Yekta Bahr's Blog

Title:  UBC Mathematics postdoctoral fellow Dr. Adam Martens talks about the geometry of gift wrapping Source : The University of British Columbia Date:  December 18, 2025 Author : Dr. Adam Martens Page:  An online article from UBC Link:  https://news.ubc.ca/2025/12/the-mathematics-of-gift-wrapping/     Summary: The article talks about how wrapping gifts is not only an art but also a type of math. Dr. Adam Martens, a mathematics postdoctoral fellow at UBC and a differential geometer, explains how the shape of a gift affects how easy or difficult it is to wrap. Boxes are the easiest because they have flat sides and simple edges that paper can fold over. Round objects like spheres are impossible to wrap perfectly without creases or folds, so the best way is to put them in a box. Surprisingly, some complicated shapes, like a donut (torus), could be perfectly wrapped if we lived in four dimensions, but that is not possible in our 3D world. Cubes are the most ef...

  Title :   Shipyards Christmas Market is coming back, now with beloved Bavarian-style pork Source  : northshore news  Author:  Hilary Angus Date :  November 23, 2025 Page : An online article link:  https://www.nsnews.com/local-news/shipyards-christmas-market-is-coming-back-now-with-beloved-bavarian-style-pork-11486558   Summary This article is about the Shipyards Christmas Market returning to North Vancouver ’s Lower Lonsdale neighbourhood from November 28 to December 24, 2025 . The market is coming back bigger and brighter after last year’s success, which drew about 250,000 visitors .The market was started by John van Rij and Erin Chamberlain to copy the style of European Christmas markets , which are free to enter. Van Rij said, “It’s not like we’re fanatics on Christmas, but every time we visited the European markets we questioned why a free, accessible market wasn’t possible at home in North Vancouver.” This year, there will be ...

  Title :  Millie Bobby Brown Drops Out of Same Stranger Things Event as David Harbour, 3 Days After  Revealing She Injured Herself Source  : people.com Author: Julia Moore Date : December 18, 2025 Page : An online article link:  https://people.com/millie-bobby-brown-drops-out-same-stranger-things-event-as-david-harbour-11872200   Summary: This article is about Millie Bobby Brown missing another Stranger Things event in New York City. She was supposed to attend a Stranger Things Season 5 volume 2 event at the Paley Center on December 18, 2025. She missed the event because she recently injured herself . A spokesperson said, “Unfortunately, due to a recent injury, Millie can no longer attend the carpet or discussion.” Another actor, David Harbour , also did not attend because of a scheduling conflict . Millie had already missed an appearance on Good Morning America on December 15. She explained in a video that she “took a fall” and showed her ...

  Title : A prolific true crime producer was truly a criminal the whole time, the FBI says Source  :the guardian.com Author: Roque Planas Date : December 14, 2025   Page : An online article link: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/dec/14/fbi-most-wanted-list-true-crime-tv-producer Summary: This article is about a woman named Mary Carole McDonnell , who owned a TV production company called Bellum Entertainment . She hired many people to work on true-crime TV shows. One of the workers was Nigel Bellis , who even moved to another city for the job because he trusted the company. At first, he was paid, but the payments often came late. Later, it was discovered that McDonnell was accused of bank fraud . She allegedly pretended to be a rich heiress and used fake documents to get millions of dollars from banks. When the company failed, many workers were left without pay and had serious money problems. Bellis said, “I was absolutely counting on that money.” The FB...

  Title : Could This Fintech Disruptor Deliver 500% Upside? Source  : Morning Herald Author: James Duncan Date : December 16, 2025   Page : An online article link : https://morningherald.net/category/world/could-this-fintech-disruptor-deliver-500-upside/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23320229651&gclid=Cj0KCQiAo4TKBhDRARIsAGW29bddNa87XIZhuk9XvP6hE2JB6K-Q2TB8JrMsEEt9swzEfr15ffpt0JgaAvGNEALw_wcB   Summary   This article explains that AI’s real power is not only about faster computer chips, but about how AI can be used in almost every industry. One of the biggest areas AI is moving into is finance, because money is basically digital information. The article says AI in financial services could grow from about $20 billion today to over $80 billion in the next four years . This shows how fast AI and finance are coming together. The article calls this the “second wave” of AI. The first wave was companies like Nvidia, Microsoft, and Amazon, which foc...