IN JULY 2003, THE PHYSICIST AND PULITZER-PRIZENOMINATED AUTHOR DR TONY ROTHMAN RECEIVED AN EMAIL FROM HIS EDITOR BEARING UNWELCOME NEWS. Rothman's new book was weeks from publication. An affable debunking of widely misunderstood stories from the history of science, the title, Everything's Relative, was a playful nod to Albert Einstein's theory of relativity. Rothman had asked his publisher, Wiley, to put a picture of history's most famous scientist on the cover.
An issue just came up, the email read. Rothman's editor had been warned that Einstein's estate is extremely aggressive and litigious. Unless the publisher paid a hefty fee to use the image of Einstein, the editor explained, they could be sued. Rothman was dismayed. I think this is ridiculous, he replied. If the estate went after everybody who used [Einstein's image], they'd have no time for anything else. Are you sure they even own it? Rothman's editor was unwilling to investigate the legal technicalities. It was not the first time the publisher had encountered hostile heirs, he said, referring to the slavering jackals who run the literary estate of an iconic 20th-century American writer.
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The Saudi football World Cup is an act of violence and disdain
Well, that's that then. In the event there were only two notes of jeopardy around Fifa's extraordinary virtual congress last week to announce the winning mono-bids, the vote without a vote, for the right to host the 2030 and 2034 football World Cups.
AI has made the move into video and it's worryingly plausible
I recently had the opportunity to see a demo of Sora, OpenAI's video generation tool, which was released in the US last Monday, and it was so impressive it made me worried for the future.
With tyrant Assad ousted, Syrians deserve support and hope
Last week, time collapsed. Bashar al-Assad's fall recalled scenes across the region from the start of the Arab spring almost 14 years ago. Suddenly history felt vivid, its memories sharpened. In fact it no longer felt like history.
TV
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Albums
Murky love stories, nostalgic pop and an in-your-face masterpiece captured our critics' ears in 2024
Film
Visual language, sound, light and rhythm are to the fore in the best movies of the year
Hidden delights Our 24 travel finds of 2024
Guardian travel writers share their discoveries of the year, from Læsø to Lazio
'It's really a disaster' The fight to save lives as gang war consumes capital
Dr James Gana stepped out on to the balcony of his hospital overlooking a city under siege. \"There's a sensation of 'What's next?'. Desperation is definitely present,\" the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) medic said, as he stared down at one of scores of camps for displaced Haitians in their country's violence-plagued capital.
Trailblazers The inspiring people we met around the world this year
From an exuberant mountaineer to a woman defiantly facing the guns of war, here are some of the brave individuals who gave us hope in a tumultuous 2024
Votes of confidence
From India to Venezuela and Senegal to the US, more people voted this year than ever before, with over 80 elections across the world. With rising authoritarianism and citizen-led resistance revealing its vulnerabilities and resilience in the face of unprecedented challenges, has democracy reached its breaking or turning point?
