Cool Weird Awesome With Brady Carlson

Today in 2021, a very long wait was over. Researchers harvested three bunches of dates from trees that had sprouted from seeds over two thousand years old. Plus: today in 1989, the biggest human chain of all time, stretching hundreds of miles through three countries.  After 2,000 Years, These Seeds Have Finally Sprouted (The Atlantic) A Chain of Friendship: Reflections on the Baltic Way and Inspiration for Belarus (Foreign Policy Research Institute) Our Patreon backers are wise; they always take the long view --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

Today in 1893, writer Dorothy Parker was born. Those who knew her say nobody had a sharper wit - and we have the one-liners to prove it. Plus: a design studio in Tokyo may have a solution for all the waste styrofoam out there.  10 Things You Might Not Know About Dorothy Parker (Mental Floss) we+ recycles styrofoam waste into dark, monolithic furniture collection (designboom) Join our sharp, witty Patreon backers for just $1 a month --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

For National Photography Day, here’s a remarkable photographic story from the 1890s: a guy in Norway made his own candid camera. Plus: today in 1935, the birthday of Story Musgrave, the only astronaut to serve on missions on all five space shuttles. 19-Year-Old Student Hides Spy Camera In His Clothing To Take Secret Street Photos In The 1890s (Bored Panda) Veteran Astronaut Story Musgrave (Smithsonian) Make more episodes of our show happen in a flash, as a backer on Patreon --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

Scientists once thought stingrays were silent, but a recent recording project found out they make noise after all. Now they want to know why they make noises - and for who? Plus: today in 2018, Jessie the parrot may have said way too much.  Stingrays recorded making sounds for the first time—but why is a mystery (MSN for Kids) Parrot swears at London firefighter trying to rescue it from roof (BBC) Our Patreon backers are the ones who make everything click on this show  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

The new 3D printing project called To Grow A Building is working on a method to 3D print the components of structures out of dirt, with the goal of reducing the significant amount of emissions that come from using standard building materials. Plus: if you want to take a unique spin through geography, try the website Notable People. These 3D-printed dirt walls grow a garden when you water them (Fast Company) Notable people  All of our Patreon backers are highly notable  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

For mountaineers, success and safety can depend on good communication. A piece in Outside magazine featured two Deaf climbers who have their own system when they’re climbing, and they plan to use that system in climbing the highest peaks on each continent. Plus: if you like vacations in remote locales, this island in the south Atlantic Ocean is about as remote as it gets.  How Two Deaf Mountaineers Thrive on High Peaks (Outside) The Questionable Rewards of a Visit to Inaccessible Island (Atlas Obscura) Our Patreon backers keep us scaling the heights day after day --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

It was around this time in 1975 that Gary Dahl dropped by a gift show in San Francisco with the idea for the pet rock. It would make him a millionaire. Plus: on Liechtenstein National Day, we have a few small facts about this small European nation.  The story of Gary Dahl and the pet rock: From the archives (Mercury News) Hard Sell: A History of the Pet Rock (Mental Floss) LITTLE LIECHTENSTEIN ACHIEVE BIG (FIFA) Our Patreon backers absolutely rock --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

If you’re a Jetsons fan on the internet these days, you’re probably living the dream right now. Because, if you look really closely at the futuristic cartoon show’s backstory, the main character, George Jetson, may have just had his birthday. Plus: for World Elephant Day, a visit to Mister Ed’s Elephant Museum and Candy Emporium in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.  Fine, let's think too damn hard about whether George Jetson will actually be born tomorrow (AV Club) George Jetson Is Almost Here (Know Your Meme) You’ve Never Seen Anything Like This Bizarre Attraction In Pennsylvania (Only In Your State) fefjo; --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

Researchers at MIT have created a high-tech device that’s about one square inch in size and just a few millimeters thick, and can do ultrasounds for as long as 48 hours. Plus: today in South Haven, Michigan, it’s day one of the National Blueberry Festival. This Stamp-Sized Ultrasound Patch Can Image Internal Organs (WIRED) The National Blueberry Festival  Our Patreon backers make our show high-tech  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

On this day in 1943, an interesting headline in the New York Times: “Sicily Vying With Hawaii To Become 49th U.S. State.” Of course, neither Sicily nor Hawaii became the 49th state; Alaska did. But there really was an effort to bring Sicily into the Union. Plus: a guy lost his cellphone in a river... and almost a year later, another guy found it. And it still worked!  Sicily Vying With Hawaii To Become 49th U.S. State (The New York Times) Man reunited with phone lost in River Wye for 10 months (BBC) Help our show reach the US, Sicily and everywhere else as a backer on Patreon --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

It was around this time in 2017 that people in Arlington, Virginia spotted what looked like a grey Ford passenger van with no driver. And then things got even weirder. Plus: today in 1943, the birthday of boxing champion and actor Ken Norton, who was so good in high school track and field his home state had to change the rules.  Car Seat Camouflage: Man Wears Bizarre Costume In Automatic Vehicle Experiment (NPR) 10 things you may not know about local legend, boxer Ken Norton (Jacksonville, IL Journal-Courier) Our Patreon backers help us ride everywhere --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

There's a phenomenon in art history where some paintings feature dogs with lit flares in their mouths. They're not committing arson or leading Indiana Jones through a dark cave... but what are they doing? Plus: when YouTuber Mathieu Stern came across old film dating back to the year 1900, he developed it to find pictures of something you see plenty of on the internet today.  Wait, Why Are So Many Dogs Smoking Joints in Old Art? We Looked Into It, and the Answer Is Pretty Far Out (Artnet) Photographer Finds 120-Year-Old Cat Photos After Developing Film Found in a Time Capsule (MyModernMet) We put cats and dogs together on the same show and our Patreon backers helped make it all possible --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

This week we're replaying some of our most caffeinated episodes. In this episode from September 2019, a look at our annual time to consume and/or complain about products flavored with pumpkin spice. It was in the mid-90s that this blend of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice and cloves started its rise to power, and there's no stopping it now, really. Plus: did you know that hundreds of years ago pumpkin spice may have given us New York City? The origins of pumpkin spice and how it became the flavor of fall (Washington Post) The Dark And Murky History Of Pumpkin Spice (Chicagoist) How Did Pumpkin Spice Become So Popular? And Why Do We Hate to Love It So Much? (Cooking Light) ‘Pumpkin Spice’ Has Been a Thing for 3,500 Years (History.com) Backing Cool Weird Awesome on Patreon costs less than a PSL and lasts even longer --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

This week we're replaying some of our most caffeinated episodes. In this episode from November 2019, the Unocup aims to do something about all those plastic tops for disposable coffee cups that end up as waste in the ocean each year. It’s a paper cup that folds up to become its own top! Plus: there’s goat yoga and alpaca yoga, but Zoo Miami may top them all with its new Yoga With The Rhinos program. The coffee cup gets a radical, desperately needed redesign (Fast Company) Yoga With the Rhinos (Zoo Miami) Back Cool Weird Awesome on Patreon for less than the price of a cup of coffee!  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

This week we're replaying some of our most caffeinated episodes. In this episode from July 2019, coffee grounds can be recycled in all kinds of ways, including lots of products. And the most meta product of all is from KaffeeForm, which uses coffee grounds to make coffee cups. Plus: if you can’t wait a couple years for the Little Mermaid remake, why not head to Sacramento for the California Mermaid Festival? 6 Amazing products made (almost) entirely from recycled coffee grounds (Inhabitat) California Mermaid Festival Make Cool Weird Awesome a part of your world as a backer on Patreon! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

This week we're replaying some of our most caffeinated episodes. In this episode from June 2020, scientists at the University of California – San Diego try to help robots walk better on uneven terrain – and, amazingly, coffee is part of the solution. Meanwhile, a robot in Australia is learning how to lay bricks, and it’s got a very appropriate name for its job. Scientists Invent Coffee-Filled Feet That Make Robots Walk Faster and Better (Interesting Engineering) Hadrian X Breaks New Lay Speed Record (FBR on YouTube) Robots have infallible logic circuits and they think you should join us as a backer on Patreon  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

This week we're replaying some of our most caffeinated episodes. In this episode from September 2020, we have the story of Brazilian athletes who, without travel funds from the government, had to earn their way to the Olympics in Los Angeles by selling coffee beans. Plus: in Bedford, Pennsylvania, there's a building shaped like a big metal coffee pot. Brazilian Athletes Perked Up The 1932 Games With Their Coffee Caper (Sports Illustrated) Coffee Pot-Shaped Building (Roadside America) We drink to our backers on Patreon! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

Today in 1993, Rhode Island adopted coffee milk as its official state drink. And in that state, coffee milk is kind of a world unto itself. Plus: today in Whiting, Indiana, Pierogi Fest is getting underway. What is coffee milk and why is Rhode Island obsessed with it? (WGBH) PIEROGI FEST A round of coffee milks for our Patreon backers, please! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

Plastic food wrap is useful stuff, but not eco-friendly. Now Rutgers University has a green alternative, and it’s not exactly wrap. You kind of spray it on. Plus: Officials in Hollister, California wanted new, slightly curved street lines painted. What they got was... not that.   Rutgers Scientist Develops Antimicrobial, Plant-Based Food Wrap Designed to Replace Plastic (Rutgers) Incorrectly painted lanes on street cause confusion in Hollister (KSBW) You know what else is really useful? Having Patreon backers, since they make this show possible  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

In the collection of the Cincinnati Art Museum, there’s a mirror from 16th Century China that has been keeping a secret for centuries. And, at long last, that secret is out. Plus: the Metropolitan Museum of Art is using augmented reality to show the colorful paint and designs that used to be on some ancient statues.  Cincinnati Art Museum Discovers That a Rare 16th Century Mirror Reveals a Hidden Image When Illuminated (Colossal) APP ALLOWS USERS TO SEE ANCIENT STATUES IN ORIGINAL COLOUR (Nag on the Lake) Make the world a little more colorful by supporting this podcast on Patreon --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support