The North Carolina Bridge That Decapitates Cars Is Finally Being Raised (Cool Weird Awesome 154)

It’s the end of an era in Durham, North Carolina. The 11 Foot 8 Bridge, known as the Can Opener or the Gregson Street Guillotine for its propensity for shearing the tops off rental trucks and other large vehicles, is at last being raised. Probably good for safety, but fans of fail videos are bummed.

By |2024-03-19T09:31:11-04:00October 22, 2019|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , |

How Space Might Save The Whales (Cool Weird Awesome 153)

Science has brought whales and outer space together for the first time since the fourth Star Trek movie. The British Antarctic Survey has been partnering with researchers in Chile on a way to protect whales via satellite. Plus: the story of a paraglider who manages to land smoothly and carefully on a couch.

By |2021-08-06T07:05:07-04:00October 21, 2019|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , |

Keeping Up With The World’s Fastest Ant (Cool Weird Awesome 152)

The Saharan silver ant can ran up to 108 of its own body lengths per second, making it the fastest ant in the world. But it lives in the desert, and running in sand usually slows us down. How the heck do they do it? Plus: in Banner Elk, North Carolina, the 42nd annual Woolly Worm Festival gets underway this weekend.

By |2019-10-18T06:21:52-04:00October 18, 2019|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , |

I will not yield! Some Things For October 17, 2019

We've got a little bit of everything today.

When Performance Art Meets Brain Scans (Cool Weird Awesome 151)

Indonesian performance artist Melati Suryodarmo has created a new work called “If We Were XYZ,” and it’s based on her dreams, which she documented with the help of an electroencephalogram machine. Plus: The World Food Championships are now underway in Dallas, with some 1,500 award-winning chefs and cooks putting it all on the line and/or plates.

By |2019-10-17T06:09:12-04:00October 17, 2019|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , |

There’s A Giant Ouija Board In Salem, Massachusetts (Cool Weird Awesome 150)

Salem, Massachusetts is now home to the world’s largest Ouija board. These boards are a product of the Spiritualist movement of the 19th century, which emphasized communicating with the “other side.” They happened to be the most practical way to connect!

By |2021-04-02T07:40:55-04:00October 16, 2019|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , |

When Entertainment Is Literally A Train Wreck (Cool Weird Awesome 149)

Every era has its forms of entertainment. In the old days, promoters would stage actual train wrecks, using trains that were on their way to the scrap heap. Others would stage massive recreations of disasters and tragedies from the news and history. And thousands of people would pay to see them!

By |2019-10-15T08:59:31-04:00October 15, 2019|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , |

Let’s Cover Some Unusual Measurements In A Jiffy (Cool Weird Awesome 148)

Almost everything we do can be measured, and in lots of ways beyond the inches, yards and seconds we normally use. We take a trip through some lesser known measurements, like siriometer, cow's grass, and jiffy (yes, it's an actual term!) Plus: meet the dad who built a full-size claw machine for his daughter's 7th birthday party.

By |2021-02-04T08:48:01-05:00October 14, 2019|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , |
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