Shows / Cool Stuff Daily
Cool Stuff Daily
Cool Stuff Daily covers the most interesting and coolest stories in the world of 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 Zach Morris.
Episodes
Cool Stuff DailyThu. 10/15 – 50/50 Odds We Live In a Simulation, New Study Finds
A new study puts our odds of living in a simulation at about 50-50. So, that’s a thing. There has been a second sighting of a person on a jetpack flying…
Cool Stuff DailyWed. 10/14 - Can Virtual Public Parks Save Democracy?
A thought-provoking proposal from Eli Pariser on how we can fix the broken parts of the internet by creating digital public parks. NASA drops their latest…
Cool Stuff DailyTue. 10/13 - A Star Spaghettified By a Black Hole (Yes, that's the technical term)
What’s up with all those merpeople and sea monsters on old maps? Why Peru opened up Machu Picchu after seven months for one single man to visit. The…
Cool Stuff DailyMon. 10/12 - The Indigenous Practice of Controlled Burning to Prevent Wildfires
It’s Indigenous People’s Day today. How and when did this start becoming a thing? How west coast governments are finally turning to tribal leaders for…
Cool Stuff DailyFri. 10/09 - What OS Do They Use In Space?
What kind of operating system do they use in space? The science behind cocktails, to up your at-home mixology game. The 22-year-old responsible for the most…
Cool Stuff DailyThu. 10/08 – 1000 Years Before Darwin, Islamic Scholars Wrote About Evolution
The Islamic scholars who beat Darwin to the punch by about a thousand years. A cool site for finding new books to read. The world’s largest ouija board. And…
Cool Stuff DailyWed. 10/07 - Paid to Gate-Crash Funerals
The twenty-four possible super-habitable planets that could be better than Earth. The man you can pay to gatecrash your funeral. The perfect conclusion to the…
Cool Stuff DailyTue. 10/06 - Asbestos: The Secret Weapon Against Climate Change?
How the pandemic is changing our taste in music. The most ironic thing that could happen to a newly-published book titled Word Perfect. How asbestos might…
Cool Stuff DailyMon. 10/05 - Vending Machine Operators Are Trending
Archaeologists have found evidence of neurons in the brain of a Mount Vesuvius victim that basically turned to glass. The latest entrepreneurial trend of the…
Cool Stuff DailyFri. 10/02 - Witchy Ingredients Aren't What They Seem
It turns out crows have some skills we once thought were unique to humans. Breaking down what exactly ingredients like “eye of newt” and “tongue of dog”…
Cool Stuff DailyThu. 10/01 - The Earth Does NOT Have a Black Hole Inside It... Right?
Why are people saying there’s a black hole at the center of the Earth? The Irish Supreme Court declares that Subway’s bread is not actually bread. The…
Cool Stuff DailyWed. 09/30 - Edward Hopper Copied Others in Early Paintings
A guide to the lunar spectacles in October. Some tips for improving communication when wearing masks. The surprising discovery that some of Edward Hopper’s…
Cool Stuff DailyTue. 09/29 - The Dark Origins of Nike's "Just Do It" Slogan
A Halloween rocket launch. A brief peek into the history of book burnings in honor of Banned Books Week. The surprising and grim origins of Nike’s “Just Do It”…
Cool Stuff DailyMon. 09/28 - Time Travel, Biomedical Tattoos, & Satanic Tea
An undergrad has proven that paradox-free time travel is indeed possible. If you thought email newsletters were ubiquitous now, let me introduce you to the…
Cool Stuff DailyFri. 09/25 - Making Millions on Face Masks
The face mask economy––how everyone from high fashion designers to mom and pop shops on Etsy met the demand, and where they go from here. The origins of the…
Cool Stuff DailyThu. 09/24 - The Secret Mancave Beneath Grand Central Terminal
A guide to saying no for people-pleaser’s. A recently discovered secret party room located under Grand Central Terminal and other strange breaking news from…
Cool Stuff DailyWed. 09/23 - Eat a Five Star Dinner, From Your Car
A new discovery indicates chromium is about a thousand years older than we thought. Why it’s sometimes better not to use your full potential on things. A group…
Cool Stuff DailyTue. 09/22 - Horror Fans Fare Better During the Pandemic
A new study has found that fans of horror movies are having an easier time coping with the pandemic. The woman who serves as the Queen of England’s body…
Cool Stuff DailyMon. 09/21 - Get Vacation Stress-Relief Without the Vacation
Why do we eat fish sticks? The story behind those viral annual 21st of September videos. How to get the mental health benefits of “vacation anticipation”…
Cool Stuff Daily(Bonus) A Conversation with Jason Kottke
Jason Kottke started Kottke.org in 1998, making it one of the oldest, still maintained blogs on the web with over 26,000 posts spanning topics from art and…
Cool Stuff DailyFri. 09/18 - How Bras Inspired the N95
The 2020 Ig Nobel Prize winners were announced last night. Some people are trying to make CD players a thing again. How algorithms can detect our mood based on…
Cool Stuff DailyThu. 09/17 - Practice Friluftsliv This Winter
Some tips for tricking the algorithms and having a more neutral social media feed. Scientists have discovered a possible way to prevent motion sickness. The…
Cool Stuff DailyWed. 09/16 - No Seasonal Peeps, Yes Taco Bell Wine
A completely preserved extinct cave bear specimen from the Ice Age has been found in Siberia. Why our dreams have been more intense since the pandemic began…
Cool Stuff DailyTue. 09/15 - Life on Venus & Responsible Shrek Fans
Scientists have detected phosphine on Venus. Is it a sign of life? What it’s like to be in the virtual audience of a televised game. If you have trouble…
Cool Stuff DailyMon. 09/14 - Preventing "Mask Breath" & Worse
Have you become intimately acquainted with your own breath since you began wearing a mask? Here’s how to curb the stench. Some insight into how non-human…
Cool Stuff DailyFri. 09/11 - Why Do Americans Love Rotisserie Chicken?
Why the cheap rotisserie chicken is ubiquitous in American grocery stores. The new, true proportions of the megalodon. Unpacking the enormous size of Houston…
Cool Stuff DailyThu. 09/10 - How Where You Live Determines Your Personality
The big, underlying reason why so many items were tough to find at the start of the pandemic, and why some may still be for a long time to come. The sea…
Cool Stuff DailyWed. 09/09 - Modern-Day Willy Wonka Is Giving Away His Candy Factory
The perfectly sealed 2,500 year old coffins recently discovered in Egypt. How lockdown is making us all socially awkward. The gold ticket competition to win a…
Cool Stuff DailyTue. 09/08 - Long Live the (Cloned) Woolly Mammoth
The first cloned endangered horse has been born. Next stop woolly mammoth de-extinction? The New Zealand man who won the French Scrabble competition without…
Cool Stuff DailyFri. 09/04 - Meditate With a Squid
New research indicates that Stonehenge may have been able to produce surround sound and was used to amplify rituals. The bizarre tradition of excessively-huge…
Cool Stuff DailyThu. 09/03 - The Schwarzenegger School of Social Media Etiquette
The Swedish scientists that used VR to Freaky Friday some best friends and study how our bodies affect our sense of self. Some exercises you can do at your…
Cool Stuff DailyWed. 09/02 - Super Medium Black Holes & An OG Viral Reboot
The most massive merger of two black holes ever and mysteries it’s left us with. The fourteen year old viral hit, “Shoes,” is back with a pro-mask follow-up…
Cool Stuff DailyTue. 09/01 - Bee Venom Cancer Treatment & Diamond-Powered Batteries
The dragon eggs powered by diamonds. No, it’s not a children’s fairy tale, it’s a cutting-edge type of nuclear battery that could give us super long-lasting…
Cool Stuff DailyMon. 08/31 - Monkey-Fighting Grannies with Airsoft Guns
An update on Elon Musk’s brain implant technology. Some slightly bizarre anxiety-reducing exercises. How to make Batman give you driving directions. And the…
Cool Stuff DailyFri. 08/28 - The Border Town Currently Isolated From Both Canada & the US
How the Anthropocene has had a bigger impact on North America than the last ice age. The Washington border town that can’t access either Canada or the US…
Cool Stuff DailyThu. 08/27 - Why Pumpkin Spice Will Never Die
The Scots Wikipedia site that turns out to have been mostly written by an American teenager who does not speak Scots. Some tips and insight on staying safe…
Cool Stuff DailyWed. 08/26 - Netflix's Enola Holmes Hit With Lawsuit From Doyle Estate
Why it’s so hard to find dumbbells right now. Why Netflix’s upcoming Enola Holmes movie landed them a lawsuit from the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle estate. A model…
Cool Stuff DailyTue. 08/25 - New Game Lets You Relive the Boredom of a Long Flight
Why the 2000-year-old redwoods in northern California are safe from the wildfires. How Leo Tolstoy’s mundane procrastination inspired Anna Karenina and can…
Cool Stuff DailyMon. 08/24 - No Asteroid Apocalypse, But Maybe Aliens?
It turns out the ‘Oumuamua might be alien tech after all. The truth behind that asteroid allegedly hitting earth the day before America’s election. Finnish…
Cool Stuff DailyFri. 08/21 - Dinner Reservations That Require DNA Samples
The 3D-printed sushi restaurant that takes a DNA sample with your reservation. Why we may not remember much of our day-to-day lives during the pandemic. The…
Cool Stuff DailyThu. 08/20 - Zines & Floppy Disks: Making a 2020 Comeback?
Talking about lots of old media today. Vice wants to send you physical zines through USPS. It turns out a number of industries are still using floppy disks. A…
Cool Stuff DailyWed. 08/19 - A US Unit of Measurement Is Being Retired & The Swiss Have Chocolate Snow
Did you know we have two different measurements for feet in the US? Like the twelve inches on a ruler. There are two different versions. But not for long. Some…
Cool Stuff DailyTue. 08/18 - The Lost Colony Was Never Lost
Debunking some misconceptions about women’s suffrage on the hundredth anniversary of American women gaining the right to vote. Busting the myth of the Lost…
Cool Stuff DailyMon. 08/17 - Smog-Eating Murals & An Announcement
Scientists find the Butterfly Effect does not exist in the quantum world. Dennis Quaid has adopted a cat named Dennis Quaid. The mural in Warsaw that eats…
Cool Stuff DailyFri. 08/14 - A New Ice Cream Truck Song & A New Dinosaur
It’s a brand new world today. There’s a new ice cream jingle from Good Humor and RZA. A new dinosaur was discovered in England. Some books of classic…
Cool Stuff DailyThu. 08/13 - The Australian Wastewater Treatment Plant Powered By Leftover Beer
Some facts about left-handedness for International Left Handers Day. Why you should invest in bird poop. Why Tony Hawk just renamed the “mute air” skateboard…
Cool Stuff DailyWed. 08/12 - Sleepover At the Last Blockbuster in the World
The “rumor clinics” that combated fake news during World War II. How scientists have turned ordinary bricks into supercapacitors. Why some groceries are still…
Cool Stuff DailyTue. 08/11 - How To Watch the Perseid Meteor Shower
Is it a good idea to clean your face mask by putting it in the rice cooker? The weird defunct rides of Disney theme parks past. Why scientists want farmers to…
Cool Stuff DailyMon. 08/10 - Rent-A-Pineapple
A new face mask that can translate in eight languages. Tips for lifting your mood as lockdown measures and remote working stretch on. Why people used to rent…
Cool Stuff DailyFri. 08/07 - Netflix's Rejected Goat Sound Logo & the Vegetable Orchestra
Today is International Beer Day! How to celebrate and why it exists. How the Netflix sound logo came to be, and what goats and wedding rings have to do with…
Cool Stuff DailyThu. 08/06 - Excel Error Causes Genes To Be Renamed
Further findings into just how much of our speech dogs can understand. An American highway that’s been repaved with recycled plastic. Taika Waititi’s new…
Cool Stuff DailyWed. 08/05 – Crystal Pepsi and the Harbingers of Failure
Do you live in a zip code that’s a Harbinger of Failure? The newly discovered secret to anglerfish’s parasitic success. The woman who returns items left behind…
Cool Stuff DailyTue. 08/04 - The Anti-Mask League… of 1918
Cool armor-like technology that butterflies have on their wings to protect them from the rain. How to use Slack without annoying all of your coworkers, or…
Cool Stuff DailyMon. 08/03 - 2019 Tax Refunds Signed By Walt Disney
Australian scientists have figured out a way to grow colored cotton. How poetry is helping healthcare workers through the pandemic. Get your hands on some…
Cool Stuff DailyFri. 07/31 - What Toddlers’ Nonsensical Emojis Mean
A medieval potion that apparently works as an antibiotic. How children's nonsensical emoji use affects their language development. How dogs may be using the…
Cool Stuff DailyThu. 07/30 - Plutonium: American Made, Martian Approved
NASA launched their latest Mars rover into space this morning. More details on Perseverance, its mission, and the origins of its Plutonium battery…
Cool Stuff DailyWed. 07/29 - How To Peek Inside Someone Else’s Filter Bubble
The world’s largest nuclear fusion project has begun assembly in France, getting us one step closer to a possible future of unlimited, clean energy. Lockdown…
Cool Stuff DailyTue. 07/28 - Your Lost Laundry May End Up On Instagram
Can trained dogs sniff out positive COVID-19 infections? It’s 2020 and people are apparently still finding legit buried treasure. This week NASA is sending a…
Cool Stuff DailyMon. 07/27 - The Year Without a Summer
How people kept cool, or like, stayed alive during heat waves before air conditioning, as well as the year the world skipped summer. How Animal Crossing helped…
Cool Stuff DailyFri. 07/24 - How AOL Inspired a Hamilton Song
The hottest new app that’s sending people on mysterious adventures. A heartwarming act of charity from Washington’s newly named team. Lin-Manuel Miranda dishes…