years

the Vivo X300 Pro inaugurates the biggest photographic battle in recent years

by

China plays in another league. And the new Vivo X300 Pro has just demonstrated that the might of the Chinese mobile industry is far ahead of the competition when it sets its mind to it. with the previous generation we already checked that Vivo is consolidating itself as a total reference in mobile photography. With their new flagship just presented, they have just hit the table again. Let Apple, Samsung and Google take note, because the distance is becoming more and more evident. We have gone to Shanghai to see the Vivo mobiles. These are our first impressions of the Vivo X300 Pro. A brutal mobile that has many numbers to become the best photography smartphone of the year. Because although at the moment it is only official in China, it is already confirmed that it will soon arrive in Spain. Very attentive to everything it offers; The super high range of this end of the year that comes from China is ready to leave behind all the models that we considered leading at a stroke. Vivo X300 Pro technical sheet Vivo X300 Pro Dimensions and weight 161.98 x 75.48 x 7.99mm Screen 6.78″ LTPO 2,800 x 1,260 px 120Hz 2,160Hz PWM Dimming HDR 10+, Dolby Vision processor MediaTek Dimensity 9500 memory 16 GB Storage 512GB Battery 6,510mAh 90W fast charging 40W wireless charging rear cameras Main: 50MP ZEISS Sony LYT-828, f/1.57, 24mm Wide angle: 50MP, JN1, f/2.0, 15mm Telephoto: 200MP, ZEISS APO, Samsung HPB, f/2.67, 3.7x optical zoom, 85mm front camera 50 MP, ZEISS; JN1, f/2.0 Operating system OriginOS 6 Android 16 Connectivity Wi-Fi 7 5G Bluetooth 6.0 NFC Others IP68 resistance USB C 3.2 Stereo speakers VS1+ V3+ image chip Ultrasonic fingerprint reader Price — Once upon a time there was a camera attached to a mobile It was the headline we chose for the Vivo X200 Pro review and I think there is no better way to describe what this series represents. In the Vivo X300 Pro, photography determines everything. We are not looking at an ultra-thin mobile. Nor does it have as striking a design as one of its direct rivals, the Xiaomi 17 Pro. On the Vivo X300 Pro, the circular rear camera module It is your identity sign. There is no rear screen or pronounced curves, but a 6.78″ flat screen, a metal body that conveys solidity and attention to detail and a more traditional aesthetic. Xiaomi decided to go for innovation this year, Vivo revolves everything around the camera and sticks to what it knows works. We are looking at a top flagship in terms of technical specifications. The Vivo X300 Pro releases the new Dimension 9500the processor with which MediaTek measures itself directly against the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. They are accompanied by 16 GB of RAM and storage that uses UFS 4.1 to achieve the best management speeds. As for the battery, it is presented with 6,510 mAh, although this figure could vary in its European version, as We have already seen what has happened on previous occasions.. Taking advantage of the launch, the new OriginOS 6the new version of its operating system based on Android 16 that will allow you to leave behind Funtouch OS and incorporates an aesthetic redesign clearly inspired by Liquid Glasshas considerably improved its fluidity and adds compatibility with PC and Mac for sending files and screen mirroring. Five years of guaranteed system updates will be offered with the Vivo X300 Pro. ZEISS puts the icing on the cake with a 200MP telephoto and a single main sensor In the triple camera of the Vivo X300 Pro, there are two sensors that stand out especially: the telephoto and the main sensor. For the wide angle we have a 50 megapixel, autofocus and 15 mm sensor, signed by ZEISS, like its entire camera. But this is not where we find the great photographic leap. It is in the main and in the telephoto where Vivo puts all the meat on the grill. The telephoto lens of the Vivo X300 Pro is a ZEISS APO sensor with 200 megapixels and 3.7x optical zoom of 85 mm. Vivo is betting on an ISOCELL HPB “Thanos” sensor with 0.56 μm pixels manufactured by Samsung for the occasion. With this addition the new phone becomes at the height of the X200 Ultra model which we had the opportunity to test a few months ago, but it is not so immediate, because Vivo promises that it is a completely new sensor. A new 200 megapixel sensor for the telephoto that promises to eclipse everything seen so far. We have had the opportunity to test it briefly during its presentation and the result in x5 and x10 is astounding. 24mm image (left) vs 2x 48mm zoom image (right) 3.5x 85mm zoom image (left) vs 10x 242mm zoom image (right) And it’s not just the components used, the aggressive AI processing achieves images with extraordinary definition. For me who comes from photography of the Google Pixelthis Vivo X300 Pro is along the same lines and I would even say, without testing it in detail, that it surpasses them. The second protagonist is the LYT-828 main sensor with 50 megapixels, 24 mm and lens with f/1.6 aperture. It is a sensor co-created between Vivo and Sony, signed by ZEISS and that promises a stabilization up to CIPA 5.5a standard on the order of those achieved by gimbals, they say from Vivo. It also has a ZEISS T* anti-reflective coating to try to reduce flare and ghosting. But the advantages of this sensor do not stop there. The LYT-828 is probably the most advanced photo sensor available in a mobile phone to date. It is about the first sensor to achieve a dynamic range of more than 100 dB and almost 17 steps. What does this mean? Mainly that images with exceptional HDR can be obtained; which translates into super vivid images with a very wide range of colors. This commitment to colors also … Read more

the strange case of the brain tumor that went unnoticed for 30 years

by

Imagine being laughing for no reason at all, no a laugh of joy for having heard a joke, but rather a hollow, distressing laugh that you cannot stop. For a 31-year-old woman, this was his reality since he was a baby and for everyone around her this was a simple ‘tic’ or ‘strange’ behavior on her part. But in the end it turned out to be something much more serious: a brain tumor. A clinical case that is undoubtedly exceptional and that has deserved a publication in the journal Epilepsy & Behavior Case Reports. And it is not only rare because of its symptoms, but also because of the evolution it has had, which a priori has been completely benign. Something that until now had not been documented in anyone, being exceptional. The laughter. Since childhood, the patient experienced episodes of brief, joyless laughter. Before each episode, she felt a tightness in her neck and chest, a kind of “feeling of anguish” that was warning her of what was coming. Seconds later, laughter broke out, during which she remained conscious, but distressed because no one likes to do something they don’t know why they are doing. Furthermore, without controlling the social context where it occurs. It all also adds up to a very distressing condition such as having difficulty breathing, red skin, inability to swallow or even ending up crying while laughing. But within all this there was good news: although in the past the attacks were more frequent, reaching up to 6 or 7 attacks a day that even woke her up at night, over time they became milder and briefer, lasting just one or two seconds. This allowed him to hide them on most occasions. A late diagnosis. For years the cause was a mystery. The woman underwent a brain MRI and several electroencephalograms that were reported as normal. He was even prescribed treatments with levetiracetam and lamotriginewhich had no effect and were abandoned. The key came with a second, more detailed MRI. This time, specialists found the culprit: a tiny 5mm abnormality in the hypothalamus, consistent with a hypothalamic hamartoma (HH). A hamartoma is a congenital malformation, similar to a tumor, which in this case was causing the laughter attacks. The final diagnosis was “gelastic crises secondary to a hypothalamic hamartoma”, that is, a very specific type of epilepsy. A unique case. This case is really special, but not because of what was found in the MRI, but because normally the findings are associated with very serious symptoms such as epileptic seizures or cognitive impairment. But in this case none of these problems developed. On the contrary, he led a completely normal life with university studies and a stable job in the local administration that did not cause him any difficulties. And all this without having prescribed medication. So the question in these cases is mandatory: why? The authors are not at all clear about an answer to this question. The most likely explanation is that the size of the hamartoma was exceptionally small. It has been seen in the literature that hamartomas larger than 1 cm in diameter were associated with more severe crises of the “gelastic plus” type. But the small size together with a very specific location probably explains both the mildness of the attacks and the absence of the rest of the serious symptoms. Images | OurWhisky Foundation In Xataka | That a reporter runs after a pig is the best summary of what we want from AI: videos to break the bank

We have been thinking for years that, after the midlife crisis, old age is synonymous with happiness. This researcher thinks it’s a hoax

by

We are happy during adolescence and late youth, but as the years go by we become increasingly sadder, more unhappy, more miserable. At some point, in our late 40s to early 50s, we hit rock bottom. And once there everything tends to improve. “It’s statistics,” we said. What we did not suspect was that the statistics could be ‘trick’. Happiness is U-shaped. “Happiness is a slippery slope until we hit the bottom at some undetermined point in middle age. From there, it climbs back to the levels of youth.” That’s what I said a 2008 study than by Blanchflower and Oswald with data from more than half a million people. Over the following years ( here an example from 2017), studied in some detail how firm this U-shaped trend was; Everything seemed to indicate that this was the case. Until Fabian Kratz and Josef Brüdel from the Ludwig Maximalian University of Munich they realized of a small – possible – problem. Wonkblog A fundamental problem. What if happiness steadily decreases with age and what we see in the aggregate graphs is just a statistical effect? Kratz has been studying for years happiness and, as explained in New Scientistis increasingly convinced that the U simply does not exist. Reviewing the scientific literature, the authors found studies that justify a “stability“in happiness throughout the years; a”increase” or progressive descent; a inverted U; a U normal; and a curve like of waves (promotions, relegations). The problem is “that all studies on age and happiness have incurred biases that have distorted their results.” The other form of happiness. By correcting them, Fabian Kratz and Josef Brüdel came to the conclusion that it is true that happiness shows some stability around the last 50, but it does not rise at any time. Kratz and Brüderl (2021) But why? It is important to keep in mind that this work is essentially methodological. But Kratz’s central idea is that previous studies they didn’t realize that “after a certain age, happiness seems to increase only because unhappy people have already died.” The least happy people they tend to die before, which would cause an overrepresentation of the happiest at older ages (literally, as said our colleague Andrés Mohorte, pure survivor bias). According to this theory, “that old popular story” through which retirement would open a window towards a fuller and more satisfying life is just that, a story: a lie. Or, perhaps, a strategy. Because, in short, “there is a lot of evidence about how humans experience a bassoon psychological in middle age” (Blanchflower and Oswald, 2007; Steptoe, Deaton and Stone, 2015; Graham and Pettinato, 2002), but there is very little about the relationship between that downturn – that unhappiness – and quality of life. As we said quite a few years ago“we’re about to see what happens to the millennials when they become unhappy” and maybe that is behind a part generational battles. But facing the future with the certainty that things are going to improve is not the same as facing the future with the certainty that things are going to get worse. The science of happiness has never been so depressing. Image | Garloncio In Xataka | If the question is “where is the secret to happiness,” an expert believes it is hidden in these 15 statements

Europe has been working for three years to isolate itself from Russian gas. Two countries have decided to build a direct gas pipeline to Russia

by

The European energy map is changing at a speed that few would have imagined just three years ago. The old gas pipelines that linked Siberia to the industrial heart of the EU have been sidelined, while new routes and alliances reconfigure the power table around gas. The old continent proclaims its purpose of isolating Moscow, but in the center of the continent it is drawn an exception that alters the planned script and that may change the balance of forces in the coming winters. A map in transformation. Yes, the European gas map has changed radically in a few years, to the point that this winter of 2025 is the first in decades in which Russian gas ceases to be decisive throughout the European Union. After the invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and the energy crisis that broke out between 2021 and 2023, Brussels urged urgently diversification of supplies, relying on imports liquefied natural gas (LNG), especially from the United States and Qatar, and in the fortress of norway as a stable partner. The great gas pipelines that for half a century linked the Siberian fields with the European industrial heart have been underutilizeddamaged or reduced to a secondary role, as energy security moves towards the global balance of the LNG market and towards the vulnerability of infrastructures increasingly exposed to cyber attacks and hybrid incidents. On this new board, each molecule counts, but not all of them weigh the same: there are some that define true European autonomy more than others. The two exceptions. Despite the EU’s declared desire to eliminate purchases from Moscow, two countries have kept the valve open: Hungary and Slovakia. In August 2025, according to the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air, both added imports of Russian crude oil and gas by more than 690 million of euros, that is, the majority of the European total. In fact, they continue to receive oil through the gigantic Druzhba pipeline, which crosses Ukraine and Belarus from Russian fields to Central Europe, and have used temporary exception granted by Brussels to landlocked countries to justify their dependence. The contrast is evident: while countries like France, the Netherlands and Belgium have limited themselves to importing residual Russian LNG, Budapest and Bratislava continue buying crude oil and gas straight from Moscow, keeping alive the energy artery that the rest of Europe has tried to close. Hungary and Slovakia are investing in gas infrastructure and creating a gas block in the heart of Europe aimed at protecting against any risks USA, Brussels and pressure. The intransigence of Viktor Orbán and Robert Fico has not gone unnoticed. At the UN, Trump accused Europe of “financing the war against itself” and pointed out with their own name to the Central European partners that do business with the Kremlin. Brussels, for its part, debate sanctions growing: the nineteenth package included a ban on Russian LNG starting in 2026 and restrictions on giants such as Rosneft or Gazprom Neft, although it avoided imposing immediate vetoes on crude oil and gas by gas pipeline, fearing a head-on crash with Budapest and Bratislava. However, the Commission is already preparing specific tariffs against imports that are still They arrive through Druzhbaand requires all Member States to submit disconnection plans before 2027the year in which the final cut is expected. The discourse of dependency. Hungary insists that its economy would fall 4% immediately if they were closed russian flowsand both Orbán and Fico speak of “economic suicide” and “ideological impositions” from Brussels. However, experts and analysts dismantle many of these arguments: geography is no excuse in an integrated European market where other equally landlocked countries, such as Austria or the Czech Republic, have reduced drastically reduce its Russian imports. Alternative infrastructures there are. The Adria pipeline, which connects to the Adriatic in Croatia, could supply enough crude oil to Hungary and Slovakia, although the reliability of its capacity tests is disputed. The Croatian oil company JANAF itself assures which can supply both refineries (Százhalombatta in Hungary and Slovnaft in Bratislava) with up to 12.9 million tons per year. In gas, the interconnections with neighboring countries and the expected abundance of LNG after 2026 suggest that the cutoff of Russian flows would be more political than technical. Politics, benefits and a shadow. Budapest’s stubbornness also has an internal political and economic dimension. The MOL company, close to the Orbán Government and owner of the Slovak refinery, has reaped huge benefits thanks to the price difference between Russian Urals crude oil and Brent, which has allowed extraordinary income for both the company and the state budget itself through taxes. In parallel, the speech of the Hungarian Executive associates the continuity of supply russian with stability of its star program of subsidies on household energy bills, despite the fact that the prices that Budapest pays for Russian gas follow the same international references as for the rest of Europe. In Slovakia, Fico also protects contracts with Gazprom valid until 2034, although the national company SPP itself has flexible agreements with large Western companies that would allow demand to be met without Moscow. The new axis of the Black Sea. Be that as it may, the most revealing element of the new energy map is that Hungary and Slovakia not only resist cutting the Russian gas pipelines inherited from the Cold War, but are betting on new connections. The route that arrives through the TurkStream and enters from Türkiye towards central Europe through the Black Sea consolidates a direct link with Moscow at the same time that Brussels seeks to isolate it. Paradoxically, the two Central European countries are becoming the main russian corridor towards the heart of the EU, a role that openly contradicts the energy autonomy strategy and reinforces the structural dependence on a partner considered hostile. Europe contradicts itself. The dilemma is obvious. The European Union proclaims its purpose to end with Russian imports in just two years, but at the same time tolerates exceptions that feed … Read more

Whether we can call vegetable burgers “burgers” (and they look like they will last for years)

by

Can a food that is does not contain meat? Is a tofu sausage really a “sausage”? When a manufacturer keeps those old terms in its new products, is it misleading consumers or is it making it easier for itself? The debate comes from afar (from very far away), but seems to be clear for the current European Chamber, exit from the polls in 2024: Plant-based food is one thing and the terms associated with meat are another, so it’s best to separate them. What is not so clear is that it can settle the discussion. Words (and something else). Europe’s food industry has been involved in a debate that has little to do with the raising of livestock, the regulation of agriculture, the competition of other markets or the health of consumers. His main obsession is words. Literally. If an oat drink can be called “milk”, tofu “sausages” must be presented as such or a vegan “burger” is not more of a “vegetable disc”. It may seem like a bureaucratic issue, but there is something more at stake than language: the right to label new products with old labels that are also clearly recognizable by consumers. And that’s gold when it comes to competing in supermarkets. Hence the debate on denominations (far from ceasing) has just written a new and important chapter in Strasbourg. 355 vs 247. What the European Parliament has done is to support with 355 votes in favor (against 247 against and 30 abstentions) an initiative that proposes prohibiting terms such as “hamburger”, “schnitzel”, “steak” or “sausage” from being used on foods that do not contain any meat. In other words, those words (well recognized by customers after decades of use) remain out of the reach of new companies dedicated to marketing food. plant based. “A steak, a schnitzel or a sausage are products of our livestock, not laboratory art or plant products. We need transparency and clarity for the consumer, as well as recognition of the work of our farmers,” claim the MEP Celine Imartauthor of the amendment to community legislation. Imart represents France, the country that clearer is insisting on change, and is also part of the Group of the European People’s Party (EPP). If the proposal has achieved the endorsement of Strasbourg, it is precisely because of the support it has received from the right after the pressure exerted by the livestock and agricultural sectors. In front he met the rejection of the left and the Greens. And now what? That the initiative has received the endorsement of the European Parliament does not mean that the packages advertising hamburgers based on tofu and seitan will disappear, nuggets vegetables or tofu sausages. For this, it is necessary for the proposal to obtain the endorsement of the European Commission and the governments of the 27 countries of the community club. It will now be up to the Commission and the Council to negotiate the measure and (if applicable) approve the initiative and translate it into law. It won’t be easy. And not only because of the rejection of other political formations. The European People’s Party itself does not have a firm position on the matter, as its leader in the European Parliament, the German, has made clear. Manfred Weberwho before the vote acknowledged that he does not believe it is a priority issue. “Consumers are not stupid when they go to the supermarket to buy,” he stressed. The fact that new plant-based foods have to do without terms like “burger” or “steak” has also raised the opposition from large companies in the sector, such as Aldi and Lidl. In September a group of companies including both German chains, Burger King, Green Force and the sausage producer Rügenwalder Múhle (among others) launched an open letter in which they warn that the legislative change “goes against the objective of achieving a resilient and diversified food supply”, “weakens” the rights of customers and “harms companies”. “The proposal results in making it more difficult for consumers to make informed decisions. Familiar terms are practical aids that allow them to make conscious purchasing decisions,” concludes the letter. Click on the image to go to the tweet. (Much) more than a vote. That does not mean that the European Parliament’s vote is a dead letter. At the very least, it reveals that the debate is still very much alive in the European institutions, where it has already accumulated a long legislative history with frustrated attempts, extensive discussions and measures that have come to fruition. Among the last ones is the decision adopted by the Court of Justice of the EU in 2017 on the use of dairy terms for plant-based products, such as soy or oat drinks. The agency concluded that only products of animal origin could use terms such as “milk,” “butter” or “yogurt.” Better “vegetable discs”? Since then the debate around the use of terms associated with meat has continued to rage over the EU. Five years ago the European Parliament already discussed a similar initiative within the framework of the CAP reform, which led the sector to fear that vegetable sausages or hamburgers would have to be renamed “vegetable tubes or discs“. The change of denominations it didn’t go ahead in the House, but its defenders have never thrown in the towel. In 2024 European justice had to speak out against France’s decision to ban words like “steak” on plant foods, and this spring the issue arose during a review of the regulation. Common Organization of Markets. What will happen from now on? For now, Imart and his supporters have achieved a significant victory in Strasbourg, largely driven by the endorsement of a European Parliament. more heeled to the right than five years ago. Curiously, the measure seems to generate more concern in institutional offices and companies than on the street, where the use of the terms does not keep people up at night. This is revealed by a survey carried out five years ago by the European … Read more

In the nineties, no one saw how the Internet would starve factories. Thirty years later, AI is doing the same thing

by

On the one hand, the United States government is trying to reverse three decades of deindustrialization with tariffs on China. On the other hand, investment in AI is recreating exactly the phenomenon that destroyed part of the American industry in the 1990s. History repeats itself, but this time knowing what is going to happen. Why is it important. Derek Thompson, business reporter for The Atlantic, has identified a pattern that rewrites what we thought we knew about American industrial decline. China not only stole jobs but American capital abandoned them early. In an interview with the investor Paul Kedrosky for his podcast Plain EnglishThompson presents his thesis: In the nineties, the massive deployment of the Internet and telecommunications absorbed brutal amounts of money. That money had to come from somewhere. He left the factories. Small manufacturers saw financing becoming increasingly more expensive. Just at that time, China was entering the World Trade Organization and trade barriers were falling. It wasn’t bad luck. It was cause and effect. The context. Technology companies are going to spend about $400 billion this year building infrastructure for AI. To put it in perspective: the Apollo program that took the United States to the Moon cost about 300 billion adjusting for inflation. That was ten years. This is a year. Data centers have accounted for half of US economic growth in the first six months of 2025. The forecast is that investment exceeds 500,000 million annually in 2026 and 2027. Meanwhile, American consumers are spending $12 billion a year on AI services. The difference between what is invested and what is earned is abysmal. The panoramic. The problem is structural. If you manage an investment fund with 500,000 million, you have two options: You can distribute that money among a hundred small factories that need five million each. Or you can write ten $50 billion checks to AI projects. The first option means managing a hundred different companies. Sit on dozens of tips. Do constant monitoring. The second means ten meetings a year. The choice is obvious. A manufacturer that wants to take advantage of the moment to bring production back to the US finds that borrowing money is very expensive. Banks compare their project with the returns that AI promises. There is no color. The irony. Trump has built his economic policy on tariffs that force companies to manufacture in the US. But investment in AI is making it more expensive exactly what the tariffs are trying to make cheaper: producing locally. Tariffs raise the price of importing from China. AI raises the cost of financing local production. The net effect may be zero for the industry, but with higher prices for everyone. The figures. Building a modern data center involves… That 60% of the budget goes to NVIDIA chips. The rest is divided between refrigeration, electricity and construction. The physical building is the cheapest part. Geography also counts. Northern Virginia concentrates a good part of the investment. Areas that were rural ten years ago are now surrounded by industrial facilities that operate 24 hours a day. Yes, but. There is a way out that did not exist in the nineties: set up data centers outside the United States. India and the Middle East are receiving huge investments because electricity is cheaper and your neighbors, ahem, complain less. But that makes the original problem worse. If the money goes to data centers in other countries, there is even less left for American factories. Between the lines. Kedrosky uses a simile that sums it all up: a death star that absorbs capital. In the nineties that star was the Internet. Now it’s AI. The factories, in both cases, are collateral damage. The difference is that in the nineties no one saw it coming. Now yes. In Xataka | Spain has a railway giant in the shadows. And he just got the “contract of the century” Featured image | Cemrecan Yurtman

In 40 years they have gone from manufacturing printers to manufacturing the future

by

Exactly 40 years ago, HP packed up its original facilities in Terrassa (Barcelona) and moved to land on the outskirts of Sant Cugat del Vallés (Barcelona) to expand facilities that the success of your printers left small. We have visited those same HP facilities in Spain and, although the machines that manufactured printers have been turned off a long time ago, we have discovered the equivalent of a small Silicon Valley in Spain from which you imagine what will the technological future be like. From growing cereals to generating ideas The center located in Sant Cugat del Vallés celebrates 40 years since, in 1985, the company moved its facilities, taking with them the 30 employees that made up its staff at that time. In those years, the facility was designed as a production center for its printers. However, in 2000, production was relocated to Asia. Given the new situation, the center was on the brink of closure. The Sant Cugat facilities, already with more than 800 employees, of which 200 were engineers, were reinvented, transforming the center into a factory of ideas and a laboratory of innovations that has not stopped growing in its four decades of existence. Currently, the center has 11 buildings that house 2,600 employees of 60 nationalities, of which 800 are engineers who work hand in hand with other companies to develop new practical solutions for their businesses. “In 1985, there were farms here and now this space has become the Silicon Valley of the city,” Helena Herrero, HP president of Southern Europe, the Middle East and Africa, told us proudly. No wonder, she was part of that team that made possible its transformation into one of the two largest HP R&D centers in Europe and the worldcomparable to that of HP’s headquarters in Palo Alto. Recreation in Barcelona of the Hewlett Packard garage in Palo Alto Symbolic testimony of this spirit of development is the detailed recreation of the famous garage where Hewlett and Packard created HP 85 years ago in Palo Alto that welcomed us. In that garage not only was Hewlett Packard born as a company, but it served as inspiration for the creation of that ecosystem of companies that we know today as Silicon Valley. As happened in Silicon Valley, around the recreation of that garage, HP has created a center for innovation and development of new ideas and products that will be decisive for the future in areas as diverse as Formula 1, prosthetic medicineculture, construction or work efficiency. This center registers more than 150 patents a year for HP. Ideas that have come true and we have been able to see and touch One of the peculiarities of this HP center is that companies come asking for help to solve a problem and the HP teams work with them to find innovative solutions. The most recent example is the collaboration of these engineers with the Ferrari Formula 1 team. In this case, the challenge was to lighten the weight of the car as much as possible without compromising the aerodynamic sliding of its body. Daniel Martínez, head of the large format printing division and director of the center, told us that the Sant Cugat engineering team developed a latex print that was then applied to the body of the vehicle like vinyl. This sheet reduced its weight by 17% compared to conventional paint without compromising aerodynamics. In our visit to this HP ideas laboratory We saw that engineers are developing solutions in other, much more futuristic areas in which robotics and printing come together. It looks like a Roomba, but it actually draws plans That idea born within these walls has given rise to the project SitePrinta hybrid between a printer and a robot vacuum cleaner that print on the ground the dimensions of the plans of work. Combining a complex system of positioning and inclination sensors, they allow the robot to determine its position in space and detect unevenness in the terrain, providing additional information to the construction team. 3D printed metal parts Another real application that has been developed in this avant-garde center in Barcelona has to do with the 3D printing development with new techniques and materials with technology Metal Jet. Among its novelties, the use of generative AI to simplify the design of the parts to be printed or the development of 3D printing with metals to manufacture high precision mechanical parts and components. One of the pieces that personally surprised me the most about this technology is the possibility of combining, in the same continuous printing job, flexible materials, with a rubber-like texture, and rigid areas with the hardness of a metal. These technological solutions open a whole range of opportunities for the field of prostheses and cast replacements with 3D printing. New turn towards the future: AI As a symbol of the innovative spirit and reinvention of this center in Sant Cugat, HP has rehabilitated a 15th century farmhouse that was in a state of semi-ruin on the land occupied by the enormous HP technology campus, and has converted it into La Masia Experience Design Center, the spiritual center of its new stage with the creation of the HP AI Innovation Hub. The Masia in its original state. Source: HP With this new hub focused on AI, the Barcelona facilities become the reference center in Europe for the development of AI LMM models that HP will use in its future products: from AI agents premises on their computers to videoconferencing assistance systems, to give some examples that are already on the market. Interior of La Masia Experience Design Center after its reconstruction The new AI hub will collaborate transversally in 14 business units of the company and with all the development centers that the company has throughout the world, especially with its headquarters in Palo Alto, where there is also a team specialized in AI development. As happened in 1985 and later in 2000, with the creation of the HP AI Innovation Hub, … Read more

Five years ago he worked from his bathroom on the brink of ruin. Today he runs a company valued at 8 billion

by

The story of Shayne Coplan and Polymarket is one of those striking cases that you like to see in the past. And the founder of this company practically started from bankruptcy in a makeshift bathroom as an office to close a $2 billion investment on the New York Stock Exchange. Now, the prediction markets platform that he founded in 2020 has just reached a valuation of $8 billion after the agreement with Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), owner of the NYSE. The takeoff. Coplan’s situation in 2020 was not exactly an example of the American dream. Just like shared a while ago In a publication in X, he was seen working from a bathroom converted into an office, with hardly any money and alone in charge of the project. Five years later, its platform has become the largest prediction market in the world, where users bet on the results of real events, from elections to sports or culture. Wall Street’s bet. ICE has announced an investment of up to $2 billion in cash in Polymarket, valuing the company at approximately $8 billion before the capital injection. The agreement turns ICE into a global distributor from Polymarket data, which will provide sentiment indicators on topics relevant to financial markets. Additionally, both companies will collaborate on tokenization initiatives that combine traditional financial markets with blockchain technology. How the model works. Polymarket allows users to express their opinions by buying and selling shares on possible event outcomes. Each operation is executed peer-to-peer using smart contracts. Markets grow with the number of participants, and prices reflect the perceived probability of each outcome occurring. The platform gained notoriety for the accuracy of their predictions during the 2024 US presidential electionwhere he managed billions in bets. roller coaster. Polymarket’s trajectory has not been linear. In 2022, federal regulators forced the platform to block US users after an agreement with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The company operated from abroad for three years. This year, Polymarket bought QCEXa CFTC-licensed derivatives exchange, to return to the US market. The operation came weeks after prosecutors closed an investigation into whether the company had allowed access to American users despite the ban. Return at the perfect time. The changing regulatory climate under the Trump administration has favored emerging sectors such as event contracts and cryptocurrencies. Polymarket received an undisclosed investment in August from 1789 Capital, a firm endorsed by Donald Trump Jr., who later joined the company’s advisory board. What’s coming now. Jeffrey Sprecher, CEO of ICE, admits proudly that the investment combines an institution founded in 1792 (the NYSE), with a company that “is revolutionizing decentralized finance.” For Coplan, the agreement marks the entry of prediction markets into the traditional financial system. It remains to be seen whether these markets can maintain their growth and become truly useful tools for institutional investors. For now, ICE has bet heavily on the response being positive. Cover image | Shayne Coplan and Matthew Reeves (BFA) In Xataka | There is a worrying symptom in the technological economy: Silicon Valley prefers to buy itself rather than invest in the future

The story of such an unusable approach that years passed by being the laughing of chemistry

by

Being a student, Susumu Kitagawa read a book that spoke of an old Chinese philosopher, Zhuangzi, who defended that we must question everything we believe useless. Even if you do not contribute an immediate benefit (or we cannot see it), that does not mean that it is not valuable. Kitagawa was able to devote himself to that idea in any field of human activity. But, as the book was from the Japanese physicist (and Nobel) Hideki Yudaka, he decided to devote himself to basic science. The most useless among the useless. What is the point of working on something like that? In 92, when he presented his first molecular construction, the truth is that his work honored that uselessness: “A two -dimensional material with cavities where acetone molecules could be hidden.” The curious thing, however, is that “he used copper ions united together by larger molecules” such as pieces of a puzzle. The curious thing for us now, of course. In the first half of the 90s, no one made the slightest case. Kitagawa I wanted to continue working With this type of materials, but the answer (again and again) was always the same: No. in the following years, each and every one of the aid he asked for were denied. He, of course, did not give up. Not even when in 97 he created a stable material (capable of absorbing and releasing methane, nitrogen and oxygen without changing shape) luck smiled at him: nobody saw his appeal. Not that they were wrong, but there were already better things. What sense did it have to continue working on something like that? The desire not to need ‘luck’ The answer to that I had Omar Yaghi. In that same year 1992, Yaghi achieved his great research project under the premise that “the traditional way to build new molecules was too unpredictable.” Until that time, chemicals were dedicated to putting things in a bowl, heat them and see what happened. Yaghi aspired to find more controlled ways of creating materials. Jordano’s team began to obtain good results when he began combining metal ions with organic molecules. They had found, so to speak, their Lego pieces: the elements that kept together and stable the most diverse molecules. Are you familiar? It was just the same approach that, independently, had launched Kitagawa. And yes, indeed, nobody thought it was something very useful. At least, it did not generate very useful things. Back to the origins Then, both Kitagawa and Yaghi were traced background for this new way of chemistry. There they met A speculative article Published in 89 by the journal of the American Chemical Society. The author, Richard Robson, worked in Australia and had been spinning all this since 1974. In those years, Robson He was in charge of converting wood balls into “atomic models” with which students could create molecular structures and familiarize themselves with the world of chemistry. To do this, he asked the university workshop to pierce holes in the balls. In this way, thanks to wooden rods (chemical bonds) atoms could be built. Immediately, Robson realized that the holes could not be placed at random. Each atom, forms chemical links in a specific way and, if I wanted to do the realistic model, needed to mark where the holes should be drilled. That is what gave him the track: in the position of the links there was an incredible amount of information. Moreover, those links hid the key to building new molecular structures easily and easily. Three ways to reach the same way of building the world Johan Jarnestad/Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Metalorganic structures (which are called this type of structures) They serve almost everything: Capture carbon dioxide, separate water PFAS, administer drugs to the body or manage extremely toxic gases. Some may catch the ethylene gas from the fruit (to mature more slowly); Others may encapsulate enzymes that break down the remains of antibiotics in the environment. That is, we talk about one of the most versatile technologies of today and, for years, they were something completely useless. What he said before: pure basic science. An uselessness so enormous that the world can change. Image | Boasap (modified) In Xataka | The “Curse of the Nobel” not only affects the authors: also the publishers who publish them suffer their effects

Behind this year’s Nobel Prize in Medicine there is a whole lesson in scientific policy for Spain and it does not seem that we are going to learn it

by

The Nobel Prizes arrive and, like every year, the media they are filled with reports on why Spain resists the great scientific awards of the contemporary world. And it is not a lie: the last Spaniard to win one in science, Severo Ochoa, did so 66 years ago. Being a relatively important country internationally, it is a real problem. What we did not suspect is that the Karolisnka Institute was going to make it so clear how ‘real’ this problem is. A little highlighted detail. At this point in the week, the history of the 2025 Nobel Prize in Medicine It has been counted as active and passive; But there is a detail that is worth dwelling on. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Shimon Sakaguchi discovered a subset of T lymphocytes that did not attack anyone or anything. They were a kind of “riot police” of the immune system: they suppressed the activity of other T lymphocytes. The discovery was momentous, but what came next was an enormous silence. Silence? But they just gave him the Nobel Prize! They just gave it to him now, but it was not a bed of roses. Sakaguchi’s idea made sense, but no one was quite clear why that was happening. And, in fact, many people were vehemently against his theses. It took almost a decade for two different teams to reach the same conclusion: the Japanese researcher was right and the key to everything. the problem was in the FOXP3 gene. It seems like a minor issue, but “this double discovery, the cellular discovery of Sakaguchi and the genetic discovery of Brunkow and Ramsdell, has completely changed the paradigm of immunology and has opened two great therapeutic avenues with immense potential.” The relevant question in Spain. This is all very well, but the really relevant question for our country is why in 2020, when the Nobel Prize in Chemistry awarded CRISPR, it did not follow the same logic. Because yes, there are big differences between one discovery and the other: while the former rewarded the technological tool, this one has rewarded the discovery of the fundamental scientific bases. But it is not lost on anyone that the narrative of the award is not just an explanation: it is a framework that justifies inclusions and exclusions. The “forgetfulness” of the 2020 Nobel Prize. Francis Mojica himself he explained to us that “when we discovered CRISPR, I said to myself: “this is going to be crazy in biology” and then absolutely nothing happened.” In fact, that “nothing” lasted for many years. Years in which CRISPR seemed like a scientific curiosity without much importance and working on the subject, as Mojica did, was seen as an eccentricity. And finally, when the award came, it focused on “the development of a gene editing method (CRISPR-Cas9)” and was awarded to the two researchers who discovered that we could use the mechanism to our advantage; but no one remembered the person who discovered this mechanism. And it would be naive not to ask ourselves why. Even if we cannot know what really happened (the prize selection process has been hidden for 50 years), it is a good time to compare the abysmal differences between the research policy of Spain and that of Japan. While in the country of the rising sun, it has been investing in “scientific diplomacy” since the 90s; while Spain has made some isolated effort, yes; but insufficient. This is not about creating intricate conspiracy theories. It is clear that we will not be able to say what would have happened if Francis Mojica were Japanese, but we can ask ourselves what extra-scientific factors intervene in this type of awards and what Spain is doing to value its contribution to current contemporary science. That is, not only what resources are dedicated to research; but what is Spain’s ‘soft-power’, what resources does it put to make our researchers visible, to spread favorable stories or to amplify the work of our teams. The answer to all this, I’m afraid, is “too little.” Image | Ryan Faulkner | Daniel Prado In Xataka | A Nobel with 30 years of history: the discovery of the “peacekeeping gene” that controls our defenses is the 2025 Nobel Prize in Medicine

Log In

Forgot password?

Forgot password?

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

Your password reset link appears to be invalid or expired.

Log in

Privacy Policy

Add to Collection

No Collections

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