Cool Stuff Daily

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Tue. 05/03 - Why Can't The US Have Weird Chip Flavors? May 03, 2022

Show notes

Why doesn’t the US get all the cool chip flavors that other countries do? Plus, scientists have figured out a way to breakdown plastic in just a few days, instead of over centuries. And why a bunch of creepy dolls keeping washing ashore along the gulf coast in Texas.

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Why Are American Chips So Boring? (Eater)
Plastic-Eating Enzyme Could Gobble Up Tons and Tons of Waste (Futurity)
Scientists Discover Method to Break Down Plastic In Days, Not Centuries (Vice)
Creepy dolls keep washing up on this stretch on Texas coastline. 'A lot of nightmares' (Star-Telegram)
Why Have Garfield Phones Been Washing Ashore in France for 30 Years? (Smithsonian Magazine)
Tropicana wants you to pour orange juice on cereal (CNN)
Wed. 11/03 - The McRib, Space Tacos, and Tropicana Toothpaste (Cool Stuff Ride Home)
Jackson Bird on Twitter

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Mon. 05/02 - Waste More Time May 02, 2022

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Why it’s time for you to waste time. Plus, a café in Tokyo that doesn’t let people leave until they’ve successfully hit their writing goals. And a possibly sustainable use for the ungodly amounts of disposable masks we’ve thrown out in the last two years?

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Coffee, tea and nagging at Japan's anti-procrastination cafe (Reuters)
How to tackle 'wasted-time worry' – and why it's important (Metro News)
I Didn't Do the Thing Today: Letting Go of Productivity Guilt by Madeleine Dore
There might finally be a good use for all those disposable masks (Mic)
Disposable masks could be used to improve concrete (ScienceDaily)
China banned Spider-Man: No Way Home because of Statue of Liberty scene (Consequence of Film)
Gay references removed from Fantastic Beasts 3 for Chinese release (The Guardian)
Jackson Bird on Twitter

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Fri. 04/29 - Books That Kill: Arsenic-Laced Covers & Other Poisonous Pigments Apr 29, 2022

Show notes

How an innocent trip to the library could give you arsenic poisoning. Plus, a new pterosaur fossil seems to confirm the prehistoric reptiles had some pretty cool feathers. And, how would you like to meditate with Yoda and Chewbacca?

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Links:

Poison Book Project (Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library)
These green books are poisonous—and one may be on a shelf near you (National Geographic)
Prussian blue and its partner in crime (Journal of Art in Society)
When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamin Labatut and Adrian Nathan West
Pterosaur discovery solves ancient feather mystery (ScienceDaily)
This ancient creature developed feathers long before the dinosaurs (Inverse)
Fossil of Sick Pterosaur Crest Reveals Clues to Feather Color (Gizmodo)
Star Wars and Headspace let you practice mindfulness in a galaxy far, far away (Mashable)
Best Star Wars Day Deals: Early Discounts Available Ahead Of May The 4th (Gamespot)
Gene Wilder Documentary in the Works at White Horse Pictures (Collider)
It's Always Something a book by Gilda Radner
Jackson Bird on Twitter

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Thu. 04/28 - Oreology: The Science of Oreos Apr 28, 2022

Show notes

Canada has become the first country to release census data on their trans and nonbinary population. Plus, a new study showing how the climate emergency could fuel future pandemics. And, in lighter news, some MIT engineers 3D printed a new device to study why Oreos rarely split the cream filling evenly when you twist them apart.

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Links:

Canada becomes first country to release census data on trans and non-binary population (Xtra Magazine)
BC has Canada's 3rd-highest number of transgender, non-binary people per capita, latest census shows (CBC)
New Study Finds Climate Change Could Spark the Next Pandemic (Georgetown University Medical Center)
'Potentially devastating': Climate crisis may fuel future pandemics (The Guardian)
Climate Change Will Accelerate Viral Spillovers, Study Finds (NY Times)
MIT engineers introduce the Oreometer (MIT News)
Files and "how-to" for the Oreometer design files (Crystal Owens, Github)
Why Do Oreos Never Come Apart Evenly?: MIT Researchers Build an "Oreometer" to Find the Answer (Open Culture)
Michael J. Fox Documentary From Davis Guggenheim Headed to Apple (Collider)
Jackson Bird on Twitter

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Wed. 04/27 - Our Backstabbed Two-Faced Moon Apr 27, 2022

Show notes

The moon has a bit of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde situation going on that astronomers have never been able to definitively explain, but a new study suggests it could be the result of a massive impact four billion years ago. Plus, yoga for your eyes? What is it and does it actually do anything? And the US is officially saying good riddance to incandescent light bulbs.

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Links:

Did A Whopping Huge Impact At Its South Pole Cause Our Moon To Be Two-Faced? (Syfy Wire)
Differences between the Moon's near and far sides linked to colossal ancient impact (Brown University)
Does eye yoga actually improve your vision? (Mic)
10 Minute Yoga Break - Netra Vyayamam - Yogic Eye Exercises - A Tonic for Too Much Screen Time (Amanda Parr SoulScuba Yoga & Diving, YouTube)
Eye Exercises | Daily Yoga for Eyes (Yogalates With Rashmi, YouTube)
Say Goodbye to Incandescent Light Bulbs (Gizmodo)
Dracula Daily (Substack)
Someone is serializing Dracula in real time over email (Boing Boing)
Romeo and Juliet get Twitter treatment (The Guardian)
The Lizzie Bennet Diaries (The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, YouTube)
The Look Back Diaries Episode 1 (Ashley Clements, YouTube)

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Tue. 04/26 - When the CIA Funded an Animal Farm Cartoon Apr 26, 2022

Show notes

How the CIA funded that 1954 animated adaptation of Animal Farm as part of their anti-communist propaganda campaign. Plus, the woman who found out she’d been missing a chunk of her brain for most of her life without realizing. And why more and more rivers are being granted legal personhood.

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Links:

The cartoon that came in from the cold (The Guardian, 2003)
How the CIA Played Dirty Tricks With Culture (NY Times, 2000)
All Propaganda is Dangerous, but Some are More Dangerous than Others: George Orwell and the Use of Literature as Propaganda (JSTOR)
Keeping It All in the (Nuclear) Family: Big Brother, Auntie BBC, Uncle Sam and George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four (Frames Cinema Journal)
She Was Missing a Chunk of Her Brain. It Didn't Matter (Wired)
This woman is living without a cerebellum. How is that possible? (Vox)
This Canadian river is now legally a person. It's not the only one. (National Geographic)
Jackson Bird on Twitter

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Mon. 04/25 - Monopoly’s Scandalous Anti-Monopoly History Apr 25, 2022

Show notes

The secret, anti-monopolist history of the Monopoly board game. Plus, why we’re all having trouble remembering things right now, and how we can strengthen our memories going forward.

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Links:

The Secret Left-Wing History of 'Monopoly' (Discourse Blog)
Who Really Invented Monopoly? (Smithsonian, YouTube)
Monopoly's Inventor: The Progressive Who Didn't Pass 'Go' (NY Times)
The Board Game Trial of the Century (Mental Floss)
The Monopolists: Obsession, Fury, and the Scandal Behind the World's Favorite Board Game by Mary Pilon
Why We're All Forgetting Things Right Now (Wall Street Journal)
Jackson Bird on Twitter

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Fri. 04/22 - Some Like It Hot... But Why? Apr 22, 2022

Show notes

Why did some cultures develop tastes for particularly spicy foods and others didn’t? Plus, the Museum of Endangered Sounds. And an upcoming documentary from Alex Winter about radicalization on social media.

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Links:

How—and Why—Did Cultural Tastes for Spicy Food Develop? (Literary Hub)
Darwinian Gastronomy: Why We Use Spices: Spices taste good because they are good for us (Oxford Academic)
Antimicrobial functions of spices: why some like it hot (Harvard, PDF)
Museum of Endangered Sounds
Where the Sounds of Your Childhood Go to Rest (MEL)
Saving the Sounds of the Early 20th Century (Atlas Obscura)
'The Youtube Effect' Teaser: Alex Winter's Documentary Examines Radicalization and Misinformation (Collider)
Rabbit Hole (NY Times)
Feels Good Man | Films | Battle to Take Pepe the Frog Back (PBS)
Jackson Bird on Twitter

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Thu. 04/22 - The Sport of Extreme Sitting Apr 21, 2022

Show notes

Introducing the sport of extreme sitting. Plus, a new study that suggests fungi might be communicating with each other via electrical impulses. And, Sir David Attenborough has been named Champion of the Earth.

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Tue. 01/25 - Extreme Ironing: Can You Take The Heat? (Cool Stuff Ride Home)
Meet the Man Who Wants to Make Sitting an Extreme Sport (Atlas Obscura)
About Desert Sitting (Desert Sitting)
How to explain a day 'desert sitting': Social distancing as endurance sport (Travel Weekly)
Desert Sitting documentary (Desert Sitting)
Fungi May Be Communicating in a Way That Looks Uncannily Like Human Speech (ScienceAlert)
Mushrooms communicate with each other using up to 50 'words', scientist claims (The Guardian)
The Fungus Among Us May Have Their Own Mushroom Language (Nerdist)
Sir David Attenborough named Champion of the Earth by UN (BBC)
Dinosaurs: The Final Day With David Attenborough review – a thrilling slice of time-travelling detective work (The Guardian)
Jackson Bird on Twitter

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Wed. 04/20 - The AI Microwave Out for Revenge Apr 20, 2022

Show notes

The story of a self-described mad scientist who gave a microwave the soul of his childhood imaginary friend using AI, and then it tried to kill him. Plus, texting etiquette from Emily Post’s great-great-grandchildren.

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