Cool Stuff Daily

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Mon. 10/26 - Water on the Moon & Oreo’s Arctic Vault Oct 26, 2020

Show notes

NASA’s big announcement has been revealed: there is way more water on the moon than we thought. An update on the murder hornet situation. Oreo has built a vault in Norway to preserve a stash of Oreos in case that Election Day asteroid, which is absolutely not going to hit the Earth, hits the Earth. And mutant crayfish clones have taken over a Belgian cemetery just in time for Halloween.

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Links:

NASA's Big Moon News: There's Water All Over the Place (Gizmodo)
NASA’s SOFIA Discovers Water on Sunlit Surface of Moon (NASA)
Water on the Moon could sustain a lunar base (BBC)
Washington Scientists Destroy First Murder Hornet Nest in US (Earther)
In Japan, the ‘Murder Hornet’ Is Both a Lethal Threat and a Tasty Treat (NY Times)
Oreo stashed its cookies in a doomsday vault in preparation for the 'Election Day asteroid' (CNET)
Hundreds of self-cloning crayfish invade Antwerp cemetery (Brussels Times)
An aquarium accident may have given this crayfish the DNA to take over the world (Science Mag)
Kottke.Org
Jackson Bird on Twitter

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Fri. 10/23 - The Bat Who Went To Space Oct 23, 2020

Show notes

Do Venus Flytraps have a short-term memory? A new interactive database of every lifeform that’s ever gone into space from Earth. The Seattle bar that made a pandemic-safe pinball machine. And Burger King is getting in on the zero-waste game with reusable containers in select markets.

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Links:

The secret of how the Venus flytrap “remembers” when it captures prey (Ars Technica)
"The Astronaut Database" (Supercluster)
Bat Hung onto Shuttle During Liftoff (NASA)
Seattle arcade thinks on its feet, introduces touchless pinball (NBC King5)
Burger King is testing a new, reusable container for Whoppers (Fast Company)
Meet Loop, the new zero-waste platform for consumer products (Fast Company)
Is the McDonald's Ice Cream Machine Broken? (Kottke)
Kottke.Org
Jackson Bird on Twitter

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Thu. 10/22 - The Rare Tree Needed for a COVID-19 Vaccine Oct 22, 2020

Show notes

What does root beer have to do with a potential COVID-19 vaccine? A deep dive on that connection. A peek into the world of people who grow giant vegetables. And the Iowa woman who had her cat successfully cloned.

Sponsors:

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Links:

A COVID-19 Vaccine Could Rely on Rare Trees in Chile (The Atlantic)
COVID-19 tracker: Roche taps Atea for oral antiviral; AstraZeneca's US vaccine trial to resume 'imminently' (Fierce Pharma)
‘We’re like athletes’: the secret lives of giant-vegetable growers (The Guardian)
Backyard Giants: The Passionate, Heartbreaking, and Glorious Quest to Grow the Biggest Pumpkin Ever by Susan Warren
Squashed by Joan Bauer
Iowa Woman Has Her Dead Pet Cat Cloned (Oddee)
ViaGen Pets | America's Pet Cloning Experts
Kottke.Org
Jackson Bird on Twitter

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Wed. 10/21 - Co-Working On A Ferris Wheel Oct 21, 2020

Show notes

Today is International Pronoun Day so here are some historical facts about pronouns. Scientists have discovered a previously unknown organ in the human body. And forget about WeWork, a Japanese amusement park has offered up their ferris wheel as a co-working space.

Sponsors:

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Links:

A brief history of singular 'they' (Oxford English Dictionary)
He, she, or ... ? Gender-neutral pronouns reduce biases – study (The Guardian)
Gender-neutral pronouns: When 'they' doesn't identify as either male or female (Washington Post)
Kamala versus Daenerys (The.Ink)
International Pronouns Day (Pronouns.Org)
Scientists Just Discovered a Mysterious Organ Lurking in The Centre of The Human Head (Science Alert)
Doctors May Have Found Secretive New Organs in the Center of Your Head (NY Times)
Japanese theme park lets you co-work from the Ferris wheel (CNN)
Kottke.Org
Jackson Bird on Twitter

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Tue. 10/20 - Tardigrade Sunscreen & Cursed Twinkies Oct 20, 2020

Show notes

Tardigrade sunscreen. Coming soon? How to enjoy a socially-distanced holiday season. Some promising methods for upcycling plastic into more valuable materials. And the curious case of the extremely moldy Twinkie.

Sponsors:

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Links:

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Mon. 10/19 - The Moon Is Getting a Nokia Cellular Network Oct 19, 2020

Show notes

The fourteen-year-old Texan who may have just made an important discovery for potential COVID-19 treatments. An update on the safety and new norms surrounding air travel. Nokia is building a mobile network on the moon. And the website that’s basically a more organized Chat Roulette but for trying to heal the US’s political divide.

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Links:

This 14-Year-Old's Discovery Could Lead to a Cure for COVID-19 (Vice)
3M Young Scientist Challenge winner is Anika Chebrolu, who won for a coronavirus discovery (CNN)
How Air Travel Has Changed During COVID-19 According to The Points Guy (LifeHacker)
What to Do If Your Airplane Seatmate Won't Wear a Mask (Traveler)
The risk of COVID-19 infection on flights is 'very low,' and 1 infected passenger would take 54 hours to spread the virus to others onboard, a US government study found (Business Insider)
Got any signal up here? Nokia to build mobile network on the moon (Reuters)
PartyLine - 🇺🇸 Live voice-chat with other Americans
‎Conversations with People Who Hate Me (Dylan Marron, Apple Podcasts)
Kottke.Org
Jackson Bird on Twitter

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Fri. 10/16 - Will Plastic Bubbles Save Live Music? The Flaming Lips Think So. Oct 16, 2020

Show notes

More and more humans these days have an extra artery. The 2020 Tony Award nominations and the very strange case of Mr. Aaron Tveit. A calculator that will tell you how much time you’re wasting in your day not listening to podcasts. And The Flaming Lips have a plan to bring concerts back, responsibly.

Sponsor:

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Links:

More Humans Are Growing an Extra Artery in Our Arms, Showing We're Still Evolving (Science Alert)
2020 Tony Award Nominations: Jagged Little Pill, Moulin Rouge!, Slave Play Lead the Pack (Playbill)
The 2020 Tony nominations have been announced, and they’re the weirdest ever (Washington Post)
Review: ‘The Lightning Thief,’ a Far Cry From Olympus (New York Times)
The Podcast Calculator is here to fill up your "dead time" (A/V Club)
Podcast Calculator - Reclaim the Dead Time (OmniCalculator)
The Flaming Lips are testing out bubble concerts (A/V Club)
Interview: The Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne Talks 'American Head,' COVID-19, Audience Bubbles & More (JamBase)
Kottke.Org
Jackson Bird on Twitter

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Thu. 10/15 – 50/50 Odds We Live In a Simulation, New Study Finds Oct 15, 2020

Show notes

A new study puts our odds of living in a simulation at about 50-50. So, that’s a thing. There has been a second sighting of a person on a jetpack flying through LAX’s flight path. And tips to curb your phone habit, adapted from methods used to quit smoking.

Sponsor:

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Links:

Do We Live in a Simulation? Chances Are about 50–50 (Scientific American)
LAX reports another sighting of person wearing jet pack (LA Times)
A jetpack at LAX? Maybe. Jetpacks are very real (LA Times)
Quit Your Phone Addiction Using Methods That Work for Smokers (Better Humans)
Unflattering Dog Photo Challenge (Twitter)
Kottke.Org
Jackson Bird on Twitter

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Wed. 10/14 - Can Virtual Public Parks Save Democracy? Oct 14, 2020

Show notes

A thought-provoking proposal from Eli Pariser on how we can fix the broken parts of the internet by creating digital public parks. NASA drops their latest single: the sounds of the Milky Way. And how to make your own AR jack o’lantern using an Amazon Prime box.

Sponsor:

FightCamp, joinfightcamp.com/ride

Links:

To Mend a Broken Internet, Create Online Parks (Wired)
Data Sonification: Sounds from Around the Milky Way (NASA)
How to View Augmented Reality Experiences Hiding on Your Amazon Boxes (LifeHacker)
Kottke.Org
Jackson Bird on Twitter

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Tue. 10/13 - A Star Spaghettified By a Black Hole (Yes, that's the technical term) Oct 13, 2020

Show notes

What’s up with all those merpeople and sea monsters on old maps? Why Peru opened up Machu Picchu after seven months for one single man to visit. The supermassive black hole that spaghettified a star. And the Anti-Ad Ad Club paying influencers to trash talk corporations.

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