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.
876
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
877
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
878
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
879
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
880
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
881
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
882
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
883
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
884
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
885
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
886
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
887
Mon. 03/08 - Replacing The Simpsons Cast with A...
Could The Simpsons replace their entire cast with AI replicas? A look at the scientific, artistic, and legal possibilities. Researchers have discovered an interesting trait in green tree frogs that they’re describing as built-in noise-canceling...
16 min
888
Fri. 03/05 - A Physical Warp Drive Is Now Possi...
Will warp drive ever be possible? These scientists say they’ve created the first physical model for how it could work. A lookback at the Star Wars immunization PSAs of the 1970s. And a potential new type of COVID-19 test that will double as a form...
15 min
889
Thu. 03/04 - Will NFTs Change How We Buy Music ...
Will NFTs bring about an economic and creative revolution for artists and change the way we buy our media? Kings of Leon are willing to give it a shot. A small village in Iceland is making a big bid for Oscar glory. And another small town that just...
17 min
890
Wed. 03/03 - Life Lessons From Cats
Cuttlefish have passed a test designed for small human children. Polaroid has made a pen that draws in edible 3D candy. What we can learn from cats about being happier and more content with life. And a website that translates your typing into jazz...
17 min
891
Tue. 03/02 - Light-Up Tattoos For You and Your ...
Scientists have created light-up OLED tattoos that could tell you when to put on sunscreen or when your avocados have gone bad. The Twitter account tracking Geneva Convention violations in video games. And good news: scientists have confirmed that all...
15 min
892
Mon. 03/01 - The Future: Fast Vaccines and Slow...
How the RNA-based platform used for some of the COVID-19 vaccines is already changing the game for other diseases. Plus, “I got vaccinated” stickers and selfie stations are starting to pop up. And an app that’s bringing back the disposable...
16 min
893
Fri. 02/26 - Is Mr. Potato Head Non-fungible?
Delving into the world of crypto art and non-fungible tokens. A history of Mr. Potato Head, or, I’m sorry, just Potato Head? And a few links to help you chill out this weekend. Sponsors: Audible, or text kottke to 500-500 to start your 30-day free...
16 min
894
Thu. 02/25 - The Anti-Marie Kondo & Radical Kee...
How to make your clothes last longer and practice the art of “radical keeping” according to “the anti-Marie Kondo.” A segment about #Buttergate in Canada that’s not really about Buttergate afterall. And a browser extension that shows you...
16 min
895
Wed. 02/24 - How Childhood Illness Can Shape Fu...
How the flu you had as a kid could shape your immune response to future flu viruses. A bunch of videos have been going viral showing snow not melting when held up against a flame, but it’s not a conspiracy. It’s science. And the first song...
16 min
896
Tue. 02/23 - The History (and Erasure) of Black...
Beer culture is perceived as overwhelmingly white, but its history and its present is not. A historical look at the erasure of Black brewers. The impact of pandemic boredom on the economy. And a new app that will put David Attenborough in your living...
17 min
897
Mon. 02/22 - Two-Way Dream Communication
Scientists have tapped deeper into the depths of our dreams by achieving two-way communication with lucid dreamers. Why were there so many serial killers between 1970 and 2000? And what stopped them? And space is getting more diverse in more ways than...
15 min
898
Fri. 02/19 - Green Oranges, Pink Margarine, & G...
A history of how the US government started deciding what color our food is allowed to be. Could lab-grown wood disrupt the lumber industry? And, The Muppet Show has been released from the Disney Vault. Sponsors: OurCrowd, Skillshare, Get a free...
15 min
899
Thu. 02/18 - Improving Twitter with an 1800s Et...
The Los Angeles musician who helped design the microphones on the Perseverance rover that will hopefully give us our first-ever audio recordings of Mars. Can a 19th century etiquette book make Twitter bearable? And what some of the top websites looked...
14 min
900
Wed. 02/17 - How Perseverance Could Pave the Wa...
A historical defense of arranging book collections by color. Scientists have sequenced the oldest DNA ever found and made some mammoth discoveries in the process. And NASA’s Perseverance rover is set to touch down on Mars tomorrow––some...
15 min