Casti (1996), John L, Five Golden Rules: Great Theories of 20th-Century Mathematics - and Why They Matter, John Wiley and Sons 1996 Preface: '[this book] is intended to tell the general reader about mathematics by showcasing five of the finest achievements of the mathematician's art in this [20th] century.' p ix. Treats the Minimax theorem (game theory), the Brouwer Fixed-Point theorem (topology), Morse's theorem (singularity theory), the Halting theorem (theory of computation) and the Simplex method (optimisation theory). 
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Nicholls (2025), Jeffrey, Cognitive Cosmogenesis: a systematic integration of theology and physics, Austin Macauley 2025 ' The core idea of the top down theology devised by the Christian bishops for the Emperor Constantine is that the omnipotent and omniscient creator totally controls every moment of every event in the world. The imperial picture. Here we work from the bottom up. A key to the connection of physics and theology is symmetry with respect to complexity.
Although the difference in scale between fundamental particles and the people of an ideal democratic polity is immense, they are formally quite similar. Both democratic politics and quantum electrodynamics work in Hilbert space. Voting is linear, a form of superposition distributed by parties. Individuals and political parties are characterized by their directions in political space which may be modelled by vectors in a Hilbert space.
We may imagine a space with a basis vector for every person. Their sums in various combinations present us with a comprehensive picture of the political directions in an electorate. Such ideal democratic political systems have natural quantum mechanical support which gives us insight into the nature of the world.' 
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Alexander Howard (2024_10_15), 100 years of surrealism: how a French writer inspired by the avant-garde changed the world forever, ' A century ago, French writer André Breton published a manifesto that would go on to become one of the most influential artistic texts of the 20th century. Breton’s Manifesto of Surrealism launched a movement that transformed not only visual art, but also literature, theatre and film. Surrealism drew on developments in psychology to herald a revolutionary new way of doing, seeing and being. It is, as art critic Jonathan Jones once noted, “the only modern movement that changed the way we talk and think about life”. Surrealism also fundamentally changed the way we make art. Its cultural impact and legacy can be felt in, to pluck three random examples, the cinematic dreamscapes of David Lynch, the lyrical cut-ups of Bob Dylan and the monumental sculptures of Louise Bourgeois. . . With the subsequent publication of the Manifesto of Surrealism, Breton solidified the movement’s core principles. In it, he offers a definition: Surrealism is based on the belief in the superior reality of certain forms of previously neglected associations, in the omnipotence of dreams, in the disinterested play of thought. It tends to ruin once and for all all other psychic mechanisms and to substitute itself for them in solving all the principle problems of life.. In other words, Surrealism was not just an artistic endeavour, but a philosophical stance that sought to radically rethink experience and existence.' ' back

Bartholomew Stanford (2024_10_15), The federal government has left Indigenous Treaties to the states. How are they progressing?, ' Victoria and Western Australia have been signing settlement agreements with First Nations groups since 2010. These agreements are more comprehensive than other agreements, including terms that cover numerous matters like those listed above, and often include financial packages aimed at supporting First Nations governance institutions. In Victoria, settlement agreements are made under state legislation. So far, four First Nations groups have entered these agreements with the Victorian government. In Western Australia, three settlement agreements have been made between the WA government and First Nations under Commonwealth native title legislation. The largest of these, known as the Noongar Settlement, is worth $1.3 billion and has been characterised by legal scholars as “Australia’s first Treaty”. A map of the south-west corner of Western Australia in yellow The Noongar Settlement in Western Australia was reached in 2015. PR Handout Image/AAP Victoria and WA are the only jurisdictions that have these agreements and there are two main reasons why they were successfully signed. The first is the success of First Nations groups in mobilising political power to lobby the state. The second is the willingness of governments to enter negotiations because of economic and political motivations.' back

Eddie Van Halen, Eruption Guitar Solo, ' The best ever guitar solo of Van Halen (New Haven, Connecticut) (Many peoples asking, what's the 'song/part' name at the begin': it's the "316") Wiki: "It was of their performance on August 27, 1986 at New Haven's Veterans Memorial Coliseum" back

Gloria! (film) - Wikipedia, Gloria! (film) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, ' Gloria! is a 2024 historical musical film Italian/Swiss international co-production co-written and directed by Margherita Vicario who also co-wrote the film's score in her directorial debut, and starring Galatea Bellugi, Carlotta Gamba, Veronica Lucchesi, Maria Vittoria Dallasta and Sara Mafodda. The film centres on a group of young musicians inventing pop music in the 18th century Italy. It is an international co-production between Italy and Switzerland.' back

Joanna Mendelssohn (2024_10_18), Friday essay: crimes, redemption and rebellion – the truths told in 65,000 years of Australian art are essential for national healing, ' The third section of the Uluru Statement from the Heart is Truth. Without knowing the truth of the history of Australia’s Indigenous people, and how the European invasion continues to impact on them, it is hard to understand the pain behind the loss of The Voice referendum and the ongoing need for treaties. Marcia Langton and Judith Ryan are truth tellers. Their book 65,000 years: A Short History of Australian Art, should be in every library in the country. The truths they tell are compelling, enticing – sometimes appalling – and unless they are known, the country cannot heal. For much of the 20th century, there was tension between anthropologists and art curators on the status of what we now call Indigenous art. While anthropologists focused on what they saw as visual evidence for culture and custom, art curators and historians marvelled at what the first history of Australian art, William Moore’s The Story of Australian Art (1934), called a “fine sense of design”. It took many years for all concerned to see that both are true.' back

John Hawkins (2024_10_15), This year’s Nobel prize in economics awarded to team that examined what makes some countries rich and others poor, ' The citation awards the prize “for studies of how institutions are formed and affect prosperity”, making it an award for research into politics and sociology as much as economics. At a time when democracy appears to be losing support, the Nobel committee has rewarded work that demonstrates that, on average, democratic countries governed by the rule of law have wealthier citizens. The committee says the richest 20% of the world’s countries are now around 30 times richer than the poorest 20%. Moreover, the income gap is persistent; although the poorest countries have become richer, they are not catching up with the most prosperous. Acemoglu, Johnson and Robinson have connected this difference to differences in institutions, and they find this derives from differences in the behaviour of European colonisers in different parts of the world centuries ago.' back

Jostein Haue (2024_10_17), This year’s Nobel prize exposes economics’ problem with colonialism, ' Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James Robinson have been awarded the 2024 Nobel memorial prize in economics for their influential work on how institutions shape economic development. Some would say the decision to award these scholars the Nobel was long overdue. . . . These works have inspired a rich debate on the relationship between societal institutions and economic development – so in that sense, congratulations are in order. But they have also been the subject of substantial criticism. In the aftermath of the award, it is fitting to highlight the blind spots in their analysis. . . . A huge problem with this analysis, however, is the claim that certain institutions are a precondition for economic development. Mushtaq Khan, a professor of economics at Soas, University of London, has analysed Acemoglu, Johnson and Robinson’s work extensively. He argues that it mainly shows today’s high-income countries score higher on western-based institution indexes, and not that economic development was achieved because states first established inclusive institutions. In fact, history is rife with examples of countries that grew rapidly without having these inclusive institutions in place as a precondition for growth. East Asian states such as Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan are good examples. Most recently, so too is China. Yuen Yuen Ang’s award-winning books on China’s development process have laid out in detail how China was riddled with corruption during its growth process. In the wake of this year’s Nobel award, Ang went as far as saying that the laureates’ theory not only fails to explain growth in China, but also growth in the west. She points out that institutions in the US were smeared with corruption during the country’s development process.' back

Kalyeena Makortoff (2024_10_14), Trio of professors win Nobel economics prize for work on post-colonial wealth, ' Three US-based professors, including two UK-born academics, have been awarded this year’s Nobel prize in economics, for showing how the political and economic systems introduced by colonisers can determine whether a country is rich or poor today. The explanation put forward by Turkish-American Daron Acemoğlu, Sheffield-born Simon Johnson and Briton James A Robinson, suggests that inclusive institutions set up for the long-term benefit of European migrants ended up resulting in more prosperous societies in the long term. However, they found that in countries where the aim was to exploit the Indigenous population and extract resources for the colonisers’ benefit, the impact has been detrimental, and resulted in far poorer societies, leaving some countries trapped in low economic growth cycles. Trio of professors win Nobel economics prize for work on post-colonial wealth British-born Simon Johnson and James A Robinson and Turkish-American Daron Acemoğlu share £810,000 prize Kalyeena Makortoff Mon 14 Oct 2024 21.27 AEDT Three US-based professors, including two UK-born academics, have been awarded this year’s Nobel prize in economics, for showing how the political and economic systems introduced by colonisers can determine whether a country is rich or poor today. The explanation put forward by Turkish-American Daron Acemoğlu, Sheffield-born Simon Johnson and Briton James A Robinson, suggests that inclusive institutions set up for the long-term benefit of European migrants ended up resulting in more prosperous societies in the long term. However, they found that in countries where the aim was to exploit the Indigenous population and extract resources for the colonisers’ benefit, the impact has been detrimental, and resulted in far poorer societies, leaving some countries trapped in low economic growth cycles. “The laureates demonstrated that this led to a reversal of fortune. The places that were, relatively speaking, the richest at their time of colonisation are now among the poorest,” the Nobel prize announcement said. “This is an important reason for why former colonies that were once rich are now poor, and vice versa,” it added. However, the academics said the effect can be reversed if a country can “break free of its inherited institutions to establish democracy and the rule of law. In the long run, these changes also lead to reduced poverty".' back

Konstantine Panegyres (2024_10_18), ‘The waters become corrupt, the air infected’: here’s how Ancient Greeks and Romans grappled with environmental damage, ' The ancient Roman writer Pliny the Elder, who lived in the first century AD, was concerned about the way human beings were abusing Earth. In his work titled Natural History, he wrote: We taint the rivers and the elements of nature, and the air itself, which is the main support of life, we turn into a medium for the destruction of life. He thought of the planet as something humanity ought to protect rather than harm, because we owe our existence to mother Earth: It is my pleasant duty first of all to champion Earth’s cause and to support her as the parent of all things. Two millennia later, Pliny’s words seem directly relevant to us. In the modern world, concerns about the health of the environment have become one of the hottest political topics. For example, a survey last year of almost 20,000 young people in Australia showed 44% think the environment is the most important issue of our time. back

Matthew Sharpe (2024_10_15), What is Plato’s Symposium, the classic book drawn into the Gender Queer culture wars?, ' The Symposium, as its title reflects, is a dialogue between seven leading figures in Athens, set in the controversial year 416 BCE. This was the year in which Athens, spurred on by the charismatic, hawkish demagogue, Alcibiades, sent its navy fatefully to invade the Italian city of Syracuse. Alcibiades was, around this time, withdrawn from his command of the fleet: accused of desecrating sacred statues on the night before the fleet’s departure, and of impiously staging religious mysteries. The party in The Symposium soon becomes a setting for the leading participants to each give speeches on the nature of love. Probably the most famous is that of the comic playwright, Aristophanes. He argues human beings were, initially, unlikely round figures who developed the hubris to challenge the Gods. As a result, we were chopped in half and became sexed beings. Each of us was thus condemned to seeking our lost “other half” through sexual love. The hero-philosopher Socrates’s speech is similarly colourful. It features him reminiscing on a youthful visit to an exotic priestess, Diotima, who taught him everything he knows about love. Love, suggests Socrates, (rather wonderfully), is the longing to give birth to beauty. It is tied to the human longing for immortality. We are drawn by the beauty of others to try to unite with them, physically and spiritually. At first, the beautiful form of the body attracts us. But then it becomes the beauty of their souls, if love is more than lust or illusion. Love inspires us, Plato is stressing, to give birth to new things. For most of us, this means physical offspring, who will perpetuate our name and memory. But love can move people to beautiful speeches, beautiful works of art, even beautiful laws to govern cities. The philosopher, we are told, ultimately seeks Beauty itself, an unchanging eternal reality in which all earthly, beautiful things only imperfectly participate. . . . If moralists want to find a message in The Symposium, it might be this. The person who can conceive no greater love than them self and their own beauty, is no friend to ordinary standards of civics, or, indeed, good and evil.' back

Michael B. McElroy , Xi Lu, Chris P. Nielsen, and Yuxuan Wang (2009_09_11), Potential for Wind-Generated Electricity in China, ' Abstract Wind offers an important alternative to coal as a source of energy for generation of electricity in China with the potential for substantial savings in carbon dioxide emissions. Wind fields derived from assimilated meteorological data are used to assess the potential for wind-generated electricity in China subject to the existing government-approved bidding process for new wind farms. Assuming a guaranteed price of 0.516 RMB (7.6 U.S. cents) per kilowatt-hour for delivery of electricity to the grid over an agreed initial average period of 10 years, it is concluded that wind could accommodate all of the demand for electricity projected for 2030, about twice current consumption. Electricity available at a concession price as low as 0.4 RMB per kilowatt-hour would be sufficient to displace 23% of electricity generated from coal. back

R. Alfaro et al (2024_10_16), Ultra-high-energy gamma-ray bubble around microquasar V4641 Sgr, ' Abstract Microquasars are laboratories for the study of jets of relativistic particles produced by accretion onto a spinning black hole. Microquasars are near enough to allow detailed imaging of spatial features across the multiwavelength spectrum. The recent extension measurement of the spatial morphology of a microquasar, SS 433, to TeV gamma rays localizes the acceleration of electrons at shocks in the jet far from the black hole. V4641 Sagittarii (V4641 Sgr) is a similar binary system with a black hole and B-type main-sequence companion star and has an orbit period of 2.8 days. It stands out for its super-Eddington accretion and for its radio jet, which is one of the fastest superluminal jets in the Milky Way. Previous observations of V4641 Sgr did not report gamma-ray emission. Here we report TeV gamma-ray emission from V4641 Sgr that reveals particle acceleration at similar distances from the black hole as SS 433. Furthermore, the gamma-ray spectrum of V4641 Sgr is among the hardest TeV spectra observed from any known gamma-ray source and is detected above 200 TeV. Gamma rays are produced by particles, either electrons or protons, of higher energies. Because energetic electrons lose energy more quickly the higher their energy, such a spectrum either very strongly constrains the electron-production mechanism or points to the acceleration of high-energy protons. This suggests that large-scale jets from microquasars could be more common than previously expected and that they could be a notable source of galactic cosmic rays.' back

Senior, Bucy & Lee (2024_10_17), Why The Rock beats politicians for trust and leadership – and what would-be rulers can learn, ' Celebrities can have huge influence and reach enormous audiences. That’s why Kamala Harris was happy to recently gain the endorsement of musician Taylor Swift. Due to their media attention and massive fan bases, some Hollywood stars and musicians can appear more powerful than traditional politicians. And these perceptions of influence may also translate into actual impact. Indeed, some celebrities have taken up causes, using their fame to overtly push for change (for instance, Bob Geldof and Princess Diana). Others endorse politicians, or successfully run for office themselves (for instance, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Ronald Reagan). While it may seem like celebrities who pivot to politics are able to trade on their pre-existing notoriety, few celebrities are well known beyond their fan bases and many people would expect them to lack the gravitas of world leaders. However, results of our recent exploratory study conducted in the UK shows that at least one celebrity, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, stands out. He achieved public recognition, leadership and trust ratings as high as the most well-known politicians.' back

WELT Documentary , The Forgotten Nuclear War - Bombs on Bikini Atoll | Full Documentary , back