Three minutes each weekday of cool facts, weird news and awesome discoveries. Subscribe today on your favorite podcast app! And back this show at https://www.patreon.com/Bradycarlson

The Town Of Asbestos Is Looking For A Less Asbestos-ey Name (Cool Weird Awesome 384)

The community of Asbestos, Quebec has decided to rename itself. Now it's up to the residents to decide whether the town should be named Trois-Lacs, Apalone, Phénix or - wait for it - Jeffrey. Plus: on this National Cheeseburger Day, did you know there's an 1,800 pound burger on the menu at a place in Detroit?

By |2020-09-18T07:41:53-04:00September 18th, 2020|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , |
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Put This Sensor On Your Food And See If It’s Safe To Eat (Cool Weird Awesome 383)

A sensor developed at MIT uses a set of microneedles to push through packaging and determine whether the food inside is safe to eat, which could prevent food waste and help head off outbreaks of salmonella. Plus: did you know China is apparently home to several thousand glass footbridges, where you can walk across and see what's underneath?

By |2020-09-17T08:05:08-04:00September 17th, 2020|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , , |
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The Swimming Champion Who Became A Real-Life Superhero (Cool Weird Awesome 382)

44 years ago today, Shavarsh Karapetyan, a finswimming champion in Armenia did something extraordinary, saving at least 20 passengers who were trapped in a trolleybus that had gone into a lake. Has anybody done a biopic about this guy yet? Plus: meet Mieko Nagaoka, who in April 2015 became the first 100-year old swimmer to finish the 1,500 meter freestyle.

By |2020-09-16T07:20:49-04:00September 16th, 2020|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , |
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The Cold Tube Saves Energy By Cooling Us, Not Our Rooms (Cool Weird Awesome 381)

The Cold Tube cools people off, similar to air conditioning, but using half the energy. Which sounds pretty cool. Plus: an experimental musician makes a delicious and funky new keyboard out of watermelon and kiwi. 

By |2020-09-15T08:05:58-04:00September 15th, 2020|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , |
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Victorians Made Art Out Of Locks Of Hair (Cool Weird Awesome 380)

A lock of Abraham Lincoln's hair just sold for $81,000 at auction, a reminder that a) people will pay lots of money for lots of things, and b) hair was a pretty important keepsake in the 19th century - people back then even made it into art. Plus: a couple in England decides to upgrade their garden, which the husband decides means installing a 12-foot statue of a T. rex. 

By |2020-09-14T08:10:13-04:00September 14th, 2020|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , |
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Taking This Pain Reliever Might Make You More Willing To Take Risks (Cool Weird Awesome 379)

A study out of Ohio State University found that people who take acetaminophen, one of the most common over-the-counter painkillers, are apparently more willing to take risks. Plus: the story of a guy who ended up taking quite a risk by setting up a tent - he just didn’t know it at the time.

By |2020-09-11T07:31:06-04:00September 11th, 2020|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , |
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A Song That Takes 639 Years To Play Just Had A Chord Change (Cool Weird Awesome 378)

John Cage once wrote a score with the instructions that it be played "As Slow As Possible." So that's what an organ is doing in Germany, for more than 600 years. Plus: a YouTuber trains his cat to put out fires, sort of.

By |2020-09-10T10:00:56-04:00September 10th, 2020|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , |
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The Very First Computer Bug Was An Actual Bug (Cool Weird Awesome 377)

On this day in 1947, a team working on a computer at Harvard University discovered the first computer bug: a moth that had gotten trapped in the electronics. Plus: today in 2005, a guy writes to Major League Baseball to get that expressed written consent they always talk about to rebroadcast or retransmit a game.

By |2020-09-09T07:33:13-04:00September 9th, 2020|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , , |
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The Game Boy That Doesn’t Need Batteries (Cool Weird Awesome 376)

A research project has built a handheld device modeled on Nintendo's Game Boy that gets its power from solar panels and the energy created by pushing buttons - no batteries necessary. Plus: a programmer has recreated the classic video game Doom inside an electronic pregnancy test. Technology is pretty versatile, isn't it?

By |2020-09-08T07:44:12-04:00September 8th, 2020|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , |
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The People Who Fix Typewriters Have A Job That Still Needs To Be Done (Cool Weird Awesome 375)

Computers and the Internet have changed so much of the world, but older technology that still has a home in the world and there are still people who still make it all work, like the family that runs the Gramercy Typewriter Company in Manhattan. Plus: sitting in a box of ice up to your shoulders may or may not be a job, but the guy who set the world record last week definitely worked.

By |2020-09-07T07:43:56-04:00September 7th, 2020|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , |
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