Many of us are getting ready for our weekly shopping trips over the weekend, figuring out what we want to put in our carts. Those carts, by the way, are all due to a guy in Oklahoma who, on this day in 1937, decided to take the shopping basket and give it wheels. Plus: on National Cheese Day we pay tribute to the hardest, chewiest cheese in the world: churrpi!
Today in 1967, the town of St. Paul, Alberta officially opened the world’s first UFO landing pad. So why is there a UFO landing pad in east central Alberta? Plus: on this date in 1941, a man called Richard Burgess received a patent for exercise wings - but don't worry, they weren't intended to get their users to fly.
Most audio these days (including this show) is recorded digitally, but there are lots of ways to document sounds, including one that's built around a paper cup-turned-microphone. Plus: a programmer has designed a face mask with a lit up, virtual mouth!
Dehydration can be a big problem for patients with dementia or Alzheimers. Jelly Drops are colorful, edible treat pods full of water that may be able to help these individuals stay hydrated. Plus: the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library and Museum is hosting the new exhibit “Ohio: An Unnatural History," complete with life-size cutouts of mythical Ohio creatures.
On this day in 1942, the patent was issued for a car that was to be (at least partly) made from soybeans. And it was the idea of none other than Henry Ford. Plus: Steven Paul Judd is an Oklahoma-based artist of Kiowa/Choctaw descent, and last month he made a portrait of Sitting Bull using just over 20,000 black and white dice.
The so-called quiet life on the farm is actually one of the most high-tech places on earth. As envisioned by the University of Kentucky research team, drones could fly above cow herds as they graze, learn which cow is which, and visually check each cow so see if they’re healthy.
