Cool Stuff Daily

Latest Episodes:

Fri. 01/13 - Surprisingly Old Galaxies & the Future of Libraries Jan 13, 2023

Show notes

New findings from the JWST may push the origins of the universe’s earliest galaxies back millions of years. Plus, a huge rare earth deposit has been found in Sweden. And an Instagram-based library run out of the home of a famous Mexico City artist––with a bonus defense of owning books you haven’t read.

Links:

The James Webb Space Telescope Is Finding Too Many Early Galaxies (Sky and Telescope)
The 1st galaxies may have formed much earlier than we thought, James Webb Space Telescope reveals (Space.com)
Astronomers May Have Just Spotted the Universe’s First Galaxies (Wired)
Huge rare earth metals discovery in Arctic Sweden (BBC)
China note! EU-member Sweden locates rare earth deposits (AP)
Sweden finds rare earth deposits that could benefit Western consumers (Washington Post)
Europe's biggest deposit of rare earth metals discovered in Sweden (Interesting Engineering)
How I Survived the Closure of My Library (Book Riot)
The Japanese call this practice tsundoku, and it may provide lasting benefits (Big Think)
This Mexico City Artist Created an Instagram-Based Library (Literary Hub)
Tlacuilo Biblioteca (Instagram)
Jackson Bird on Twitter

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Thu. 01/12 - A Giant River Falling From the Sky Jan 12, 2023

Show notes

What exactly is an “atmospheric river,” why is it causing so much havoc in California right now, and what do these current storms mean for the future? Plus, NASA and Roscosmos have reached an agreement on how to bring three ISS crew members back to Earth following a coolant leak on a Soyuz spacecraft. Just don’t call it a rescue mission.

Links:

Why California Is Being Deluged by Atmospheric Rivers (Scientific American)
Storm-ravaged California scrambles as fresh atmospheric river rolls in (The Guardian)
California’s onslaught of storms is far from over. Will it ever end? (Washington Post)
A ‘Pineapple Express’ Is Bringing Rain and Snow to California (NY Times)
The Coming Megafloods (Scientific American, 2013)
Extreme drought nearly eliminated in California in wake of atmospheric rivers (ABC News)
Will the atmospheric rivers drenching California beat back devastating drought? (CBS News)
Rivers in the Sky: What You Need to Know About Atmospheric River Storms (KQED)
The science behind atmospheric river storms, explained (San Francisco Chronicle)
Op-Ed: We Shouldn't Rely on Atmospheric River Miracles (Bay Nature)
Russia to send replacement craft to retrieve crew from space station (Washington Post)
Russia Confirms Rescue of Stranded Cosmonauts With a Replacement Mission (ScienceAlert)
Russia to launch new Soyuz capsule to replace leaky spacecraft on space station (Space.com)
Last Tuesday's episode mentioning the Soyuz coolant leak (Cool Stuff Ride Home)
Jackson Bird on Twitter

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Wed. 01/11 - Earliest Human Tools Just Monkey Business? Jan 11, 2023

Show notes

Were the first stone tools in the Americas made, not by ancient humans, but by monkeys? Plus, could color-changing cars be in our future? And will other nations follow New Zealand’s lead on banning cigarettes to future generations?

Links:

Monkeys – Not Humans – Made Ancient Sets of Stone Tools in Brazil, Study Finds (ScienceAlert)
Scientists prove that tools attributed to ancient humans were made by ancestors of capuchin monkeys (CONICET)
Ancient Stone Tools Once Thought to be Made by Humans Were Actually Crafted by Monkeys, Say Archaeologists (Artnet News)
These monkeys are 3000 years into their own 'Stone Age'. (National Geographic, 2019)
Monkeys Make Stone "Tools" That Bear a Striking Resemblance to Early Human Artifacts (Scientific American, 2017)
Check out BMW’s color-changing concept car in action (The Verge)
BMW's E Ink Car Wrap Just Took The Leap Into Color (Slash Gear)
End of the cigarette? Labour unveil plan to wipe out smoking by 2030 by banning sale of tobacco (LBC)
Cigarette sales could be banned under Labour (Wales Online)
Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg | 8th January 2023 (Political TV, YouTube)
Jackson Bird on Twitter

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Tue. 01/10 - Is "Y'All" Actually... British? Jan 10, 2023

Show notes

A historic satellite launch in the United Kingdom ended in disappointment last night. Plus, how “y’all” left the south and its surprising possible origins in… seventeenth century England?

Links:

UK space industry mulls setback after satellite launch fails (AP)
UK space launch: Historic Cornwall rocket launch ends in failure (BBC)
Britain's satellite hopes undimmed by mission failure (Reuters)
The first orbital launch attempt from the UK ends in failure (Ars Technica)
Virgin Orbit rocket suffers anomaly during 1st launch from UK (Space.com)
Even before Monday’s launch failure, Virgin Orbit’s finances were dismal (Ars Technica)
China's First Mission to Mars Seems to Be Struggling (Gizmodo)
'Y'all,' that most Southern of Southernisms, is going mainstream – and it's about time (The Conversation)
Y’all: It’s Older Than We Knew (History News Network)
Y’all: the Most Inclusive of All Pronouns (The New York Times)
Jackson Bird on Twitter

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Mon. 01/09 - Amateur Discovery May Rewrite Human History Jan 09, 2023

Show notes

A cave art discovery that could put the development of writing back thousands of years. Plus, one US state taking concrete steps against misinformation. And Benoit Blanc isn’t just playing Among Us, now he’s in it.

Links:

Amateur archaeologist helps crack Ice Age cave art code (BBC News)
An Upper Palaeolithic Proto-writing System and Phenological Calendar (Cambridge Archaeological Journal)
A Total Amateur May Have Just Rewritten Human History With Bombshell Discovery (Vice)
The Tower of Babel, Episode One (Literature and History)
New Jersey becomes first state to mandate K-12 students learn information literacy (Politico)
Governor Murphy Signs Bipartisan Legislation Establishing First in the Nation K-12 Information Literacy Education (State of New Jersey)
Announcing: Among Us x Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery Cosmetic (Innersloth)
Jackson Bird on Twitter

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Fri. 01/06 - Food Has Always Been Dangerous Jan 06, 2023

Show notes

How old is fast food? And to what extent was food actually healthier in the past, before our days of factory farming and artificial preservatives? A deep dive into the pros and cons of convenience food then and now.

Links:

A Plea for Culinary Modernism by Rachel Laudan, 2001
Thread and replies on the article (Jason Crawford, Twitter)
11/21/23 episode including a brief background on the baguette (Cool Stuff Ride Home)
01/29/21 episode on the Pompeii snack bar (Cool Stuff Ride Home)
Maintenance Phase
"You Just Need to Lose Weight": And 19 Other Myths about Fat People by Aubrey Gordon
McDonald's Opens a Tiny Restaurant — and It's Only for Bees (OpenCulture, 2019)
Jackson Bird on Twitter

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Thu. 01/05 - A Vaccine For The Queen Bee Jan 05, 2023

Show notes

A vaccine for bees. Plus, the Japanese government will pay families to leave Tokyo. And a device that doesn’t let you type “LOL” unless you actually laughed out loud.

Links:

US government approves use of world’s first vaccine for honeybees (The Guardian)
World-First Vaccine For Honeybees Gets Approved In The US (IFL Science)
United States Honey Bee Colony Losses 2021-2022: Preliminary Results From The Bee Informed Partnership (Bee Informed)
Helping Agriculture's Helpful Honey Bees (FDA)
Why Are Bees Dying? It's Not What You Might Think : Short Wave (NPR, 2020)
Japanese government offers families 1m yen a child to leave Tokyo (The Guardian)
Families Offered Several Million Yen to Move Out of Tokyo (Bloomberg)
Japanese families reportedly set to receive 1 million yen per child for moving out of Tokyo (CNBC)
Cities That Pay You to Move There: A Guide to 11 Programs (Zillow)
Burning The Candle At Both Ends: Sandwich Generation Caregiving In The U.S. (National Alliance for Caregiving and Caring Across Generations)
This Device Will Not Let You LOL Unless You Mean It (Vice)
Spotify has a new time capsule feature that you'll only get to open next year (Mashable)
Jackson Bird on Twitter

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Wed. 01/04 - A Global Vault of Frozen Stool Samples Jan 04, 2023

Show notes

Could a poop vault become joining the Svalbard Global Seed Vault's new neighbor? Some scientists think could be a pretty crappy move. Plus, the US congressman who’s slated to be sworn in on a Superman comic. And the History of the World, Part Two.

Links:

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Tue. 01/03 - A New Space Race? And Gregor Mendel's Skeleton Jan 03, 2023

Show notes

Are we at the beginning of a new space race? NASA Administrator Bill Nelson thinks so. Plus, why father of genetics Gregor Mendel’s skeleton was dug up last year. And a chance to read history’s most famous diarist’s words in real time over the next decade.

Links:

‘We better watch out’: NASA boss sounds alarm on Chinese moon ambitions (Politico)
China sets out clear and independent long-term vision for space (Space News)
‘We’re in a space race’: Nasa sounds alarm at Chinese designs on moon (The Guardian)
NASA mulls SpaceX backup plan for crew of Russia's leaky Soyuz ship (Reuters)
Russia wants to send cosmonauts to China space station (Space.com)
Why scientists dug up the father of genetics, Gregor Mendel, and analyzed his DNA (NPR)
The Body Of Gregor Mendel, Father Of Genetics, Was Dug Up For DNA Analysis (IFL Science)
Video of Gregor Mendel's skeleton (BrnoNewsCTV, Twitter)
The Diary of Samuel Pepys
The Diary of Samuel Pepys tweets (samuelpepys, Twitter)
Jackson Bird on Twitter

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Thu. 12/29 - BEST OF: Witchy Beer-Makers, CIA-Funded British Cartoons; & Predictions For Today From 1922 Dec 29, 2022

Show notes

Our final lookback on some of the best segments from the past few years. From 2021, how beer-making used to be considered women’s work, and also may have popularized some of the popular symbols, like broomsticks and pointed hats, that we associate with witches today. Plus, why the CIA covertly funded the British cartoon adaptation of Animal Farm in the 1950s. And, as 2022 comes to a close, a look back at one man’s predictions for this year, written from his perspective in 1922.

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