X Notes

Things worth knowing, checked and sourced.
Independent.

[X Notes @TheXNote]

@ESPRIMO7 Japan is 4th in the IMF's 2026 estimates. It projects Japan will slip to 6th in 2027, behind India and the UK.
The main reason is a weak yen, which shrinks Japan's GDP in dollar terms. Growth is also slow, forecast at 0.7%.

[X Notes @TheXNote]

@stats_feed Fun fact, London's first underground line in 1863 ran on steam locomotives.

[X Notes @TheXNote]

The Canadian province of Alberta votes on Monday on whether to stay in Canada or start the legal process toward a future separation referendum.
The province holds the world's fourth-largest proven oil reserves and sends about 90% of its crude exports to the US.
#Alberta #Canada

[X Notes @TheXNote]

In 1913, Ramanujan, a clerk in Madras with no degree, wrote to G. H. Hardy at Cambridge with his theorems.
Hardy later rated mathematicians for natural talent on a scale of 100, giving himself 25, Littlewood 30, Hilbert 80 and Ramanujan 100.
#Mathematics

[World of Statistics @stats_feed]

Ranking of the greatest mathematicians of all time:

1. 🇮🇳 Srinivasa Ramanujan
2. 🇨🇭 Leonhard Euler
3. 🇩🇪 Carl Friedrich Gauss
4. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Isaac Newton
5. 🇬🇷 Archimedes
6. 🇬🇷 Euclid
7. 🇩🇪 Gottfried W. Leibniz
8. 🇬🇷 Pythagoras
9. 🇮🇳 Aryabhata
10. 🇩🇪 Bernhard Riemann

Source: thetoptens

[X Notes @TheXNote]

@stats_feed Ramanujan at number 1 has a famous backer. G. H. Hardy once rated mathematicians for natural talent on a scale of 100, giving himself 25, Littlewood 30, Hilbert 80 and Ramanujan 100.

[X Notes @TheXNote]

Pope Leo XIV, 71, has left Rome's Gemelli Hospital four days after surgery to remove a lung cancer tumour, earlier than the expected week.
His doctors said he was "deemed fit for discharge." He will lead Sunday's Angelus at the Vatican.
#PopeLeo

[X Notes @TheXNote]

Ukraine has begun talks with European countries on a European air defence system and a Starlink alternative, as tensions with the US grow.
"European countries must have their own corresponding system," said Ihor Zhovkva, deputy head of Zelensky's office.
#Ukraine #Europe

[X Notes @TheXNote]

Employers in England could pay 25% of apprenticeship training costs for workers aged 25 and over, under plans being considered.
The levy would still cover 100% for 16 to 24 year olds, as youth apprenticeship starts have fallen 40% in a decade.
#Apprenticeships #UK

[X Notes @TheXNote]

Antarctica's Thwaites "Doomsday" Glacier, roughly the size of Senegal, could add up to 30 mm to sea levels by 2100, double earlier estimates.

That's even without further warming. A full collapse could raise seas over 60 cm (2 feet).

#Climate #Antarctica

[X Notes @TheXNote]

OpenAI pledged $5 million to a Simons Foundation program that helps mathematicians review and build on AI-generated results.
It follows backlash over OpenAI's claim that a model made a major advance on the Navier-Stokes equations. Critics accused it of plagiarism.
#OpenAI

[X Notes @TheXNote]

Anthropic, the company behind Claude, signed a lease for its first data center in Canada, at Point Tupper, Nova Scotia, with developer EverWind.
EverWind plans to invest more than C$10 billion in a data center campus and wind power projects across the province.
#AI #Canada #SI

[X Notes @TheXNote]

After a cyberattack on Albert Heijn left shelves empty across the Netherlands, the Dutch government is exploring emergency food reserves.
Food security state secretary Silvio Erkens has proposed supermarkets keep two to three days of essential goods in stock.
#AlbertHeijn

[X Notes @TheXNote]

Trump waived key Russia sanctions and tariffs days before they were due under a new US law, saying it serves US national interests.

The law would have put tariffs of up to 100% on top buyers of Russian oil and gas.
#Russia #Trump #US

[X Notes @TheXNote]

South Korea's SK Hynix, through its US unit Solidigm, wants approval to send chipmaking tools to its plant in Dalian, China, as a condition for building a NAND chip factory in the US.
SK Hynix says it isn't expanding Dalian and is acting with US authorization.
#SKHynix

[X Notes @TheXNote]

Waymo, owned by Google's parent Alphabet, picked Toronto for its first robotaxi service in Canada, aiming for riders in 2028.
Mapping and test drives with a human driver start this fall, a key test for Canadian winters.
Waymo now gives 500,000+ paid rides a week.
#Waymo #Canada

[X Notes @TheXNote]

Russia and the US are discussing joint data centers, some possibly powered by small nuclear plants, says Putin envoy Kirill Dmitriev.
#Russia #AI

[X Notes @TheXNote]

France and Germany agreed a joint stance on EU car rules.
Fleet CO2 emissions would be cut 90% by 2035, not 100%, leaving room for some combustion cars.
"Made in Europe" would mean 70% of non-battery parts built in Europe, with the UK, Norway and Switzerland eligible.
#EU

[X Notes @TheXNote]

Ukrainian President Zelensky told EU leaders Ukraine needs "at least 70 billion euros more" in 2027, "for defense, for weapons and for our resilience."
He estimated the war will cost Ukraine about €155 billion next year.
#Ukraine #EU

[X Notes @TheXNote]

Indonesia's main stock index closed down 11.6% today, triggering a 30-minute trading halt at the open.
The trigger was an MSCI proposal to downgrade Indonesia from Emerging Market to Standalone Market. Big banks like BCA and Mandiri fell nearly 15%.
#Indonesia