When An Apollo Astronaut Had A Gas Problem On The Moon

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.

Uranus Was Originally Going To Be Named “George”

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 |2024-12-10T06:41:33-05:00March 13, 2023|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , |

The Moon Trees Came From Seeds That Went Into Lunar Orbit

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 |2024-12-08T16:32:42-05:00January 31, 2023|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , |

The Robot That Could Do Surgeries In Space

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 |2024-12-07T21:21:23-05:00August 29, 2022|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , |

Wally Funk, At Long Last An Astronaut

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 |2024-12-06T06:24:55-05:00February 1, 2022|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , |

Nellie Bly Made It Around The World In 72 Days

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 |2024-12-16T09:38:51-05:00January 25, 2022|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , |

Stretchable Batteries Could Make Wearable Tech More Wearable

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.

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