Cool Stuff Daily

By 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... more

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FAQs about Cool Stuff Daily:

How many episodes does Cool Stuff Daily have?

The podcast currently has 1,206 episodes available.

Cool Stuff Daily episodes:

January 24, 2023Tue. 01/24 - 90 Seconds To Midnight
The Doomsday Clock has ticked down even closer to midnight, but how useful of a mechanism is it? Plus, some good news on climate change. And a new Wordle spin-off for the Zillow-obsessed.

Links:
We are now 90 seconds to our doom (The Verge)
Current Time - 2023 (Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists)
Is It Time to Call Time on the Doomsday Clock? (Wired)
Climate Clock

The Climate Clock Now Ticks With a Tinge of Optimism (NY Times)
A few pieces of good news on climate change (and a reality check) (MIT Technology Review)
The Wordle of real estate is here. Can you guess a home's asking price? (Business Insider)
Housle

Jackson Bird on Twitter

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20min
January 23, 2023Mon. 01/23 - The HustleCore of Medieval Monks (& the Spin Cycle of Earth's Core)
The Earth’s inner core has paused its spinning and reversed its course . Sounds alarming, but everything is fine. Plus, what medieval Christian monks, the OG hustle bros apparently, can teach us about distraction and routine.

Links:
Earth’s Inner Core Paused, Then Reversed Its Spin. This Is Fine. (NY Times)
Earth's Inner Core May Right Now Be in The Process of Changing Direction (Science Alert)
Earth’s Core Has Stopped and May Be Reversing Direction, Study Says (Vice)
Easily Distracted? You Need to Think Like a Medieval Monk (Wired)
What Monks Can Teach Us About Paying Attention (The New Yorker)
The Wandering Mind by Jamie Kreiner
It’s Not You, It’s Me and My Science-Based, Life-Optimizing Podcasts (McSweeney’s)
Tweet discussion on infrastructure for life without smartphones disappearing (Ilana Masad, Twitter)
Jackson Bird on Twitter

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20min
January 20, 2023Fri. 01/20 - Are Coffee Pods MORE Environmentally-Friendly Than Filter Coffee?
How did whales get so big anyways? Plus, a new study claims coffee pods are more environmentally-friendly than regular filter coffee. Is it true?

Sponsor:

ZocDoc, zocdoc.com/coolstuff
Links:
The genes that made whales gigantic (Phys.org)
Unlocking the Genes That Made Whales Into Giants (NY Times)
For whales, study shows gigantism is in the genes (Reuters)
Whales or dinosaurs: What are the biggest, heaviest, longest animals ever? (Slate, 2014)
Wed. 06/22 - Pinocchio, Fascism, & Guillermo del Toro (Cool Stuff Ride Home)
Coffee pod carbon footprint better for planet than filtered brew (BBC)
Single-use coffee pods have surprising environmental benefits over other brewing methods (Washington Post)
Here's how your cup of coffee contributes to climate change (The Conversation)
Turns out coffee pods are actually pretty good for the environment (WIRED, 2019)
If I Care About the Environment but Am Also Lazy, Should I Get a Nespresso or Keurig? (Wirecutter)
Jackson Bird on Twitter

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...more
17min
January 19, 2023Thu. 01/19 - Edgar Allan Poe Wrote In His Books & You Should Too
A deep dive on marginalia. What is it, why should you do it, and how does it reveal the more joyful side of history’s most famous sadboy, Edgar Allan Poe? All that and more in this extended love letter to writing in books.

Sponsor:

ZocDoc, zocdoc.com/coolstuff
Links:
Edgar Allan Poe on the Joy of Marginalia and What Handwriting Reveals about Character (The Marginalian)
Marginalia by Edgar Allan Poe
How to Read a Book by Mortimer Adler and Charles Van Doren
Meaning in the Margins: On the Literary Value of Annotation (Literary Hub)
Historical Figures who’d be outrageous online? (r/AskHistory)
Drool over the personal bookplates of 18 famous writers. (Literary Hub)
How Leaning into Marginalia Helped Me Accept the Loss of Control That Comes with Publication (Literary Hub)
Please Report Your Bug Here by Josh Riedel
Ryan Holiday's 3-Step System for Reading Like a Pro (Ryan Holiday, YouTube)
Edgar Allan Poe Watches Too Much Tiktok (McSweeney’s)
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21min
January 18, 2023Wed. 01/18 - The CIA's Spy-Pigeons
Earth-like exoplanet discoveries galore, including some that could be habitable. Plus, a look back at the clandestine history of the CIA’s pigeon surveillance missions.

Sponsors:

ZocDoc, zocdoc.com/coolstuff
Links:
NASA Just Discovered a Rare Earth-Sized Planet in a Habitable Zone (ScienceAlert)
NASA has discovered an Earth-sized planet orbiting in the habitable zone of its star (CBS News)
NASA’s TESS Discovers Planetary System’s Second Earth-Size World (NASA)
Another Earth-size exoplanet discovered in habitable zone of nearby star (The Verge)
When the CIA Spied on American Citizens—Using Pigeons (Atlas Obscura)
CIA unveils Cold War spy-pigeon missions (BBC)
Thu. 12/09 - Birds Aren't Real (And Neither Is This Gen Z Conspiracy Theory) (Cool Stuff Ride Home)
Pigeon Camera (CIA)
Jackson Bird on Twitter

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19min
January 17, 2023Tue. 01/17 - Fake Marrying Kids To Each Other, For Adult's Amusement
It looks like the ozone layer is on track to be restored in just a couple of decades. Plus, an opportunity to get paid for donating your stool samples. (Yes, really) And an examination of the nineteenth and twentieth century phenomenon of Tom Thumb Weddings, AKA elaborate fake weddings for small children.

Sponsors:

ZocDoc, zocdoc.com/coolstuff
Links:
Ozone layer may be restored in decades, UN report says (BBC)
The ozone layer is on track to recover in the coming decades, the United Nations says (NPR)
Earth’s ozone layer is on the mend (The Verge)
UN says ozone layer slowly healing, hole to mend by 2066 (Phys.org)
National Wastewater Surveillance System (NWSS) (CDC)
Looking To Make Some Extra Cash? You Could Earn Up to $1500 per Month for Donating Your Poop (Mental Floss)
GoodNature™ Program (Seres Therapeutics)
The Way We Were (Reddit)
At Tom Thumb Weddings, Children Get Faux-Married to Each Other (Atlas Obscura)
A General, a Queen, and the President (Boundary Stones)
Jackson Bird on Twitter

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21min
January 16, 2023Mon. 01/16 - Dr. King's Most Controversial Speech
Some projects that will help you suss out the truth in movies that claim to be “based on a true story.” Plus, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s most controversial speech.

Sponsor:

ZocDoc, zocdoc.com/coolstuff
Links:
Thread about Selma and historical accuracy (Franklin Leonard, Twitter)
Reel history (The Guardian)
Is Selma historically accurate? (The Guardian)
Based on a *True* True Story? (Information Is Beautiful)
Based on a True True Story? (Information Is Beautiful, Google Sheets)
Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence text

Beyond Vietnam: A Time To Break Silence audio (Internet Archive)
Mon. 1/18/21 - When the FBI Spied on Martin Luther King Jr. (Cool Stuff Ride Home)
Mon. 01/17/22 - What's In a Name? From Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to MLK (Cool Stuff Ride Home)
Jackson Bird on Twitter

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...more
18min
January 13, 2023Fri. 01/13 - Surprisingly Old Galaxies & the Future of Libraries
New findings from the JWST may push the origins of the universe’s earliest galaxies back millions of years. Plus, a huge rare earth deposit has been found in Sweden. And an Instagram-based library run out of the home of a famous Mexico City artist––with a bonus defense of owning books you haven’t read.

Links:
The James Webb Space Telescope Is Finding Too Many Early Galaxies (Sky and Telescope)
The 1st galaxies may have formed much earlier than we thought, James Webb Space Telescope reveals (Space.com)
Astronomers May Have Just Spotted the Universe’s First Galaxies (Wired)
Huge rare earth metals discovery in Arctic Sweden (BBC)
China note! EU-member Sweden locates rare earth deposits (AP)
Sweden finds rare earth deposits that could benefit Western consumers (Washington Post)
Europe's biggest deposit of rare earth metals discovered in Sweden (Interesting Engineering)
How I Survived the Closure of My Library (Book Riot)
The Japanese call this practice tsundoku, and it may provide lasting benefits (Big Think)
This Mexico City Artist Created an Instagram-Based Library (Literary Hub)
Tlacuilo Biblioteca (Instagram)
Jackson Bird on Twitter

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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...more
26min
January 12, 2023Thu. 01/12 - A Giant River Falling From the Sky
What exactly is an “atmospheric river,” why is it causing so much havoc in California right now, and what do these current storms mean for the future? Plus, NASA and Roscosmos have reached an agreement on how to bring three ISS crew members back to Earth following a coolant leak on a Soyuz spacecraft. Just don’t call it a rescue mission.

Links:
Why California Is Being Deluged by Atmospheric Rivers (Scientific American)
Storm-ravaged California scrambles as fresh atmospheric river rolls in (The Guardian)
California’s onslaught of storms is far from over. Will it ever end? (Washington Post)
A ‘Pineapple Express’ Is Bringing Rain and Snow to California (NY Times)
The Coming Megafloods (Scientific American, 2013)
Extreme drought nearly eliminated in California in wake of atmospheric rivers (ABC News)
Will the atmospheric rivers drenching California beat back devastating drought? (CBS News)
Rivers in the Sky: What You Need to Know About Atmospheric River Storms (KQED)
The science behind atmospheric river storms, explained (San Francisco Chronicle)
Op-Ed: We Shouldn't Rely on Atmospheric River Miracles (Bay Nature)
Russia to send replacement craft to retrieve crew from space station (Washington Post)
Russia Confirms Rescue of Stranded Cosmonauts With a Replacement Mission (ScienceAlert)
Russia to launch new Soyuz capsule to replace leaky spacecraft on space station (Space.com)
Last Tuesday's episode mentioning the Soyuz coolant leak (Cool Stuff Ride Home)
Jackson Bird on Twitter

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...more
19min
January 11, 2023Wed. 01/11 - Earliest Human Tools Just Monkey Business?
Were the first stone tools in the Americas made, not by ancient humans, but by monkeys? Plus, could color-changing cars be in our future? And will other nations follow New Zealand’s lead on banning cigarettes to future generations?

Links:
Monkeys – Not Humans – Made Ancient Sets of Stone Tools in Brazil, Study Finds (ScienceAlert)
Scientists prove that tools attributed to ancient humans were made by ancestors of capuchin monkeys (CONICET)
Ancient Stone Tools Once Thought to be Made by Humans Were Actually Crafted by Monkeys, Say Archaeologists (Artnet News)
These monkeys are 3000 years into their own 'Stone Age'. (National Geographic, 2019)
Monkeys Make Stone "Tools" That Bear a Striking Resemblance to Early Human Artifacts (Scientific American, 2017)
Check out BMW’s color-changing concept car in action (The Verge)
BMW's E Ink Car Wrap Just Took The Leap Into Color (Slash Gear)
End of the cigarette? Labour unveil plan to wipe out smoking by 2030 by banning sale of tobacco (LBC)
Cigarette sales could be banned under Labour (Wales Online)
Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg | 8th January 2023 (Political TV, YouTube)
Jackson Bird on Twitter

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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...more
20min

FAQs about Cool Stuff Daily:

How many episodes does Cool Stuff Daily have?

The podcast currently has 1,206 episodes available.

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