Egyptologists have deciphered hieroglyphics that tell people off for dawdling. Is there a cure for this age-old human curse? Back in 1830, what would later become one of French literature’s most famous novels was just a whole load of blank pages. A year earlier, Victor Hugo had been commissioned to write The Hunchback of Notre Dame, but instead had frittered the time away with other pursuits, and now his publishers had just given him a six-month deadline to finish the book. To force himself to knuckle down, he locked away his own clothes – apparently apart from a large knitted shawl – leaving him unable to go out in public, meaning he had no other option than to stay home and write. His sartorial strategy worked: The Hunchback of Notre Dame was published two weeks ahead of schedule on 14 January 1831. The Galaxy Z Fold6 Supercharged multitasking with Galaxy AI Feel free to enjoy JoP – the joys of procrastination – with Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold6 as the Galaxy AI features mean multitasking and organising your life are all a simple swipe away. From Transcript Assist, which can easily turn meetings into detailed notes, colour-coded for each speaker, to Note Assist, which boasts a spot-on translation service as well as making things look aesthetically pleasing through creative formatting on any notes jotted down with the S Pen, all the tools needed to get a job done well are in your palm. There’s no guarantee it can sort your whole life out, but it’s a very good place to start. Continue reading...

It’s never been easier to track your workouts – and that can be a great motivator when aiming to achieve health goals – but numbers should inform wellbeing, rather than be the end result There have been a number of meticulous weight watchers in history, but Santorio Santorio is probably the most interesting. Back in the 1500s, he dedicated his life to monitoring his body, weighing both everything he put into it … and everything that came out. For one particular scientific exploration, he invented what he called a Sanctorean weighing chair – a seat set up next to a dining table, on a steelyard balance, which strictly monitored body weight. Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip6 Take your health tracking to the next level with Galaxy AI If you want to keep on top of your health, an easy place to start is pairing Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip6 with Samsung Galaxy wearables. With the free Samsung Health app, users can track sleep patterns, heart rate, blood pressure and calories. This info can be used to manage your wellness by informing your Energy score – a daily measurement of your physical and mental energy and readiness from Galaxy AI. Alternatively, plug in and tune out to calming meditation programmes on mindfulness and relaxation. Continue reading...

Laughing appears to be widespread in the animal kingdom, but humour is harder to define and is culturally specific While the British sense of humour is something every Brit holds dear, it’s fair to assume many British jokes would leave other cultures mystified. I think there is something quite interesting in that: it means that humour is not universal. The things we find funny are not innate, they’re cultural. That makes humour very different from laughter, which every human (even the grumpy ones) will have experienced at some point or another. Unlike humour, laughter is much easier to understand and study scientifically. Tap into Galaxy AI for a witty helping hand Thanks to the Chat Assist feature on the new Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6, Galaxy AI analyses chats and messages in real time, and lends a helping hand in crafting pitch-perfect replies with contextual suggestions as you type. So, if a casual tone is selected, then this can include a lighter, wittier touch. Continue reading...

Ever wondered why you’re not a fan of yourself in pictures? Or why the people you love always look much better in real life than photos? Hannah Fry unravels the psychology behind how we see ourselves … It’s strange to imagine, but before mirrors became commonplace, most people would not be well acquainted with what their own faces would look like. Apart from maybe the occasional glimpse in a river, the internal self-image of many of our ancestors would have been based only on how others reacted to them, not on what they actually looked like. Physical mirrors have been in existence in one form or another for thousands of years, but as recently as the 1960s, the anthropologist Edmund Carpenter came across a remote tribe in Papua New Guinea, known as the Biami, who (as far as he could tell) had not yet seen them. Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 Capturing your best selfie: FlexCam with Galaxy AI Thanks to mind-blowing AI-powered camera tech and 50MP lens, you can shoot ultra-crisp and lifelike pictures on the Galaxy Z Flip6’s FlexCam – and yes, that includes selfies you’ll (hopefully) love. From Auto Zoom (which automatically zooms in and out every time to get the perfect angle) to Nightography, which ensures sharp, bright detail in low light conditions, the AI tech takes photography to new heights – plus it all works directly through your social apps, so no uploading required! Continue reading...