Cool Stuff Ride Home
Covering the most interesting and coolest stories that you may have missed around the world in about 15 minutes a day. Cool Stuff Ride Home looks at science, progress, life-hacks, memes, exciting art, and hope. This is the antidote to depressing headlines. Smart stuff in podcast form. Cool news, as a service.
Hosted by Reggie Risseeuw and Marques Pfaff.
626
Fri. 02/25 - The Meme Accounts Behind Misinform...
The meme accounts behind some of the spread of misinformation already this week, as well as some guidance for seeking out and sharing accurate information. Plus, seals that are being recruited by scientists to spy on whales. And the latest vaccine...
19 min
627
Thu. 02/24 - The Little-Known Women Who Saved M...
The too-little-known story of the creation of the whooping cough vaccine. Plus, the remarkable initiatives in Taiwan that are helping keep the country clean with a little help from Beethoven. A new Netflix docuseries that uses AI to recreate Andy...
18 min
628
Wed. 02/23 - I'm Feeling Lucky
Why does Google still have the “I’m Feeling Lucky” button? And what do the ways Google Search has changed mean for us as a society? Plus, a proposed global library of underwater audio with a perfect name, and what fish are usually “talking”...
20 min
629
Tue. 02/22 - Hot Jupiter Is Raining Gems
The mysteries of people with super color vision. Plus, a Hot Jupiter that rains gems. And Hank the Tank, the furry 500 pound dumpster diving home invader taking California by storm. Sponsors: Shopify, Get a 14-day free trial at Indeed, Get a free...
16 min
630
Mon. 02/21 - Emo Poet & Wrestling Champ Abe Lin...
Hundreds of birds dropped from the sky in northern Mexico. Why it happened and two brothers in India who heal birds who have suffered a similar fate. Plus: wrestler. Poet. Mattress King? The semi-true extracurriculars of Abraham Lincoln. And some...
19 min
631
Fri. 02/18 - Did the Index Destroy How We Read?...
How a medieval hatred of indexes mirrors debates today about how search engines are changing our brains. Plus, a round-up of the unceasing Wordle news and spin-offs. A thousand Porsches are on fire in the middle of the Atlantic. And how about a...
23 min
632
Thu. 02/17 - The Origins and Physics of Luge
The history and the science of luge, bobsledding, and skeleton. Plus, a new study has found that the US’s corn-based ethanol is worse for the climate than regular gasoline. And a bit of a pop culture round-up, including some new releases to look...
20 min
633
Wed. 02/16 - EPCOT 2.0? Disney's New Residentia...
A new startup that is working on making steaks and chicken breasts out of thin air. Plus, the first woman has seemingly been cured of HIV. And Disney is developing a new round of residential communities around the US. Sponsors: DeVry University,...
18 min
634
Tue. 02/15 - The Love Story Behind the High Fiv...
Uncovering the story behind two anonymous people whose photographs serve as instructions on the high five Wikipedia entry. Plus, people apparently find AI-generated faces more trustworthy than real human ones. And the Idaho Potato Commission just...
18 min
635
Mon. 02/14 - Rejected Olympic Sports
Speed skiing, synchronized skating, ski ballet, and other rejected sports from the Olympics. Plus, remember that SpaceX rocket stage headed for the moon? Turns out it’s a different piece of rocket junk, not from SpaceX at all. And the tropical...
17 min
636
Fri. 02/11 - Rams vs. Bengals In the Wild
MoviePass is back and it wants to track your eyeballs. Plus, who would win in a real-world animal showdown: a ram or a Bengal tiger? NASA has released the first images of a star taken by the James Webb Space Telescope. And the Comanche language...
17 min
637
Thu. 02/10 - Valentine's Meat Juice
A possible third planet has been spotted orbiting Proxima Centauri. Plus, a new record has been set by a nuclear fusion lab in the UK. And, just in time for the holiday, a brief history of Valentine’s Meat Juice. Sponsors: ExpressVPN, for an extra...
16 min
638
Wed. 02/09 - 300 y/o Arctic Sponges Found Survi...
The mysterious century-old sponges somehow surviving on a dead underwater mountain near the North Pole. Plus, doctors in Canada can now prescribe patients annual passes to National Parks. And SpaceX is set to lose 40 of the 49 Starlink satellites it...
16 min
639
Tue. 02/08 - Wine Bricks To The Rescue + Decodi...
Is a national digital currency coming to the US? And what would that look like? Plus, coders have teamed up with scholars of British literature to decode Charles Dickens’s secret notes. And the very clever wine bricks from the Prohibition Era that...
16 min
640
Mon. 02/07 - How Many Micromorts Is Listening T...
Micromorts, the unit of measurement that predicts your risk of death. How effective are they and how could we make it more effective, especially with regards to the pandemic? Plus, why Washington state is building highway overpasses for cougars. And...
17 min
641
Fri. 02/04 - The "Eminently Boycottable" Olympics
The Olympic Games have officially begun––how to reconcile excitement for the sports and the spectacle with the reality of the situation. Plus, controversy is brewing over the remains of Captain Cook’s ship the HMS Endeavour. And choose your...
18 min
642
Thu. 02/03 - Where Did Numbers Come From?
When did we start counting? Are numbers just a modern human concept? Plus, we have more details about the impending end of the International Space Station as focus turns ever-more to the moon and Mars. And a new search engine that only gives you one...
19 min
643
Wed. 02/02 - How Many Weeks of Winter When the ...
How does your brain know when you’ve had enough to drink each time you take a sip of water? Plus, a Groundhog Day tragedy, how North America came to celebrate this wacky holiday, and what it’s future might look like in lieu of the climate...
16 min
644
Tue. 02/01 - 2,500 Subway Cars Under the Sea
The New York City subway cars taking on a second job on the ocean floor. Plus, a successful drone created using Leonardo da Vinci’s aerial screw design. And crows in Sweden are being trained to pick up litter. Sponsors: Munk Pack, Use code KRH at ...
14 min
645
Mon. 01/31 - I Want a Christmas Moon Tree & A S...
The lost history of moon trees. Not quite as exciting as it sounds, but still really cool. Plus, the lineup of new emojis that just dropped on iOS 15.4––as well as a new study showing how emoji use can be an early detector of remote work burnout....
17 min
646
Fri. 01/28 - Why the Metaverse Doesn't Have Legs
Catalonia is set to pardon a thousand people who were condemned for witchcraft four hundred years ago. Plus, a mysterious object discovered in our galaxy has astronomers a bit stumped. And why don’t avatars in the metaverse have legs? Sponsors: ...
16 min
647
Thu. 01/27 - The History of “sus” is… pretty sus
What’s up with the drastically different predictions for this weekend’s Nor’easter, and how is snowfall measured anyways? Plus, the sus-prisingly long history of the term “sus.” And, sometimes pre-ordering a book does not mean you’ll get...
15 min
648
Wed. 01/26 - Dun, Dun, Duuuuun!
Is there liquid water under Mars ice cap or isn’t there? Recent studies have claimed both. And what about an underground ocean on Saturn’s death star moon? Here’s all of your space water updates. Plus, the origins of the melodramatic “dun dun...
16 min
649
Tue. 01/25 - Extreme Ironing: Can You Take The ...
A look into the world of extreme ironing. Plus, how China has been making strides in controlling the weather by shooting rockets at clouds. And, a much more low-key opportunity to help NASA collect data about real, non-modified clouds. Sponsors: ...
16 min
650
Mon. 01/24 - Why Do Americans Eat So Much Peanu...
The James Webb Space Telescope has officially reached its destination. What can we expect next? And why do Americans eat so much more peanut butter than anyone else? A bit of history on this National Peanut Butter Day. Sponsors: Indeed, Get a free...
15 min