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The Journal
10-08-2025
- Politics
- The Journal
Sitdown Sunday: How an unknown teenager solved a decades-old maths mystery
IT'S A DAY of rest, and you may be in the mood for a quiet corner and a comfy chair. We've hand-picked some of the week's best reads for you to savour. 1. How a 17-year-old solved a 40-year maths mystery Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo A maths paper published earlier this year left the maths world stunned after a relatively unknown author had solved a decades-old maths mystery about how functions behave, the Mizohata-Takeuchi conjecture. (Quanta Magazine, approx 10 mins reading time) The problem was a simplified version of the Mizohata-Takeuchi conjecture. Zhang had included it in one of his homework assignments as a warm-up, hoping to encourage students to practice advanced techniques in a deep area of math. The assignment also included an optional extension, inviting them to consider whether the proof they'd found for the simplified case could be extended to more complicated formulations of the problem. Cairo completed the problem set and took Zhang up on the invitation to keep thinking. To her, it seemed natural to follow the thread of an idea as far as it would go. 'Why would I stop?' she said. 2. Sliding into the PM's (spotlight) Political pundits may often compare a current leader's performance to their predecessors, but sometimes through rose-tinted glasses. But why do some ex-political leaders just never… go away? (Politico UK, approx 8 mins reading time) While they receive £115,000 annually for life, a permanent security detail and are expected to attend Remembrance Sunday commemorations at the Cenotaph, there is no official responsibility or equivalent of a U.S.-style presidential library to promote an ex-prime minister's legacy. That can leave former leaders feeling stuck on the sidelines. 3. Treating trauma in Gaza File image of a Palestinian child doing play therapy in Rafah, in 2021. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo Palestinian journalist and author Mohammed R. Mhawish reports from Gaza, where he explores how mental health experts are treating trauma among those, young and old, who are still trapped in an active conflict. (New Yorker, approx 18 mins reading time) Nour Jarada, a mental-health manager in Gaza, sees this rewiring on a daily basis. She works inside of medical tents that have no sound insulation, each one containing folding beds that separate trauma from trauma. The patients arrive on foot—some having walked for miles, many led in by family members who didn't know what else to do. 'Some don't speak,' she told me. 'They stare, sometimes scream. Most cry for hours, unblinkingly.' Children have asked Jarada if they could go back to school, as if normal were still hiding somewhere nearby. 4. Hello new world. Is anyone there? The most-important part of starting a new website is getting people to find it on search engines. Most spend years perfecting their 'search-engine optimisation' skills. But are SEOs are a thing of the past, with new AI technology? And what now? Advertisement (New York Magazine, approx 15 mins reading time) SEO shaped how virtually everything on the web looked and read. It's why headlines are the way they are (and why a lot of news stories get published at all). It's why online recipes read the way they read. It's why e-commerce listings are larded with text intended to catch Google's algorithmic eye. It's why so much of the web feels so uncanny, as if it's written for someone, or something, other than the people browsing it, and one of the reasons why Google itself feels so broken. 5. Rise to the… top? The sidekick role has been around for centuries. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo The sidekick role has been around for centuries. Shylock and Launcelot, Batman and Robin, Trump and, apparently, US Speaker of the House Mike Johnson. Once a firebrand politician, Johnson is seen firmly on the White House's side. (Time, approx 15 mins reading time) Expectations for Johnson in Washington were he has defied them. Since Trump's Inauguration, Johnson has shepherded a series of wins for the White House: thwarting a vote blocking Trump's sweeping tariffs, passing the Laken Riley Act expediting the deportation of arrested migrants, averting a government shutdown, and delivering pro-crypto legislation that blesses certain digital assets tied to the U.S. dollar. 6. Europe and its off-the-rail trains We've heard plenty about the Metrolink, DART expansion, the introducing of new Luas lines and even a dreamed of rail connection to the UK. One thing is for sure, it's costly and timely. No more is that evident than at Europe's cross-border rail line. (The Guardian, approx 8 mins reading time) Leaving aside the nonexistent connectivity, the obstacles facing the long-distance European rail traveller will have become apparent long before they actually get on a train. Planning a trip and buying tickets (as well resolving problems if things go wrong) are daunting challenges in themselves. Seasoned travellers recommend Deutsche Bahn's website as the best and most comprehensive planning tool, but few novices would describe even that as user-friendly. …AND A CLASSIC FROM THE ARCHIVES… Henry Cavill previously shared how thoughts on his idea of superhero impacted his body image. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo As Dean Cain becomes an ICE agent in the United States - depending on how you look at it – your idea of a superhero may be tainted. In a 2015 interview, another Superman, Henry Cavill, shared how his idea of superhero had impacted his body image. ( The Guardian , approx 12 mins reading time) Even once he became an adult, he would refuse to believe girlfriends who reassured him that his weight was fine. 'I'm very self-critical and I use that to motivate myself. If I look in the mirror, I might say, 'You're looking good!' Other days, like today, because I'm off-season and haven't been training, I'll say, 'Look at you, you fat fuck.'' I wince at that, and not only because the man sitting before me is in perfect physical shape. 'I tell myself, 'Mate, you're a mess. If you were to meet a bird out in a bar and bring her home, she's expecting Superman. This is not Superman and she's going to be mega-disappointed.'' Note: The Journal generally selects stories that are not paywalled, but some might not be accessible if you have exceeded your free article limit on the site in question. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
RNZ News
25-06-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
UK correspondent Dan Bloom
Britain's going shopping for 12 new F-35 jets capable of carrying a nuclear payload. Photo: AFP Jack Guez UK correspondent Dan Bloom looks at the political turbulence for Sir Keir Starmer over his government's plans to push ahead with cuts to benefits for disabled people, despite opposition from nearly a quarter of his own MPs. The UK is to by 12 dual-use F-35 fighter jets that can carry conventional and nuclear weapons. The move gives the UK the ability to carry airborne nuclear warheads for the first time since the 1990s. And more than 200,000 people are set to descend on the Glastonbury music festival. Dan Bloom is Political Editor of Politico UK
RNZ News
04-06-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
UK: Defence spending, winter fuel payment U-turn
UK correspondent Dan Bloom joins Kathryn to talk about how Britain's plan to lift defence spending to 2.5 percent of GDP over the next decade is still not enough for the US. Chancellor Rachel Reeves is still locked in talks with holdout departments over funding for the next fuel years and PM Keir Starmer is set to deliver a U-turn to pensioners over their winter fuel payments. Dan Bloom is Political Editor of Politico UK To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.
