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.
801
Thu. 07/15 - NASA, Don’t Flub on Hubble Trouble
It’s not mind reading, but a man’s ability to convey words is partially restored through electrodes and machine learning; NASA carefully prepares to press Control-Alt-Delete on the Hubble Space Telescope; look to the skies, the Perseids are...
16 min
802
Wed. 07/14 - Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet ETAOIN ...
It’s all greeked to me, some new history about the old text “lorem ipsum”; Europa may hide its secrets more deeply than previously thought; and a man happily discovers 160 bowling bowls under his house. Sponsors: Indeed, Get a free $75 credit...
15 min
803
Tue. 07/13 - A Cache of Metal Type Found in Korea
Archeologists dig up a massive cache of 15th century metal printing type in South Korea, a baby beaver is born in Exmoor, what if ice cream but also macaroni and cheese, a video-game breaks records and may indicate a sales bubble, and Nic Cage’s...
16 min
804
Mon. 07/12 - The Heliopause That Refreshes
Houseplants became Instagram models in 2020 driving sales up by billions and overwhelming mail-order and garden-supply stores; we know a lot more about the bulbous shape of the sun’s shield against the ravages of the interstellar medium due to data...
17 min
805
Thu. 07/08 - Will We Still Own Things In the Fu...
New findings in the debate about whether the dinosaurs were actually already in a sharp decline before the asteroid hit the Earth. A rumination on private ownership and how, by 2030, we might not own anything at all, just subscribe to services. And an...
16 min
806
Wed. 07/07 - Algae Beer, Lead-Poisoned Emperors...
Could lead poisoning have led to the fall of Rome? The Australian craft brewery using algae to offset their carbon emissions. And Moderna has started human trials of their mRNA flu vaccine. Sponsor: Credit Karma, Links: (Washington Post) ...
16 min
807
Tue. 07/06 - Is the 4-Day Workweek Actually Hap...
Why do we have a five-day work week and could changes from the pandemic be enough to finally implement the long held fantasy of the four-day work week? Are we looking at a passwordless login landscape in our near future? And vinyl is more popular than...
17 min
808
Fri. 07/02 - The Restaurant Taco Bell Lifted Th...
The restaurant that inspired Taco Bell, its larger legacy, and the question of authenticity. Plus, the new species of beetle that was discovered in some fossilized dinosaur dung. And the communities of people who devote their time to uncovering the...
15 min
809
Thu. 07/01 - How to Stop A/C's from Warming the...
This week has proven we need air conditioners more than ever, but we also need them to be better than ever. Here are some of the innovations being considered. Plus, one of the women from the secret Mercury 13 program at 1960s NASA is finally getting...
16 min
810
Wed. 06/30 - Why 1980s Nostalgia Films Won't Die
What’s with the on-going trend of horror films and TV shows being set in the 1980s? Is sunscreen worse in the United States compared to Europe? And one of the sports returning to the Olympics next month has a deadly precedent. Sponsor: Credit...
15 min
811
Tue. 06/29 - The Underground McDonald's DIY Rec...
Why exactly were McDonald’s french fries so good back in the day? Why did they change and can the secret original recipe be recreated? Plus, a new sort of post-post-punk subgenre is emerging in the post-Brexit United Kingdom. And, a completely...
18 min
812
Mon. 06/28 - A New Extinct Human Species? The G...
As promised on Friday, more information on the so-called Dragon Man––the recently unveiled 140,000-year-old skull that may be a new species of extinct human. The science behind why all your in-person coffee dates since reopening have been so...
17 min
813
Fri. 06/25 - 20,000 Years Ago, A Different Coro...
Researchers have found evidence of a coronavirus epidemic from 20,000 years ago. A new blood test that can detect fifty different types of cancer. And what the lowercase “i” in Apple products stands for and why they stopped using it. Links: (NY...
18 min
814
Thu. 06/24 - Astronauts' Dirty Laundry
The growing attempts to put flavor back into our produce because, yes, apparently it left. An update on the lumber industry and what it could mean for the economy overall. And the surprisingly strange things astronauts have done with their dirty...
15 min
815
Wed. 06/23 - How to Recover from "Zoom Body" + ...
A very big and very strange comet-ish object has entered our solar system. Some tips to help your body recover from a year of virtual learning, working, and socializing. And the two badass twelve-year-old girls going to the Tokyo Olympics for...
15 min
816
Tue. 06/22 - Smart Slime, Supermoons, & Upcycle...
How a single-celled yellow slime is changing the way scientists think about intelligence. A new upcycled food label that would let you know when your food has been made with food scraps that would’ve otherwise gone to waste. And everything you need...
16 min
817
Mon. 06/21 - How the Pandemic Reshaped the Home...
What will our homes look like in the future and how much has the pandemic shaped that vision? Plus, why are humans so thirsty? And, Brian Eno has found a home for hundreds of his previously unreleased songs. Links: (Bloomberg) (16mm Educational...
15 min
818
Fri. 06/18 - Are There Dinosaur Teeth on the Moon?
A new species of giant rhino might be the largest land mammal that ever walked the earth. Did you know there are probably dinosaur teeth on the moon? For real. The Girl Scouts have millions of leftover cookies and we must do our part by eating as many...
15 min
819
Thu. 06/17 - Top 10 Best Homes for Extraterrest...
A ranking of the top ten best places in our solar system to find extraterrestrial life. Plus, you know about the food pyramid, but what about the nature pyramid? Also called the 20-5-3 rule. And, I guess we have to talk about that...
18 min
820
Wed. 06/16 - How Xerox & Some Dalmatians Saved ...
How Juneteenth has evolved over the years from its origins in Texas, and its reception today. How the Xerox machine (and several dozen dalmatian puppies) saved Disney Animation Studios from closing up shop. And a portal for exploring the cosmos… on...
15 min
821
Tue. 06/15 - A Lunar Telescope Built From Moon ...
A new report from fifty of the world’s leading experts on the need to combine solutions for combatting the climate crisis and our planet’s rapidly declining biodiversity. California’s historically low water levels may have inadvertently helped...
15 min
822
Mon. 06/14 - The Full Tale of the Man Nearly Ea...
The full story of the man who was swallowed by a humpback whale on Friday and lived to tell the tale. Calories. Who’s responsible for their inclusion in the world of nutrition? Some weird highlights from the history of this controversial...
18 min
823
Fri. 06/11 - Why Are Tornado Warnings So Inaccu...
Thanks to a new study that sequenced the genomes of several types of wild melons, we now have a better idea of the origins of the watermelon… but we still don’t know how tornadoes are formed. And that’s a problem. Plus, in a bid to continue...
16 min
824
Thu. 06/10 - The 1920s Transgender Clinic Destr...
A new method of carbon capture that would turn carbon dioxide from the ocean into rocks. Mosquitos beefed up with virus-fighting bacteria have proven even more effective at preventing dengue fever than expected. And the often forgotten history of a...
17 min
825
Wed. 06/09 - Millions Lack a "Mind's Eye" & We'...
Why some people don’t have a mind’s eye and others can visualize things in incredible detail. Watermelons on Mars and human-animal hybrid babies born across the world––neither of those are true, but if you read two of the biggest newspapers in...
17 min