Artificial intelligence (AI) data centers will skyrocket water and electricity consumption and condition the lives of billions of people worldwide. The United Nations (UN) released a report this Wednesday on the environmental cost of this revolution by 2030, and the projections are worrying. Researchers for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH) anticipate a sharp increase in energy consumption, an intensification of water conflicts, and land overexploitation. At the same time, scientists warn that most consumption occurs when large systems like ChatGPT or Gemini respond to our queries and urge the use of the "concise mode": fewer words, getting straight to the point, to obtain shorter and more direct, energetically more efficient responses.

Migrants living in the State visit the doctor less often, have fewer chronic illnesses, and consume fewer medications than those born in the country. However, the lack of early access to the healthcare system leads them to go to emergency services more often and require more hospitalizations. This is the snapshot offered by the report "State of Health and Use of the Healthcare System by the Migrant Population in Spain" from the Ministry of Health, which concludes that people of foreign origin have, on average, a better state of health, use fewer healthcare resources than natives, although they contribute almost equally to the economic sustainability of the system.

Seated in a row, they hold a plastic glass with half-finished cava while they chat. "It's good, but I won't have any more, okay?", one warns. "The cream xuixos here are very good. And the ensaïmadas too. Oh, and the chocolate! And the cream", another enumerates. Anna Maria, Maria Antònia, and Mirna live in the neighborhood's elderly residence located a few meters from the centenary Ideal pastry shop in Vila de Gràcia. This Saturday morning they came down to attend the popular farewell party that has been organized in front of this establishment. The business, open since 1919, is on borrowed time: the Álvarez family will have to close it on May 31st if they don't find someone willing to take over.

Cranes and excavators are already working on Barcelona's future major scientific district. The Ciutadella del Coneixement is taking shape to be operational in 2031. This is the forecast of the administrations for this scientific, urban, and cultural project, which aims to turn the Parc de la Ciutadella and its surroundings into one of the main research and innovation hubs in Spain and Southern Europe. Practically everything will be up and running within five years. In fact, the rollout of this plan, considered strategic for the country, will be progressive, as the eight architectural interventions are completed. For example, the Old Fish Market, the Center for Biosciences of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), the Castle of the Three Dragons, or the State Public Library.

The new Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is a "public health emergency of international concern", according to the World Health Organization (WHO). With more than 300 probable cases and at least 88 reported deaths, health authorities fear that this outbreak may have a possible geographical spread greater than expected – it affects border areas with Uganda, but there is also a case in the Congolese capital, Kinshasa, about 3,000 kilometers away by road. Given this serious information, however, the Spanish government calls for calm: "with the available information" the risk of transmission "in the Spanish population is considered very low" and, therefore, it rules out imposing travel restrictions or commercial activities with either country, although it advises against traveling to the affected areas.

Since November 2023, public health specialist Javier Padilla (Madrid, 1983) has been the Secretary of State for Health. Last week he led the unprecedented operation to disembark the ship MV Hondius in the Canary Islands, affected by a hantavirus outbreak that, to date, has caused ten infections and three deaths. He speaks to ARA via video call.

As happened six years ago due to the covid-19 pandemic, the hantavirus outbreak has shown that zoonoses, diseases transmitted between animals but with the potential to infect humans, are one of the great threats of the present and future for the health of the population. Although there are some parallels between the current escalation of infections and the covid-19 crisis —mainly the animal origin of the virus—, experts insist that the current situation is very different and assure that hantavirus does not have the capacity to cause a upheaval of the magnitude that coronavirus caused. It is much less contagious and, therefore, it is more unlikely to spread. However, they acknowledge that the growth of global mobility, the rise of extreme climate phenomena and rising temperatures will make the appearance of these types of diseases increasingly frequent.

After days of indecision, the luxury cruise ship MV Hondius, which is docked in Cape Verde affected by a hantavirus outbreak, will finally disembark at a port in the Canary Islands. This has been agreed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Spanish Ministry of Health, following an inspection of the ship by a group of epidemiologists and in compliance with international law and the humanitarian spirit. There are 147 people on board, and seven have been affected by hantavirus, three of whom have died.

African swine fever (ASF) continues to spread – this Thursday 13 new positives have been confirmed, bringing the total to 297 cases – and there are already 19 municipalities with restrictions on access to the Collserola Natural Park. Faced with this situation, sources from the Generalitat confirm to el ARA that they have asked the organization of the Tour de France to consider a change of route in the second stage of the competition – at the beginning of July –, as it would have to pass through an area currently affected by safety and prevention measures against the infectious disease.

Rodalies users will pay again to use the train starting Saturday, May 9. After arguing that these past three months are "the period in which the most intense work and investment has been made in Rodalies to improve its operation," the Government has noted a "progressive improvement" in the service and, therefore, sees it viable to lift some exceptional measures, decreed "to accompany users during this period," as announced this Thursday by the Minister of Territory, Sílvia Paneque. Thus, the last day to use the railway network for free will be Friday, May 8.

Donald Trump's crusade against academia and science does not stop. The US president has summarily dismissed the twenty or so experts on the independent council overseeing the National Science Foundation, the key agency for planning resources allocated to scientific—especially basic—and technical research in the US. Two recently dismissed members of this body—which has a budget equivalent to 8.5 billion euros—have made public that last Friday they received an email sent by the Office of Presidential Personnel, "on behalf of the president," thanking them for "their service" and dismissing them. According to them, "no other argument" was provided.

Kypros Nicolaides (1953, Cyprus) is a doctor and professor at King's College London, from where he has led important advances in prenatal diagnosis and the prevention and treatment of complications during pregnancy. Considered a leading figure in fetal medicine, among his achievements is the creation of combined screening to detect chromosomal abnormalities, such as Down syndrome, which has become the international standard for pregnancy monitoring. L'ARA interviews Nicolaides in Barcelona, where he received the XX Dexeus Dona Foundation International Award, a recognition of his career.

Just past the 40th minute of the league match between Barça and Celta this Wednesday, and almost simultaneously with the moment Lamine Yamal fell to the ground injured after scoring the only goal of the match, a Barça fan suffered cardiac arrest that chilled the atmosphere at the Camp Nou. A 56-year-old supporter collapsed in the stadium's side area. The match was interrupted to attend to the affected person, as per protocol in such cases.

The harsh images of a Catalonia dry for three and a half years due to lack of rainfall and high temperatures have been replaced by those of full reservoirs, which currently exceed 92% of their reserves. But the water crisis was a wake-up call: it is no longer possible to live solely dependent on whether it rains or not, but rather it is necessary to transform the facilities that manage and produce water, whether they already exist or still need to be built or launched.

When the new Barcelona Biomedical Research Park (PRBB) Ciutadella opens its doors, presumably in 2028, nearly a thousand researchers from five major Catalan research centers will move there. But this ambitious project aims to become something more: its promoters claim it will be "the great hub in southern Europe". An aspiration shared by the President of the Generalitat himself, Salvador Illa, who this Thursday visited the works of the future building, underway a decade after its conception and after years of being stalled due to disagreements over funding and space allocation. "It symbolizes a determined commitment and an explicit demand for science to move the country forward and to place us in the [international] talent circuit from Catalonia," he argued from the grounds of the Old Fish Market of Pompeu Fabra University (UPF), where the new space will be located.In this facility dedicated to precision medicine, five major research centers will be located – all part of the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST).

The day after the four astronauts of the Artemis II mission have made history by becoming the humans who have traveled farthest into space —406,771 kilometers from Earth—, ARA interviews Josep Maria Trigo, principal investigator of the Asteroids, Comets, Meteorites and Planetary Sciences group at the Institute of Space Sciences (ICE-CSIC) and the Institute of Catalan Studies for Space (IEEC).

For every four boys diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), there is one girl with the recognized condition. For many years, the scientific community has argued that the difference lies mainly in underdetection. On the one hand, because there is a gender bias in standard assessment instruments – the tools used or the symptoms described as typical are based on a masculinized perspective and are less sensitive to female particularities –, and on the other hand, because they tend to mask more subtle symptoms, causing their case to go unnoticed or to be detected late or incorrectly. But is it possible that there are specific biological mechanisms that have gone unnoticed until now?

José Manuel Fernández de Labastida directs the State Research Agency (AEI), a key institution for planning the resources allocated to scientific and technical research in Spain. In addition to having directed departments in high-level advisory bodies such as the European Research Council (ERC), he has also been Secretary General for Scientific and Technological Policy of the Spanish government and Vice President for Scientific and Technical Research at the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC).

Taking a trip to a paradise island. Buying a house. Curing an illness. Having time for family and friends. Winning the lottery. Getting promoted at work. Playing a football match on Sundays. Having children. Sitting on a terrace in the sun. These are all real answers to a question as intimate as it is complex, which thinkers and philosophers, political and religious leaders, sociologists and psychologists –and perhaps those reading these lines– have tried to address throughout their lives: What makes us happy?

This week, the Catalan government (Generalitat) requested increased funding from the European Commission (EC) – through the Next Generation EU and ERDF funds – to boost the construction of three new desalination plants in Catalonia. The government conveyed its request to Claudia Olazábal, head of the EC's Sustainable Water Resources Management Unit, during a visit to Barcelona. The government justified the request by citing the need to bolster water availability and reduce dependence on rainfall after a historic drought. While this drought currently seems distant given the levels of water reserves in reservoirs and internal basins (92%), it led Catalonia to a critical situation in 2023. The Commission issued a warning to the Generalitat: more desalination plants are welcome, but only if they are part of a broader and more comprehensive plan for managing water supply and demand. And only if all other necessary steps are taken.