colin's July 2026 List

Is the KFC Double Down really what the Founding Fathers wanted for us?

From chemical building blocks, scientists have created synthetic cells that have most of the hallmarks of life.

The evidence for needing eight hours of sleep a night is shakier than we might assume.

Optimists once believed that universal literacy was inevitable. Now it seems that the age of reading might be a short anomaly in human history.

Thousands of new fossil-fuel power sources are quietly firing up across the state to power the AI boom, thanks to a regulatory loophole, leaving residents feeling blindsided.

It's a sustainable solution to a legitimate problem. If your political party won't admit that, expect voters to look for an alternative that will.

A new public safety battle is brewing in America that centers on artificial intelligence-powered cameras discreetly installed on thousands of street corners, parks, parking lots, neighborhoods and drones buzzing overhead.

The world’s most valuable assets are stored on rows of servers in giant, anonymous buildings. And they can be stolen.

From data gathering to decision making, there’s a gold mine in police funding.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced mandatory testosterone screenings. If that’s not an Optimizer bat signal to break down a wellness fad, what is?

They’re Ugly, Unproven, the Stuff of Hippies, Tech Bros, and Runners. Do They Actually Work? After years of mockery and controversy, barefoot shoes are hotter than ever. Will our bodies thank us for it?

Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey" tallied an estimated $124.5 million at the domestic box office, with IMAX screenings fueling a big haul.

They call themselves the "cockroaches" and they're on the march — demanding action against corruption, amid a shortage of opportunities for young people in India.

A younger crowd is flocking to a hobby once dominated by retirees—and transforming it along the way.

According to the report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, medical staff were forced to kneel in the hospital corridor on the day the facility was stormed, and one volunteer was executed, as documented by the hospital's surveillance cameras. Images that later circulated also showed dozens of bodies piled up inside the hospital and in its surrounding grounds.

First as a Marine and then as a journalist, I spent years tied to Afghanistan. I returned one last time to speak to a former enemy in search of answers, and perhaps closure.

An Instagram post turned one California student newspaper into a free-speech flash point. The students say they were just doing their homework.

As they say at the awards shows, I was humbled to learn that Christopher Nolan has read at least the first line of my...

The long read: Our lovable yet unruly boxer Dusty forced me to wonder: if a dog has no morals, how do you teach it to be ‘good’?

The Kerrs were devoted to one another and to their faith. But when one of their own rejected modern medicine in the name of God, they faced a dire question: What if her children ever needed a doctor to save their lives?