Shahrukh Khan Is The Best

DC CORRESPONDENT

Actor Shahrukh Khan

 Mumbai:He has thrived on his image of being the most immodest actor in the industry. Not only does Shah Rukh Khan symbolise the term self-absorbed, he also lives it up to the fullest. Ajay is in news for Singham Returns and Aamir for his controversial poster of PK.

Since his rivals are hogging the limelight at the moment, SRK is aware that if not for his films, his statements have managed to keep him in the limelight. Full marks to King Khan for pulling off the most pompous and arrogant statement with confidence and elan. He sure has mastered the art of claiming his stardom and ensuring a spot in the limelight.

Maryam Mirzakhani the first woman to receive top maths prize the Fields Medal

 Photo: AFP /The Seoul ICM 2014

An Iranian mathematician is the first woman ever to receive a Fields Medal, often considered to be mathematics’ equivalent of the Nobel prize.

The recipient, Maryam Mirzakhani, a professor at Stanford, was one of four winners honoured Wednesday at the International Congress of Mathematicians in Seoul, South Korea.

The Fields Medal is given every four years, and several can be awarded at once.

The other recipients this year were Artur Avila of the National Institute of Pure and Applied Mathematics in Brazil and the National Centre r for Scientific Research in France; Manjul Bhargava of Princeton University; and Martin Hairer of the University of Warwick in England.

The 52 medallists from previous years were all men.

‘‘This is a great honour. I will be happy if it encourages young female scientists and mathematicians,’’ Mirzakhani was quoted as saying in a Stanford news release on Tuesday.

‘‘I am sure there will be many more women winning this kind of award in coming years.’’

Ingrid Daubechies, a professor of mathematics at Duke and president of the International Mathematical Union, called the news ‘‘a great joy’’.

‘‘All researchers in mathematics will tell you that there is no difference between the math done by a woman or a man, and of course the decision of the Fields Medal committee is based only on the results of each candidate,’’ Daubechies said in an email.
South Korean President Park Geun-Hye gives a medal to Manjul Bhargava.

South Korean President Park Geun-Hye gives a medal to Manjul Bhargava. Photo: AFP/The Seoul ICM 2014

‘‘That said, I bet the vast majority of the mathematicians in the world will be happy that it will no longer be possible to say that ‘the Fields Medal has always been awarded only to men.’’’

Much of the research by Mirzakhani, who was born in Tehran in 1977, has involved the behaviour of dynamical systems. There are no exact mathematical solutions for many dynamical systems, even simple ones.

‘‘What Maryam discovered is that in another regime, the dynamical orbits are tightly constrained to follow algebraic laws,’’ said Curtis T. McMullen, a professor at Harvard who was Mirzakhani’s doctoral adviser.
South Korean President Park Geun-Hye gives a medal to Martin Hairer.


‘‘These dynamical systems describe surfaces with many handles, like pretzels, whose shape is evolving over time by twisting and stretching in a precise way. They are related to billiards on tables that are not rectangular but still polygonal, like the regular octagon.’’ Read More

Five conversations you should have on a first date

Photo: Getty Images

Livia Gamble
Reporter

First dates are nerve-racking, but small talk can be worse. When an awkward silence hits, it’s either head for the nearest exit or mention the weather.

For those that weren’t born with the gift of the gab, unlike the weather, there are some topics you should reach for when you start to feel the pressure of a first date.

What you should talk about

Talk about travel, not movies

A study by Richard Wiseman found that talking about movies gives you a less than 9 per cent chance of a second date. But talking about travel gave participants an 18 per cent chance of wanting to meet again. Wiseman says the reason for this is that men and women typically had very different movie tastes.

Throw the ball back in their court

Talking about yourself the entire date isn’t ideal but staying quiet is just as bad. When your date asks you a question, give your two cents and redirect the conversation back to them. This should set up the foundations of a smooth conversation.

Share secrets

New York psychologist Arthur Aron came up with a set of questions to speed up the ''getting to you know you'' process. Questions include: Before making a telephone call, do you ever rehearse what you are going to say? Why? Would you like to be famous? In what way? When did you last cry in front of another person? By yourself? More questions are here.

When in doubt, go for the controversial topic
Don’t worry about rocking the boat. Instead of talking about the news, behavioural researcher Dan Ariely says dive straight in and ask something personally revealing, such as: how many relationships have they had?

Do you like beer?

According to OK Cupid’s research, asking your date if they like the taste of beer will give you a good indication about whether they will have sex with you on the first date. Alternatively, asking if they like horror movies can reveal if they are looking for a long-term relationship.

 
What not to talk about

Don’t over-compliment your date

''Why would someone like you be interested in someone like me when you can have anyone you want?''

Asking questions like this sends a message that you think very little of yourself. Therapist and life coach John D. Moore says: ''If you are continuously complimenting your first date about their personal appearance, it may come off that you are fishing for a compliment.''.. Read More

How 'normal' is your sex life?

Finding time for sex after kids are in the picture. Photo: Getty

Rachel Clun
Life & Style reporter

A recent Reddit thread asked married people how frequently they had sex, and their answers ranged anywhere from every day for couples who had been together for 30 years, to once every two to three months for others.

Given the huge differences in answers, it’s impossible to tell what is normal and what is not.

Psychologist and founder of The Hart Centre Julie Hart says, that for couples with mismatched libidos, understanding what a ‘normal’ amount of sex is can be helpful.

“What’s considered in the normal range is often a question mark for people,” says Hart.

“I’ve certainly had people in my counselling practice who think that once every three months is normal, particularly when you’ve got children,” says Hart, “and their partner is just horrified at the thought of only being able to make love once every three months.”

Hart says research has shown couples with the healthiest – and happiest – sex lives have sex once or twice a week.

“If you leave it too long between having sex and making love, you tend to get out of the mode; you sort of forget,” says Hart.

She says it can be hard to remember what you used to like and also difficult to get back into the habit of having regular sex, so lovemaking becomes less and less frequent.

So what is it that prevents couples from having sex more regularly?

Children, says Hart, can unfortunately be a major factor.

“The research has shown that for about 70 per cent of all couples their sex life goes down at the birth of their first child, and it doesn’t really go up again until their last child leaves home,” says Hart.

Babies will keep you awake, while younger children are physically demanding – and the tiredness from having young children will impact your sex drive. While teens have more autonomy, says Hart, they are often quite stressful to raise, and in combination with younger kids they can also leave parents feeling exhausted. Read More