Writing

To aid research into the history of human writing, DeepMind has now turned its AI technology to the task of restoring incomplete ancient texts, where it has performed with an impressive degree of accuracy.

While it would be great if teachers could spend lots of time with each of their students, the fact is that children often end up doing most of their handwriting exercises unsupervised. A new system may help address that problem, using a "smart" pen.

In 1945, the first successful ballpoint pen went on sale in the United States and Britain. Initially seen as an expensive novelty, the Biro soon went on to become not only a part of our everyday lives, but one that revolutionized how we communicate.

A new study suggests handwriting on paper leads to greater brain activity and memory retention than using a stylus on a tablet. The researchers hypothesize the spatial details of writing on paper may explain why it enhances the encoding of information.

Research analyzing brainwave patterns in both children and young adults while they wrote by hand and typed on a keyboard reveals distinct brain activity between the activities, suggesting learning may be more effective when accompanied by handwriting.

A team of Australian researchers has developed a novel early detection test for Parkinson’s disease based on a short series of drawing and writing tasks. The team is aiming to move through final trial stages and bring the new test to market by 2022.

Melding the worlds of art and computer science, two Danish artists have developed a fascinating AI project called Booksby.ai, an online bookshop generated by AI - from the books and covers, to the reviews and pictures of people reviewing the books.

Imagine if you were working with a robot that could leave you written messages, or draw diagrams to explain concepts. Such a scenario has come a step closer to reality, as a university student has taught a robot how to copy what we write, and what we draw.

​Four years ago, New York/Detroit-based startup Astrohaus released the Freewrite, a "smart" electronic typewriter designed for distraction-free writing. Now, the company is crowdfunding the 50-percent smaller and lighter Traveler laptop – and its big selling point is what it CAN'T do.

The first written records of the number "0" were believed to be tied between a temple and a manuscript found in India, but now a team from Oxford has used carbon dating to crown the winner. The Bakhshali manuscript appears to be about 500 years older.

The discovery of an ancient Egyptian “billboard” might turn back the clock on when hieroglyphic writing was thought to be introduced to the general population. The inscriptions date back to about 3,250 BCE and show a form of writing that was thought to only be used by the ruling class at that time.

​In a comment piece in Nature, astrophysicist and author Mario Livio discusses a recently rediscovered 1939 essay by Sir Winston Churchill in which he discusses the possibility of life on other planets and the exploration of the Solar System.