Cool Stuff Daily

Latest Episodes:

Mon. 03/22 - The Bakery AI Being Used For Cancer Research Mar 22, 2021

Show notes

The AI built to tell pastries apart that’s now being used for cancer research. It turns out a large portion of Mars’ water may be hiding in the planet’s crust. And, if one of your online orders got lost, it may now be lurking at the bottom of the ocean.

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Links:

The Pastry A.I. That Learned to Fight Cancer (The New Yorker)
Mars might be hiding most of its old water underground, scientists say (The Verge)
Mars may hide oceans of water beneath its crust, study finds (Space)
Where Are Those Shoes You Ordered? Check the Ocean Floor (Wired)
The Leslie Jones Cut (Leslie Jones, Twitter)
Live feed from Iceland volcano (RÚV)
Incredible Drone Videos of an Erupting Volcano (Kottke)
Kottke.Org
Jackson Bird on Twitter

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Fri. 03/19 - The Feuding Cousins Responsible For Our COVID Test Swab Supply Mar 19, 2021

Show notes

The family feud putting the US’s COVID-19 test swab supply at risk. Could we use our food waste and sewage to fuel jets? And the projected symbol that was spotted in towns all around the world last night.

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Thu. 03/18 - Salmon Chaos & The Paris Commune Mar 19, 2021

Show notes

Today marks the 150th anniversary of the start of the Paris Commune––and it remains as controversial as ever. Scientists have grown a mouse embryo in an artificial womb and have set their sites on human embryos next, speaking of controversy... And why people in Taiwan keep legally changing their names to "Salmon."

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Links:

Paris Commune: The revolt dividing France 150 years on (BBC)
Lipstick Traces: A Secret History of the Twentieth Century by Greil Marcus
Revolution, Rebellion, Resistance: The Power of Story by Eric Selbin
The Paris Commune Is Still a Beacon for Radical Change (The Jacobin)
Vive la Commune? The working-class insurrection that shook the world (The Guardian)
A mouse embryo has been grown in an artificial womb—humans could be next (MIT Technology Review)
Taiwan official urges people to stop changing their name to 'salmon' (The Guardian)
Taiwan warns people against changing their name to 'Salmon' (Washington Post)
This Salmon Was Burned Alive - A Series of Unfortunate Events (Netflix) Season 2 (YouTube)
How Sperm Whales Learned to Collectively Outsmart 19th-Century Whalers (Kottke)
Studying Humpback Whales to Better Communicate with Aliens (Kottke)
Kottke.Org
Jackson Bird on Twitter

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Wed. 03/17 - Why Doesn't Channel 37 Exist? Mar 17, 2021

Show notes

Why analog TVs never had channel 37. Spoiler: the answer includes aliens. The rise of bitcoin ATMs. And the pretty amusing self-reported symptoms from the AstraZeneca vaccine. And all the latest breaking marine mammal news.

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Links:

Why You Generally Can't Find TV Stations on Channel 37 (Tedium)
This Month in Physics History (APS News)
Bitcoin ATMs are coming to a gas station near you (Reuters)
Dogecoin Will Be Available in Bitcoin ATMs Across America (Crypto Briefing)
What are AstraZeneca's self-reported side effects? (Quartz)
There's a whale in the San Francisco Bay right now, something never before seen in March (SF Gate)
‘Putrid’ stench of rotting whale carcass on Australian beach leaves locals retching (The Guardian)
Exploding Whale 50th Anniversary, Remastered! (KATU News, YouTube)
Thu. 07/02 - The Exploding Whale Memorial Park (is a real thing) (Kottke Ride Home)
Arctic walrus takes a nap on an iceberg, wakes up in Ireland (LiveScience)
Kottke.Org
Jackson Bird on Twitter

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Tue. 03/16 - Daylight Saving Time? Not in this house! Mar 16, 2021

Show notes

How St. Patrick’s Day, as we know it now, is kind of more of an Irish-American holiday than a purely Irish one. More of the Dead Sea Scrolls have been uncovered in Israel for the first time in sixty years. And the family who decided to really lean into the “time is just a social construct” idea.

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Links:

All the pubs in Ireland used to be closed on St. Patrick’s Day (Irish Central)
Washington’s Army Celebrated St. Patrick’s Day to Cure Winter Blues (Smithsonian Magazine)
A day off from Lent: St Patrick's Day traditions from the past 2019 (RTÉ)
Israeli experts announce discovery of more Dead Sea scrolls (AP)
Israel Reveals Newly Discovered Fragments of Dead Sea Scrolls (NY Times)
Dead Sea Scrolls discoveries are first ancient Bible texts to be found in 60 years (NBC News)
Can We Get Rid of Daylight Saving Time? (The Atlantic)
Daylight Saving Time By Country (Wikipedia)
Kottke.Org
Jackson Bird on Twitter

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Mon. 03/15 - Brood X and Self-Sabotaging Zoom Calls Mar 15, 2021

Show notes

Brood X is coming: what you need to know about your soon-to-be neighbors. A new discovery in Spain has led to questions about the true role of women in the Bronze Age. The science behind why, once you pop, the fun just don’t stop. And a new app that will purposefully sabotage your Zoom calls.

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Giant Brood of Billions of Insects Set to Emerge in US in Mass Synchronized Event (Science Alert)
Get ready for Brood X, a swarm of screaming sex-fiend cicadas (A/V Club)
Brood X, the great cicada swarm, is coming. And DC is ground zero. (Washington Post)
Cicada Safari (SciStarter)
Bronze Age Tomb in Spain Hints Women Helped Govern (NY Times)
The Science Behind Your Need for One More Potato Chip (NY Times)
Zoom Escaper (Sam Lavigne)
Welcome to my Homepage Digital Artist Residency
Sam Lavigne (@sam_lavigne)
It's Been 23 Years (Kottke)
Thu. 03/04 - Will NFTs Change How We Buy Music & Movies? (Kottke Ride Home)
Will Ferrell gets an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song (A Journal of Musical Things)
Kottke.Org
Jackson Bird on Twitter

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Fri. 03/12 - A Sperm Bank on the Moon Mar 12, 2021

Show notes

The proposal to create a “modern ark” aka scientists want to store sperm and eggs in lava tubes on the moon as a back-up plan in case we accidentally destroy the earth. A new tool that could help us spot deepfakes. And how beer-making used to be women’s work until men figured out how to monetize it and accused women brewers of being witches.

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Links:

Scientists Want to Send a Massive Load of J--- to the Moon (Vice)
Will Experts Send Sperm and Egg Samples to the Moon Through This Modern Noah's Ark? (The Science Times)
Mon. 10/26 - Water on the Moon & Oreo's Arctic Vault (Kottke Ride Home)
Tool spots deepfake photos via light in the eyes (Futurity)
How to spot deepfakes? Look at light reflection in the eyes (University at Buffalo)
Robert Downey Jr and Tom Holland in Back to the future - This is heavy! [ deepfake ] (EZRyderX47, YouTube)
Biden Delaware back tattoo deepfake (jojobiden46, Tiktok)
Women used to dominate the beer industry – until the witch accusations started pouring in (The Conversation)
The Ale-Soaked Medieval Origins of the Witch's Hat (Vice)
Hops: The beer ingredient (most) drinkers love (Washington Post)
The history of the witch's hat: origins of its pointy design. (Slate)
How Much Did the History of Beer Have to Do With ... Witches? (The Mary Sue)
Kottke.Org
Jackson Bird on Twitter

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Thu. 03/11 - Is This Ancient Biblical Forgery Actually Real? Mar 11, 2021

Show notes

It was written off as a forgery in 1883, but now it’s being reconsidered as the oldest known Biblical manuscript. Also, how the pandemic has affected the names people are choosing for their babies. And how a lake in Turkey may hold the key to finding signs of ancient life on Mars.

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Links:

Is a Long-Dismissed Forgery Actually the Oldest Known Biblical Manuscript? (NY Times)
Murder Among the Mormons | Official Trailer (Netflix, YouTube)
How COVID Influenced Most Popular Baby Names Of 2021 (Refinery29)
From ‘Alma’ to ‘Zuri,’ Parents Are Looking for Positive Baby Names (NY Times)
What Is Cottagecore? : 1A (NPR)
Mars on Earth: Turkish lake may hold clues to ancient life on planet (Reuters)
Netflix 'The Last Blockbuster' Docu Release (Hypebeast)
If I Did It (Alanna Bennett, Twitter)
September Kottke episode mentioning The Last Blockbuster (Kottke Ride Home)
Kottke.Org
Jackson Bird on Twitter

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Wed. 03/10 - A Year of the Pandemic WITHOUT the Internet Mar 10, 2021

Show notes

Reflections from a man who quit using the internet right before the pandemic started. A meteorite older than Earth was discovered in the Sahara Desert. And playable music videos? How film and music are pulling more and more from gaming both in terms of tech and mentality.

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Links:

He Quit the Internet 2 Months Before the Pandemic (NY Times)
Scientists Discover Chunk of Protoplanet Older Than Earth In Sahara Desert (Vice)
This Is a Piece of a Lost Protoplanet, And It's Officially Older Than Earth (Science Alert)
A music video you can play: Indie rock inside the Unity engine (Ars Technica)
Kottke.Org
Jackson Bird on Twitter

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Tue. 03/09 - Could Aliens' Pollution Help Us Find Them? Mar 09, 2021

Show notes

Can we find extraterrestrial civilizations by searching the cosmos for their pollutants? Are humans hard-wired to be productive? And what can we learn about leisure from hunter-gatherer societies? Plus, a big uh-oh from HBO Max and masks that are sure to freak out everyone you encounter.

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