There’s An Art Gallery That Celebrates Rust (Cool Weird Awesome 680)
"Rust: The Art Gallery" is in Manchester, England, and it showcases the artistic effects of rust and deterioration, as curated by artist and longtime rust connoisseur Stephen Raw.
Three Pro Basketball Players Once Played For Both Teams In A Single Game (Cool Weird Awesome 651)
Today in 1978, the New Jersey Nets lost to the Philadelphia 76ers. But part of the game would be replayed the following March, and when it was, several of the players on each team had been traded to the other, and ended up playing in the game! Plus: two artists have built a "stairway to heaven" in Taiwan. Someone let Robert Plant know please.
What Did Ghosts Look Like To People 3,500 Years Ago? (Cool Weird Awesome 643)
The new book "The First Ghosts" looks at how humans have been describing and depicting ghosts for thousands of years, including a Babylonian tablet showing a lonely, bearded ghost dude from 1500 B.C.E. Plus: today in 2013, a merchant naval officer said a great way to deter pirates off the Somali coast was to blast Britney Spears tunes.
Pigeons Would Make Pretty Good Art Critics (Cool Weird Awesome 637)
Today in 2001 that a scientific journal published a study with an interesting name, which read in part: “Van Gogh, Chagall and pigeons." There's been a lot of research into how pigeons take in and process visual information, like art, and apparently it's pretty complex.
Ellen Ochoa Blazed Trails In Space (And Played The Flute Up There) (Cool Weird Awesome 633)
For National Hispanic Heritage Month, here's the story of the first Hispanic woman in space, Ellen Ochoa, talented and versatile even by astronaut standards. Plus: an art student in China breaks stuff for art's sake, through a very peculiar vending machine.
Edmonia Lewis, A Sculptor Who Brought Her Subjects To Life (Cool Weird Awesome 631)
On Indigenous Peoples Day, here's the story of sculptor Edmonia Lewis. She was born in the 1840s to a Black father and a Chippewa mother, and became the first Native American and Black woman to become an acclaimed sculptor.
Mollusk Shells Inspire An “Unbreakable” Glass (Cool Weird Awesome 630)
Glass is versatile stuff, but fragile. A new project out of McGill University is modeled after the material in mollusk shells and could make glass a lot more durable. Plus: in Brazil, Fabio Gomes Trindade makes outdoor art that incorporates the shapes and colors of the nearby trees and bushes.
These Sneakers Are Carbon-Negative, Because They’re Made Of Carbon (Cool Weird Awesome 604)
Nike and biotech company NewLight have started developing a shoe made from a polymer derived from carbon, bringing some greenness to an often carbon-intensive industry. Plus: Victoria Rose Richards embroiders overhead views of moors and other parts of the UK's countryside.
There Was Almost A State Called Franklin In Eastern Tennessee (Cool Weird Awesome 596)
It's a complicated story, but part of what is now eastern Tennessee was once part of western North Carolina - and today in 1784, they tried to break away and form their own state, called Franklin. Plus: a visit to a unique art museum off the coast of Cyprus.
Twitter’s “Fail Whale” Turned Out To Be A Big Success (Cool Weird Awesome 574)
Today in 2006, Twttr launched; and in its early days the social media platform gained vowels in its name and fame for a cute whale that would show up during its then-regular outages. Here's the story of Lifting A Dreamer, aka the "Fail Whale." Plus: if you’re a fan of scuba diving or snorkeling, the Geneinno S2 undersea scooter is a new high tech way to do it.