Time news
Clock changes, focus methods, work rhythms: what the calendar has in store, explained and dated.
- Why does a week have 7 days? Blame the Moon, Babylon and seven wandering starsSeptember 11, 2026, Nothing in nature imposes the 7-day week: it is a Babylonian invention built on the Moon's quarters and seven visible 'planets', adopted by Rome and never dislodged since, despite two spectacular attempts to replace it.
- How to power nap: the 10-20 minute protocol that actually worksSeptember 10, 2026, The perfect power nap lasts 10 to 20 minutes, ends before deep sleep begins, and leaves you sharper within minutes. The complete protocol: ideal timing, the coffee nap trick, and why 30 minutes is the one duration to avoid.
- Why the days are getting shorter so fast right now, up to 4 minutes a daySeptember 9, 2026, That feeling that night suddenly falls earlier is not an illusion: around the September equinox, daylight shrinks at its fastest pace of the year, close to 4 minutes a day in northern latitudes. The exact numbers, the elegant reason, and the calendar to the solstice.
- Why are there 60 seconds in a minute? Blame BabylonSeptember 8, 2026, Everything else went decimal, yet clocks still count in 60s, exactly like Babylonian astronomers 4,000 years ago. Where the base-60 system comes from, why it survived the metric revolution, and why it is genuinely well chosen.
- Why the snooze button lasts exactly 9 minutes: a 1950s engineering storySeptember 8, 2026, Not 5, not 10: the classic snooze gives you 9 minutes. The reason is a mechanical compromise inside 1950s alarm clocks, and the number has outlived its own machinery. The full story, and what snoozing does to your morning.
- How long is a Pomodoro? The 25-minute rule, and when to break itSeptember 7, 2026, The classic Pomodoro lasts 25 minutes of work plus a 5-minute break. Where that number comes from, what research says about work intervals, and how to adjust the length to your own focus.
- Why do clocks go clockwise? Blame the Northern Hemisphere's shadowsSeptember 7, 2026, Clockwise is not a law of nature: it is the direction a sundial's shadow moves in the Northern Hemisphere. How shadows decided the way every clock turns, and what southern sundials do differently.
- When does daylight saving time end in 2026? US and Europe dates, and which way clocks goSeptember 5, 2026, Daylight saving time ends on November 1, 2026 in the United States and on October 25 in Europe. Which way the clocks go, why the dates differ, and how to handle the extra hour of sleep.