All posts tagged: insight

Unprecedented insight into memory champion’s brain reveals his tricks

Unprecedented insight into memory champion’s brain reveals his tricks

Nelson Dellis holds his trophy after winning the annual USA Memory Championships in New York in 2011 DON EMMERT/AFP via Getty Images Nelson Dellis is a six-time US memory champion who once memorised the order of a shuffled deck of cards in 40.7 seconds and knows the first 10,000 digits of pi. Now, scientists have studied his brain in unprecedented detail, revealing how he achieved such feats and how we can acquire some of the same skills. Dellis claims he had an average memory until around 25 years old, when his grandmother’s decline from Alzheimer’s disease inspired him to start memory training for hours every day, including memorising numbers, names and words. “I still train my memory regularly,” he says. “It’s like a muscle; if you don’t use it, it fades.” While memory impairment – like that which occurs with dementia – has been widely studied, less is known about people with extraordinary memory. To address this gap, researchers – including scientists at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri – have turned to Dellis. Dellis …

‘No excuses’ means zero insight into barriers a child faces

‘No excuses’ means zero insight into barriers a child faces

Education has been warped by false divides, but schools that use vulnerability indices to identify need have found a promising middle ground, says Lee Elliot Major Those who have heard me speak will know the Daily Mail headline I share that charts my life journey from (student) bin man to Britain’s first professor of social mobility. It’s a back story that keeps on giving, though not always in the way you may first think. My point is that success comes in many forms. We should avoid devaluing the jobs that keep our society running. I may have had working-class origins and been the first in my family to study beyond 16. But my teachers were concerned less with labels and more with the specific barriers that might impede my learning, from the teenage trauma and instability of having to leave home and find a place to live, to the lack of cultural capital needed to navigate an alien university system. I often wonder whether I would have been given that same lifeline in today’s education …

Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi’s rare insight into mealtimes at £3m Cotswolds home with Princess Beatrice

Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi’s rare insight into mealtimes at £3m Cotswolds home with Princess Beatrice

Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, Princess Beatrice’s husband, is a property developer whose company, Banda Ltd, masterminds properties in some of London’s most exclusive enclaves, from Belgravia to Kensington, and around the world. Earlier this week, the Princess’ husband, who descends from Italian nobility, took to Instagram to share an insight into how he views home life and the significance of certain rooms in creating a cosy bolthole.  “The dining room is where everyone eventually ends up,” Edoardo penned. “It is less about formality and more about connection, long lunches, late dinners, conversations that stretch on.” Edoardo’s insight into home life He went on to explain how this manifests in the homes his company creates: “We think about the weight of the table, the comfort of the chairs, how the light falls in the evening. Those details matter more than anything decorative.⁠ “When it feels right, people linger without noticing the time.⁠”Though, of course, Edoardo was speaking about his commercial projects, the way he views mealtimes is certainly revealed in his post. He lives in a £3 …

Delve halts demos, Insight Partners scrubs investment post amid ‘fake compliance’ allegations

Delve halts demos, Insight Partners scrubs investment post amid ‘fake compliance’ allegations

Delve, a Y Combinator-backed compliance startup accused of fabricating certifications for its customers, has disabled the “book a demo” feature on its website. The controversy, detailed last week in a Substack post by an anonymous whistleblower known as “DeepDelver,” has apparently led Insight Partners to scrub an article explaining its $32 million investment in the startup. DeepDelver, who claims to be a former client, alleged that Delve, which was valued at $300 million during its Series A funding round last year, fabricated compliance data for its customers. The original text of the article, written by Insight Partners managing directors Teddie Wardi and Praveen Akkiraju, among others, and titled, “Scaling AI-native compliance: How Delve is saving companies time and money on compliance busywork,” remains viewable here via the Wayback Machine, an internet archive that preserves snapshots of web pages. Delve’s co-founders Karun Kaushik and Selin Kocalar, as well as Insight Partners, did not immediately respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment. On its website, Delve claims to have helped customers such as Microsoft, Chase, PayPal, American Express, …

Honda brings the Insight back as an EV with a sleek crossover style

Honda brings the Insight back as an EV with a sleek crossover style

The Insight is set to return this spring, but this time as an all-electric crossover SUV. Honda unveiled the Insight EV in Japan on Thursday, with a WLTC driving range of over 310 miles (500 km). Meet the Honda Insight EV Launched in 1999, the first-generation Insight was Honda’s first mass-produced hybrid vehicle. Since then, the 2-seat hatchback evolved into a 5-seater and, in its third generation, into a 4-door sedan. Honda discontinued the Insight after the 2022 model year to focus on better-selling nameplates like the Civic and CR-V, both of which received hybrid variants. The Insight will make a comeback this year as a high-tech all-electric crossover SUV. Although it will be sold in Japan, the new EV will be based on the e: NS2, an electric crossover from Honda’s joint venture with Dongfeng Honda, which has been on sale in China since June 2024. Advertisement – scroll for more content Although it didn’t reveal battery specs, Honda said the Insight EV will have a WLTC driving range of over 310 miles (500 …

3.67 million year old fossil provides new insight into the evolution of the human face

3.67 million year old fossil provides new insight into the evolution of the human face

Little Foot’s face looks like it has been through a slow-motion car crash, because it has. For millions of years, rock pressure and shifting sediments pushed and twisted the fossil’s facial bones until the front of the skull no longer fit together in a way scientists could safely fix by hand. Now, a new digital rebuild of that face is offering a sharper view of how early hominin faces varied across Africa around 4 to 3 million years ago. Little Foot, formally cataloged as StW 573, comes from the Sterkfontein Caves about 40 kilometers northwest of Johannesburg, inside South Africa’s Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site. It is described as the most complete early hominin skeleton ever found. The skeleton has fueled research for years, but the face remained a stubborn problem. A face rebuilt without touching the bone An international team led by Dr. Amelie Beaudet and Professor Dominic Stratford digitally reassembled the face using high-resolution synchrotron scanning at the Diamond Light Source in the United Kingdom and virtual reconstruction methods. The work was …

Snap Insight: There’s no liberation from Trump’s tariffs, even after court ruling

Snap Insight: There’s no liberation from Trump’s tariffs, even after court ruling

At the start of his administration in January 2025, Mr Trump imposed tariffs against Canada, Mexico and China over what he claimed was an economic emergency caused by imports of fentanyl. He then used the same economic emergency justification in April when he tariffed the whole world over trade imbalances. The justices in the majority were categorical in their rejection of the administration’s legal arguments. Tariffs remain the preserve of the legislative branch. Congress did not, the court ruled, intend to allow the president unlimited power to declare emergencies or to impose tariffs under IEEPA. Not all the tariffs collected on arriving goods fall under IEEPA. Tariff duties will remain in effect for products covered by Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act that concerns national security threats and by Section 301 of the Trade Act for unfair trade practices.  The Trump administration is likely to expand coverage of goods under these alternative legal statutes, but these are more restrictive.  The immediate response by the White House has been to issue a new Executive Order …

Strong ADHD symptoms may boost creative problem-solving through sudden insight

Strong ADHD symptoms may boost creative problem-solving through sudden insight

New research suggests that the distinctive cognitive traits associated with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, or ADHD, may provide a specific advantage in how people tackle creative challenges. A study conducted by psychologists found that individuals reporting high levels of ADHD symptoms are more likely to solve problems through sudden bursts of insight rather than through methodical analysis. These findings indicate that while ADHD is often defined by its deficits, the condition may also facilitate a unique style of thinking that bypasses conscious logic to reach a solution. The results were published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences. Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder is a neurodevelopmental condition typically characterized by difficulty maintaining focus, impulsive behavior, and hyperactivity. These symptoms are often viewed through the lens of executive function deficits. Executive function refers to the brain’s management system. It acts like an air traffic controller that directs attention, filters out distractions, and keeps mental processes organized. When this system works efficiently, a person can focus on a specific task and block out irrelevant information. However, researchers have long hypothesized that a …

James Van Der Beek and wife had ‘little to nothing’ before his death as family friend shares insight into their life

James Van Der Beek and wife had ‘little to nothing’ before his death as family friend shares insight into their life

In the hours following news of James Van Der Beek’s untimely death at the age of 48 more than $1 million of donations poured into his family’s GoFundMe page. The link was posted on Instagram Stories shortly after James’ passing was made public in the hopes that his wife, Kimberly, and their six children, could find some financial stability after being severely impacted by the costs of James’ medical care for cancer. Their dire monetary situation was highlighted by their friend, Codie Sanchez, who has since vowed to donate an incredible $5,000 a month to help cover their cost of living. © @vanderjames InstagramJames, his wife and their six children Her heartbreaking message unveiled the reality of James and Kimberly’s financial struggles when she wrote on X: “The worst part is his medical expenses left them with little to nothing. If it speaks to you donate. If not a prayer is treasured too.” Codie — who is the founder and CEO of Contrarian Thinking, a financial advice enterprise — also reposted James’ final social media …

Ricky Gervais’s long-term partner Jane Fallon shares rare insight into 40-year relationship with comedian

Ricky Gervais’s long-term partner Jane Fallon shares rare insight into 40-year relationship with comedian

Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture email Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Ricky Gervais’s long-term partner Jane Fallon has shared a rare insight into her 40-year relationship with the comedian, explaining their decision not to have children. Fallon, 65, forged a successful career as a TV producer but left the industry behind when she landed a book deal in the late Noughties. Fallon’s first novel, Getting Rid of Matthew, was released in 2007 and she has since penned another 11 titles. The writer has been in a relationship with Gervais for more than 40 years, but the pair decided against getting married and having children. Appearing on the Second Act podcast, Fallon said she has no regrets about not having kids. “When I was little, you know the cliche of a little girl is they imagine their wedding day and their wedding dress… it was none of that ever,” she said. “It was …