Episodes

Aug. 9, 2021

Mon. 08/09 - That “Code Red” Climate Report, Explained

Some context and takeaways from the big UN climate report released this morning. NASA has opened applications for their Mars simulation mission. And why are some people in Japan sending bags of rice with their baby’s face on them to relatives?
Aug. 6, 2021

Fri. 08/06 - A Gardener's High? Can Playing In Dirt Make You Happier?

What are forest schools? And the science behind why gardening can make you feel happy and peaceful. Plus, the Perseid meteor shower is happening in just a few days. And the co-creator of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine has been immortalized as a Barbie doll.
Aug. 5, 2021

Thu. 08/05 - Vaccine APP-rehension

As the tides trend toward requiring vaccinations for entry in more places, what is the landscape of apps and methods to verify vaccination status? Plus, meatball-scented candles from IKEA and two very different commercial space flight updates.
Aug. 4, 2021

Wed. 08/04 - Why Is Snow on the Alps Turning Red?

The six countries most likely to survive all-out societal collapse from climate change. Why is snow on the Alps turning red? And a website that will transport you back to sleepy nights in front of the TV in the early 2000s.
Aug. 3, 2021

Tue. 08/03 - What Edgar Allan Poe's Forgotten Science Writing Can Tell Us About Misinformation

Edgar Allan Poe wasn’t just the sad author of spooky tales we all know and love, but also a passionate science journalist, and the writings he left behind can tell us a lot about our current relationship to misinformation and science communication. Plus, Starbucks officially sells more cold drinks …
Aug. 2, 2021

Mon. 08/02 - Why Skateboarding Is An Olympic Sport, But Cricket Isn't

What makes an Olympic sport an Olympic sport? And what does it take to get cut from the lineup? Namely, why is baseball getting cut once again in 2024, but breakdancing will make its Olympic debut? A breakdown of how it works. Plus, Boeing is trying again for a successful launch of their CST-100 St…
July 30, 2021

Fri. 07/30 - Millions of Views & Not a Dollar To Show For It

I read a BuzzFeed article about virality and go on a rant about the creator economy. PornHub has a new campaign to help bolster museum tourism. And we may have found a fingerprint from Michelangelo… on a statue’s butt.
July 29, 2021

Thu. 07/29 - Kids Are Using Soda To Fake Positive COVID Tests

Why it could take you months to get a new sofa. Kids are trying to get out of class by using soda to fake positive COVID tests. And how to reinvigorate your health with a “microadventure.”
July 28, 2021

Wed. 07/28 - Why the COVID Vaccines WEREN'T Hacked... So Far

How a task force prevented the COVID-19 vaccines from being hacked because, yes, that was a real and valid concern. Plus, the sometimes controversial history of timekeeping at the Olympics and the AI-based innovations introduced this year. And, how the garbage industry is a lucrative one in the US …
July 27, 2021

Tue. 07/27 - Are Personalized Digital Billboards the Future?

The history and future of billboard advertising. The surprisingly big challenge of recycling bowling balls. And the YouTube Creator who just got hired by Lucasfilm.
July 26, 2021

Mon. 07/26 - An Olympic Medal For Designing Olympic Medals

A look back at when the Olympics used to give out medals in artistic categories, including the designing of Olympic medals, and the case for why they should bring that back this year in particular. Plus, some more background on how the wildfires on the west coast of Canada and the US are affecting …
July 23, 2021

Fri. 07/23 - Time Keeps on Slipping, Slipping, Slipping

Rounding errors may cause winners to become losers and losers winners, Bezos and James Webb both fall to Earth, and beyond lobster shortages, now crabs.
July 22, 2021

Thu. 07/22 - Venmore You Venknow

Your payments for dog walking and, er, “love hotels” via Venmo are now no longer subject to global scrutiny, neutron stars have wee tiny mountains, smaller than predicted, pool parties by the hour via Swimply, and former Colombian guerrillas tour you through the beauty of the jungle they still inha…
July 21, 2021

Wed. 07/21 - It Was in All the Papers

How did paper sizes fall into their century-long groove, how low-wage workers seem to have the upper hand in the job market despite pandemic job losses, and the very newest, freshest words are in.
July 20, 2021

Tue. 07/20 - Creepy Clown Town 2021

Was the Chinese seed scare of mid-2020 just a matter of delayed orders and pandemic memory? The Ever Green clogging the Suez Canal is probably a sign of things to come, not a one-off accident. And Wally Funk returns from space—oh, also, Jeff Bezos was there and he gave a bunch of money to the Smith…
July 19, 2021

Mon. 07/19 - It Brings Good Things Back to Life

Coca-Cola brings your dead taste buds back to life with a new Coke Zero formulation that probably definitely certainly won’t produce a New Coke outrage, Olympic athletes can perform team gymnastics on the beds provided in Japan, and how to watch Jeff Bezos fly into space with all his money. All tha…
July 16, 2021

Fri. 07/16 - People Have Reservations about Deep-Faking Bourdain’s Voice

The flood of robocalls may soon abate due to a technology named after James Bond’s martini instructions to bartenders, an ethical debate over whether we can revive the dead’s voices to simulate what they said or wrote in life after a documentary filmmaker deep-faked Anthony Bourdain, and dropping f…
July 15, 2021

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 coming; inexplicable black ice worms emerge by the billion…
July 14, 2021

Wed. 07/14 - Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet ETAOIN SHRDLU TK TK TK

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.
July 13, 2021

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 Pig: probably good?
July 12, 2021

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 gathered over a decade; and creators learn more ab…
July 8, 2021

Thu. 07/08 - Will We Still Own Things In the Future?

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 upcoming Pride and Prejudice-themed reality dat…
July 7, 2021

Wed. 07/07 - Algae Beer, Lead-Poisoned Emperors, & mRNA Flu Vaccines

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.
July 6, 2021

Tue. 07/06 - Is the 4-Day Workweek Actually Happening This Time?

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 CDs, but could disruptions to supply and demand…