18 09, 2023

What Ants Can Teach Us About Mass Transportation (Cool Weird Awesome 1089)

By |2023-09-18T09:39:24-04:00September 18, 2023|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , |

A UCLA study finds that humans might be able to find some transportation inspiration from another creature that moves around in large numbers: the ant.

13 09, 2023

When Phineas Gage’s Skull Met An Iron Bar, Things Got Weird (Cool Weird Awesome 1086)

By |2023-09-13T08:54:43-04:00September 13, 2023|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , |

Today in 1848, a workplace accident caused an iron bar to go through the skull and brain of railroad worker Phineas Gage. Somehow, he lived, and ended up changing science forever.

5 10, 2022

Hisako Koyama Tracked Sunspots For Almost Half A Century (Cool Weird Awesome 859)

By |2022-10-05T05:59:15-04:00October 5, 2022|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , , |

International Astronomy Day is coming up this weekend, so we’re talking about Hisako Koyama, an astronomer who hand-drew tens of thousands of daily observations of the sun and its spots.

24 03, 2022

Need A Little Pain Relief? Nostalgia Can Help (Cool Weird Awesome 740)

By |2022-03-24T08:59:21-04:00March 24, 2022|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , |

According to a new study, remembering old times can actually be good for your health - in particular, it may help regulate our response to pain.

23 03, 2022

The HMS Challenger Expedition Showed The World What Ocean Life Was Really Like (Cool Weird Awesome 739)

By |2022-03-23T09:06:07-04:00March 23, 2022|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , , |

The HMS Challenger spent years studying the world's oceans and the creatures that call them home. Today in 1875, the mission made one of its most astonishing discoveries.

18 03, 2022

This Vole Protects Itself From Predators By Cutting The Grass (Cool Weird Awesome 735)

By |2022-03-18T09:20:14-04:00March 18, 2022|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , |

The Brandt’s vole has an interesting way to protect itself from predators overhead: a research project found that the little rodent cuts the grass so it can keep a lookout.

16 03, 2022

Caroline Herschel Discovered Comets And Became A Star (Cool Weird Awesome 733)

By |2022-03-16T09:06:51-04:00March 16, 2022|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , |

Today in 1750, the birthday of an astronomer who definitely made her mark on the sky: Caroline Herschel, the first woman to discover a comet.

3 01, 2022

Kugel Balls Are Huge And Heavy But We Can Move Them (Cool Weird Awesome 686)

By |2022-01-03T09:09:37-05:00January 3, 2022|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , |

Around this time in 2003, the Science Museum of Virginia in Richmond introduced a new attraction: a 29 ton globe that people can push around. Here's a look at the mechanics behind Kugel Balls. 

18 11, 2021

A Robot Seacraft Is Exploring The Ocean For A Few Years (Cool Weird Awesome 659)

By |2021-11-18T07:04:22-05:00November 18, 2021|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , |

It's called the Intrepid Benthic Rover II, and its five year (or more) mission is to explore the deep ocean, most of the time by itself. Plus: in a new book artist Marina Luz paints the covers of books where people are trying to describe a book when they can’t remember the title.

25 10, 2021

Could Jokes About Uranus Prevent A Mission To Uranus? (Cool Weird Awesome 641)

By |2021-10-25T07:34:12-04:00October 25, 2021|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , , , |

Humans make a lot of jokes about the seventh planet from the sun. But do scientists who study Uranus think the jokes are funny? The website Futurism found out. Plus: today is the first day of Magic Week, and there's a magic shop in Burnsville, Minnesota that's the oldest in the US. 

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