Scientists Are Teaching Batteries To Put Themselves Out If They Catch On Fire (Cool Weird Awesome 1290)

Researchers want to head off the small but serious risk of fire that comes with lithium ion batteries. A team at Clemson University may have found a way to teach the batteries how to put themselves out if they start burning.

By |2024-08-12T07:53:21-04:00August 12, 2024|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , |

Toronto’s “Stork Derby” Happened Because Of A Very Wealthy Lawyer’s Very Strange Will (Cool Weird Awesome 1121)

This week in 1926, a will left behind by a very unusual lawyer in Toronto led to a ten year baby-having contest nicknamed the “Stork Derby.”

By |2023-11-01T08:57:52-04:00November 1, 2023|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , |

Jellyfish Just Proved You Don’t Need A Brain To Learn From Experience (Cool Weird Awesome 1104)

Today we’re learning about new research on learning in jellyfish that suggests that you can learn even if you don’t have a brain! 

By |2023-10-09T09:05:05-04:00October 9, 2023|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , |

Robert Wadlow Was Known For His Heart As Well As His Height (Cool Weird Awesome 955)

Today was the birthday in 1918 of Robert Pershing Wadlow. Fans of world records remember him as the tallest man who ever lived, but there was more to the Alton Giant than his height.

By |2024-02-22T07:00:13-05:00February 22, 2023|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , |

Donald Gorske Has Eaten 30,000 Big Macs And He’s Still Going (Cool Weird Awesome 773)

50 years ago today, a man named Donald Gorske ate a McDonald’s Big Mac. It was the first of over 30,000, and yes, he holds the world record for most Big Macs eaten by a single person.

By |2024-05-17T08:01:57-04:00May 17, 2022|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , |

Chester Greenwood Brought Earmuffs To Cold-Eared People All Over The World (Cool Weird Awesome 732)

Maine became a state today in 1820. One of its best-known inventors was Chester Greenwood, who came up with a way to keep his, and many other people's, ears warm. 

By |2024-03-15T08:52:55-04:00March 15, 2022|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , |

The Time Paul Newman Really Didn’t Want People To See A Paul Newman Movie (Cool Weird Awesome 703)

Today was the birthday in 1925 of actor and entrepreneur Paul Newman, who made some very popular and very acclaimed movies. But there was one movie he made that he loathed so much, he actually took out ads to convince people not to watch it.

By |2024-01-26T09:58:59-05:00January 26, 2022|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , |

When A Saturday Night Live Fan Got To Host Saturday Night Live (Cool Weird Awesome 674)

Today in 1977, the Not Ready For Prime Time Players were joined by perhaps the most unusual guest host ever: Miskel Spillman, an 80 year old grandma from New Orleans and the winner of the "Anyone Can Host SNL Contest."

By |2021-12-17T07:42:47-05:00December 17, 2021|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , |

The First Skywriting Was, No Surprise, For Advertising

On or around this day in 1922, a pilot wrote the first skywriting message in the United States. It was a way to demonstrate an advertising technique that would be a big part of business for the next few decades.

By |2024-12-01T12:19:24-05:00December 1, 2021|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , |

Donald J. Sobol’s Encyclopedia Brown Books Taught Young Readers To Solve Mysteries (Cool Weird Awesome 626)

Today's the birthday of a mystery author known to millions of kids, Donald J Sobol. He wrote the Encyclopedia Brown series, about a 10 year old detective who solved cases because he knew, as his nickname suggested, all sorts of unusual and obscure facts in the era way before the internet.

By |2024-10-04T07:51:41-04:00October 4, 2021|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , , |
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