Cool Stuff Daily

Latest Episodes:

Fri. 11/05 - A Universal Vaccine For EVERY Coronavirus, Not Just COVID-19 Nov 05, 2021

Show notes

How would a universal coronavirus vaccine work and how close are we to having one? Plus, how cosplaying as a superhero can actually make you a better person, at least temporarily. And one of the most notorious serial killers in horror is getting his own killer breakfast cereal.

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Links:

The Race Is On to Develop a Vaccine Against Every Coronavirus (Wired)
Scientists in Africa are taking it upon themselves to create a COVID vaccine for the world's poor (Mother Jones)
Superhero cosplay makes you a better person for one science-backed reason (Inverse)
A photo of stoned Ghostface is all over TikTok (Daily Dot)
Henry Winkler Auctioning Fonzie Jacket From 'Happy Days,' Ghostface Mask From 'Scream' (Collider)
SCREAM Cereal Coming Next Year, Because There Are Rules to Having Breakfast (Collider)
UK's biggest range of american cereal + poptarts (Cereal Killer)
Kottke.Org
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Thu. 11/04 - Steel Igloos In Iceland Turn CO2 Into Rocks Nov 04, 2021

Show notes

New international space laws may soon be on the horizon. Plus, the brewing battles between artists using AI to reconstruct lost artworks and the estates of the original artists. And some steel igloos in Iceland that protect one of the most promising examples of carbon capture yet.

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Tentree, Use code KOTTKE for 15% off your first order at www.tentree.com

Links:

The United Nations Could Finally Create New Rules for Space (Wired)
UK Wants UN To Create New Space Rules That Could Prevent Military Confrontations Outside Earth (Tech Times)
From a hidden Picasso nude to an unfinished Beethoven, AI uncovers lost art — and new challenges (NBC News)
A Neuroscientist and a Physicist Used AI to Recreate a Lost Painting Buried Under a Beloved Picasso Canvas (Artnet)
Is Carbon Capture Here? (NY Times)
Thu. 11/05 - Why Nebraska Splits Its Electoral Votes (Kottke Ride Home)
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Wed. 11/03 - The McRib, Space Tacos, and Tropicana Toothpaste Nov 03, 2021

Show notes

An abridged history of the McRib sandwich. Astronauts have leveled up their taco game by growing chile peppers in space. And Tropicana just introduced their own line of toothpaste.

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Tentree, Use code KOTTKE for 15% off your first order at www.tentree.com

Links:

What You Didn't Know About The McDonald's McRib (Mashed)
History of McDonald's McRib: Military Experiments, the Flintstones & More (Thrillist)
The Cult of the McRib (Maxim)
The History of the McRib (Retroist)
Was the McRib invented in Nebraska? (Nebraska.gov)
The Invention of the McRib and Why It Disappears from McDonald’s (Chicago Magazine)
If You Think a McRib-Inspired Cocktail Sounds Delicious Then You're in Luck (Ad Week)
McRib Locator
Thu. 09/02 - What Is Grimace & Why Are Hyperlinks Blue? (Kottke Ride Home)
NASA Grew Chili Peppers in Space, Astronaut Used for Tacos (Business Insider)
Astronauts grew green chile on the space station and made themselves space tacos (NPR)
Plant Habitat-04 (NASA)
Sick of Orange Juice That Tastes Like Dirty Pennies? Tropicana Toothpaste May Be the Solution (Ad Week)
Tropicana Toothpaste Doesn't Make Your Orange Juice Taste Bad (Food and Wine)
The Reason Orange Juice Tastes Bad After Brushing Your Teeth Is Surprisingly Complicated (Food and Wine)
‎Atlas Obscura Travel Guide (Apple App Store)
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Tue. 11/02 - How to Rewild Your Attention Nov 02, 2021

Show notes

Some tips for “rewilding your attention.” Plus, how to help NASA train future rovers to better navigate Mars. And what’s going on with those NFT billboards in Times Square… and also, the McRib is now an NFT?

Sponsor:

Tentree, Use code KOTTKE for 15% off your first order at www.tentree.com

Links:

9 Ways to 'Rewild Your Attention' (Forge)
Rewilding your attention. To find truly interesting ideas, step… (UX Collective)
Rewild Your Attention (Tom Critchlow, Twitter)
Rewilding Your Attention (CJ Eller)
A Search Engine Designed To Surprise You (OneZero)
The Inner Ring of The Internet by Ali Montag (Divinations)
You Can Help Train NASA's Rovers to Better Explore Mars (NASA JPL)
AI4Mars (Zooniverse)
The McRib is back at McDonald's. It's also an NFT. (NBC News)
The Sauciest Season of the Year is Here …the McRib is Back at McDonald's® USA This Fall (McDonald’s)
McDonald's The Flintstones McRib Movie Tie-In Ad (1994) (YouTube)
Kottke.Org
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Mon. 11/01 - "Behind The Joy Are The Algorithms" Nov 01, 2021

Show notes

A meditation on streaming entertainment, algorithms, and David Foster Wallace’s prescient writing on the illusion of choice. Plus, a possible functional cure for HIV has just been approved to enter human trials. And, the Wampanoag woman who grew heirloom corn on its original land for the first time in over three centuries.

Sponsor:

Tentree, Use code KOTTKE for 15% off your first order at www.tentree.com

Links:

How David Foster Wallace Anticipated Netflix’s Digital Gatekeeping (Literary Hub)
Everything, All the Time, Everywhere: How We Became Postmodern by Stuart Jeffries
One Complaint Per Table (Kottke.org)
A Possible “Functional Cure” for HIV Will Soon Begin Human Trials (them.)
Excision BioTherapeutics to Proceed with HIV Clinical Trial (Philadelphia Magazine)
HIV/AIDS (WHO)
Covid's global death toll now tops 5 million (NBC News)
Covid death toll overtakes that of HIV/AIDS in the U.S. (Boing Boing)
A Mashpee Wampanoag woman reconnects with a traditional corn (WCAI NPR)
King Philip Corn (Truelove Seeds)
King Phillip Corn - Arca del Gusto - Slow Food Foundation (Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity)
Panic, lockdown and a rush to vaccinate in Tonga as first Covid case recorded (The Guardian)
Covid Zero: China Locks Guests Inside Disneyland for Testing After Shanghai Case (Bloomberg)
Vax declared Oxford English Dictionary's word of the year (BBC)
Kottke.Org
Jackson Bird on Twitter

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Fri. 10/29 - Disease and the Vampire Myth + Hallowmeme History Oct 29, 2021

Show notes

Digging up the origins of some of the most popular Halloween memes––from “Spooky Scary Skeletons” to the dancing pumpkin man, and also touching on the Disney Channel’s 1980s answer to MTV. Plus, how times of disease have historically led to an uptick in vampire fear and folklore. And, on a more optimistic note, hopefully meaning we’ll have one less thing to fear in the future, phase one vaccine trials for the most aggressive type of breast cancer have just begun.

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Links:

Silly Symphonies - The Skeleton Dance (Walt Disney Animation Studios, YouTube)
Spooky, Scary Skeletons (Undead Tombstone Remix) (Official Audio) (Andrew Gold, YouTube)
Andrew Gold - Spooky Scary Skeletons (Official Audio) (Andrew Gold, YouTube)
DTV Pop & Rock (ALurkingGrue, YouTube)
Spooky Scary Skeletons (metal cover by Leo Moracchioli) (Frog Leap Studios)
KXVO Pumpkin Dance (Original Taping, Unedited) (Dancing Pumpkin Man, YouTube)
The Story Behind the Greatest Halloween Video Ever in the History of the Internet | Studio 360 (WNYC)
More 'disease' than 'Dracula' – how the vampire myth was born (The Conversation)
The Real Vampires of Europe (JSTOR Daily)
A Vaccine Trial for the Most Aggressive Form of Breast Cancer Just Started (Gizmodo)
Kottke.Org
Jackson Bird on Twitter

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Thu. 10/28 - Human Eggs Made From Blood Cells Oct 28, 2021

Show notes

Could we one day create sperm and egg cells from any human cell, even across the sexes? Plus, how BJ Novak from The Office’s face ended up on products all around the world without him knowing. And the latest drops from two of the internet’s leading mischief-making companies, including Andy Warhol forgeries and a vegan cannibal steakhouse.

Sponsor:

NetSuite, netsuite.com/kottke

Links:

How Silicon Valley hatched a plan to turn blood into human eggs (MIT Technology Review)
B.J. Novak’s Face Is on Products Worldwide. He’s Not Sure Why. (NY Times)
Why BJ Novak Is The Face Of Random Products Worldwide (BuzzFeed)
Museum of Forgeries (MSCHF)
The Vegan Cannibal Steakhouse by Liquid Death (Liquid Death)
Photoshop will get a 'prepare as NFT' option soon (The Verge)
5 unbelievable tech sneaks from Adobe Max 2021 (Creative Bloq)
Adobe brings new Creative Cloud apps to M1 Macs and the web (Ars Technica)
Facebook just revealed its new name: Meta (The Verge)
Kottke.Org
Jackson Bird on Twitter

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Wed. 10/27 - Permafrost Thaw May Unleash Radioactive Waste & Bacteria Oct 27, 2021

Show notes

It turns out that melting permafrost could unleash Cold War-era radioactive waste and millions of years old antibiotic resistant bacteria. Cool cool cool. Plus, a look back at when picnicking in cemeteries was a common past time––and not just for goths. And the annual drop of totally weird and probably disgusting candy cane flavors from Archie McPhee.

Sponsor:

NetSuite, netsuite.com/kottke

Links:

We're now at risk of radioactive waste exposure thanks to melting permafrost (Mic)
Permafrost thaw could release bacteria and viruses (European Space Agency)
Permafrost Thaw Could Unleash Pathogens and Radioactive Waste (Gizmodo)
Finally: Hot dog flavored candy canes (Boing Boing)
Candy canes episode from last year (Kottke Ride Home)
Remembering When Americans Picnicked in Cemeteries (Atlas Obscura)
The 10 Iconic Cemeteries That Made Death Beautiful (Atlas Obscura, 2016)
Is This Timothée Chalamet’s Xbox Modding YouTube Channel? An Investigation (Vice)
Kottke.Org
Jackson Bird on Twitter

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Tue. 10/26 - Can AI Simulations Solve the Supply Chain Disruptions? Oct 26, 2021

Show notes

Could a new generation of AI simulations help solve the mounting supply chain disruptions? Plus, the history and future of haunted houses. And Jeff Bezos is basically trying to start a WeWork in space.

Sponsor:

NetSuite, netsuite.com/kottke

Links:

How AI could solve supply chain shortages and save Christmas (MIT Technology Review)
Cardboard shortages deal another blow to strained supply chains (Ars Technica)
A Brief History of the Haunted House (Smithsonian Mag)
Blue Origin: Jeff Bezos unveils plans for 'space business park' (BBC)
Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin plans to build a 'business park' in space (Mashable)
Kottke.Org
Jackson Bird on Twitter

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Mon. 10/25 - Music That Gives You Chills, and Why It Does Oct 25, 2021

Show notes

The countercultural witchcraft music of the 1960s, and a study exploring what it is about certain songs that give us a spine-tingling chill. Plus, elephants in Mozambique have evolved to be born without tusks. And the guy who discovered a budget hack for spending just $150 on meals all year: eat every meal at Six Flags.

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