Is a national digital currency coming to the US? And what would that look like? Plus, coders have teamed up with scholars of British literature to decode Charles Dickens’s secret notes. And the very clever wine bricks from t…
Micromorts, the unit of measurement that predicts your risk of death. How effective are they and how could we make it more effective, especially with regards to the pandemic? Plus, why Washington state is building highway ov…
The Olympic Games have officially begun––how to reconcile excitement for the sports and the spectacle with the reality of the situation. Plus, controversy is brewing over the remains of Captain Cook’s ship the HMS Endeavour.…
When did we start counting? Are numbers just a modern human concept? Plus, we have more details about the impending end of the International Space Station as focus turns ever-more to the moon and Mars. And a new search engin…
How does your brain know when you’ve had enough to drink each time you take a sip of water? Plus, a Groundhog Day tragedy, how North America came to celebrate this wacky holiday, and what it’s future might look like in lieu …
The New York City subway cars taking on a second job on the ocean floor. Plus, a successful drone created using Leonardo da Vinci’s aerial screw design. And crows in Sweden are being trained to pick up litter.
The lost history of moon trees. Not quite as exciting as it sounds, but still really cool. Plus, the lineup of new emojis that just dropped on iOS 15.4––as well as a new study showing how emoji use can be an early detector o…
Catalonia is set to pardon a thousand people who were condemned for witchcraft four hundred years ago. Plus, a mysterious object discovered in our galaxy has astronomers a bit stumped. And why don’t avatars in the metaverse …
What’s up with the drastically different predictions for this weekend’s Nor’easter, and how is snowfall measured anyways? Plus, the sus-prisingly long history of the term “sus.” And, sometimes pre-ordering a book does not me…
Is there liquid water under Mars ice cap or isn’t there? Recent studies have claimed both. And what about an underground ocean on Saturn’s death star moon? Here’s all of your space water updates. Plus, the origins of the mel…
A look into the world of extreme ironing. Plus, how China has been making strides in controlling the weather by shooting rockets at clouds. And, a much more low-key opportunity to help NASA collect data about real, non-modif…
The James Webb Space Telescope has officially reached its destination. What can we expect next? And why do Americans eat so much more peanut butter than anyone else? A bit of history on this National Peanut Butter Day.
How a new technique for 3D printing metal could revolutionize manufacturing. Plus, the great potential of the false banana. And archeology’s “sexual revolution.”
Some reassurance from the experts that being bad at Wordle is not a sign you’re less smart than everyone else. Plus, the International Space Station is getting a film studio and sports arena. No word yet if Space Jam 3 will …
From french fries to snow plows, the global shortages continue. But are we starting to see the beginning of a whole new world for workers and the supply chain? Plus, you know what kind of soup you can never be short of? The …
Choosing to remain in the dark; on the power of “deliberate ignorance.” Plus, AI that can make academic articles more comprehensible, and one site in particular that took off last week. And a new browser-based history game t…
The thought leaders who inspired Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Plus, his childhood name change, what to make of his legacy, and more. Also today, what caused the massive volcanic eruption in Tonga over the weekend? And gather u…
What is slow internet and is it a thing we should still be striving towards? What about slow email? Plus, in some very pressing news, the US Food & Drug Administration has officially deregulated French dressing. And Welsh sc…
The growing market for non-alcoholic beers, and a new “undistilled non-whiskey” that’s arrived just in time for Dry January. Plus, the search for a new king of a tiny island. And, the debate over “ghost flights” is heating u…
The real physics of Wile E. Coyote’s 10 billion volt electromagnet. Plus, cannabis can prevent SARS CoV-2 from spreading. Technically. And does listening to this podcast at double speed decrease your comprehension?
A human has received a genetically-altered pig’s heart in a transplant for the first time ever. Plus, China’s lunar lander found water on the moon. And a look into the origins and phenomenon of Wordle.
Scientists are working on a plan to shoot tardigrades into interstellar space on lasers. Plus, the James Webb Space Telescope is so-far going better than anyone had dared to imagine. And alpaca’s favorite new year snack: Chr…
How Boaty McBoatface is helping diagnose the severity of the situation at the Doomsday Glacier in Antarctica. Plus, it looks like solar shingles are finally actually a thing. And something to try this weekend––the Dutch prac…
A look at predictions for today from a 1922 article in The New York Herald. Plus, move over self-driving cars, introducing fish-operated vehicles. And car commercials in France will soon require advertisers to tell people no…