Stock Market Funda

The lack of graduates prevented 7,000 computer engineering positions from being filled in 2021.

Some 7,000 positions for computer engineers were left unfilled in 2021 due to a lack of these professionals. Although in sectors related to information technology the unemployment rate barely reaches 3%, companies and institutions annually find, with extreme difficulty, between 35,000 and 40,000 experts to fill these technical positions.

It is one of the conclusions of the IV study of ‘Employability and Digital Talent 2021’, which warns of the shortage of specialized talent. In fact, there were only 8,147 computer science graduates for more than 14,000 companies with hiring processes in these specialties.

“Spain should create 1.3 million ICT specialists by 2030, when at current rates we would not reach 400,000”, recently assured the director of the VASS Foundation and responsible for this study, Antonio Rueda.

In addition, computer engineering careers in Spain only have 16% of female students, despite the fact that they achieve better performance. Specifically, only one in six ICT specialists and one in three graduates in science, technology, engineering and mathematics are women.

The reservoirs managed by Canal de Isabel II to supply the Community of Madrid currently store 579,565 cubic hectometres, 61% of their maximum capacity, which is 11.2 points less than a year ago and clearly below the historical series .

The Madrid swamps have been losing water since May, the month they finished at almost 74% of their capacity. On July 1 they were at 69% while they started August at 64%. It is a situation that is repeated aggravated in the rest of Spain, where the reservoirs are at an average of 37.9% of their capacity.

Currently, at the head of water storage in Madrid is the El Atazar reservoir, with 258,641 cubic hectometres; followed by Valmayor (101,757 hm3) and Santillana (53,623 hm3) with slight decreases compared to the previous week.

The ones that collect less water are those of Navalmedio, which is at 40% of its capacity and 0.283 hm3, and that of La Jarosa, which is at 47% and 3,404 cubic hectometres.

This summer there has been hardly any rainfall in the dams. Specifically, in July 5.8 liters per square meter were registered compared to the 12.7 average that marks the historical series. This explains why, during the last month, the contributions collected in the reservoirs have also been below average. Specifically, the region’s reserves have received 6.4 cubic hectometres of water.

With these data, and although the hydrological situation in the region is normal, Canal de Isabel II has requested the collaboration of all citizens so that they continue to use water responsibly and efficiently.

Engineer Allen Pan posted a video on his YouTube channel explaining how he had developed robotic legs to prevent snakes from crawling on the ground. Bees, cheetahs, seals and dogs: this will be the robotic animals of the future.

One of the main characteristics of snakes is that they do not have legs and, therefore, they do not walk, but instead move along the ground by crawling. Some scientists suggest that the evolution of these animals caused them to lose their legs more than 100 million years ago. However, youtuber and engineer Allen Pan wanted to change the nature of these reptiles and create robotic legs for a snake.

Pan published a video on his YouTube channel in which he explained how the process had been to develop a structure that would allow the animal to walk. “I feel bad for the snakes,” he jokes in the video to justify creating the robotic legs. “They lost their legs and no one is looking for them.”

In order to make his device suitable for snakes, Pan designed his robot with a transparent tube in which one of these animals could easily slide inside.

In addition to the tube, the artifact has 4 robotic legs that have 3 joints and 2 servos. All of them can be controlled remotely through a computer .

To test his invention, the youtuber visited a snake breeder. There, Pan was able to introduce one of these reptiles into the tube and see if it worked as he had expected or not.

Initially, the results were not favorable. However, after several unsuccessful attempts, the snake began to voluntarily slide down the tube and the legs began to ‘walk’ as programmed.

The YouTube video was uploaded 3 days ago and has more than 2,600,000 views at the time of writing this article. However, it is not the only site that has gone viral. Allen Pan also uploaded a snippet to Twitter that already has more than 16,000,000 views.

Eleven people injured when a tourist train overturned in Mallorca. Four of those affected are minors, one of whom has a serious injury and another reserved prognosis.

Eleven people, seven adults and four minors, have been injured of varying degrees this Wednesday in the tourist town of Cala d’Or, in the Majorcan municipality of Felanitx, after a tourist train overturned. This has been communicated by 061.

Most of those affected have suffered minor injuries, but a minor has a serious injury and the prognosis of another is reserved. The notice of this event took place at 1:05 p.m. and several ambulances have moved to the site to attend to the wounded.

Six of the injured have been taken to the Hospital de Llevant, two to the Quirón Palmaplanas and another three have not required hospital admission.

Eleven people injured when a tourist train overturned in Mallorca. Four of those affected are minors, one of whom has a serious injury and another reserved prognosis.

Eleven people, seven adults and four minors, have been injured of varying degrees this Wednesday in the tourist town of Cala d’Or, in the Majorcan municipality of Felanitx, after a tourist train overturned. This has been communicated by 061.

Most of those affected have suffered minor injuries, but a minor has a serious injury and the prognosis of another is reserved. The notice of this event took place at 1:05 p.m. and several ambulances have moved to the site to attend to the wounded.

Six of the injured have been taken to the Hospital de Llevant, two to the Quirón Palmaplanas and another three have not required hospital admission.

The energy group Uniper, which had to receive a rescue from the German Government, has registered losses of 12,418 million euros in the first six months of 2022, in contrast to the negative result of 20 million in the same period of the previous year , as a consequence of the impact of the substantial reduction in gas supply from Russia.

The energy group Uniper, which had to receive a rescue from the German Government, has registered losses of 12,418 million euros in the first six months of 2022, in contrast to the negative result of 20 million in the same period of the previous year , as a consequence of the impact of the substantial reduction in gas supply from Russia.

“The decrease is mainly attributed to the gas business, which is negatively affected by the reduction in gas deliveries from Russia”, stressed Uniper, which in order to fulfill its clients’ contracts “has been forced to buy gas in the ‘spot’ market at high prices”.

More than 10,000 million are for future losses
In this sense, the largest importer of Russian gas in Germany, controlled by the Finnish Fortum, specified that some 6,500 million of its ‘red numbers’ are due to the estimated future impact of gas restrictions, in addition to including another 2,700 million related to the loan for Nord Stream 2.

In the first six months of the year, the turnover of the German utility reached 119,335 million euros, an increase of 188% compared to the revenue billed by the company in the first half of 2021 as a result of the rise in prices.

On its side, Uniper’s net debt at the end of the first half amounted to 2,057 million euros, compared to 324 million a year earlier, which the company attributed to the negative cash flow registered together with the reduction in deliveries of Russian gas and measures to improve liquidity in the gas and emission rights businesses by the end of 2021.

For the year as a whole, the company warned that a forecast within an adequate range cannot yet be issued due to the volatile environment, although it acknowledged that it expects to record a negative result due to the significant reduction in Russian gas deliveries.

Rescue of 7,700 million
Uniper has for months played a crucial role in stabilizing Germany’s gas supply, at the cost of billions in losses, as a result of the sharp drop in gas deliveries from Russia. Klaus-Dieter Maubach, recalling that the German Government “recognized this and took decisive action” on July 22, when it agreed with Uniper and Fortum on a package of measures to stabilize the company.

Among the agreed measures, the German State will acquire a 30% stake in Uniper through the subscription of approximately 157 million new ordinary shares with a nominal value of 1.70 euros per share, raising the cash consideration to approximately 267 million, while that Fortum will see its participation reduced to 56%, for which it will continue to consolidate Uniper in its accounts.

The German government also committed to making up to €7 billion of additional capital available to the company against the issuance of mandatory convertible instruments, as needed, to meet potential losses.

Likewise, the German gas company will see an increase of 7,000 million euros in the credit line granted by the state bank KfW, the German equivalent to the ICO, which previously granted the company 2,000 million euros that it used up to deal with the cost overruns of the gas purchase.

Strong rise in gas
On the other hand, Trading Hub Europe (THE), the joint company formed by the gas operators, announced on Monday that the new rate that the German Government will apply to gas prices to distribute the increase in gas costs between households and companies fuel has been set at 2.419 euro cents per kilowatt hour (KWh) as of October 1 , which will translate into a surcharge of around 480 euros per year per household.

The new rate will come into force from October 1, 2022 and its application is expected to last for a limited period of time, initially established until September 30, 2024.

According to the Ministry, given the tense situation in the gas market, this measure is necessary to maintain gas supply during the coming winter, since without this mechanism to distribute the higher gas costs among consumers, public services throughout of the supply chain would be at risk.

The Labiana veterinary laboratory is preparing to start its path in the medical cannabis industry. Since the acquisition of 10.31% of the Spanish start-up specializing in medicinal cannabis , Trichome Pharma, closed last June , the company’s plans include closing collaborations to help them in the development of crops and extracts to export to regulated countries. In this way, the company expects medical cannabis to occupy up to 30% of its business and aims for the next year 2023 to market the first products.

The new partner of the Spanish company intends to carry out a first pilot test of new cosmetic products with CBD . Trichome has already obtained the authorization of a cannabis license for research and, now, they are processing the license for medical and scientific use with the idea of ​​selling extracts and active ingredients to regulated markets in the future.

“Later, when we see that the regulation allows it, we intend to investigate drug products,” explains Sandra Villagrasa, director of the pharmaceutical area of ​​Labiana, to this medium.

The price that patients will have to pay for the new products is unknown , but what is known is that it will be unitary. The final amount will depend on aspects such as the optimization obtained from the crop, the productivity achieved or the amount of CBD contained in the product.

The expert platform in animal health achieved the milestone of debuting on the stock market as the first veterinary laboratory to go public on June 24. Within its strategic plan for growth and consolidation, the stock market will allow them to diversify their financing to continue betting on niche products and innovation in the cannabis sector.

The company, which had a turnover of 57 million in 2021 and with a presence in more than 150 countries, will provide all the knowledge of GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices) regulation that the pharmaceutical sector has. Labiana’s experience in narcotic and psychotropic drugs will lead her to participate in the entire process, in the development of some product with cannabis, as well as manufacturing for third parties.

Production increase
Cannabis production in Spain has experienced tremendous growth in a matter of two years , going from 3,920 kilos in 2018 to 84,000 kilos in 2020. The new licenses that have been approved are responsible for this. The new cultivation licenses authorized for research and medical purposes went from 2.95 cultivated hectares to 57.43 in the 2018-2020 period.

“The current X-ray of Spain shows that there are some 200,000 potential patients who use cannabis illegally and who were forced to resort to the black market,” says Villagrasa. With the approval of the Congress of Deputies to the approval of cannabis for therapeutic purposes , the situation changes. Likewise, the range of possibilities open to the pharmaceutical industry and to patients is wide.

“If we give it the same category as medicines, we will be able to carry out clinical studies, assess their efficacy, ensure standardization and assess that they come from crops that do not use pesticides,” Villagrasa concludes.