I recently watched The Winter King, the latest screen adaptation of the classic Arthurian Legend, and based on the novel by Bernard Cornwell. It was more historical drama with a touch of druid mysticism than the high-camp fantastical realism of Excalibur, the film of 1981. In this case, Cornwell seems to have based his version of King Arthur on what is thought by historians to be the most historically plausible version of the fabled King of the Britons. Who Else Could King Arthur Have Been? Tentative evidence suggests that if King Arthur had even existed, he would not have been a king, but rat ..read more

How The Pomodoro Technique Can Help You In a recent article, I touched on the Pomodoro technique as a means of being productive when it comes to revision over the Easter break. But, such a fleeting mention doesn’t do justice to just how useful it can be. The What The Pomodoro Technique is a strategy aimed at helping people who struggle to focus for long periods and have a short attention span. If you get easily distracted, the Pomodoro is definitely for you. Developed in the 1980s by a University student who struggled to focus on his studies and assignments, the Pomodoro Technique is a strateg ..read more

Social media is often dubbed as one big distraction for young scholars. Indeed, it can be, with many influencers and marketers tailoring content to engage people for as long as possible. The manner of constant attention can be toxic, and the content can be too. However, as with many things, how you approach and utilise social media can make a big difference to how it impacts your life. There are pockets of this online space that are not only safe, but highly informative too! Even your home learning pursuits can be better facilitated through an apt use of social media. But how? Well, we’ll give ..read more

What You Need To Know About AI: A Beginner’s Guide To What The Future Holds by Brian David Johnson Artificial Intelligence is a bit of a big topic at the minute. A couple of years ago it was just a villain in science fiction, but now it seems like evil sentient robots are here and ready to take over the working world… and do your homework for you. For a lot of people it’s a scary topic because it’s something we see and hear about in the news and online but don’t understand what AI is. Is it really going to take over the world? Or is it actually going to help us achieve some really cool things ..read more

Now we’re properly into spring, there is only one thing for it: I need to write about Japanese cherry blossom. It isn’t just that cherry blossom is a Japanese thing – after all, we see it all over the UK, its pretty pink and white petals covering gardens and parks. But, in Japan, the season is known as Sakura. From March through to May, people gather in different places to marvel at the beauty of what cherry trees can offer. In fact, people travel far and wide in Japan (and beyond) to follow the cherry blossom season. It is so stunningly beautiful it is easy to see why. Locals and visitors who ..read more

How Did The Death Zone Get Its Name? As the Everest climbing season gains momentum, you may hear the term “Death Zone” mentioned in articles and news reports about extreme high-altitude mountaineering. At 29,029 feet, Mount Everest stands as the world’s highest mountain, with its final 4029 feet referred to as the Death Zone. The reason for this designation is that above 25,000 feet, our bodies struggle to adjust to the altitude, and the lungs fail to process sufficient oxygen, which in turn causes cells to begin to die. Hypoxia The effects of extreme high altitude on the lungs can be devastat ..read more

The 7 Major Types Of Electromagnetic Waves And What They Do To fully understand electromagnetic waves we should familiarise ourselves with the electromagnetic spectrum, (or the EM spectrum), representing all the electromagnetic radiation in the universe. This type of energy is distributed throughout space in the form of electric and magnetic waves. It allows for the transfer of both energy and information. Spectrum Placement There are seven electromagnetic groups on the EM Spectrum. On the left of the spectrum exist Radio waves which have the lowest frequency and the longest wavelengths. Plane ..read more

Show Don’t Tell is a technique used in pretty much every form of creative writing. It is a skill that once mastered will take your writing to the next level. It’s a way of allowing your readers to experience your writing through actions, thoughts, feelings and the five senses, as opposed to just rambling off a lengthy and unengaging factual explanation. People read fiction to get away from the real world and to experience something different. This is commonly known as escapism, when you want to get away from the humdrum of school and work and have a much more entertaining time in Middle Earth ..read more

The Enduring Appeal Of Hans Christian Andersen You may well have heard of Hans Christian Andersen, the famous Danish writer who was born on 2nd April 1805. He was a prolific writer, one that we know – in particular – for writing many fairy tales. So why, over two hundred years after his birth, is he so well-remembered? A Prolific Career Hans Christian Andersen wrote 156 fairy tales (and more besides) – examples you will probably have heard of include ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes’, ‘The Ugly Duckling’ and ‘The Little Mermaid’. Even today, in 2024, we know these stories. They are firmly ingrained ..read more

Your Guide To A Productive And Restful Easter Break It’s March and we all know what that brings: Easter! A wonderful two-week break full of questionable weather and possibly one too many chocolate eggs. But this holiday is never quite as enjoyable as the others in your latter teenage years for one foreboding reason: the hallowed spectre of exams just over its shoulder. Yes, with the arrival of Easter, nerves may start to kick in as the realisation dawns that those dreaded tests are merely weeks away, and every now and then your thoughts will take a nagging drift toward one word: revision. Howe ..read more