Post quantum encryption

It is not just artificial intelligence that is sparking hopes of an imminent productivity miracle. Quantum computing, another long-promised technology, is also making progress and attracting serious interest. Investment in startups in the field rose sixfold in 2025, to $13bn, according to McKinsey, a consultancy. Both startups and tech titans are racing to exploit the technology. In May, the Trump administration pledged $2bn to take equity stakes in nine quantum-computing companies. Quantum computers exploit the weird physics of quantum mechanics to perform some types of calculations at breathtaking speed. Jobs that would take ordinary, “classical” computers billions of years might be polished off in just a few hours. That includes cracking codes. Some day soon, the encryption methods that permit everything from credit-card details to racy photos to be securely and privately transmitted may no longer be safe to use. Upgrading to PPQC, as it is known, offers the best hope of securing data, today and into the future.

(Adapted from “It Is Past Time To Upgrade To Post-Quantum Encryption,” published on July 29, 2026, by The Economist)

Replacing Boeing

The US government is swinging behind a fledgling startup’s moonshot bid to dislodge Boeing as America’s only major maker of commercial airliners. The aircraft that JetZero wants to do it with is no less radical than its ambition. It looks more like a manta ray than the tube-with-wings blueprint that has been the default for over 70 years. If JetZero can cross the line, the blended-wing aircraft would mark the biggest shift in passenger-jetliner design since the supersonic Concorde. JetZero has reached an early deal with the US Export-Import Bank as part of its Make More in America Initiative for as much as $3bn in loans and guarantees that the company needs to build its first factory. Chief Executive Tom O’Leary said he is targeting a first prototype flight of the aircraft, known as the Z4, by the end of next year. The company’s ambition comes after a bruising few decades for American planemaking during which European rivals took control of over half the market.

(Adapted from “Could The Most Radical Plane Design Since The Concorde Take On Boeing?” by Benjamin Katz, published on July 29, 2026, by the Wall Street Journal)

Oldest ballerina

Yoko Morishita was 3 years old when she first put on a pair of ballet shoes; 75 years later, she’s still en pointe. One of Japan’s most celebrated dancers, Morishita, who will turn 78 in December, is the prima ballerina in Japan’s storied Matsuyama Ballet Company. Today, she is the world’s oldest ballerina still taking on demanding lead roles. Being the principal dancer of a renowned ballet company would be taxing for a dancer half her age. Few ballet stars make it past 40 before hanging up their pumps and switching to teaching, overcome by the immense physical, mental and artistic demands of the art form. Morishita was born in Hiroshima in 1948, three years after the city was obliterated by an atomic bomb. Morishita said the resilience of her family, friends and neighbours in the aftermath of the bombing was an inspiration that still drives her today.

(Adapted from “Prima Ballerina Still Going Strong After 75 Years,” by Jason Douglas and Junko, published on July 22, 2026, by the Wall Street Journal)

War and Gen Z dates

The overall pace of inflation slowed in June after getting pumped up by the Iran war’s effect on gasoline prices. So-called core prices, which exclude volatile food and energy prices, rose 2.6pc from a year earlier and were flat from the prior month — the first month without an increase in more than five years. Yet prices for some typical date-related activities like restaurant meals and tickets to events have recently been rising at a faster clip. Prices for full-service meals and snacks, for example, are up 3.7pc over the past year, federal data shows. The dating app Hinge, where more than half of the users are Gen Z members, launched a feature in April where users can list three date options. As of June 30, the most popular options included a mix of potentially pricey outings, but also some cheap ones such as coffee and a walk.

(Adapted from “Gen Z Looks For A Cheap Date,” by Sanai Hadiya Rashid, published on July 17, 2026, by the Wall Street Journal)

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, August 3rd, 2026