Why you keep buying books you don’t read – and why it feels so good

Gorgev/Shutterstock.com At busy times, I find I simply cannot read as much as I would like to. Life has a habit of filling every available hour with work, meetings, emails, chores, errands and deadlines. Standing in one of my natural habitats – a bookshop – it is frustrating to see so many things I want […]

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How can you be tired yet wired? Blame your stone-age brain

Kinga Howard/Unsplash, CC BY The clock reads 2:13am. You are exhausted. Your eyes ache, your body feels heavy and the alarm is already beginning to loom over the night, yet your brain refuses to let go. Instead, thoughts arrive in waves. Did you send that email? What if you forgot something important? Perhaps now is […]

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What happens inside a tennis player’s brain as they try to return a 148mph serve?

The fastest serve so far at this year’s Wimbledon tennis championships was struck by the Argentinian Thiago Agustín Tirante on the opening day. His serve of almost 148mph (238km/h) was still some way under the Wimbledon record of 153mph, set by Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in 2025. And despite Tirante giving his opponent less than […]

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Why do heights make your feet feel strange?

Anton Gvozdikov/Shutterstock.com I wouldn’t say that I’m afraid of heights. I can stand on a cliff path or look out from a tall building without the rush of panic people often associate with vertigo. What I really dislike is something much harder to explain: the peculiar feeling in my feet. It’s a sensation that’s difficult […]

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Headspace: can our brains get full?

Maciej Bledowski/Shutterstock.com My husband was recently describing something that happened on a past holiday. It wasn’t a significant event, but it sounded pleasant. I, however, had no recollection of what he was telling me. He couldn’t quite believe it. We know that “recollections may differ”, but how can it be so different? And why do […]

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Why anatomy’s naughtiest mnemonics work so well

alvarog1970/Shutterstock.com Some lovers try positions that they can’t handle – I’m referring to the bones of the wrist, of course. The phrase is a classic mnemonic used to remember the eight carpal (wrist) bones – scaphoid, lunate, triquetrum, pisiform, trapezium, trapezoid, capitate and hamate – whose initials form the memorable sentence. One of the most […]

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It’s right under your nose – why some people can’t find things in plain sight

Andrey_Popov/Shutterstock.com Many households will recognise this familiar exchange. One person insists an object simply isn’t there: impossible to find despite what they describe as a thorough and highly competent search. Another walks in, glances briefly at the same spot and points to it almost immediately. “It’s right under your nose!” This frustrating (for both sides) […]

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New discoveries are showing how human anatomy is far from settled

New Africa/Shutterstock.com Leaf through a textbook, watch a wellness influencer or listen in at the gym, and it can feel as though the human body has already been mapped to exhaustion. Every muscle named, every nerve traced. Everything understood and readily available. Most people recognise at least a few anatomical terms – “traps”, “glutes”, “biceps”. […]

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Why it’s funnier when you’re not allowed to laugh

michaelheim/Shutterstock.com I don’t think I’ve ever laughed harder than during a church service, when something faintly ridiculous caught my eye. My friend saw it too, and once she started laughing, it became impossible to stop. Years later I’ve tried to explain what was so hilarious, but it seems you had to be there. What was […]

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The truth about energy: why your 40s feel harder than your 20s, but there may be a lift later on

Some of us remember having more energy in our 20s. We could work late, sleep badly, have a night out, recover quickly and still feel capable the next day. By our 40s, that ease has often gone. Fatigue feels harder to shake. It’s tempting to assume this is simply the ageing process – a one‑way […]

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