When An Apollo Astronaut Had A Gas Problem On The Moon (Cool Weird Awesome 993)

Today in 1972, astronauts John Young and Charles Duke stepped on the Moon during the Apollo 16 mission. Along the way, one of the moonwalkers revealed to the world, without meaning to, that orange juice had made him gassy.

For Self-Help Robots, Looks Matter (Cool Weird Awesome 976)

The University of Cambridge did a study about robotic wellbeing coaches. And it turns out that if we want robots to help us help ourselves… they need to be cute. 

By |2023-03-22T07:47:42-04:00March 22, 2023|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , |

Uranus Was Originally Going To Be Named “George” (Cool Weird Awesome 968)

Today in 1781 astronomer William Herschel pointed his telescope toward Uranus. But long before the internet’s favorite planet got its very pun-filled name, an astronomer wanted to give it a much more chill one.

By |2023-03-13T06:53:40-04:00March 13, 2023|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , |

The First Time Astronauts Walked In Space Without A Tether (Cool Weird Awesome 944)

Today in 1984, two US astronauts walked in space. And, for the first time, they weren’t connected to anything.

By |2023-02-07T09:33:16-05:00February 7, 2023|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , |

The Moon Trees Came From Seeds That Went Into Lunar Orbit (Cool Weird Awesome 939)

Apollo 14 may be best known today for the moment when astronaut Alan Shepard hit golf balls on the surface of the moon, but the mission also gave us the “moon trees.”

By |2023-01-31T08:58:24-05:00January 31, 2023|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , |

The Robot That Could Do Surgeries In Space (Cool Weird Awesome 837)

MIRA is a small robotic surgery system that's set for testing on the International Space Station - and could end up helping astronauts prepare for long-term missions to the Moon as part of the Artemis project.

By |2022-08-29T09:13:02-04:00August 29, 2022|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , |

At Age 11, Venetia Burney Named Pluto (Cool Weird Awesome 807)

Today in 1918, the birthday of Venetia Burney, who at age eleven, did something few people have done: she named a planet!

By |2022-07-11T09:37:17-04:00July 11, 2022|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , , |

Wally Funk, At Long Last An Astronaut (Cool Weird Awesome 707)

Today in 1939, the birthday of Wally Funk. She first passed astronaut training in her 20s and could have been one of the first US astronauts, but after some 60 years of trying, she finally got into space.

By |2022-02-01T06:31:12-05:00February 1, 2022|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , |

Nellie Bly Made It Around The World In 72 Days (Cool Weird Awesome 702)

Today in 1890, Nellie Bly finished her trip around the world. She was trying to do what Jules Verne's character Phineas Fogg had done in 80 days, and she took just 72.

By |2022-01-25T06:43:22-05:00January 25, 2022|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , |

Stretchable Batteries Could Make Wearable Tech More Wearable (Cool Weird Awesome 699)

A team at the University of British Columbia has come up with a way to make durable, stretchy and waterproof batteries that could be useful in wearable devices. Plus: three crew members on the International Space Station try out what they call orbital badminton.

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