Author: Ezra

It’s been a quarter of a century since the iconic urban planning video game SimCity saw the light of day. Since then, interest in cities and their design has become widespread: from new and utopian five-minute city designs to models based on sustainable mobility. In an interview conducted by The Atlantic to the main designer of the game, Stone Librande, he said that, although he worked with many urban planning books, what attracted him most was using Google Earth and Google Street View to contemplate what the cities were like. cities actually. He discovered that it was a powerful way…

There are not a few people who have ever had that strange feeling of having lived exactly the same situation before, as if we were reliving a scene that has already happened: “I have already lived this”. This phenomenon, known as déjà vu, is the phenomenon that you have experienced something before, while knowing that you have not. For example: you visit a friend’s house and you have the feeling that you have been there before, but it is impossible, because it is the first time you visit the city. Still the feeling can be so intense and so real…

The pockets of the Spaniards have been suffering for months due to the rise in the price of electricity. Spain has paid 44% more expensive than Europe in the first semester, an even greater difference when it comes to poor families (55% more with less installed power). The volatility and the roller coaster that the PVPC tariff has suffered (those that are subject to market regulation) has made households pay much more for the same amount of electricity than before. Suffice it to say that the cost of in the wholesale market has risen 635% in one year. Reason why…

In recent years, Portugal has become the favorite destination for thousands of people, especially Americans, who seek to reside in Europe, somewhere with sun and sand and low taxes. Telecommuting was able to make that a reality. Until now, however, there was no easy way for these temporary residents to work remotely in Portugal, as previously expatriates had to apply for a D7 visa, which was mostly aimed at retirees. Now, the Portuguese government has kicked off a new visa for digital nomads to reside in the country for up to one year. The new visa. As of October 30,…

The tyrannosaurus rex still on the throne as the great predator of all time. About 12 meters long and almost six meters tall, he could exert up to six tons of pressure with one bite of his powerful jaw of 60 sharp teeth, able to split a car in half. However, for one of the scariest beasts to ever exist on Earth, it has been mocked in endless memes. Basically because of a surprising body feature: his short and useless arms. Why were they so small? Science has come up with various theories. Scientists have been racking their brains trying…

Much has been said in recent years about Neom, the futuristic city that will be built in Saudi Arabia. In Xataka we have analyzed throughout several articles such as East, East either East each of the eccentricities planned for this utopian city in the middle of the desert. Now, however, another piece of news has Neom on everyone’s lips: he has won the bid to host the Asian Winter Games. And of course, it is surreal that a city has been chosen that, at the moment, does not even exist. Neom was largely the brainchild of Crown Prince Mohammed Bin…

The sexual freedom law, the well-known “only yes is yes” law, comes into force today coinciding with the controversy over the sexist insults that occurred at the Elías Ahuja residence hall in Madrid, which we recently reported on Magnet. Promoted by the Ministry of Equality, it establishes in detail the limits of consent. A mechanism that wants to help women “to be freer” and that was born from the social alarm generated by the rape of La Manada during San Fermín in 2018. Basically, it puts sexual consent at the center of everything and also makes a distinction between sexual…

The Earth has changed a lot during its long life of 4.5 billion years, experiencing all sorts of continental configurations, including times when almost all of the land on the planet formed one giant supercontinent. Our future could be like this. The Pacific Ocean is dying: it shrinks by about three centimeters every year. And, thanks to various calculations, scientists point out that little by little a new “supercontinent” will emerge as a result of this process. The new continent will be called: Amasia. The study. Researchers at Curtin University in Australia, led by geologist Chuan Huang, simulated Earth’s future…

It is 8:00 p.m. and room 9 of the Ideal Cinemas in Madrid does not fit a soul. After the trailers, practically everyone has already put on their 3D glasses, ready to return to the world of Pandora. Finally, the lights go out and the movie begins. Year 2154, we meet a young man named Jake Sully, an ex-marine who is selected to participate in the Avatar Program… “Wait, this sounds familiar”, “We’ve already seen this one, haven’t we?” “Isn’t that Avatar 2?” A quiet murmur fills the room, two people from the back row get up and leave. Yes,…