Cool Stuff Daily

By Cool Stuff Ride Home

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

4.6

729729 ratings

Download on the App Store

Download on the App Store

Get it on Google Play

FAQs about Cool Stuff Daily:

How many episodes does Cool Stuff Daily have?

The podcast currently has 1,102 episodes available.

Cool Stuff Daily episodes:

January 14, 2021Thu. 1/14 - How We Narrowly Avoided an Emoji Shortage
The workaround the Unicode Consortium used to make sure we still get new emojis in 2021, pandemic or not. Facial hair is biologically useless. So why do some humans have it? And the SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule returning this evening will be carrying on it a case of twelve unopened bottles of red wine. But why?

Sponsors:

Skillshare, Get a free trial of Premium Membership at skillshare.com/kottke

Fitbod, Get 25% off a membership when you sign up now through 2/28 at Fitbod.me/kottke
Links:
The Emoji That Nearly Weren't (Jennifer Daniel, Substack) via Today In Tabs

Emoji ZWJ Sequences: Three Letters, Many Possibilities (Emojipedia)
Facial Hair Is Biologically Useless. So Why Do Humans Have It? (Wired)
Wild Study Suggests Human Beards Evolved to Absorb Punches to The Head (Science Alert)
Our Skulls Didn't Evolve to be Punched (National Geographic)
French wine, vines headed home after year in space (AP)
Wed. 12/9 - Space Booze: It's... For Science (Kottke Ride Home)
Kottke.Org

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.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
...more
18min
January 13, 2021Wed. 1/13 - Pablo Escobar's Hippos Are Out of Control
Pablo Escobar’s pet hippos have multiplied and are ravaging part of Colombia’s capital. An AI that can create very impressive and artistic images from text commands. Maybe a little too impressive. And a discovery in England this week that could’ve been way worse.

Sponsors:

Fitbod, Get 25% off a membership when you sign up now through 2/28 at Fitbod.me/kottke
Skillshare, Get a free trial of Premium Membership at skillshare.com/kottke
Links:
Pablo Escobar's hippos are the world's largest invasive species (Washington Post)
American Hippo by Sarah Gailey
American Hippopotamus (Atavist Magazine)
A radish in a tutu walking a dog? This AI can draw it really well (CNN)
DALL·E: Creating Images from Text (OpenAI)
'Human foot' in Gateshead field turns out to be potato (BBC)
Kottke.Org

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.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
...more
16min
January 12, 2021Tue. 1/12 - 16th Century Disease Prevention & Beer Can Archaeology
The sixteenth-century manual on containing the spread of disease that is eerily reminiscent of current COVID guidelines. Bitcoin millionaires who can’t access their digital wallets due to forgotten passwords. And the guy whose massive beer collection is playing an important role in archaeological studies.

Sponsors:

Skillshare, get a free trial of Premium Membership at skillshare.com/kottke

Fitbod, Get 25% off a membership when you sign up now through 2/28 at Fitbod.me/kottke
Links:
The 432-year-old manual on social distancing (BBC)
As Bitcoin Prices Swing, Millionaires Lose Sleep Over Lost Keys (NY Times)
The Archaeologist Who Collected 4,500 Beer Cans (Atlas Obscura)
Kottke.Org

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.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
...more
16min
January 11, 2021Mon. 1/11 - Tim Berners-Lee's Quest to Restore Balance to the Web
It’s time for two writers to pay up on a 25-year-old bet about whether tech would destroy civilization. Tim Berners-Lee’s new quest to transform the web into the one he envisioned when he created it. How the most recent COVID-19 Stimulus Bill created a new National Park––and also may reveal previously classified government research on UFOs?

Sponsors:

Fitbod, Get 25% off a membership when you sign up now through 2/28 at Fitbod.me/kottke
Skillshare, get a free trial of Premium Membership at skillshare.com/kottke
Links:
A 25-Year-Old Bet Comes Due: Has Tech Destroyed Society? (Wired)
He Created the Web. Now He’s Out to Remake the Digital World. (NY Times)
The COVID-19 Stimulus Bill Also Created America's Newest National Park (Vice)
Emergency COVID Stimulus Will Likely Reveal UFO Documents (Vice)
It's not just Covid relief: Smokey Bear, horse racing and the Dalai Lama included in government funding bill (NBC News)
Kottke.Org

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.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
...more
17min
January 08, 2021Fri. 1/8 - What Folklore Can Teach Us About Conspiracy Theories
What folklorists can teach us about the structure and resilience of conspiracy theories. The genome of the platypus has been sequenced, and it’s just as weird as you’d expect. And a Swedish film festival that’s sending one person to an abandoned lighthouse on a remote island for a weeklong stay without any human contact or outside communication.

Sponsors:

Magic Spoon, Save $5 at magicspoon.com/kottke and use code KOTTKE

NordVPN, Get 68% off plus an additional free month––at nordvpn.com/kottke or use coupon KOTTKE

Links:
Folklore structure reveals how conspiracy theories emerge, fall apart (Ars Technica)
A TikTok Twist on 'PizzaGate' (NY Times)
#166 Country of Liars (Reply All)
Behind the Curve (Netflix)
Rabbit Hole (NY Times)
Now We Know Why Platypus Are So Weird - Their Genes Are Part Bird, Reptile, And Mammal (Science Alert)
Film festival invites fans to watch movies alone on a Swedish island (CNN)
Swedish film festival offers abandoned lighthouse screening (A/V Club)
Kottke.Org

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.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
...more
17min
January 07, 2021Thu. 1/7 - Dude, IceBots on Mars!
A prototype for self-repairing planetary exploration robots made of ice. The surprising history of the word “dude.” And a new Danish children’s cartoon about the misadventures of a man with a huge dong. Yep.

Sponsors:

NordVPN, Get 68% off plus an additional free month––at nordvpn.com/kottke or use coupon KOTTKE

Magic Spoon, Save $5 at magicspoon.com/kottke and use code KOTTKE

Links:
Robots Made of Ice Could Build and Repair Themselves on Other Planets (IEEE)
The surprising history of the word ‘dude’ (BBC)
dude, n., adj., and int. (Oxford English Dictionary)
mobile, n.2. (Oxford English Dictionary)
John Dillermand: New Danish children's TV show features a man with a massive penis (CNN)
John Dillermand is kid's TV about a guy with an elastic dick (A/V Club)
Denmark launches children's TV show about man with giant penis (The Guardian)
Kottke.Org

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.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
...more
18min
January 06, 2021Wed. 1/6 - The 60s Spy Satellite Helping Today's Environmental Scientists
Space missions to keep your eye on in 2021. How satellites built to spy on the Soviets have helped unravel environmental mysteries. Why the dark ages aren’t considered so dark anymore. And a completely perplexing auction from David Hasselhoff and his 14 foot replica doll.

Sponsors:

Magic Spoon, Save $5 at magicspoon.com/kottke and use code KOTTKE

NordVPN, Get 68% off plus an additional free month––at nordvpn.com/kottke or use coupon KOTTKE

Links:
Six space missions to look forward to in 2021 (The Next Web)
It Spied on Soviet Atomic Bombs. Now It’s Solving Ecological Mysteries. (NY Times)
Inside the C.I.A., She Became a Spy for Planet Earth (NY Times)
A Point in Time: The Corona Story (Public.Resource.Org, YouTube)
Go read these stories about the use of spy satellite images in environmental studies (The Verge)
Just How Dark Were the Dark Ages? (Discover)
David Hasselhoff auctions off a terrifying 14-ft. replica of himself (A/V Club)
For Auction: SPONGEBOB THE MOVIE "BIG DAVE" (#0112) (Live Auctioneers)
Kottke.Org

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.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
...more
18min
January 05, 2021Tue. 1/5 - A Nanny Cam to Keep You On-Task?
People who are choosing to be surveilled by strangers and productivity nannies in order to stay on task while remote working. A 3D-printed hydrogel inspired by cephalopods that changes shape when exposed to light. And UK officials have arguably messed up a commemorative coin, again.

Sponsors:

NordVPN, Get 68% off plus an additional free month––at nordvpn.com/kottke or use coupon KOTTKE

Magic Spoon, Save $5 at magicspoon.com/kottke and use code KOTTKE

Links:
People are hiring productivity nannies to watch them work (Wired)
Shape-Shifting Hydrogel Mimics Octopus Skin (Futurity)
Let us finally resolve the octopuses v. octopi debate (Quartz)
Plural of Octopus: Octopi vs. Octopuses vs. Octopodes (Merriam-Webster)
HG Wells fans spot numerous errors on Royal Mint's new £2 coin (The Guardian)
Here’s a nice, low-stakes problem: the Royal Mint’s HG Wells coin is riddled with errors. (LitHub)
Kottke.Org

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.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
...more
17min
January 04, 2021Mon. 1/4 - Time Confetti & the Quantum Internet
What “time confetti” is and how to stop spreading it everywhere. A new development in the teleportation of information that means good things for the possibility of quantum internet. And how TikTokers raised a million dollars for The Actors Fund over the weekend with a crowd-sourced fan-created musical, inspired by Ratatouille.

Sponsors:

Magic Spoon, Save $5 at magicspoon.com/kottke and use code KOTTKE

NordVPN, Get 68% off plus FOUR additional free months––at nordvpn.com/kottke or use coupon KOTTKE

Links:
How to get your time confetti under control (Timely)
Everything You Need to Enjoy One Tech-Free Day a Week (Wired)
High-fidelity, long-distance teleportation paves way for quantum internet (New Atlas)
The delightful Ratatouille TikTok musical has already sold more than $1 million in tickets (The Verge)
How a Ratatouille Musical Came Together on TikTok: WATCH (Vulture)
Kottke.Org

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.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
...more
18min
December 30, 2020Wed. 12/30 - The Cognitive Case for Talking To Yourself
Why talking out loud to yourself is actually an important cognitive skill, or so I’m telling myself. A new population of blue whales with a distinct song was recently discovered in the Indian Ocean. And a new AI that will hilariously and viciously judge your taste in music.

Sponsors:

Skillshare, get a free trial of Premium Membership at skillshare.com/kottke

The Jordan Harbinger Show, jordanharbinger.com/subscribe
Links:
Talking out loud to yourself is a technology for thinking (Psyche)
A New Population of Blue Whales Was Discovered Hiding in the Indian Ocean (NY Times)
Yes! A Previously Unknown Population of Blue Whales Has Been Heard in The Indian Ocean (Science Alert)
How Bad Is Your Spotify? (The Pudding)
A New Musicians' Union Wants Spotify To Pay Up (WBUR)
Support Artists Impacted by the Covid-19 Pandemic (Bandcamp)
Kottke.Org

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.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
...more
21min

FAQs about Cool Stuff Daily:

How many episodes does Cool Stuff Daily have?

The podcast currently has 1,102 episodes available.

More shows like Cool Stuff Daily

Mac OS Ken by Ken Ray

Mac OS Ken

896 Listeners

WSJ Tech News Briefing by The Wall Street Journal

WSJ Tech News Briefing

1,632 Listeners

The Vergecast by The Verge

The Vergecast

3,695 Listeners

The Talk Show With John Gruber by Daring Fireball / John Gruber

The Talk Show With John Gruber

3,132 Listeners

Decoder with Nilay Patel by The Verge

Decoder with Nilay Patel

3,147 Listeners

AppleInsider Podcast by AppleInsider

AppleInsider Podcast

971 Listeners

WSJ Minute Briefing by The Wall Street Journal

WSJ Minute Briefing

673 Listeners

Curiosity Weekly by Discovery

Curiosity Weekly

926 Listeners

Tech Brew Ride Home by Morning Brew

Tech Brew Ride Home

965 Listeners

TechCrunch Daily Crunch by TechCrunch

TechCrunch Daily Crunch

41 Listeners

HomeKit Insider by AppleInsider

HomeKit Insider

357 Listeners

Big Technology Podcast by Alex Kantrowitz

Big Technology Podcast

474 Listeners

Hard Fork by The New York Times

Hard Fork

5,463 Listeners

The AI Daily Brief: Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis by Nathaniel Whittemore

The AI Daily Brief: Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

559 Listeners

Sources & Methods by NPR

Sources & Methods

744 Listeners