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Predicting Alzheimer’s 10 years in advance is now a scientific reality. The challenge now is to prevent healthcare from collapsing

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Alzheimer’s is a devastating disease that is undoubtedly a true ghost, since it only It becomes visible when the damage is already irreparable and that, despite trying to stop it, it is becoming difficult to control it. And historically, the medical diagnosis comes when memory begins to fail, but by then the brain has been suffering in silence for years, even decades. Now science focuses on the need for early diagnosis so that treatments can work. A new analysis. One of the ways to detect this disease before it begins to show the classic symptoms such as memory loss is through a blood test. This is the milestone that has been collected in The Lancet magazine recently thanks to research from the University of California, and that could generate a large population screening that is not free of controversy. What they did. The researchers followed 1,350 people aged between 56 and 69, without any type of dementia, for more than 35 years. And here the key was to look for specific proteins circulating in the blood that increased in the earliest phases of Alzheimer’s, as occurs with others marked in other diseases such as PSA in prostate cancer. And they found two biomarkers. The first of them is Aβ42/40, which is an early indicator that warns of the accumulation of hateful beta-amyloid plaques in the brain. But they also found the protein p-tau217, which is considered today the most precise marker for the pathology. The results. The 6% of participants who tested positive for these biomarkers showed a four-fold increased risk of developing verbal memory problems and a decline in their cognitive speed a decade later. But science has been trying to refine this tool for years, looking for markers such as GFAP, which rises about ten years before symptoms appear. See the invisible. The blood test does not walk alone in this diagnostic revolution, since on the same day, The Lancet published a second study based on nearly 800 participants from the US and Canada that tests a new and sophisticated neuroimaging technology: the MK6240 PET plotter. Until now, visualizing the tau protein, which is one of those responsible for Alzheimer’s by accumulating in neurons, was a great challenge. But this new tracer promises to be much more sensitive, detecting twice as many positive cases in healthy people with amyloid accumulation compared to the standard used today. You have to wait. Before throwing the bells in the air, it should be noted that experts point out that this test not ready to be used as general population screening. The reason lies in mathematics, since the prevalence of asymptomatic Alzheimer’s in healthy middle-aged people remains low in absolute terms, so applying this test to everyone would generate a very high volume of false positives. That is, an increase in this protein that is not actually related to early Alzheimer’s. But logically, the fear, anxiety and the resulting cascade of confirmatory tests would collapse the health services that are already stressed, and furthermore, the drugs we have, despite the fact that they stop the effects of the disease in its earliest phases, are not yet definitive. That is why we must remain on the right path, but there is still a long way to go to get this disease under control. Images | Robina Weermeijer Testalize.me In Xataka | Alzheimer’s no longer seems irreversible: science allows brains with advanced damage to recover for the first time in animals

2,000 years ago, a lame and bald slave began speaking in the taverns of Rome. His “two-handle theory” has marked modern psychology

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We are in the first third of the second century after Christ and what we see is a boy from Nicomedia obsessively writing down everything that a weak, bald and half-lame old man says. Arrian does not know it, but those notes that will see the light in 135, will never be forgotten. Some call it “perennial wisdom” and, in fact, much of its ideas helped generate, 2,000 years later, things like modern psychotherapy. It’s still surprising, really. After all, in many parts of the Enchiridion, they spend their time talking about vessels. Vessels? For example. In section 43, you can read that “Everything has two handles, one by which it can be carried and one by which it cannot be carried. If your brother acts unjustly, do not take the matter by the handle of injustice (because by that it cannot be carried), but by the other: which is your brother, who were raised together.” A philosophy always on the verge of ridicule. I speak of Epictetus’s vessel, because, in these times of ‘pop stoicism’, most of the times when the theory of the two handles is cited it is done wrong. The core of Epictetus’ ideathe old and lame philosopher at the beginning of the article, is not resigning, it is not denying injustice, nor shrugging one’s shoulders in the face of it. The essential thing is to ‘reframe the relationship with her’ in order to manage it. Epictetus demonstrates the old saying that there is nothing more practical than a good theory and what he is telling us is that “if the handle we use doesn’t work, why do we insist on continuing to use it?” What is stoicism? In principle, Stoicism is intellectual archaeology. It is true that the Stoic school was a tremendously fertile current of thought in three areas: ethics, logic and physics (that is, in natural science). But it is also true that Stoic physics has been surpassed by modern science and its advanced logical ideas (after being ignored for a long time) are fully integrated into modern propositional logic. The only “rescuable” thing is his ethics. That is, a practical philosophy that tries to transform the emotions, impulses and passions of the human being and turn them into a tool to find inner calm. And it has been tried, but things went wrong. For the Stoics, human flourishing (‘eudaimonia’, the good life) consisted of achieve that ‘apatheia’that peace of mind. Its main tool is a basic distinction: the things we can control, on the one hand, and those we cannot, on the other. The Stoic interest, as Epictetus points out in his theory of the two handles, is in the first ones, those that can be controlled. Then came to ‘broicism’ (the hijacking of stoicism by an “ultra-processed pseudo-philosophy full of patterns of aggression, self-isolation and self-improvement). But there are always things to learn… In the 1950s, American psychologists such as Albert Ellis led the development of cognitive therapies following some very similar ideas to the Stoics. And, in recent years, the role of Hellenic philosophies has been explored as “preventive psychological medicines”. That is, as a set of ideas that would help to have a healthy psychological life, all of this makes sense. Epictetus shows it. …especially in this world. A few years ago, the Complutense professor Ignacio Pajón Leyra held that the Hellenistic era in which Stoicism developed is very similar to our own. They are similar in social instability, in major political changes; They are similar in that traditional religion began to decline and the first great globalization occurred; They are similar in that community projects began to lose strength and the individual gained more and more social and political weight. As we said thenit is possible that Pajón Leyra is right and human beings use philosophies, beliefs and doctrines as a way to make sense of the world. And, in that sense, “similar worlds” require “similar philosophies.” But then, what’s really interesting about this boom in Stoicism is what it’s saying about us. Image | Xataka In Xataka | What is Stoicism, the Greek philosophy from 2,000 years ago that has become fashionable again today

We knew that living near the sea made us “gain” years of life. What we didn’t know is that it was literally

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We have known for a long time that getting closer to nature has benefits for our health. Beyond avoiding pollution in our cities, getting closer to the natural environments around us can improve our psychological well-being, perhaps even encouraging us to lead a more active life. Little by little, we are also observing that something similar happens if we change the mountain for the sea. More sea, more life. A study has observed a correlation between residing in coastal areas and greater longevity. The analysis provide evidence of the link between bodies of water and the health and well-being of people. Of course, the relationship between “blue spaces” and health is a little more complex than it might seem. 50 kilometers. The study observed that the benefits of living near the ocean improved the quality of life of people residing within a strip of about 50 kilometers of the coast. Inland, however, they observed a very different trend: people who lived near bodies of water of a certain size (about 10 km² in surface area) tended to have shorter life expectancies. “Globally, coastal residents are expected to live a year or more longer than the median age of 79, and those who lived in more urban areas near inland rivers and lakes were more likely to die around age 78. Coastal residents likely lived longer due to a variety of interconnected factors,” highlighted in a press release Jianyong “Jamie” Wu, member of the team responsible for the study. 66,000 census areas. The study was carried out in the United States, where the team analyzed 66,263 census areas, studying life expectancy and its relationship not only with the proximity of bodies of water, but also with socioeconomic and demographic factors to control the results. Details of the study can be found in an article published in the magazine Environmental Research. Searching for the cause. The team points out different factors that could mediate this relationship, such as milder temperatures, better air quality, more opportunities for recreational activities, better transportation, less vulnerability to droughts, or income. These factors could explain why residing near the coast is associated with a longer life expectancy, in contrast to people who live near inland waters. “Pollution, poverty, lack of opportunities to be physically active and a greater risk of flooding are the main triggers for these differences,” Yanni Cao indicatedco-author of the study. Correlation or cause? Fits remember that the existence of a correlation does not always imply the existence of a direct (or even indirect) causal relationship. For example, if income is the determining factor, this causal relationship could take different forms. A possible route would start from the fact that the coastal areas they would be more expensiveso they would attract people with more income, income being a factor that we know affects our life expectancy. Another possible way would be that coastal areas generate higher incomes by offering more job opportunities, and these incomes would again be the determining factor in longevity. In both cases the mediating factor is the same, but the causal relationship is not. In Xataka | Why it is hotter in cities than in the countryside: the urban heat island effect In Xataka | Perhaps aging better does not depend only on the body: science is also beginning to study the effect of art and culture Image | Emiliano Arano This article was originally published in August 2025

Spain has been without an essential weapon for war for years. Airbus has found the solution in Seville, and fires torpedoes and sonobuoys

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One of the most outlandish ideas of World War II was to convert old B-17 bombers into giant loaded drones. with almost ten tons of explosives. The pilots would take off, activate the remote control system and parachute before the plane continued toward its target without a crew. The project it was a failurebut it left a curious lesson: finding submarines and destroying hidden targets has always required the development of some of the strangest and most advanced technologies of each era. The capacity that Spain lost. Modern warfare still relies on highly sophisticated technologies, but some capabilities remain as essential as they were decades ago. One of them is the surveillance and pursuit of submarines. Spain lost that tool in December 2022 with the withdrawal of veterans P-3 Orionleaving a void that was especially striking for a country with thousands of kilometers of coastline, a strategic position between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean and intense naval activity in its waters. Since then, the Armed Forces have lacked an aircraft capable of locating, tracking and attacking enemy submarines, a situation that is now beginning to be resolved. thanks to a program developed entirely in Seville. Cockpit of the new maritime patrol C295 The answer comes from Andalusia. Airbus advances in the construction of the new C295 MPAa version specifically designed to return to the Air and Space Army a capability that had been missing for years. The program has already passed several important industrial milestones, including powering up systems and commissioning the engines of the first aircraft. The company ensures that the deadlines remain as planned and that flight tests will last for more than a year before the delivery of the first unit in 2028. Beyond a simple replacement, Airbus considers this development the most ambitious project carried out on the C295 platform and aspires to turn it into an international reference within maritime patrol. View of the interior of the warehouse from the airplane ramp The return of the submarine chaser. The characteristic that distinguishes this aircraft from the rest of the C295 versions is its ability to combat underwater threats. The device will be able to carry between two and four Mk46 or Mk54 torpedoes and deploy up to sixty sonobuoys, small floating sensors that listen to sounds underwater and allow hidden submarines to be located. The combination of both systems returns to Spain a fundamental tool for contemporary naval warfare. For years, the country has lacked a platform capable of searching for submarines at great distances, classifying them, tracking their movements and, if necessary, attacking them. The new plane recovers precisely that function, one of the more complex and strategic within any modern air force. An arsenal of sensors. Anti-submarine warfare depends on both sensors and weapons. Precisely for this reason, the C295 MPA will incorporate a very extensive set of specialized equipment. Among them are synthetic aperture radarselectro-optical systems, magnetic anomaly detectors capable of perceiving the presence of large metallic masses underwater, automatic vessel identification systems and an advanced acoustic system to process information collected by sonobuoys. Added to this are self-protection equipment against missiles, encrypted satellite communications and tactical data links that will allow information to be shared in real time with other naval and air units. An industrial project. Although Airbus leads the program, development has also become in a shop window of the Spanish defense industry. Companies such as Indra, SAES and Tecnobit participate by providing self-protection systems, acoustic sensors and encryption equipment. The contract also includes simulators, infrastructure, training and logistical support, consolidating a technological ecosystem that goes far beyond the manufacture of the aircraft itself and reinforces Seville’s role as one of the main military aeronautical centers in Europe. Much more than a new plane. The acquisition of eight devices of maritime surveillance and eight of maritime patrol is part of an investment greater than the 1.7 billion eurosto which other contracts for new versions of the C295 have been added. The program reflects the extent to which Spain is rebuilding capabilities considered essential in an international context where submarines once again play a leading role. In essence, the history of new C295 MPA It is not just about a plane that has just come off a Sevillian assembly line, but rather about how a country that had lost one of the most important tools to control its seas is recovering the ability to find invisible threats underwater and respond to them with its own means. Image | Airbus In Xataka | The S-82 is Spain’s second new generation submarine: it has just completed a critical test before delivery In Xataka | Spain is selling military technology for scrap: the latest was a Navy submarine for 130,000 euros

It has been operating for 30 years and is the geothermal envy of Europe

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It is eleven meters under the asphalt. It doesn’t make noise, it doesn’t emit smoke and it doesn’t appear on the news. But while Zaragoza residents debate the electricity bill, under their feet there is a layer of underground water that remains at a stable 18 °C all year round – in the heat of the August heat wave or in the January frost – and that has been silently heating and cooling dozens of buildings in the city for almost three decades. The existence of this “natural radiator” hidden under the streets of Zaragoza has returned to the news this week with a double reason: the consolidation of the city as a European benchmark in urban geothermal exploitation, and the presentation of a pioneering method – developed and tested there – to intelligently manage this resource before success destroys it. In short. The team of the Advanced Hydrogeological and Geothermal Systems Group (SHGA) of the Geological and Mining Institute of Spain (IGME-CSIC) has presented the results of THERMAL, a new method of managing the urban aquifer that they have successfully tested in Zaragoza. The data is concrete: by better coordinating existing heat pumps – without drilling a single new well – more than 7,500 euros per year can be saved per installation and the emission of almost 15 tons of CO₂ can be avoided. As Cristina de Santiago Buey, geologist and researcher at IGME-CSIC, details, the Aragonese capital is already a reference. “What makes Zaragoza a benchmark is not only the magnitude of the use, but the way in which it has been managed collectively through a model based on scientific knowledge and institutional coordination,” explains the scientist. “This total vision guarantees that geothermal exploitation does not compromise either the sustainability of the aquifer or public health, and turns the municipality into a pioneering example of urban subsoil governance.” Why Zaragoza? The “mattress” of the Ebro. It is no coincidence that this happens here. Beneath the city lies what geologists call the aquifer “Ebro Alluvial: Zaragoza“: a mass of underground water between 20 and 30 meters thick, in direct connection with the riverbed, and with the water table about 11 meters deep. In simple terms, it is a cushion of water linked to the Ebro that acts as a natural thermostat. The geothermal key to that mattress is its temperature. While the outside air oscillates between 35 °C in the Aragonese summer and 2 °C on a Cerro day, the groundwater remains stable at around 18 °C throughout the year. That consistency is exactly what a geothermal heat pump needs to work at maximum efficiency. A giant refrigerator under the asphalt. To understand its mechanism, it is worth remembering how the home refrigerator works: it does not generate cold, it simply moves heat from the inside to the outside. The geothermal heat pump does the same, but on an urban scale and using the subsoil as a source or sink of energy. In winter, the system extracts water from the aquifer at 18 °C, “steals” part of that heat through an exchanger, and amplifies it to heat the building. Then, the water – now somewhat colder – is reinjected. In summer, the process is reversed: heat is extracted from the building and released to groundwater, which at 18°C ​​is much colder than the outside air. The advantage over aerothermal energy is substantial. Cristina de Santiago Buey illustrates it very clearly: if we want to keep a house at 22 °C and the outside air is at 5 °C in winter, an aerothermal pump has to overcome a large thermal jump of 17 degrees. “If instead of air we use the ground, which remains stable around 18 °C, the jump is much smaller and the pump works much more easily and efficiently,” details the expert. Less effort translates directly into less electricity consumed and a much lower bill. Three decades and sixty installations. The geothermal use of the Zaragoza aquifer was growing progressively for almost thirty years. The result: about 60 large installations, mostly in public buildings, with an installed power of about 110 thermal megawatts only for cooling – the approximate equivalent of the energy needed to air-condition more than 15,000 homes. Hospitals, university campuses, shopping centers and apartment blocks benefit from it. Highlights include the City Council’s Zero Emissions Building, which consumes 52% less energy than a conventional building, or the Saica paper mill, with a field of 12 holes integrated into its foundations. The managers of these properties agree: the peace of mind of not depending on the fluctuations of the electricity market to cool or heat huge surfaces compensates for any initial installation effort. Although there is a B side. With so many wells extracting and reinjecting water, facilities can interfere with each other. If the aquifer becomes excessively hot in the long term by returning too much hot water, it is no longer useful. The current challenge is not the lack of resources, but rather coordinating their use among dozens of actors. This is where the THERMAL method comes in. The system adjusts flow rates and temperatures so that no installation interferes with the others. The next step is already underway: incorporating artificial intelligence and machine learning to anticipate energy demand and climate changes in the subsoil, with the aim of exporting this model to other European cities. From Zaragoza to Mieres: an exportable model. To measure the milestone of Zaragoza, it is advisable to look at international references. Paris, thanks to the large Dogger aquifer, has an immense underground air conditioning network; and near Helsinki, in Vantaa, the world’s largest seasonal thermal storage system is being built, designed to store summer heat and release it in winter. In Spain, the other great example is Mieres (Asturias), where the Pozo Barredo – an abandoned and flooded coal mine – was converted into the largest geothermal network in the country. Today it heats a hospital, the university and hundreds of homes in a perfect example … Read more

Tomorrow the spin-off of one of the best space uchronias of recent years arrives, and it comes with an unexpected twist

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On May 29 Apple TV+ does two things at the same time: closes the fifth season of ‘For All Mankind’ and premieres its spin-off, ‘city ​​of stars‘, from its own creators. The original series has been telling the alternative space race from Houston for seven years, and the new project contemplates it from Moscow, within the Soviet space program that in this uchronic universe reached the Moon first. ‘For All Mankind’ started in 2019 with a simple premise: what would have happened if the Soviets had put a man on the Moon before the Americans? The series This parallel vision has been escalating until it lands on Mars and extends beyond, accumulating five installments and a sixth (already confirmed as the final one) that will close the complete narrative arc. ‘Star City’ is a prequel that returns to the seventies, to the founding moment of that alternative universe, but with the perspective reversed. Where ‘For All Humanity’ assumed the Soviet triumph as a starting point and contemplated it from the United States, the spin-off is installed within the USSR space program: laboratories, cosmonaut barracks, corridors guarded by the KGB… An excellent setting for a proposal maintained by the team from the last seasons of its predecessor, among which stands out Ronald D. Moore, screenwriter remembered for ‘Galactica’, ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ and ‘Deep Space Nine’. The cast is led by Rhys Ifans in a role inspired by the Soviet engineer Sergei Korolev (who died in 1966 but survived in this universe and took the space program to unknown heights). And the tone of this ‘City of Stars’ clearly diverges from that of its mother series: if in ‘For All Mankind’ we had a humanist drama of space adventure, here we go to the espionage thriller also inspired by the real Soviet project, where ships less reliable than those of the Americans, deaths hidden from the outside and the presence of the KGB in mission control itself met. In Xataka | Today on Prime Video, a series with a superb Nicolas Cage that is already said to be Marvel’s best proposal in years

“Whoever contributes 40 years at the maximum does not reach 50% of what they contribute”

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The Spanish pension system works, in theory, under a simple principle: the more you contribute during your working life, the greater the pension you have when you reach contribution. That’s the theory that works in most cases. However, Alfonso Muñoz Cuenca, an official specializing in pensions, has published a video in which a paradox is revealed within a system that prioritizes the principle of solidarity, compared to that of contribution that should reward those who contribute the most with higher pensions. The limits that change everything The Order PJC/297/2026 which came into force in March 2026 has set the maximum contribution base to the General Regime sets in its article 2 at 5,101.20 euros per month for 2026. In parallel, the maximum pension that a retiree can collect that same year is 3,359.60 euros. That is to say, between what a worker can contribute in his monthly contributions and what he can receive when he retires there is a difference of almost 1,742 euros per month. Muñoz explains that the contributory principle applied by Social Security establishes a relationship of proportionality between what a person contributes to the system and what they receive as a benefit. Whoever contributes more, in terms of amount and duration, effectively tends to receive a higher pension. However, the legal limit conditions the entire calculation, and this limit leads some contributors in the highest percentile to wonder if they are really interested in contributing for the maximum base. As the official himself points out, answering that question “is very complex and has many nuances.” Everything is better understood with examples To explain that contributing for the maximum base is not always “giving money away,” Muñoz explains three assumptions with different conditions that can occur throughout a working life. The expert points out that this career can be very stable and for many years in the highest range of contributions, but life is inexorable and there may be periods with lower salaries, intermittent unemployment, etc. The first of the cases that Muñoz exposes is that of a retiring worker at 65 years old with 40 years of contributions, practically all of them contributing at the maximum of the contribution base. By law, that worker would be entitled to 100% of the regulatory base, which is equivalent to a theoretical pension of about 5,100 euros per month. The problem is that, by applying the limit that the last legal reform, the worker “will be able to collect the maximum pension, which is 3,359.60 euros,” says Muñoz. That is, in this case, the case is observed an imbalance of almost 2,000 euros between the base for which you have contributed for a good part of your working life and the pension you receive when you retire. The second assumption uses that same worker with 40 years of contributions, but in this case, he has had periods with lower salaries, part-time work, contribution gaps or years receiving unemployment benefits, contributing for the maximum base while he has been able to fulfills the function of a buffer for those ups and downs. That is, it contributes to raising the regulatory base on which the pension is calculated because the periods with “excess” contributions compensate for those with “deficits.” When contributing more does not pay off: early retirement For the third assumption that the expert explained, which is the one that most highlights the anomaly that can most discourage those who contribute the most, Muñoz simulates the work life of two workers with different contribution files. In the simulation of the first worker, an employee is shown who has accumulated 40 years of contributions with the maximum contribution base, and poses a early retirement at 63 years old. For retiring two years early, Social Security applies reducing coefficients (unless you belong to one of the exempt unions). In this case, a 19% reduction is applied, which would leave you with a theoretical pension of 4,132 euros. However, when the maximum pension allowed is exceeded, these coefficients are not applied to the theoretical pension, but are applied directly to the established limit (3,359.60 euros), so the final pension would be about 2,721 euros. By applying the 20.42% personal income tax withholding that corresponds to the income, the resulting pension is 2,165.59 euros. That is, a difference of 2,935.61 euros with respect to the contribution base that you have been paying during your working life. Worker two in this simulation, on the other hand, has only contributed part-time for 15 years and does so for a base of 1,100 euros per month. However, he retires at 65 and has a dependent spouse. For your years of contributions, you are entitled to 50% of the regulatory base, that is, 550 euros. By not reaching the minimum pension, Social Security recognizes the corresponding supplements for receiving a retirement for below the minimum amount. so your resulting pension is 1,127 euros per monthand is not subject to personal income tax withholding. The expert’s conclusions are devastating: “The first worker has contributed to the system for 40 years with very high contribution bases and does not receive even 50% of what he contributes.” On the other hand, the second, having contributed for only 15 years and for a much smaller amount, receives more than 100% of what he has contributed. In Xataka | What is the regulatory base: how it is calculated in 2026 with examples Image | Unsplash (Matt Bennett, Jordy Muñoz), Social Security

The Steam Deck OLED went on the market for 569 euros. Three years later it costs 35% more for an obvious reason

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Since the Steam Deck is in stores, we are witnessing the most hardware era from Valve in many years. And of course, entering this swamp has its pluses and minuses. After months of irregular availability, Valve’s portable console is returning to the shelves. The problem is that it has done so with a considerable price increase: more than 40% in both models. It is another example that today, being an early adopter pays off. what has happened. Valve has updated the prices of the Steam Deck OLEDits only range since it retired the LCD model half a year ago. The 512 GB model goes from 569 to 779 euros, while the 1 TB model goes up from 679 to 919 euros. They are 210 and 240 euros more expensive, respectively. In the United States the rise is even more prominent, increasing its cost by more than 40%. If there is any good news that we can get from this, it is that both models are once again available to buy on Steam after a long season of intermittent stock. Valve’s justification. The company has in a brief official statement that “these new prices reflect the current state of component costs and other global logistics challenges across the industry.” That is, you pay more for exactly the same device that existed a few months ago. The real culprit: RAM. Behind all this is rising memory prices. The cost of RAM has skyrocketed in recent months due to the enormous demand from large technology companies, which They are building data centers for their artificial intelligence projects at a frenetic pace. This has led to widespread memory and storage shortages affecting the entire industry. It is not an isolated case. Valve is the latest manufacturer to join a worrying trend. nintendo recently announced a price increase for the Switch 2citing precisely the “recent rebound in the prices of memory and other components.” sony It has also gone through several climbs price since the release of PS5 and Microsoft He has also done the same with Xbox Series on more than one occasion. The outlook, in general, is complicated. And it is that according to Circana datathe average price of new hardware in the United States has gone from $235 in November 2019 to $439 in November 2025. That the 1 TB Steam Deck now costs more than a PS5 Pro It’s pretty crazy. What this changes. The Steam Deck was born as a clever cheap gateway to the portable gaming PC, an alternative that has even ended casting doubt on the future viability of gaming on Windows. With this increase, it is no longer that economical option, especially since there is no longer an LCD model. And now, with the most expensive base model, the Nintendo Switch 2 curiously becomes the cheapest alternative for those looking for a portable console, despite its recent price increase and all. And now what. After the rise, now what everyone wants to know is what will happen to the price of the Steam Machine and the Steam Framehardware that Valve intends to launch this year. The company finds itself in a complicated situation in this regard, especially in a context of supply problems. At the time, those responsible for the console they said that it would cost something “more in line with what could be expected from the current PC market.” Given what we have seen with the Steam Deck, now we have more doubts than ever. In Xataka | Project Helix is ​​the new Xbox machine and the warning is clear: it is not going to be cheap

Something strange happened inside the Earth in 2011 and 27 years of data have not solved the mystery

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In 2011, scientists observed an unexpected change in the flow of molten iron and nickel that makes up the earth core external. While its surface flow normally moves westward, it was detected to be moving just eastward. It was something totally unusual and mysterious. As a result of this observation, a study was launched, the results of which have recently been published. The objective was to know the reasons, but now there are only a few certainties and still many doubts. 27 years of observations. In this study 27 years of behavior of the Earth’s core were retrospectively analyzed, between 1997 and 2025. The core cannot be directly observed. However, its behavior directly influences that of the Earth’s magnetic field. Therefore, fluctuations in one can be detected in the other using satellite observations. It was seen that while the Earth’s outer core moves normally westward, there was a portion of it that went from a weak westward flow in 2010 to a much stronger eastward flow in 2012. It remained that way until 2020 and now appears to be starting to weaken again. Three options. When this change in movement was detected in 2011, it was thought that it could be due to three reasons. On the one hand, it could be a one-off fluctuation. On the other hand, it is possible that it is part of a periodic oscillation. And finally, it could be due to a way of establishing a balance in the circulation of the core. The only thing we see at the moment with the satellite observations is that the change was progressive. The behavioral modification began in 2010 and was already very clear in 2012. In 2011, when it was observed, it was in full transition. Other simultaneous observations. When analyzing the data from that period, it was seen that, coinciding with this change of direction, there were also some seismic signals that agree with the dates. Even geomagnetic shocks have been detected that correspond to a turbulent activity in the earth’s core. It’s not a whirlpool. This change of direction has not occurred throughout the core. For a start, the earth’s core consists of two parts: the internal and the external. The internal one is subjected to so much pressure that the metals are in a solid state despite the high temperatures. On the other hand, on the outside they are in a liquid state and, therefore, in motion. Even so, it wasn’t the entire outer core that changed its movement either. It corresponds to a specific region, located under the Pacific Ocean. It could be seen as a whirlpool, but these scientists have concluded that it is not, since the movement is part of a larger, wavy structure. Something like if an entire section of this part of the core suddenly began to move against expectations. Why is it important. The movement of the molten metal in the core generates electrical currents, which in turn give rise to a geomagnetic field that extends into space. Therefore, thanks to the movement of the Earth’s core we have an entire magnetic shield around the Earth that protects our atmosphere from the erosion caused by particles from the solar winds. For this nucleus to change its movement is not dangerous. We are not going to run out of atmosphere, because the core is still there. However, understanding its fluctuations can help us also understand the fluctuations of the magnetic field. This not only protects the atmosphere from erosion. It also helps us keep away a good part of the particles that could affect our telecommunications systems. Therefore, understanding how this shield works can help us prevent those more extreme events that do cause some technological havoc. That’s why, while this study has given us a lot of interesting data, it’s still not enough. We must continue monitoring the Earth’s core, what caused this anomaly of 2011. Image | THAT In Xataka | The Webb and Hubble telescopes simultaneously observed Jupiter’s auroras. The problem is that they didn’t see the same thing

Spain and Morocco have been dreaming of a tunnel under the Strait for 40 years. The great enemy of the project is called Umbral de Camarinal

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Linking Europe with Africa from the Strait of Gibraltar has been discussed for decades. However, in recent years we have seen how the Governments of the countries involved have been adding steps to this project. Spain and Morocco work has accelerated in recent months to make a railway tunnel a reality that would pass under the Strait and that would connect Punta Paloma (Tarifa) with Cape Malabata (near Tangier). The infrastructure (if it is built) would easily become a historic engineering work, allowing people to cross from one continent to another in just half an hour. What are we talking about?. The project contemplates a strictly railway tunnel, without a viaduct or vehicle lanes (something it originally discussed doing), with a total length of about 42 kilometers between stations, of which 27.7 are submerged. The deepest point it would reach 475 meters below sea level and would cross what is known as the Camarinal Threshold, the shallowest area of ​​the Strait and, curiously, much more complex from a geological point of view. What would it be like inside?. According to data collected by the Spanish public company SECEGSA, the design proposes two independent single-track tubes, each with an inner diameter of 7.90 metersand a 6-meter central service gallery for maintenance and emergency tasks. This gallery would connect with the main tubes through transversal passages every 340 meters. At the lowest point of the layout there would be a safe parking area with intervention areas and a smoke extraction system. High-speed trains for passengers and shuttle convoys for goods and vehicles would run through the tunnel. Who is in charge. The project is moving forward in two ways. On the Spanish side, the work is coordinated by SECEGSA, a public company created in the eighties precisely to promote this connection. On the Moroccan side, the Government has decided to concentrate all its efforts on the channel with Madridruling out other parallel paths. The most recent and relevant agreement It was signed on December 4, 2025 in La Moncloa between the Minister of Transport of Spain, Óscar Puente, and his counterpart in Morocco, Karim Zidane. It contains a memorandum between the Spanish National Geographic Institute and the National Center for Scientific and Technical Research of Morocco (CNRST) to jointly study the seismicity and geodynamics of the Strait for three years. Financing. In March of this year, the Spanish Government approved an additional transfer of 1.73 million euros to finance technical studies, according to they count from La Razón. Added to this item is a marine research campaign commissioned by the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) with a budget of 553,187 euros, published in the Official State Gazette. This campaign, lasting about 15 days and scheduled for the first half of 2026, includes high-resolution bathymetry, sampling of sediments and rocks from the seabed, and laboratory analysis. Three CSIC institutes participate (Marine, Geological and Mining Sciences, and Oceanography), the Navy Hydrographic Institute and the United States Geological Survey. Obstacles. The key is in the Camarinal Threshold. The Spanish subsidiary of the German manufacturer Herrenknecht, specialized in tunnel boring machines, carried out a feasibility study that concluded that the work is technically possible with current engineering, although he warned of enormous logistical and economic challenges. The subsoil of that area is made up of materials from the Flysch Complex, with layers of sandstone and clay of turbidite origin, covered by more recent sediments. This geological variability, added to the fact that the Strait is located on the Azores-Gibraltar-Tunisia fracture, the same one that caused the devastating Lisbon earthquake of 1755makes excavation a particularly complex challenge. On the other hand, it should be noted that the Strait is not an easy scenario. More than 100,000 ships pass through its waters a year and the study area is located within a Special Conservation Area with a protection plan for orcas. More than 1,900 species of marine flora and fauna have been recorded, which requires obtaining certain environmental permits before doing anything. How much will it cost. Although there are no concrete figures on how much the project would cost, Morocco World News situates the estimated cost alone for the Spanish part is above 8.5 billion euros, while other media such as El Diario elevate the total budget above 15,000 million, to be distributed between Spain, Morocco and the European Union. In any case, it will be one of the most expensive infrastructures ever built in the region. When will it be ready. Here it is advisable to lower expectations. And the deadlines that are managed They place the possible inauguration between 2035 and 2040always in the best of scenarios, but very possibly set more in the 2040s than before (that is, if the work is ever executed). If the seismic and geotechnical studies end up being favorable, a reconnaissance gallery could be put out to tender in 2027, requiring several years to complete to obtain detailed information on the terrain and the viability of the project. Why it matters beyond engineering. Connecting Africa with Europe by rail would encourage trade in very profitable ways, integrating the railway networks of the Maghreb with the European system and making the peninsular south take on a completely different color as a logistical node. Of course, it also raises political debates, especially regarding immigration management. Be that as it may, we will still have to wait to find out if the project finally materializes. Cover image | SECEGSA and Google Earth In Xataka | Amazon wants to save its ‘cloud’ from the mud: the plan to shield Zaragoza against large floods

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