This is one of what may become an occasional series of articles to be categorised either as “what hacks off the hack?” or “what knackered the hack?”. In this rare instance the story covers both. As part of our ongoing study of broken things, it should be no surprise that this hack considers journalism itself [...]

Knackered Downunder reports on how to get ahead in golf or tennis with a little help from your behind muscles Some time ago, this column had a contribution about the Australian swimmer Libby Lenton’s efforts to develop a bigger bum in order to swim faster. Now comes news that Tiger Woods owes his abilities on [...]

Researchers at Stanford University, California, have used fMRI scans to discover how the brain suppresses irrelevant memories in order to recall what’s really important. Counter-intuitive though it may sound, remembering something entails a cost for memories that are related but unimportant. As Anthony Wagner, Associate Professor of Pscyhology at Stanford explains:- This relationship powerfully illustrates [...]

The Economist this week highlighted research conducted in a school in the UK North East, showing that short, intensive bursts of learning, interspersed with complete rest or distraction, is a much more effective way of getting students to learn than the current hour-long continuous lesson. Monkseaton Community High School near Newcastle, under the headship of [...]