The Fly-Swatting Champion Of Bisbee, Arizona (Cool Weird Awesome 1066)
This month in 1912, the community of Bisbee, Arizona decided to gamify its anti-bug response by offering rewards for the most avid fly-swatters.
A Company In Mexico Is Making 3D Printed Bricks Out Of Eggshells (Cool Weird Awesome 970)
Can you build a wall out of eggshells? You can if you're the Mexican design studio MANUFACTURA, which developed a sustainable way to make bricks out of discarded shells and bio-binders.
The United Nations Is Home To The World’s Countries, And Bees (Cool Weird Awesome 872)
It's United Nations Day, and UN headquarters in New York City is a pretty interesting place if you like geopolitics, world history or beekeeping. Here's a closer look at the UN's own beehives.
Linda Christensen, The Minnesota State Fair’s Legendary Butter Sculptor (Cool Weird Awesome 838)
At the Minnesota State Fair, there's a contest to choose a new ambassador for the state's dairy farms. And for almost 50 years, a sculptor made butter likenesses of the contestants. Here's a little about how Linda Christensen and her colleagues did it.
This Worm-Shaped Pipe-Clearing Robot Could Be The Fatberg Fighter We Need (Cool Weird Awesome 738)
There really is a robot now called the Pipe-Worm. It's built to unclog pipes, and it does it by mimicking earthworms.
The Hospital Of The Future’s Secret Weapon Is Surgical “Duct Tape” (Cool Weird Awesome 720)
A team at MIT has come up with a new substance that do-it-yourselfers will love: a surgical "duct tape" that can help seal up wounds and tears in the body's gastrointestinal system.
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. Plus: Happy Thanksgiving to our listeners in Canada. It’s a big country, except for the exhibit known as Little Canada, which features miniature versions of some of the country’s most famous cities, landmarks and attractions.
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.
Some Fish Pause For Effect When They Communicate (Cool Weird Awesome 548)
Sometimes it’s not just what you’re communicating, it’s how you communicate it. Pausing for effect can help get your point across. Humans know this, but according to researchers, so do some kinds of fish. Plus: a sculpture made only of "air and spirit" sells for 15,000 Euros. That's definitely not nothing.
Now There Are Glow-In-The-Dark-Sharks (Cool Weird Awesome 493)
Scientists have spotted three species of sharks near New Zealand that give off a faint blue light while in darkness. Yes, our world is home to glowing sharks. Plus: artist Calvin Nicholls is making extremely detailed sculptures of animals out of paper.