Hobbes (1651, 1982), Thomas, Leviathan: The Matter, Forme and Power of a Commonwealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil, Penguin Classics 1982 ' Written during the turmoil of the English Civil War, Leviathan is an ambitious and highly original work of political philosophy. Claiming that man's essential nature is competitive and selfish, Hobbes formulates the case for a powerful sovereign—or "Leviathan"—to enforce peace and the law, substituting security for the anarchic freedom he believed human beings would otherwise experience. This worldview shocked many of Hobbes's contemporaries, and his work was publicly burnt for sedition and blasphemy when it was first published. But in his rejection of Aristotle's view of man as a naturally social being, and in his painstaking analysis of the ways in which society can and should function, Hobbes opened up a whole new world of political science. Based on the original 1651 text, this edition incorporates Hobbes's own corrections, while also retaining the original spelling and punctuation, to read with vividness and clarity. C. B. Macpherson's introduction elucidates one of the most fascinating works of modern philosophy for the general reader.' 
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Larsson (2009), Stieg, and Reg Keeland (translator), The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest: Millennium III, Maclehose Press Quercus 2009 'Jacket: The Trial: Lisbeth Salander – outsider and apparent enemy of society – is charged with attempted murder. . . . The Enermy: Pulling the strings is the powerfuk inner circle of Säpo, the state security police. Determined t protect the secrets and corruption at Sweden's rotten core, Säpo is not an adverdary to take on alone. . . . Only with the help of Mikael Blomkvist and the journalists at Millemmium ,agazine can Salander avoid the fate that has been decided for her. Together they form a complelling and dynamic a;;iance. This final volume of the Millennium Trilogy is the culminayion of one of the most mesmerizing fictional achievements of our time.' 
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Ai Weiwei, No, Capitalism and the Internet Will Not Free China’s People, ' The West has been wrong about China. It was long assumed that capitalism, the emergence of a middle class and the internet would cause China to eventually adopt Western political ideas. But these ideas cannot even begin to take root because the Communist Party has never allowed the intellectual soil needed for them to germinate. And it never will. . . . Things have only worsened in the past decade. Authorities have smothered remaining traces of independent thought, decimated Chinese civil society and cast a chill over academia, media, culture and business.' back

Alex Lo, Why the US kept making enemies who wanted to be friends: Castro, Ho Chi Minh and Putin, ' Now, though, Chinese leaders are once again saying they don’t want to fight the US. But their wish will again be in vain. America has already made up its mind. And America always needs a big bad wolf to hunt and destroy to make sure the empire is still alive.' back

Aquinas, Summa I, 25, 3, Is God omnipotent?, '. . . God is called omnipotent because He can do all things that are possible absolutely; which is the second way of saying a thing is possible. For a thing is said to be possible or impossible absolutely, according to the relation in which the very terms stand to one another, possible if the predicate is not incompatible with the subject, as that Socrates sits; and absolutely impossible when the predicate is altogether incompatible with the subject, as, for instance, that a man is a donkey.' back

Carey Gillsm & Aliya Uteuova, Secret files suggest chemical giant feared weedkiller’s link to Parkinson’s disease, ' For decades, Swiss chemical giant Syngenta has manufactured and marketed a widely used weed-killing chemical called paraquat, and for much of that time the company has been dealing with external concerns that long-term exposure to the chemical may be a cause of the incurable brain ailment known as Parkinson’s disease. Syngenta has repeatedly told customers and regulators that scientific research does not prove a connection between its weedkiller and the disease, insisting that the chemical does not readily cross the blood-brain barrier, and does not affect brain cells in ways that cause Parkinson’s. But a cache of internal corporate documents dating back to the 1950s reviewed by the Guardian suggests that the public narrative put forward by Syngenta and the corporate entities that preceded it has at times contradicted the company’s own research and knowledge.' back

Central retinal vein occlusion - Wikipedia, Central retinal vein occlusion - Wikipedia, the free encuclopedia, ' Central retinal vein occlusion, also CRVO, is when the central retinal vein becomes occluded, usually through thrombosis. The central retinal vein is the venous equivalent of the central retinal artery and both may become occluded. Since the central retinal artery and vein are the sole source of blood supply and drainage for the retina, such occlusion can lead to severe damage to the retina and blindness, due to ischemia (restriction in blood supply) and edema (swelling).' back

Citric acid cycle - Wikipedia, Citric acid cycle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, ' The citric acid cycle (CAC) . . . is a series of chemical reactions to release stored energy through the oxidation of acetyl-CoA derived from carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. The Krebs cycle is used by organisms that respire (as opposed to organisms that ferment) to generate energy, either by anaerobic respiration or aerobic respiration. In addition, the cycle provides precursors of certain amino acids, as well as the reducing agent NADH, that are used in numerous other reactions. Its central importance to many biochemical pathways suggests that it was one of the earliest components of metabolism and may have originated abiogenically Even though it is branded as a 'cycle', it is not necessary for metabolites to follow only one specific route; at least three alternative segments of the citric acid cycle have been recognized.' back

Claude Shannon (1949), Communication in the Presence of Noise, 'A method is developed for representing any communication system geometrically. Messages and the corresponding signals are points in two “function spaces,” and the modulation process is a mapping of one space into the other. Using this representation, a number of results in communication theory are deduced concerning expansion and compression of bandwidth and the threshold effect. Formulas are found for the maximum rate of transmission of binary digits over a system when the signal is perturbed by various types of noise. Some of the properties of “ideal” systems which transmit at this maximum rate are discussed. The equivalent number of binary digits per second for certain information sources is calculated.' [C. E. Shannon , “Communication in the presence of noise,” Proc. IRE, vol. 37, pp. 10–21, Jan. 1949.] back

Constantine the Great and Christianity - Wikipedia, Constantine the Great and Christianity - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, ' During the reign of the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great (AD 306–337), Christianity began to transition to the dominant religion of the Roman Empire. Historians remain uncertain about Constantine's reasons for favoring Christianity, and theologians and historians have often argued about which form of early Christianity he subscribed to. . . . Constantine's decision to cease the persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire was a turning point for early Christianity, sometimes referred to as the Triumph of the Church, the Peace of the Church or the Constantinian shift. In 313, Constantine and Licinius issued the Edict of Milan decriminalizing Christian worship. The emperor became a great patron of the Church and set a precedent for the position of the Christian emperor within the Church and raised the notions of orthodoxy, Christendom, ecumenical councils, and the state church of the Roman Empire declared by edict in 380. He is revered as a saint and is apostolos in the Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox Church, and various Eastern Catholic Churches for his example as a "Christian monarch”.' back

Empire - Wikipedia, Empire - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, ' An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (some times referred to as the metropole) exercises political control over the peripheries. Within empire, there is non-equivalence between different populations who have different sets of rights and are governed differently.' back

G. Rajasekaran, The Discovery of Dirac Equation and its Impact on Present-day Physics, ' The major events in the discovery of the Dirac equation and its interpretation are traced. The subsequent role it has played in the development of quantum field theory culminating in the Stan- dard Model of present-day high energy physics is discussed. The relativistic wave equation of the electron ranks among ng the highest achievements of 20th century science. Dirac's two papers on the subject published in 1928 are the following:- P.A.M. Dirac, Proc. Roy. Soc. Al17, 610, 1928 P.A.M. Dirac, Proc. Roy. Soc. Al18, 351, 1928 Dirac himself is supposed to have remarked that the relativistic wave equation of the electron is the basis of all of Chemistry and almost all of Physics.' back

Gödel's incompleteness theorems - Wikipedia, Gödel's incompleteness theorems - Wikipedia, 'Gödel's incompleteness theorems are two theorems of mathematical logic that establish inherent limitations of all but the most trivial axiomatic systems capable of doing arithmetic. The theorems, proven by Kurt Gödel in 1931, are important both in mathematical logic and in the philosophy of mathematics. The two results are widely, but not universally, interpreted as showing that Hilbert's program to find a complete and consistent set of axioms for all mathematics is impossible, giving a negative answer to Hilbert's second problem. The first incompleteness theorem states that no consistent system of axioms whose theorems can be listed by an "effective procedure" (i.e., any sort of algorithm) is capable of proving all truths about the relations of the natural numbers (arithmetic). For any such system, there will always be statements about the natural numbers that are true, but that are unprovable within the system. The second incompleteness theorem, an extension of the first, shows that such a system cannot demonstrate its own consistency.' back

Jeffrey Nicholls (1967), How universal is the universe?, ' 61 The future is beyond our comprehension, but we can get an idea of it and speed its coming by studying what we already have. Contemplating the size and wonder of the universe as it stands in the light of its openness to the future must surely be a powerful incentive to men to love God. We have come a long way since the little world of St Thomas. Ours is open to all things, even participating in god. This is what I mean by universal. ' back

Jennifer Robinson & Keina Yashida, Her right to speak versus his reputation: how courts around the world are getting this wrong, ' Amber Heard writes in the Washington Post to advocate for better laws to protect survivors, and draws on her own experience as a survivor. A British judge finds she is a survivor in a decision based on detailed corroborating evidence, but she loses a defamation case on the same facts in the United States before a jury, which orders her to pay her ex-husband US$15m. In each of these cases from around the world, the law failed to properly protect women’s right to speak. As Lady Justice, with her scales and blindfold reminds us, the law is a constant balancing act, weighing interests and rights to achieve a just outcome. When it comes to freedom of speech about gender-based violence, she is weighing his right to privacy and reputation against her right to free speech and the general public interest in reporting that speech. Yet courts around the world are too often getting this balance wrong.' back

John C. Eccles (1958), Innovation in Science: The Physiology of Imagination, ' Our task here is to see how far our present ideas on the working of the brain can be related to the experiences of mind. The way to the imagination, the highest level of mental experience, lies through the lower levels of sensory experience, imagery, hallucination and memory, and that is the path we shall traverse. All that we shall learn must itself, of course, be the product of perceiving, reasoning and imagining by our brains! back

Kandy Wong, Australia urged to ‘entrench’ role as China’s ‘indispensable’ commodities supplier after trade bans ‘fail’ , ' Australia should work to “entrench” its position as a key commodities supplier to China for the benefit of its economy despite ongoing tensions, according to a report from an independent Australian think tank. Cementing Australia’s role of being the “indispensable” exporter to China can also give Canberra leverage in the face of Beijing’s ongoing “trade coercion”, said the Lowy Institute report. . . . “Although geopolitics are changing the tone of the bilateral trade relationship, the global supply and demand dynamics are still the most important determinant for the resilience of the Australian export sector,” the report stated." back

Kunal Purohit, UK mob violence exposes deep, disturbing reach of India’s Hindutva agenda in diaspora , ' Clashes in Leicester and elsewhere highlight deep divisions caused by Hindutva groups, who use hardline nationalism to help diaspora ‘hold on to their roots’ Displays of Hindutva nationalism are likely to be more frequent, violent as such groups extend reach in diaspora communities, analysts note.' back

Kylie Soanes (2022), Eels are some of nature’s weirdest creatures. Here are 5 reasons why they’re such cool little freaks, ' Last week, a team of researchers were able to confirm that yes, the 1-metre long European eel people knew from their local river really did come from a sub-tropical sea up to 10,000 kilometres away. This team had something history’s biggest thinkers didn’t: cool tech. Pop-up Satellite Archival Tags are a relatively new type of tracking device that allows scientists to map the movements of marine creatures in a way that simply wasn’t possible before. The tags record where the animals travel, how fast they move, and even how deep they dive. Then, the tags detach and float to the surface where they can transmit data back into the hands of eager scientists.' back

Malthusianism - Wikipedia, Malthusianism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, ' Malthusianism is the idea that population growth is potentially exponential while the growth of the food supply or other resources is linear, which eventually reduces living standards to the point of triggering a population die off. This event, called a Malthusian catastrophe (also known as a Malthusian trap, population trap, Malthusian check, Malthusian crisis, Malthusian spectre, or Malthusian crunch) occurs when population growth outpaces agricultural production, causing famine or war, resulting in poverty and depopulation.' back

Michella Catanzaro, ‘I could not keep silent’: Iranian physicist resigns to join protests, ' Academic staff are conflicted about what to do. But silence was no longer an option for Encieh Erfani, a cosmologist who studies dark-matter candidate particles. On 23 September, Erfani resigned from the physics department at the Institute of Advanced Studies in Basic Sciences in Zanjan, and is now in a secure location. “Why should I stay in a system that is a brutal dictatorship?” she told Nature. “I could not keep silent while blood is being shed in the streets.” After the death of Mahsa Amini, students were shouting: “The streets are covered in blood and our professors are silent.” As a faculty member, I teach students and I could not stay silent any more. The twenty-third of September is when schools and universities open in Iran. I have great memories of that day, ever since I was a child. I told myself: if I want to resign, I have to do it on this day. It does not make sense to continue.' back

P versus NP problem - Wikipedia, P versus NP problem - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, ' The P versus NP problem is a major unsolved problem in computer science. It asks whether every problem whose solution can be quickly verified (technically, verified in polynomial time) can also be solved quickly (again, in polynomial time). The underlying issues were first discussed in the 1950s, in letters from John Forbes Nash Jr. to the National Security Agency, and from Kurt Gödel to John von Neumann. The precise statement of the P versus NP problem was introduced in 1971 by Stephen Cook in his seminal paper "The complexity of theorem proving procedures" and is considered by many to be the most important open problem in the field.' back

Rafael Behr (2022), The Tory leadership race is not just a political battle – it’s religious warfare, ' The Tories have gone to a place beyond ideological dispute and secular schism. They have crossed into the realm of religious warfare where, for many MPs, purity of faith is valued over receptiveness to evidence. For that cohort, the test of a leader is not whether they are best suited to govern in response to circumstance, but whether they have the courage to continue down the path of defying reality. When facts are the enemy, the champion is whoever can build the most glorious edifice of falsehood for the party to rally around. . . . . The deserving winner of the race would be the person who can sift through the rubble in the crater where Truss’s economic plans blew up and apologise for amassing so much combustible delusion over so many years. The Conservative recovery begins with a humble audit of terrible choices that have made every household in the land poorer.' back

Richard McGregor, Chinese coercion, Australian resilience , ' Australians have grown in confidence about the country’s ability to withstand economic coercion from China since the imposition of punitive trade measures in 2020. Beijing suspended high-level political exchanges and imposed a range of informal sanctions and trade blockages against Australia in the wake of a series of escalating disputes, culminating in Canberra’s call for an independent inquiry into the origins of Covid-19 in April that year. . . . Australia has maintained its reputation as a reliable supplier of commodities throughout the downturn in bilateral relations with China. It is imperative that it continue to do so — both to benefit the Australian economy and to maintain leverage of its own. Control over critical commodities carries considerable strategic value, as the role of gas and oil in the Ukraine war has shown.' back

SCMP Editorial, Truss’ humiliation a lesson for all leaders, ' The turbulence is a reminder to governments everywhere, including here in Hong Kong, of the need for clear, consistent and pragmatic economic policies that are carefully thought through. This is all the more important in these challenging times, as the threat of a global recession looms. Truss is said to idolise former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, who described herself as a “lady who is not for turning”. The U-turns are humiliating but necessary. It is to be hoped they signal a return to more prudent economic policies.' back

Tiffany Hsu, TikTok failed to stop most misleading political ads in a test run by researchers., ' TikTok failed to catch 90 percent of ads featuring false and misleading messages about elections, while YouTube and Facebook identified and blocked most of them, according to an experiment run by misinformation researchers, the results of which were released on Friday. The test, run by the watchdog group Global Witness and the Cybersecurity for Democracy team at the New York University Tandon School of Engineering, used dummy accounts to submit 10 ads in English and 10 in Spanish to the social media services. . . . TikTok rejected only one ad in English and one in Spanish, in what the researchers called “a major failure.” TikTok banned political advertising in 2019.' back

Tino Sanandaji, The cost of Sweden’s silent consensus culture, ' Ultimately, the Sweden Democrats’ success can be traced to the vulgar rhetoric of the xenophobic movement and the emotional response of the establishment, which made no distinction between hate rhetoric and rational objections by ordinary voters. Political correctness and open border ideas would not have become so entrenched — with so little room for criticism and debate — had the Sweden Democrats not poured gasoline on the flames, with their hostility toward immigrants and flirtations with white nationalists and the alt-right. Now, the damage is done. Large swathes of the Swedish public no longer believe the establishment can tackle the country’s integration problems. Progressive voters and many immigrants, meanwhile, are discouraged by the rise of right-wing populism.' back

Turing machine - Wikipedia, Turing machine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, ' A Turing machine is a hypothetical device that manipulates symbols on a strip of tape according to a table of rules. Despite its simplicity, a Turing machine can be adapted to simulate the logic of any computer algorithm, and is particularly useful in explaining the functions of a CPU inside a computer. The "machine" was invented in 1936 by Alan Turingwho called it an "a-machine" (automatic machine). The Turing machine is not intended as practical computing technology, but rather as a hypothetical device representing a computing machine. Turing machines help computer scientists understand the limits of mechanical computation.' back

Yue Partkinson, Nearly 20 years after moving from China to the UK, I’m still not sure what freedom means, ' I suspect that Chinese people can tell that I am from mainland China because there are traces of Chinese society in my posture and facial expressions. Most British people do not convey panic, impatience, inferiority or contempt. Instead, expressions that combine modesty and self-respect fill the streets of Britain. . . . Indeed, the terminology and concepts that are prevalent in each society appear to simply be separated by a time gap. I have always thought that the current social situation in China is similar to that of Victorian Britain, when the goal was to climb the social ladder.' back