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.

Society & Culture
News
Science
726
Mon. 04/12 - Is An Art Movement Happening On Ti...
Genetically-modified mosquitoes are set to be released in Florida, but will locals thwart the project? A new technology that can 3D print bones directly inside of patients’ bodies. Is TikTok our latest great art movement? No really, stay with me on...
17 min
727
Fri. 04/09 - The Sound of Our Future Depends On...
The story of the woman whose decades of research helped make the mRNA COVID vaccines possible. Plus, electric cars don’t make much noise, which means we have the opportunity now to design what the future will sound like. And the co-founder of Elon...
17 min
728
Thu. 04/08 - Who Invented the High Five?
Where did the high five come from? Who came up with it? And why has it persisted for so long? Plus, what if we could turn the entire Earth into a telescope? One astronomer has drawn up the plans. And, how bad is blue light for you, really? Sponsor: ...
16 min
729
Wed. 04/07 - The 1970s Clubhouse Precursor
When social media happened over the phone. Have physicists found a new force of nature? And the long-lost Lord of the Rings made-for-TV-movie produced by Soviet Russia. Sponsor: Mint Mobile, Get a new wireless plan for just $15 a month Links: ...
15 min
730
Tue. 04/06 - A New Bacteria Discovered on the I...
A new bacteria was discovered on the International Space Station and it could mean interesting things for our future on Mars. The latest shortage in the US has left restaurant owners scrambling to catch up. And are seasonal allergies sexist? Of course...
17 min
731
Mon. 04/05 - Vaccine Side Effects: Myths & Tips
Busting some myths and sharing some doctor-backed advice on COVID vaccine side effects. The history of cigarette cards and how they played an important role in World War II. And how narwhal tusks act as a kind of history book, but the most recent...
17 min
732
Fri. 04/02 - When Ships Were Stuck at the Suez ...
It turns out we got lucky with how quickly the Ever Given was freed. The last time the Suez Canal was blocked, it dragged on for eight years and led to the creation of a micro-nation at sea with a separate postal service and even their own Olympic...
16 min
733
Thu. 04/01 - Slamilton: A Basketball Musical
Could humans evolve to be venomous? The man currently walking from Washington D.C. to New York City and tweeting all the way. The Hamilton/Space Jam mashup you never knew you needed. A brief roundup of corporate April Fools’ Day pranks we definitely...
16 min
734
Wed. 03/31 - Why All The Galaxy Carpets In 90s ...
Why did every movie theater in the 90s install that galaxy-themed carpet? A mafia fugitive who got caught by authorities after starting a cooking channel on YouTube. And the theory that the remains of proto-planet Theia may still be residing deep...
15 min
735
Tue. 03/30 - Zombie Brain Cells Keep Going Afte...
The medieval version of the millennial avocado craze––if avocados were only eaten when rotten and commonly referred to with a sexual nickname, anyways. Turns out that after we die, certain “zombie cells” go into overdrive. And the super...
16 min
736
Mon. 03/29 - Why The Lawyer Cat Filter Was a De...
A new fossil analysis that bolsters the theory that primates may have lived alongside dinosaurs––and somehow survived extinction. The high school girl who invented color-changing sutures that show when a wound has become infected. And why the...
17 min
737
Fri. 03/26 - We Are All the Big Boat Stuck in t...
The gargantuan container ship is still blocking traffic from flowing in the Suez Canal, but it has not stemmed the creativity of people online––from memes to fanfic, here’s your Ever Given round-up. Plus, archaeologists have found the oldest yet...
18 min
738
Thu. 03/25 - How to Cook & Eat Cicadas
Have you ever wondered who or what comes up with the explanatory blurbs beneath trending terms on Twitter? I’ve got your answer. Your guide to eating and enjoying the Brood X cicadas. And a website to help you out when a word is just on the tip of...
15 min
739
Wed. 03/24 - Oops All Shrimp Tails! The Cinnamo...
The saga of the shrimp tails in the Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and what it has to do with Chance the Rapper, women’s basketball, the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles, and Topanga. Scientists have identified the first “space hurricane.” And a...
18 min
740
Tue. 03/23 - How Fast Did Forrest Gump Run?
How fast was Forrest Gump running when he jogged across the country? The running community on Reddit did the math. A study has confirmed that some people do actually age faster than others, quite a bit faster in fact. And turns out AIs are way better...
17 min
741
Mon. 03/22 - The Bakery AI Being Used For Cance...
The AI built to tell pastries apart that’s now being used for cancer research. It turns out a large portion of Mars’ water may be hiding in the planet’s crust. And, if one of your online orders got lost, it may now be lurking at the bottom of...
17 min
742
Fri. 03/19 - The Feuding Cousins Responsible Fo...
The family feud putting the US’s COVID-19 test swab supply at risk. Could we use our food waste and sewage to fuel jets? And the projected symbol that was spotted in towns all around the world last night. Sponsors: Skillshare, Get a free trial of...
15 min
743
Thu. 03/18 - Salmon Chaos & The Paris Commune
Today marks the 150th anniversary of the start of the Paris Commune––and it remains as controversial as ever. Scientists have grown a mouse embryo in an artificial womb and have set their sites on human embryos next, speaking of controversy... And...
15 min
744
Wed. 03/17 - Why Doesn't Channel 37 Exist?
Why analog TVs never had channel 37. Spoiler: the answer includes aliens. The rise of bitcoin ATMs. And the pretty amusing self-reported symptoms from the AstraZeneca vaccine. And all the latest breaking marine mammal news. Sponsors: Skillshare, Get...
18 min
745
Tue. 03/16 - Daylight Saving Time? Not in this ...
How St. Patrick’s Day, as we know it now, is kind of more of an Irish-American holiday than a purely Irish one. More of the Dead Sea Scrolls have been uncovered in Israel for the first time in sixty years. And the family who decided to really lean...
17 min
746
Mon. 03/15 - Brood X and Self-Sabotaging Zoom C...
Brood X is coming: what you need to know about your soon-to-be neighbors. A new discovery in Spain has led to questions about the true role of women in the Bronze Age. The science behind why, once you pop, the fun just don’t stop. And a new app that...
17 min
747
Fri. 03/12 - A Sperm Bank on the Moon
The proposal to create a “modern ark” aka scientists want to store sperm and eggs in lava tubes on the moon as a back-up plan in case we accidentally destroy the earth. A new tool that could help us spot deepfakes. And how beer-making used to be...
16 min
748
Thu. 03/11 - Is This Ancient Biblical Forgery A...
It was written off as a forgery in 1883, but now it’s being reconsidered as the oldest known Biblical manuscript. Also, how the pandemic has affected the names people are choosing for their babies. And how a lake in Turkey may hold the key to...
16 min
749
Wed. 03/10 - A Year of the Pandemic WITHOUT the...
Reflections from a man who quit using the internet right before the pandemic started. A meteorite older than Earth was discovered in the Sahara Desert. And playable music videos? How film and music are pulling more and more from gaming both in terms...
16 min
750
Tue. 03/09 - Could Aliens' Pollution Help Us Fi...
Can we find extraterrestrial civilizations by searching the cosmos for their pollutants? Are humans hard-wired to be productive? And what can we learn about leisure from hunter-gatherer societies? Plus, a big uh-oh from HBO Max and masks that are sure...
15 min