Research from 2018 at Princeton University found that male fruit flies use their wings to improvise musical sounds to win the attention of females. I just wish they didn't try to do all of it in my house. Plus: a teen in the UK makes friends with a bee! 

How Fruit Flies Woo a Mate (Simons Foundation)

Teenager keeps bumble bee as pet after it followed her home (Cornwall Live)

Keep building the buzz about this show as a backer on Patreon!

Web developer/creator/artist Lynn Fisher's new project is NestFlix, a website that looks like a streaming service but features the fictional shows and movies that are within real world ones. Plus: the Potato Photographer of the Year gives us some unforgettable images. No small fries in this group. 

Nestflix – movies and TV shows that exist solely inside real movies and TV shows (Boing Boing)

The Potato Photographer of the Year 2021 (Kottke.org)

Join our Patreon backers and keep this show going (in the real world, not on NestFlix)

Stott Hall Farm is an unusual place; on either side of the place, there's the UK's M62 highway. We'll explain how it happened. Plus: a couple in Texas bought a plot of land, spent years building a house there, and then got a knock on the door from the actual landowners, explaining that there'd been a mix-up. 

Mystery of the M62 farm is solved: Newly rediscovered footage reveals the REAL reason why the trans-Pennine motorway was built around an 18th Century home (Daily Mail)

‘Your home is on my property.’ Family’s house, utilities built on wrong lot (KXAN)

There's no place like home, especially when your Patreon backers are there

Paralympic athletes are in Tokyo to compete and maybe to win a gold medal, if they can. The benchmark for Paralympic gold, by the way: 55 medals by a single athlete, swimmer Trischa Zorn. Plus: today in 1936, a newspaper ran a short piece about inventor Isabella Gilbert and her dimple-making machine. 

Swimmer Trischa Zorn’s Paralympic Legacy Goes Beyond Her Staggering 55-Medal Haul (Team USA)

Who Wants Dimples? (Bremen Enquirer via Newspapers.com)

Our Patreon backers deserve gold medals for being great

It's National Cherry Popsicle Day, so obviously, we have to tell the story of the popsicle, and Frank Epperson, the 11 year old you invented it. Plus: today in 1969, Elvis Presley sees a bald guy in the audience while onstage in Las Vegas and sings the best version of "Are You Lonesome Tonight" ever. 

The Surprisingly Fun Story of How the Popsicle Was Invented by an 11-Year-Old Boy (My Modern Met)

Frank Epperson, 89, Inventor Of Popsicle, Dies in California (New York Times)

Elvis Can't Stop Laughing (YouTube)

Our Patreon backers are the coolest

Darwin, Minnesota is where you find a 17,400 pound ball of twine that one guy made over the course of 30 years. Here's the twine ball's story. Plus: to no one's surprise, researchers find that cats prefer to get food for free instead of having to work for it. 

Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota (Roadside America)

Darwin, Minnesota names ‘Weird Alley’ in honor of twine ball troubadour ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic (The Current)

Cats prefer to get free meals, rather than work for them (University of California-Davis)

Our Patreon backers are the best in any state

On this anniversary of the release of Windows 95, we look at the origin story of the Comic Sans typeface, which has more haters than most fonts ever get (and a few lovers, too). Plus: engineering students help a dad who uses a wheelchair take his new baby for walks in a stroller. 

How we made the typeface Comic Sans (The Guardian)

The Story Behind Comic Sans (Fonts.com)

Students adapt wheelchair to allow teacher's husband to take baby for a walk after brain surgery (CBS News)

Our Patreon backers are like a great typeface: sleek, sophisticated and helpful 

It's a complicated story, but part of what is now eastern Tennessee was once part of western North Carolina - and today in 1784, they tried to break away and form their own state, called Franklin. Plus: a visit to a unique art museum off the coast of Cyprus.

State of Franklin (Tennessee Encyclopedia)

On this day, the state of Franklin starts its brief existence (National Constitution Center)

This Sculpture Museum Is 32 Feet Below Water (Hyperallergic)

Be a part of the show as a backer on Patreon!

Today is National Radio Day, so it's a good day to talk about one of the legends of old-time radio: sound effects virtuoso Ora Nichols. Plus: researchers at The Ohio State University say they’ve found a weed commonly grown on farms that could help make a greener, more sustainable jet fuel, only its name isn't the most inspiring. 

Female Pioneer Credited With Bringing Sound Effects To Radio (KUOW)

Stinkweed could make a cleaner bio-jet fuel, study finds (The Ohio State University)

Join us as a backer on Patreon for just $1 a month!

It’s National Aviation Day and National Potato Day, and amazingly, there's a story that brings them both together. Boeing used sacks of potatoes in place of humans when it began testing in-flight WiFi. Plus: in 1994, American Airlines released an 18 page book of its in-flight recipes, for anyone looking to recreate airline food at home. 

Boeing uses potatoes to improve Wi-Fi signals (USA Today)

The American Airlines Recipe Book (Weird Universe)

Keep this show flying high as a backer on Patreon