent restructuring of commercial networks around the globe. To all this we must add a key fact: the third country in date exports, Israel. Today (with or without a peace agreement) no one knows exactly what will happen to the tens of thousands of tons that the Hebrew country puts on the market each year. And that, logically, generates even more uncertainty. The important thing is in the details. In dates, for example. In recent days Steve Witkof and Jared Kushner (Trump’s special envoys) revealed that they were working to reach an agreement between Morocco and Algeria that would solve the Sahara issue. It is quite possible: the US president’s obsession with ‘ending all the world’s wars’ may have put a conflict like this in the spotlight. One, furthermore, that involves a traditional ally of Washington. However, dates show us that everything is more complicated than it seems. Is the delicate balance of the Mediterranean about to be blown up? We will see it in the coming months. Image | In Xataka | Morocco holds a new record: being the African country with the highest growth of millionaires in the last decade

records every excess, sleeplessness and stress in the cells for 20 years

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As we age, not only do we accumulate experiences and begin to observe the marks of the passage of time such as wrinkles, but something more silent happens in your body: an inflammation that does not hurt, but never completely goes away. Scientists call it inflammationand it is one of the keys to understanding why we age and how we could do it better. Your body remembers what happened 20 years ago. Researcher Juan Pablo de Rivero Vaccari, from the University of Miami so he warns. For years, the modern lifestyle—calorie diets, constant stress, lack of sleep and a sedentary lifestyle—has kept the immune system on a kind of permanent “red alert.” Normally, inflammation is a useful response: it helps repair tissues and defend us from infection. But when that response is not extinguished, it becomes a slow fire that gradually deteriorates the body’s systems. From Mayo Clinic they describe it like an internal civil war: innate immune cells, which should act only when faced with a threat, begin to chronically release inflammatory substances. Meanwhile, adaptive defenses—those that “learn” from viruses—are weakened. The result is felt in practice: a simple flu that takes weeks to pass, wounds that heal more slowly or constant fatigue. Immunologist Jessica Lancaster sums it up in a simple way: “With age, the immune system ages and this constant inflammation can deplete defenses and damage healthy tissues.” An internal fire? The inflammation of aging appears to arise from a combination of cellular stress, metabolism, and lifestyle. According to researcher Alan Cohen of Columbia University, stressed cells release proteins that indicate that “something is wrong,” even in the absence of disease. However, we do not all age the same. a study, published in Nature Aging by Cohen himself and colleagues from several universitiescompared people from Italy and Singapore to indigenous communities from Bolivia (the Tsimane) and Malaysia (the Orang Asli). The finding was surprising: only populations in industrialized countries showed the classic pattern of increasing inflammation with age. The hypothesis is clear: the inflammation It could be, more than an inevitable consequence of the passage of time, a side effect of modern life. Assembling the puzzle. Because science has already found the pieces. AT Yale University, Vishwa Dixit’s team analyzed plasma from adults who reduced their caloric intake by 14% over two years. They found that this moderate calorie restriction markedly reduced levels of a key inflammatory protein, complement C3a, linked to immune activation. In other words, they found that inhibiting C3a reduces age-related inflammation and improves metabolic health. Furthermore, in mice, pharmacological blockade of the same component of the complement system increased longevity and improved metabolic function. In parallel, another team, led by Marissa Schaferidentified a new marker of cellular aging: the interleukin-23 receptor (IL-23R). This biomarker increases with age in both humans and mice and is associated with inflammation in organs such as the kidney or liver. However, there is hope: certain senolytic drugs—such as fisetin (present in strawberries) or venetoclax, used against cancer—managed to reduce these inflammatory levels in old animals. The idea is simple but powerful: eliminate poorly aging cells to relieve inflammation from within. Any plan to avoid it? While science searches for treatments, experts agree: lifestyle remains our best medicine. From Mayo Clinic they explain it simply: sleeping well, maintaining a healthy weight, exercising and eating fewer ultra-processed foods are the most effective keys to strengthening the immune system. In fact, As Dr. Lancaster points out: “Sleep is probably the most critical factor for immunity, more so than diet or exercise.” During sleep, the body releases proteins that fight infections and eliminate brain toxins. For its part, in a report for the Washington Post They add that controlling blood pressure, visceral fat and blood sugar is essential to reduce inflammation. And Yale researcher Vishwa Dixit sums it up with ancient wisdom: “The same thing your grandmother and mine said: do things in moderation, don’t eat too much, and move more.” Towards aging without fire. Scientist Alan Cohen uses a perfect metaphor: “Inflammation is like a fire alarm. It’s not always pleasant, but it indicates that something is wrong. The important thing is not to turn it off, but to prevent it from ringing all the time.” For this reason, experts recommend not becoming obsessed with micromanaging each biological marker or pursuing eternal youth through supplements. Image | FreePik Xataka | The birth rate in Poland is a disaster and some hotels have had an idea: money for those who conceive during a stay

We have been talking about microplastics for years without being very clear about how they affect us. Science is close to solving it

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Plastic no longer only wraps our food or makes up the clothes we wear, but it has silently colonized our body. And microplastics have been found almost everywhere in the body: placenta, blood, lungs, testiclesbreast milk, brain human… But when faced with the big question of What effect does it have on the body?we are already having answers. The measurements. Studies already suggest that we could hold up to five grams of this material in our own brain. The image is shocking: the equivalent of a plastic teaspoon lodged in the deepest part of our being. Microplastics are particles, in this case they are very tiny, that come off from packaging, synthetic clothing, tires, cosmetics and countless everyday objects such as lettuce. But some are so small that they are able to cross the barriers of our lungs and intestines, travel through the bloodstream and deposit in our internal organs. What happens once there is the great unknown that scientists strive to clear up. The studies. Dr. Christian Pacher-Deutsch, from the University of Graz (Austria), recently presented a study in which he exposed human intestinal bacteria to five types of common microplastics. The result was quite clear: bacterial populations were altered, producing chemical changes, in some cases reflecting patterns observed in patients with depression and colorectal cancer. Although the researcher himself was cautious in pointing out that “although it is early to make definitive statements, reducing exposure to microplastics is a sensible precaution.” But the effects don’t stop in the intestine. Dr. Jaime Ross, a neuroscientist at the University of Rhode Island, conducted a revealing experiment: gave a group of mice water contaminated with microplastics to drink. Soon, the mice began behaving strangely, anxiously venturing into open spaces, an atypical behavior that is associated with aging and neurological diseases. Analyzing their brains, Ross found plastic in all organs and a reduction in GFAP, a key protein for brain health. This same pattern of exhaustion is seen in humans with depression and dementia. Caution. In this case, microplastics have been detected in arterial plaques, and an analysis concluded that people whose plaques were loaded with plastic were almost five times more likely to suffer a heart attack, stroke or die within three years. The practice. Faced with this avalanche of data, The Guardian wanted to move from theory to practice. The British journalist herself decided to undergo a test from the company Plastictox which, for £144, promises to reveal the amount of microplastics circulating in the blood. The test result indicated a concentration of forty microplastics per milliliters of blood. And although this figure placed her in the 25% of people with the least exposure, the laboratory gave her the total result: about 200,000 plastic particles in the bloodstream. However, other experts urge caution. Professor Stephanie Wright, a researcher at Imperial College London, calls this evidence “very premature.” He points out that although an analysis shows that there are 40 particles per ml, it is unknown if this is good or bad or if it will depend on the type of plastic it is or its origin. We live in real uncertainty. The advice. Although it is impossible to avoid exposure completely, there are a number of tips to avoid consuming this type of microplastics. For example, you can choose not to use plastic kitchen utensils or drink hot liquids from plastic cups. Even with the tap water either bottled we can have the same problem. Outside of food, the material composition of bedding or pajamas should also be reviewed, as they can release these types of particles, making cotton the best. Images | FlyD Chad Montano In Xataka | When Tap Water Tastes Like Hell: The Invisible Chemistry of Drinking Water That Explains Why It Tastes How It Tastes (And Why It’s One of the World’s Greatest Inventions)

Telefónica has achieved its best portability data in 25 years. It’s a sign that something is changing.

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Between July and September, Telefónica has achieved 80,000 net additions due to portability – mobile and landline combined –, the highest figure since this mechanism was implemented in 2000, according to the latest data reported by Expansion. The data continues to go bankrupt for a quarter of a century, losing customers almost uninterruptedly. Since May 2024, the operator has had 17 consecutive months of positive results in mobile, a streak that it only shares with Digi. Why is it important. Portability measures who best understands what the user wants and who executes it. It’s not statistical noise: it’s money, market share and retention capacity. Telefónica had been the big natural loser of the system for decades—it came from a monopoly so it had the largest base as well as the highest prices—but now it reverses the equation. Something has changed, either in its proposal or in the market. Or both. The figures: In mobile, Telefónica has added 64,000 net lines in the quarter, compared to 45,000 in the same period of 2024. So far this year, it has accumulated 135,000 new lines, almost ten times the 14,000 in the first nine months of last year. In fixed terms, it achieved 16,000 quarterly registrations, its best historical record, and has had a positive six months. It is the first time that it has achieved two consecutive quarters of winning in both markets at the same time. The contrast. If Telefónica and Digi grow, MasOrange and Vodafone sink: MasOrange has lost 138,000 mobile lines in the quarter – 438,000 so far this year, 50% more than in 2024. Vodafone gave up 91,000 lines in the third quarter and 272,000 in the accumulated annual period. Digi, for its part, adds 177,000 quarterly registrations, 21% more than a year ago, and leads the acquisition with 605,000 lines gained between January and September. Between the lines. The market is polarizing: Telefónica retains and attracts the premium customer, who values ​​service, network and stability over price. Digi sweeps the segment low cost pure, where only the cheapest rate matters. The operators in the middle—MasOrange with its cheap legacy brands, Zegona’s Vodafone dragging problems from the past—they lose on both sides. Yes, buteither. MasOrange faces a structural problem: many of its brands—MásMóvil, Yoigo, Pepephone, Simyo—have customers who are hypersensitive to price, willing to jump at the first cent difference. Vodafone, for its part, still bears the consequences of quit football in 2018a decision that caused a mass exodus and from which it has never fully recovered. Now add the uncertainty of Finetworkin pre-contest and losing 48,000 lines in the quarter. The backdrop. To find a quarter similar to Telefónica’s current one, you have to go back to 2018, when Vodafone left football and the historic operator gained 66,000 net lines. But that was temporary, a gift from the competition. This is different: Telefónica has been winning in mobile for 17 months without any rival having made a catastrophic mistake. It is sustained improvement. Small virtual operators are also beginning to disappear from the map. In the third quarter they have lost 11,000 net lines, compared to the 9,000 they gained a year ago. Digi is sweeping them away. The market is simplified: the big ones with the muscle to invest in the network remain (Telefónica, MasOrange, Vodafone) and the disruptor low cost (Digi). The rest, adrift. In Xataka | Telefónica is about to surprise itself: its future is no longer in communications Featured image | Telephone

Mobile phones have been a boring rectangle for years. Honor wants to give them a robotic arm, and it makes more sense than it seems

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With the exception of folding ones, the vast majority of mobile phones are practically the same: a rectangle with a screen in front and cameras on the back. There was a time when the cell phones had crazy designs and very varied, but that time ended, or so we thought. Honor just taught a mobile phone whose camera is mounted on a robotic arm. It sounds crazy, but it makes more sense than it seems. Honor Robot Phone, the pet-mobile At first it looks like a totally normal cell phone, but then the glass that covers the rear camera opens and a small robotic arm emerges from it, as if it were an “eye” that looks at us and that He behaves as if he were some kind of pet. Yes, it also reminds us a lot of Wall-E. In a published video on his YouTube channelHonor shows this original concept that, through artificial intelligence, is capable of not only capturing moments autonomously, but also interact with us and the environment. In the video we see him inside a pocket “looking” around, helping us choose clothes and even calming a crying baby. It also serves as a stabilizer since Its design is very reminiscent of a gimbal. The evolution of the smartphone is a smartphone With the emergence of AI we have witnessed an attempt to create the evolution of the smartphone. Humane tried it with the AI ​​Pinbut it failed. Sam Altman and Jony Ive have been stirring the hornet’s nest for months with the creation of an “AI iPhone” which we know nothing about. As boring as so many practically identical designs may seem to us, the smartphone works and looks like it will continue to do so for many years. At the beginning of the video, Honor makes it clear that the Robot Phone wants to be the evolution of the smartphone in the age of AI. However, unlike Humane or the mysterious OpenAI device, does not seek to reinvent it completelybut it adds a mechanism so that the AI ​​can see at all times, which is the basic function of devices such as the AI ​​Pin or smart glasses. The Honor Robot Phone it is not a real product, In fact, the entire video is generated by AI. It is part of the Honor Alpha Plan that they announced at the beginning of the year and with which They will invest 10,000 million dollars to be the AI ​​benchmark in the mobile sector. They will give us more details at the Mobile World Congress in 2026, where we may see a working prototype. Images | Honor In Xataka | Where mobile phones are not going: we thought that innovating was the way but we were very wrong

has bought more missiles from the US in just two years than in the entire last century

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For months, Washington made Spain his example of disobedience within NATO. Trump came to threaten with punishment trade due to the “low” military spending, while Brussels and La Moncloa they defended their own pace of investment and warned that public accounts could not sustain an uncontrolled escalation. But behind that diplomatic struggle and there was something more to the reproaches exchanged. A “bill” that belittles both, and that reveals a very different story about how far Spain went to appease its most powerful ally. The tariff threat. It all started with an angry warning from the White House: Donald Trump, irritated for the rejection of Pedro Sánchez to increase defense spending to 5% of GDP, publicly stated “punish” Spain with tariffs. The threat, which occurred after a summit with Javier Milei in Washington, marked a new level of political pressure on a historic ally. The American president accused Madrid of “taking advantage” of NATO protection without contributing enough and, in a mix of bravado and electoral calculation, he hinted that he could turn the budget dispute into a commercial front. Behind the rhetoric there was an intention deeper: force Europe to finance the containment of Russia with its own resources and, in the process, prop up the military industry United States. The answer. Neither the European Commission nor the Spanish Government took long to respond. Brussels remembered that trade policy is the exclusive competence of the Union and that any attempt to penalize a Member State would have consequences. Madrid, for its part, took pains to emphasize that its military spending had grown more than double in just seven years (from 0.98% of GDP in 2017 to 2% in 2025) and that the debate was not about spending more as a slogan, but about doing it with a strategic sense and within the real capabilities of the country. At the same time, Spain insisted that it contributes to collective deterrence and that its budget increase, although more gradual than that desired by Washington, is part of a structural modernization of its Armed Forces. However, between the lines, the tension reflected something further: the fear that North American demands would end up conditioning the industrial and technological orientation of European defense. The silent turn. And neither one thing nor the other. The diary El País has published figures that confirm what until recently was just intuition: Spain has purchased more American weapons in the last two years than in almost a century. Between 2023 and 2024, the Spanish Government ordered military material for more than 4,500 millions of euros to the United States, a quarter of everything acquired since 1950. The contracts include Patriot systems, MH-60R helicopters and auxiliary equipment that represents the largest volume of expenditure with a single supplier in the recent history of Spanish defense. According to the DSCA (Defense Security Cooperation Agency), sales to Spain reached 2,907 million of dollars in 2024 and 1,682 million the previous year. In other words: while Washington was publicly denouncing the lack of commitment, Madrid was carrying out one of the largest purchasing operations in its history, channeling billions into the US military industry. The geopolitical context. The rebound coincides with the new cycle of European rearmament after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the same one has shot the military budgets of all of NATO. In this context, Spain has accelerated the modernization of its forces with additional spending of 10,471 million of euros in 2025, advancing the goal of 2% of GDP by four years. To finance it, the Executive has resorted to zero interest loans, industrial modernization programs and R&D items, a financial framework that allows keep spending without reform general budgets. However, this expansion has a reverse: the strengthening of technological dependence on the United States, which is consolidating itself as the main supplier of critical systems and reducing the room for maneuver to advance European strategic autonomy. Budget pragmatism. If you also want, the contrast between the Trump threats and the flow contract record with American companies illustrates the balance that Spain has tried to maintain: resisting the public discourse of punishment while, in practice, meeting Washington’s strategic demands and covering its own operational shortcomings. The result could not be more paradoxical. In the eyes of NATO, Madrid meets faster than expected, and in the eyes of its European partners, it risks weakening efforts to consolidate a common industrial base. The movement also redefines the bilateral relationship with Washington, which goes from rhetoric of reproach to the pragmatism of the transaction: while the North American president shows political muscleyour industry reaps the benefits. A lesson. The truth is that the history of these two years reveals how defense decisions, beyond percentages and headlines, are a geopolitical currency. Spain has demonstrated the ability to respond to external pressures without breaking its internal narrative, but the long-term cost (dependency, industrial coherence and technological autonomy) has yet to be measured. Thus, in essence, the question is once again the same as always: whether Europe can rearm itself without falling back into the old pattern of industrial subordination that for decades fueled the transatlantic divide. Spain, with its purchasing record to the American “friend” and his sovereignty speechembodies that contradiction today: that of a continent that seeks independence, but keep buying their safety on the other side of the Atlantic. Image | Kelly Michaels, BORN In Xataka | The US no longer has to worry about Spain or the rearmament bill in Europe. Germany had a plan B In Xataka | Spain committed to investing 2% of GDP in Defense but is not looking for soldiers: it needs 96,000 qualified employees

Apple hasn’t known what to do with them for two years

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When I reviewed the Vision Pro more than a year agoI wrote that they were “incredible potential in an imperfect product.” Today Apple presented the Vision Pro with the new M5 chip and the feeling is the same, only more uncomfortable. The imperfection persists. The potential is still there. But something has changed: Apple seems to have lost faith in its own vision. This “second generation” is not a great evolution (it only changes the chip, minor details of the panels and a new optional tape), it is a tacit confession. When Apple updates a product by changing only the processor, it is sending a signal: This device is in maintenance mode. It’s not something eternal, sometimes it’s just a phase. It’s what they did with the Mac mini before redesigning it or with the AirPods before the Pro, but also with products that they keep alive without really investing in them. At some point new versions and real updates will arrive, but this stage is becoming entrenched. It’s been 28 months since the original advertisementin June 2023. Tim Cook spoke of the “beginning of a new era of spatial computing,” with grandiloquence reserved for historic moments. But this new era seems to have stayed stuck in its first act: Presence in nine countries, none new since summer 2024. Catalog of contents that advances at glacial speed. Immutable price: $3,500 plus taxes (4,000 euros including taxes in Germany). The big problem with the Vision Pro for Apple is twofold: He can’t kill them because it would be publicly admitting that he was wrong. He also can’t push them because he clearly doesn’t know how. Apple has plans for more mixed or augmented reality productsbut they will not arrive in the short term. and the result is this strange limbo. A product that receives enough updates to seem alive, but not enough to thrive. A pantomime of normality that poorly hides the internal perplexity. Apple’s own website prioritizes today’s two other launches on its cover (MacBook Pro, iPad Pro) and even iPhone 17 Pro Max announced five weeks ago. The space of the new Vision Pro is in a corner. Apple website in the United States after today’s triple announcement. The Vision Pro, relegated in priority. Image: Apple. The change from M2 to M5 chip provides half an hour more battery life and an additional 20 Hz to the refresh rate. They are marginal improvements that any iPhone receives every year. For a product that Apple presented as revolutionary, it is an implicit recognition that the revolution has stalled. The real problems—weight, social isolation, lack of clear use cases, price—remain intact. Apple is bandaiding a wound that requires surgery. In Xataka | I’ve tried the $200 Chinese Vision Pro, a fraction of what Apple’s ones cost. I have been surprised Featured image | Apple

For years tourist apartments expanded without brakes. Alicante has just reminded them that the party is over

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Alicante has become serious with its tourist offer. The city, which so far this year received more than 600,000 visitors (taking into account only those staying in its hotels), has decided to close the tap on new licenses in “saturated” areas and setting a maximum rate that will be applied by neighborhoods. The measure just received the endorsement of the Government Board and still has a long way to go before passing through the municipal plenary session, but it points out the path that more and more cities are following. The objective, as recognize the Alicante mayor, is to achieve a (complicated) “balance between the daily lives of residents and tourist activity.” What has happened? That Alicante has decided to say enough is enough to the proliferation of tourist accommodation. It’s not the first time he’s done it. In December already advertisement a moratorium on the granting of licenses for vacation rentals in residential buildings, a measure that extended months later to buildings dedicated only to tourist apartments. Now its City Council has gone further: a few days ago launched its administrative machinery to modify its PGOU and regulate how and where the opening of new places for visitors will be allowed. At the moment the proposal has received the endorsement of the Local Government Board. Once the change in the General Plan has obtained the necessary permits, the initiative will be submitted for approval by the Plenary of the City Council for its entry into force. What do you want to do? Apply a series of guidelines that will determine where, when and under what conditions the accommodation offer in Alicante can be increased. At a general level, a maximum of 0.187 tourist places per inhabitant. From there, the tap will be turned off. For its application, the Consistory will take as reference the census sections of the municipality. That will be the unit you use to decide, for example, which areas are “saturated” or which can still accommodate new places without exceeding the threshold. The situation will be reviewed every year. Is it the only measure? No. In neighborhoods that are already considered “saturated” at the outset (that is, those that exceed the limit of 0.187) new “tourist places” will not be allowed. In the statement In which the City Council announces the measure, it does not speak of flats, but of “squares” intended for visitors, in general. The only exception it provides is for the highest quality hotels: three, four and five stars. In the first case (three-star businesses) there will also be a limit, but more lax: the limit after which new licenses will stop being granted will be 0.32 tourist places per inhabitant. Things will be different for higher-class establishments. Entrepreneurs interested in setting up four or five star hotels will not encounter limits, “even if the area in which they are located has reached the maximum permitted threshold,” confirm from the City Hall. Map of saturated areas of Alicante. Go into more details? Yes. The City Council wants to adopt two measures that will clearly determine where new tourist apartments can be opened. The first is to prohibit “the implementation of tourist uses on the ground floors of the main commercial roads.” That is, in these areas it does not matter whether or not the maximum limit of 0.187 beds/inhabitant has been reached: vacation rentals will be prohibited in the lower parts of the buildings. The second measure is that this type of accommodation must have “independent access” if it is located in residential buildings. It is not something exceptional. Many other cities have promoted a similar rule in an attempt to facilitate coexistence between neighbors and visitors. If this mandatory condition is not met, the Alicante City Council already warns that it will not grant the municipal license. What is the objective? in words of Mayor Luis Barcala (PP), achieve “sustainable tourism” and “the balance between the daily lives of residents and tourist activity.” “The city aims to attract visitors, but guaranteeing its sustainability: without compromising its model, exceeding the capacity of the territory or expelling the local population, guaranteeing that residents can continue living in their neighborhoods, access to housing, work and services.” another of the objectives of the Consistory is to prioritize “quality over quantity”, “reducing pressure” and “promoting three, four and five star hotels”. It is not the city’s first move in that direction. In December the City Council approved a two-year moratorium on the granting of new licenses for tourist apartments and in summer extended the suspension to apartment blocks intended for vacation rentals. The decision has been met with front rejection of the sector, which has even taken the issue to court. Why is it important? First, because Alicante is one of the main tourist centers in the country. Second, because it is not the first (nor will it probably be the last) city that has applied such a measure in its tourist fabric. In 2024 Madrid decided freeze the concession of licenses for tourist apartments, in Barcelona directly the City Council has proposed remove offer in the medium term and in other cities with a tourist ‘pull’, such as Seville, Malaga, Valencia either Santiago de Compostelathe institutions have also moved in one direction or another to regulate the supply. The reason: among others, the enormous pressure that offers vacation rentals in the urban residential market. Images | Cale Weaver (Unsplash) and Alicante City Council In Xataka | Northern Spain has been complaining about mass tourism for years. Asturias has discovered the bitter consequences of losing it

We’ve been obsessed with strong passwords and public Wi-Fi for years. It turns out that the data sink was in the satellites

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While we worry about choose strong passwords and Don’t let the neighbor steal our WiFiit turns out that anyone can capture private data simply by pointing a dish at a satellite. It is not a government conspiracy, it is what some Californian researchers have discovered using a piece of equipment that only costs $800. What has happened? They count in Wired that several researchers from the universities of California and Maryland have been capturing communications from various satellites for three years. During this time they have collected a huge amount of private data. Among the information collected there is data on calls and messages from users of various operators, the pages visited by airplane passengers who used WiFi on board, communications between different critical infrastructures such as oil platforms or electrical companies and even police and military communications that revealed the position of their equipment. Why it is important. According to the study’s conclusions, it is estimated that around half of the signal from geostationary satellites carries sensitive information of consumers, companies and also governments. We strive to protect our WiFi networks, our online accounts or mobile devices, but the results of the research make it clear that satellites are a critical element through which data can also be leaked. A basic equipment. What is striking is that the researchers did not use super complex technology to obtain these findings. They simply placed a satellite dish on the roof of a university building and started pointing it at the satellites. They only invested $800 in the entire equipment. The data they obtained is only from the satellites that they could capture from their position in southern California, which according to their calculations is 15% of the total, so logic leads one to think that the amount of sensitive data will be much larger. In addition, it also shows that anyone could do it from another part of the world. Operators. The most significant data came from telephone providers, mainly T-Mobile, but also Telmex and AT&T México. In just nine hours of communications logging, researchers were able to collect the phone numbers of more than 2,700 T-Mobile users, as well as text messages and phone calls. After contacting T-Mobile to alert them, the company took steps to encrypt the data. AT&T also fixed this and claimed it was due to a satellite provider failing to configure some towers in a region of Mexico. Telmex has not said anything about it. Military and police data. That anyone’s data is exposed is already problematic, but that it is data from the army and security forces adds another layer of seriousness. Investigators were able to intercept communications between US military ships and the names of those ships. Since they were in Southern California, they also obtained data from Mexican authorities, including transmissions of confidential information about ongoing operations. “When we started looking at military helicopters, it wasn’t the sheer volume of data that worried us, but rather the extreme sensitivity of that data,” says Aaron Schulman, co-director of the research. Cybersecurity in space. In August of this same year, researchers found several vulnerabilities which, under certain conditions, could allow remote control of satellites. At the beginning of the Ukrainian war, Russia carried out a cyber attack against ViaSat which affected thousands of users. Cases like these highlight the need to bring the cybersecurity debate to space systems as well and not just terrestrial systems. Image | SpaceX on Pexels In Xataka | There are so many satellites orbiting the Earth that Starlink has a new concern: avoiding colliding with them

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