2026-08-22 Discoveries

AI boosted homework scores, then exam scores dropped: study

AI companies destroy physical books – let's scan rare books before it's too late

I'm becoming AI-blind

Recently I've been catching myself having these little moments at work, when I'm trying to read a document someone has sent me and my brain somehow refuses to analyze it. It feels like I'm reading it, but I'm unable to focus on its…

Claudette: Make Claude stop talking like a BuzzFeed article

A Claude Code skill (/debuzz) that pipes Claude's answers through Gemini to remove the BuzzFeed voice - adnanakil/nobuzz

‘Huge Breakthrough’ in the Math of Imbalance

For the first time in 30 years, computer scientists have found a better way to allocate objects evenly between two groups. The post ‘Huge Breakthrough’ in the Math of Imbalance first appeared on Quanta Magazine

Measuring what’s inside: calculating the carbon footprint of our products

Carbon reporting is the first step towards building products that are less harmful to the planet.

Building a Hammond Organ to Understand How They Work

The Hammond organ is an early form of electronic– or perhaps electromechanical– musical instrument. It solved the very real problem of organs normally being the sort of thing you built …

Enter Google Play’s sweepstakes to win legendary experiences and collectibles with your…

Redeem Google Play Points in the sweepstakes to win a trip to New York Comic Con, rare collectibles, gaming gear, and more.

Why Americans Stopped Reading Books

The kids can’t read. Such has been the implication, even the declaration, made by a wave of articles in recent years. But the statement needs some qualification: the kids in question are American; what they can’t read is entire books, especially literary fiction; and it isn’t just the kids in the…

The Remarkable Lives of 5-Year-Old Brain Organoids

The mini-brains are full of surprises

Thermoacoustic Sterling Engine is Now Fully 3D Printable

Would you like to make your own energy? Why, who doesn’t in this era of rising costs! A sterling engine always looks like a good fit for that: highly efficient, …

Scientists release biggest 2D map of the universe

An Inflatable Pool Party by Craig & Karl Fills a Dubai Atrium with Summer Fun

Craig & Karl's expressive inflatables infuse oft-overlooked architecture with play and whimsy. Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article An Inflatable Pool Party by Craig & Karl…

What does “full-stack” AI actually mean?

A Google DeepMind engineer breaks full-stack development into five simple layers and explains how it affects everyday users.

Actx0

Memory infrastructure for AI agents.

PVC Pipe Turned DIY Digital Telescope

[Makestreme] had always wanted to own a nice telescope, but found that budget would not stretch to anything above a cheap model with a limited 50 mm aperture. Wanting a …

Are You in Danger of Becoming a Robot?

How interacting with social chatbots could reduce your “personhood”

I ran Photoshop on a £0.60 computer chip

Here's how to use sign-to-text translation on Pixel 11.

Developed in partnership with the Deaf community, sign-to-text translates ASL into text in real time.

On Vintage Boards, Lou Benesch Conjures the Fantastic World of The Magician

Lou Benesch translates the Magician's inclination for action and mysticism into a collection of works on found and antique materials. Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article On…

fx (by Vercel)

Vercel's tiny, open-source coding agent

Felony Bench

Felony Bench is the most important benchmark of our time, some are saying, counting the number of questionable decisions made by AI agents. We might need a Pandemic Bench soon...

Kobo can run apps now

A launcher, a signed App Store, a Rust SDK, and a capability-isolated runtime for the Kobo Clara BW. Install once over USB; everything after that arrives over Wi-Fi.

How Many Letters Are In The Answer?

A Peek Inside the Pompeii of Greece

It’s a treasure trove of Minoan art and antiques

OneCLI

Give every employee a secured, sandboxed pro assistant agent