Cool Stuff Daily

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Fri. 10/08 - Is The Nobel Prize Bad For Science? Oct 08, 2021

Show notes

The winners of the Nobel Peace Prize have been announced! As well as the winners in Chemistry and Literature. More on each winner, as well as a question about whether we really need the Nobel Prize. Plus, the remnants of the oldest Black church in the US have been uncovered in Colonial Williamsburg. And a Google AI has recreated famous works of art by Gustav Klimt that were lost in World War II.

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Maria Ressa is only the 18th woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize in its 126-year history. (NY Times)
The Nobel Peace Prize 2021 - Press release (Nobel Prize)
Journalists Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov win Nobel Peace Prize (Washington Post)
Nobel Prize in Chemistry Awarded to Scientists for Creating a Tool to Build Molecules (NY Times)
Abdulrazak Gurnah wins the 2021 Nobel prize in literature (The Guardian)
The flaws in the Nobel Prizes in medicine, physics, chemistry, and economics (Vox)
Why COVID vaccines didn't win a science Nobel this year (Nature)
Remnants of Black church uncovered in Colonial Williamsburg (AP)
Colonial Williamsburg Project Unearths Foundation of First Baptist Church (NY Times)
The Quest to Unearth One of America's Oldest Black Churches (Wired, 2020)
Google used AI to recreate Gustav Klimt paintings burned by Nazis (Mashable)
Klimt vs. Klimt (Google Arts & Culture)
'The case remains open': FBI rebuts claim Zodiac Killer case is solved (NBC News)
'Hot Garbage': Zodiac Expert Calls 'Bulls---' on Possible ID of Infamous Serial Killer (Rolling Stone)
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Thu. 10/07 - It's Like Venmo, But For the Post Office Oct 07, 2021

Show notes

The WHO has officially approved the first-ever malaria vaccine. The United States Postal Service is trying out being a bank. And the story of a white-naped crane named Walnut who fell in love with a human named Crowe.

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World Health Organization Approves First Malaria Vaccine (NY Mag)
Malaria vaccine: When will it be available? (BBC)
World's first malaria vaccine gets WHO recommendation (NPR)
WHO recommends groundbreaking malaria vaccine for children at risk (WHO)
The USPS is testing out becoming a bank, and it's about damn time. (Boing Boing)
USPS Begins Postal Banking Pilot Program (Prospect)
The crane who fell in love with a human (Washington Post, 2018)
Crowe and Crane "It's complicated." (Amanda Deibert, Twitter)
The 9,090-Piece Titanic Is Now the Largest Lego Model Ever Released (Gizmodo)
Accurate Titanic Model (bikekill, TikTok)
Wandavision Agatha Harkness Marvel Spinoff at Disney+ (iO9)
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Wed. 10/06 - "Corpse Medicine," Brain Implants, & Actors In Space Oct 06, 2021

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A Russian film crew have arrived on the International Space Station to shoot the first-ever feature length film in space. A woman has received a brain implant that is successfully treating her depression by painlessly zapping her hundreds of times a day. And the seventeenth century health trend that was all the rage in Europe: corpse medicine.

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This Russian duo are set to make the first feature film in space (Euro News)
Russian film crew in orbit to make first movie in space (AP)
A Russian actor blasts off to make a movie on the International Space Station (NPR)
This woman’s brain implant zaps her with electricity when it senses she’s getting depressed (MIT Technology Review)
A surgically implanted brain stimulation device could help treat severe depression (The Verge)
European 'Corpse Medicine' Promised Better Health Through Cannibalism (Atlas Obscura)
Zodiac Killer Allegedly Identified by Team of Independent Investigators (Complex)
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Tue. 10/05 - The Facebook Outage Revealed a Grim Reality Oct 05, 2021

Show notes

Are we prepared to reckon with how much of the world came to a stop when Facebook went down yesterday? Plus, thanks to a new discovery, you may soon be able to find out if you had an identical twin in the womb using just a simple cheek swab. And it’s Nobel Prize week! The winners announced thus far produced groundbreaking work using everything from spin glass to chili peppers.

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Why Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp All Went Down Today (Wired)
Millions of people rely on Facebook to get online. The outage left them stranded. (MIT Tech Review)
Facebook’s Apps Went Down. The World Saw How Much It Runs on Them. (NY Times)
Why Facebook and Instagram went down for hours on Monday (NPR)
All identical twins may share a common set of chemical markers on their DNA (Science News)
DNA markers reveal if you shared a womb with twin that didn't survive (New Scientist)
Identical twins carry genetic modifications no one else has (Science)
Medicine Nobel goes to scientists who discovered biology of senses (Nature)
Scientists Studied Spicy Chili Peppers and Cool Menthol for Their Nobel Prize–Winning Research on Heat and Touch (Smithsonian Mag)
Nobel Prize in Physics Honors Work on Climate Change (NY Times)
Syukuro Manabe, Klaus Hasselmann win half of Nobel prize for modeling Earth's climate, Giorgio Parisi wins other half for describing fluctuating physical systems (Washington Post)
Netflix establishes scholarship in Chadwick Boseman's name (A/V Club)
Denzel Washington Paid for Chadwick Boseman to Study at Oxford (The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, YouTube)
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Mon. 10/04 - Thor's Antiviral COVID-19 Pill & Sexist Suitcases Oct 04, 2021

Show notes

The sexist history of the rollerboard suitcases. Plus, the facts about Merck’s new COVID-19 antiviral pill, including its connection to Thor. And the return of Nick Lutsko’s absurdist Spirit Halloween music videos.

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Meet molnupiravir, Merck’s Thor-inspired pill that hammers COVID (Ars Technica)
How Merck's Covid-19 pill molnupiravir could change the Covid-19 pandemic (Vox)
Merck's antiviral pill reduces hospitalization of Covid patients (STAT)
How Merck's antiviral pill could change the game for COVID-19 (National Geographic)
The hedge fund manager behind a long-shot coronavirus pill (Financial Times, 2020)
Mystery of the wheelie suitcase: how gender stereotypes held back the history of invention (The Guardian)
Who Actually Invented the Wheeled Suitcase? (Interesting Engineering)
Reinventing the Suitcase by Adding the Wheel (NY Times)
Spirit Halloween Planet (Nick Lutsko, Twitter)
Halloween Planet EP (Nick Lutsko, Bandcamp)
Spirit Halloween Theme - FULL TRILOGY (Nick Lutsko, YouTube)
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Fri. 10/01 - Edibles In Your Kid's Trick-Or-Treat Candy? Don't Bet On It. Oct 01, 2021

Show notes

The persisting myth of tampered-with and tainted trick-or-treat candy, and why it’s an urban legend that will never die. Plus, how we humans produce speech and a website that shows you both the beautiful engineering and the chaos of our mouths. And a selection of haunted houses you can sleep over at in case you’re looking to up the ante on your spooky experiences this month.

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For the Last Time: No One Is Trying to Give Your Kid Edibles (LifeHacker)
Could THC candies make it into your child's Halloween haul? (The Takeout)
Are People Really Trying to Drug Kids With Marijuana-Laced Halloween Candy? (Reason)
Big Candy Is Angry at Look-Alike THC Treats (NY Times)
Halloween: The History of America's Darkest Holiday by David J. Skall
Those Treats May Be Tricks (NY Times, 1970)
Pink Trombone
From Grunting To Gabbing: Why Humans Can Talk (NPR, 2010)
You can spend Halloween with Dewey Riley at the original 'Scream' house (Mashable)
Stay somewhere spirited (Airbnb)
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Thu. 09/30 - Chinese Takeout Boxes Are Americancore Sep 30, 2021

Show notes

The very American history of the Chinese takeout box, and a look at the new “Americancore” trend. Plus, archaeologists have uncovered a hidden neighborhood in the ancient Maya city of Tikal that sheds new light on the imperialism of the Teotihuacán. And a lost David Bowie album is finally being released.

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The Chinese Takeout Box is As American As Baseball and Apple Pie (The Dieline)
Chinese Food Delivery Containers, Explained (Eater)
The Chinese-Takeout Container Is Uniquely American (NY Times)
Takeout and Delivery Food Can Teach You American History (TIME)
America as an Internet Aesthetic (The New Yorker)
Panda Express (Yuki Chikamori, TikTok)
chinese food box (R & D Tool Engineering & Fourslide Production, YouTube)
Ancient Maya City of Tikal Had a Teotihuacán-Like Neighborhood (Gizmodo)
Startling Discovery Reveals Mysterious Citadel Hidden in Ancient Maya City (Science Alert)
In Guatemala, archaeologist from Brown helps to uncover hidden neighborhood in ancient Maya city (Brown University)
Lost Maya Neighborhood Is a Mini Replica of Teotihuacan Citadel, New Research Finds (ARTnews)
David Bowie’s Lost 2001 Album, Toy, Receiving Long-Awaited Release (Consequence of Sound)
David Bowie’s Unreleased Album Toy Set for Release (Pitchfork)
International Podcast Day
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Wed. 09/29 - When Humans Die On Mars, What Will Happen? Sep 29, 2021

Show notes

What will happen to the bodies of people who die on Mars? Plus, AI has indicated that a famous painting at the National Gallery might be a phoney. And festival-goers at Glastonbury are endangering rare eels with their drug-addled refusal to use public toilets.

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How Would Humans Decompose on Mars? (Discover)
What Happens If Someone Dies on Mars? (Atlas Obscura)
How to die on Mars (Space)
Was famed Samson and Delilah really painted by Rubens? No, says AI (The Guardian)
AI study suggests a London gallery's been exhibiting a fake for years (The Next Web)
Glastonbury Festival: Levels of illegal drugs high enough to harm wildlife found in river running through site (Sky News)
Glastonbury: drug traces from on-site urination could harm rare eels (The Guardian)
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Tue. 09/28 - Are Climate Companies Reliving the Dot Com Era? Sep 28, 2021

Show notes

Could removing methane from the atmosphere be a viable strategy for slowing global warming? And are all of these disparate new ideas and strategies to solve the climate crisis going to lead to real solutions? Plus, pulling back the curtain on the on-going supply chain problems. And the crypto-trading hamster showing up the pros.

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Links:

Pulling methane out of the atmosphere could slow global warming—if we can figure out how to do it (MIT Technology Review)
Climate Change Is the New Dot-Com Bubble (Wired)
The Supply-Chain Mystery (The New Yorker)
No End In Sight For The COVID-Led Global Supply Chain Disruption (Forbes)
An Excerpt from My New Anxiety Dream Where I Personally Break the Global Supply Chain (McSweeney’s)
Brexit means Brexit (r/LeopardsAteMyFace)
Mr Goxx, the crypto-trading hamster beating human investors (BBC)
A Hamster on Twitch Is Trading Crypto and Beating the Stock Market (Vice)
mr_goxx (Mr. Goxx, Twitch)
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Mon. 09/27 - 900 Year Old Cosmic Mystery: Officially Solved Sep 27, 2021

Show notes

How 19th century New Yorkers took advantage of a loophole in the strict drinking laws and ended up creating the world’s worst sandwich. Plus, a supernova that’s been missing since the twelfth century has been found! And how a young woman on Tiktok accidentally caused havoc to thousands of scientific studies.

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