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.
Charles Oldrieve, The Man Who Walked On Water (Cool Weird Awesome 714)
Today in 1907, Charles Oldrieve finished walking from Cincinnati to New Orleans. The catch? He walked the whole way on special shoes that let him float in water.
Want To Save Water? Put Solar Panels Over Canals (Cool Weird Awesome 558)
Summer in California can mean drought, so every drop of water counts. A research project there says putting solar panels over the state's many miles of water canals could save tens of billions of gallons of water a year. Plus: a museum in Rochester, New York is going to host the National Archives of Game Show History... if the price is right.
Waterways Could Get Extra Clean After They’re Cleaned By These Drones (Cool Weird Awesome 512)
A device in Denmark, WasteShark, has been roaming through water to scoop up floating debris. Now it's going to have a flying companion drone to help spot waste and maybe even clean up oil spills. Plus: photographer Nancy Floyd has been taking self-portraits and other images, structured the same way, day after day since 1982, to show the passage of time. Talk about playing the long game.
Here’s What Else Could Have Been Built Where The Eiffel Tower Now Stands (Cool Weird Awesome 509)
Today in 1889, the Eiffel Tower was dedicated and opened, but it was only one of hundreds of ideas for what should be built there. And some of the other proposed designs were wild. Plus: a new device would be able to extract water from the air wherever the user already is.
Get Hydrated By Eating These Water-Filled Treats (Cool Weird Awesome 253)
Dehydration can be a big problem for patients with dementia or Alzheimers. Jelly Drops are colorful, edible treat pods full of water that may be able to help these individuals stay hydrated. Plus: the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library and Museum is hosting the new exhibit “Ohio: An Unnatural History," complete with life-size cutouts of mythical Ohio creatures.
To Save Water, Sometimes LESS Is More (Cool Weird Awesome 179)
Researchers at Penn State University have created liquid-entrenched smooth surface, or LESS. Why? To coat our toilets. Why? So stuff can't stick to them. Why? To save water, which we use by the tens of billions of gallons each day just to re-flush that stuck stuff. Why? Because life is unfair sometimes. Plus: Twitter minus words, videos, pictures and links is a pretty amazing thing, judging by the project called Emoji Storm!
Water
"Nirvana is not something that we should search for, because we are nirvana, just as the wave is already water. The wave does not have to search for water, because water is the very substance of the wave." -Thich Nhat Hanh
Cold water
"Brady, it's cold water. So it will refresh us." - four year old