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ETHIC
Ethic is a Spanish online media outlet that analyzes global trends through a humanist and liberal perspective.
A young child looking at an ipad with other children around him
Society
José A. Cano

Tech-Savvy Sweden Leads Global Push To Ban Screens In Classrooms

Sweden recently announced that the country's schools will remove digital technology from classrooms because of poor student performance. Some ask how useful is digital learning. But it also poses the question: is "digital de-escalation" even possible?

Updated September 13, 2023 at 12:45 p.m.

-Analysis-

Sweden is suddenly putting the brakes on the progressive digitalization of education.

Without going into details, Sweden's Minister of Education, Lotta Edholm, announced last spring that the government was alarmed at Sweden's poor results in the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), which found that over the past five years, Swedish children's reading comprehension skills had dropped from high to intermediate — not a catastrophic result, but worrying compared to their usual standards.

Conducted by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), the PIRLS evaluates the reading comprehension of 9- to 10 year-olds. Meanwhile, the OECD's similar PISA test measures not only reading comprehension but also basic science and mathematics skills.

Since 2013, Sweden and its Nordic neighbors have registered increasingly worse results in the PISA, when at the beginning of the century they were considered the European benchmark. Indeed, in 2020, the Swedish daily Expressen even uncovered a fraud scandal: the education authorities had tried to falsify the Swedish results for 2018.

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A lithium mine and vehicles seen from above
Green
Carmen Contreras Tellez

Lithium Mining: How The Clean Energy Rush Repeats Old Cycles Of Global Exploitation

The search for clean energy is essential in an age of alarming climate change. Lithium extraction represents a great opportunity, but the maltreatment of communities affected by this extraction must be considered if we want to interrupt the vicious cycle of wealthy countries exploiting resource-rich countries.

COPIAPO — The scientific community continues to warn that burning fuels to obtain energy is simply not sustainable for the planet. Among all the alternatives that currently exist, perhaps the most popular one for the transportation sector is electric energy. At first glance, it sounds tempting: electric trains, cars and buses capable of transporting people over long distances, equipped with almost limitless batteries, and charging stations distributed throughout the territory.

But to make electric batteries, which are also found in mobile and portable devices, lithium is needed. This mineral is currently experiencing high demand precisely because of its large energy storage capacity. Extracting it requires large amounts of water and chemicals. This is where some people are already asking: can we justify everything, in the name of energy transition?

The largest sources of lithium in the world are found in brine deposits in Argentina, Bolivia and Chile, making them the focus of attention for investors. But indigenous communities that depend on these territories and the resources found there demand prior dialogue and informed consultation before allowing the extraction of the mineral.

"To us, the salt flat represents our entire life," explains Lesley Muñoz Rivera, a representative of the Colla community in Copiapo, Chile. "The salt flat is a water reservoir. When they propose to extract large quantities and tons of water to dry them in the sun and obtain this lithium carbonate, they are harming the water. I define the Colla people as a water-based community, and if we don't have water to live and provide for our animals or crops, how are we going to survive?"

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A man standing in a kitchen.
food / travel
Raquel C. Pico

Kitchen Drama: Why Haute Cuisine Makes For Such Juicy Film And TV

Chefs and restaurants are increasingly taking over visual pop culture. Why can't we stop watching these sizzling storylines?

MADRID — Fernando and Alberto were saved by food. Or, rather, they were saved by their talent for turning ingredients into gastronomic works of art.

The story begins in 1974. Fernando is a dedicated sous-chef in a French restaurant in Barcelona and Alberto, his brother, is a cook, more interested in political struggles than in soufflés.

A confrontation with the police drives them to flee the city, take refuge in the small town of Cadaqués, Spain, and take charge of the kitchen in a surrealist restaurant whose owner's one obsession is to get Dalí to dine at one of his tables.

This story is not exactly real – Dalí is, of course, and so are his culinary tastes at the time in Cadaqués – but it all serves as the basis for a culinary comedy, one of this summer's Spanish film highlights, Waiting for Dalí (Esperando a Dalí).

Anyone who sees the film, directed by David Pujol, can linger on many things — its obsession with Dalí, the romantic plot, the eternal summer feel of its shots — but, above all, they will remember the food. The film shows the brothers cooking, choosing the best raw materials and discovering delicious tastes in the port's bars, and we also see them plating dishes with an almost avant-la-lettre art of culinary sophistication.

It is no coincidence: behind the fictional food by the sibling chefs is the truly inspired Ferrán Adrià, former head chef of celebrated restaurant El Bulli.

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Photograph of a woman dancing the Macarena with a group of party-goers in Acapulco, Mexico.
Society
Fran Sánchez Becerril

How TikTok And Spotify Have Killed The "Song Of The Summer"

Consumer habits have changed, and with it the music industry – gone are the days when one hit song would define the sound of an entire summer. But why have we abandoned this iconic practice, and what has the race turned into in our modern day?

-Analysis-

MADRID — More than 20 years have passed since Sonia and Selena released their hit song Yo Quiero Bailar, a tune that was destined to return in 2021 to top the Spanish charts once more. Despite its two decades of life, the hit came back to bars and clubs all over the country simply because the iconic "cuando llega el calor" (when the heat comes in) lyrics capture something in the season's spirit.

King África and "La Bomba" are also part of Spain's summery melodic history, just like other songs such as Las Ketchup's "Aserejé," Chayanne's "Torero," or Los del Río's "Macarena."

For decades, we have known exactly which song was the reigning chart-topper for the months of July and August, an unequivocal (and inescapable) cultural phenomenon. But this year, like the past couple of years, something has changed. Pedro del Corral, a music journalist, explains the phenomenon of the Song of the Summer, as we know it, is dead.

"It won't matter if it's the most popular singers contending," he said. "They still won't ever attain such a coveted title."


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A man walks under a classic spanish shop sign in gold, red and green
Ideas
David Lorenzo Cardiel

Saving Urban Typography In A Digital World

Typography is a familiar sight on the streets, but it has also succumbed to fashions and the passage of time. Rescuing urban signage helps to preserve this part of our collective heritage.

MADRID — The strokes, drawn to the millimeter, scratch the thin sheet of paper. One slip, just the slightest mistake, and all the work will be ruined. In silence, a teacher observes his pupils. The future of their education depends on having studied every detail of each character. Only excellence is acceptable in the imperial school.

On the other side of the world, a few hundred monks all over Europe strive to copy the books they keep in monastery and palace libraries. They devote hours to train their attention span, straining in the half-light, to maintain fidelity to the original book. Some slip a few complaints into the manuscript margins.

Then came Gutenberg, with the Bible printed in textured type, and then the thousands of typefaces now found in data banks and on computers.

Typography has accompanied humanity since the origin of printing techniques, an extension of the ancient art of calligraphy. Tens of thousands of styles, aiming to unite beauty and intelligibility — but in the age of the Internet we seem to limit typography to just a uniform few. Is this the end of typography, or are we in a new stage of its reinvention?

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Why Summer Should Always Remind Us Of The Ozone
Green
Mariana Toro Nader

Why Summer Should Always Remind Us Of The Ozone

With the arrival of the heat, it can seem that air pollution has increased. But is this just our perception or reality?

-Analysis-

MADRID — In summer, days are longer and people are more eager to be outside, but does that also increase environmental pollution? In truth, it's not a matter of perception: the summer heat increases the levels of tropospheric ozone, one of the polluting gases with the highest impact in Spain and across the planet.

Ozone (O3) is a colorless, odorless gas that, depending on which layer of the atmosphere it is in, can have either positive or negative effects. Stratospheric ozone is the "good" ozone, found 10 to 50 kilometers above the earth's surface. There, it forms the so-called ozone layer, which protects living beings from the sun's ultraviolet radiation. When this layer degenerates, it creates ozone holes that can contribute to global warming, as well as increase the risk of skin cancer, eye cataracts and affect people's immune system.

However, when ozone is in the troposphere — the layer of the atmosphere closest to Earth — it becomes a byproduct pollutant produced by primary pollutants such as nitrogen oxides (NO and NO2) and volatile organic compounds.

Tropospheric ozone is hazardous to our health: it affects the respiratory system, causes throat, eye and mucous membrane irritation, can trigger coughing and can reduce lung function. It makes breathing more difficult, increases cases of asthma attacks, and can worsen other chronic lung diseases such as emphysema and bronchitis. In addition, it is associated with increased deaths due to cardiovascular failure.

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image showing people sitting on a hill, overlooking an urban landscape
Green
Laura Casamitjana

"Green Gentrification" — When Environmental Progress Pushes The Poor Out Of Cities

Pollution and climate change have prompted some cities to convert into more sustainable and liveable spaces. But these same policies can widen social inequality. How can cities fix this paradox?

BARCELONA - In 1976, Barcelona's General Metropolitan Plan (PGM) was approved as a framework for the city's urban planning. But the city's issues back then were different than what it faces today: from unsustainable pollution levels to the threat of climate change and a lack of affordable housing, a problem inherited from the 2008 financial crisis.

The gentrification of Barcelona began in the 2010s, exemplified by the transformation of the industrial area Poblenou into parks and green spaces. One of the most significant initiatives to promote a greener city has been the creation of the so-called superilles (superblocks), which aim to prioritize pedestrian spaces for local use.

According to a study by the Barcelona Public Health Agency (ASPB) the superilles have resulted in a 25% reduction in nitrogen dioxide levels, and a 17% reduction in airborne fine particles along the main Sant Antoni boulevard — numbers which have led urbanists to encourage other cities to follow this model.

But the idea of creating more liveable cities has become a double-edged sword, which can end up destroying the very fabric of the neighborhood it seeks to aid.

In the last decade, in the same district of Poblenou, the price per square meter of registered property sales has increased by almost €3000. There has been a significant increase in university-educated tenants and, along with it, income levels. The 22@ project, which has transformed Poblenou from an industrial area into one full of pedestrian avenues, green spaces and modern infrastructure, has also resulted in the displacement of local residents. This is a phenomenon known as ‘green gentrification.'

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A black and white photo shows a perfume shop assistant advising a customer
Society
Raquel C. Pico

Perfume Politics: The Scent Of Women's History

The fragrances we use are not just a matter of personal taste, but a choice connected to the time in which we live. Perfumes of the 20th century varied between bold and soft, depending on the role that women played in society at the time. What does today smell like?

MADRID – Although perfume may seem, at first glance, the least appropriate tool for calculating international politics, the truth is that, on the contrary, trends in olfactory notes provide valuable insights into key geopolitical issues. One can construct the history of Western society — particularly the position women held and their expectations for the future — by relying on the sense of smell. Each perfume trend and each decade has its dominant notes, which translate into varying worldviews.

Perfume has been a key element in the construction of glamour, at least in the "modern idea" we associate with the th today, as historian Carol Dyhouse explains in her book Glamour. Scents opened up new perspectives and even played a part in shifting paradigms of what was expected of women. Thus, in the emergence of the "modern woman" of the 1920s, one cannot overlook the significance of perfumery. As more liberated behaviors took hold and women claimed spaces for themselves, their favorite perfumes followed suit, much to the dismay of critics of this "modern woman."

It was considered acceptable to wear perfumes with a single floral fragrance (for example, lavender water) that had dominated the world before World War I. However, consumers were actually seeking perfumes with complex compositions inspired by oriental scents, much heavier and more striking than floral fragrances. When Guerlain launched Shalimar in 1925, it became a great success, one that continues to be sold even today. Even if they didn’t fall into Orientalism, perfumes still broke away from the pre-war trend. As Carol Dyhouse recalls, Chanel No. 5 doesn’t smell like flowers, but rather something abstract.

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