It's not a direct route, but two researchers have figured out a way to take waste plastic, feed it to special bacteria, and then end up with nutritious protein powder. We'll explain. Plus: a guy has been growing plants inside a big glass bottle for decades - and because the bottle is sealed, they basically water themselves over and over!

€1 Million Prize for Plastics-to-Protein Research Awarded to Steve Techtmann, Ting Lu (Michigan Technological University)

Thriving since 1960, my garden in a bottle: Seedling sealed in its own ecosystem and watered just once in 53 years (Daily Mail)

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Today in 1947, two men who had climbed Oregon's Mount Hood and stayed overnight woke up to find a surprise: a quart of milk and the morning newspaper. Who would climb a mountain just to leave those items? Plus: a study out of the University of Greenwich finds that bees get an actual buzz out of naturally-occurring caffeine.

A quirky little mystery from 1947 on the summit of Mount Hood is finally solved (The Oregonian)

Bumble bees show an induced preference for flowers when primed with caffeinated nectar and a target floral odor (Current Biology)

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Summer is beach season, and for those times when people leave litter and other waste behind, there are two separate projects to develop robots to clean up after them. Plus: Sunny, the radiated tortoise at the Dallas Zoo, gets a personalized, hand-built scratching station for those hard-to-get itches. 

This beach-cleaning robot sifts sand for the tiny plastics that humans miss (Fast Company)

BeachBot, an AI-powered robot that cleans cigarette butts at the beach (Designboom)

Watch This Lucky Tortoise Enjoy His Homemade Scatcher Device Crafted From Broom Heads (Good News Network)

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We're revisiting some of our favorite stops on the roads and highways this week. In this episode from August 2019, we visit a giant potato in Idaho that you can rent. Or, technically, a 28 foot long, 12 foot wide structure built in the shape of a potato. Plus: a man from the UK traveling through Amsterdam learns that an Airbnb listing for a "clean room with a private bathroom" can technically refer to a shipping container next to a port-a-potty.

Unusual places to stay in the USA (Lonely Planet)

Giant potato in Idaho available to rent on Airbnb for $200 a night (Insider)

Amsterdam tourist unwittingly pays for shipping container in Airbnb booking  (Sky News)

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We're revisiting some of our favorite stops on the roads and highways this week. In this episode from December 2019, we head to Enterprise, Alabama, a community where you'll find in the middle of town a statue of a Greek woman holding a boll weevil. Plus: meet the most destructive holiday force ever, Treezilla!

Boll Weevil Honored (Library of Congress)

Treezilla! The Godzilla Christmas Tree (Steven Newland on YouTube)

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We're revisiting some of our favorite stops on the roads and highways this week. In this episode from August 2020, we have the story of a water tower in northern Kentucky that was supposed to be an advertisement, but ended up becoming a local landmark. Plus: we'll explain one version of how Chicken Dinner Road in  Idaho got its name.

Why does the Florence water tower say 'Florence Y'all,' anyway? (WCPO)

The Story Of How Chicken Dinner Road In Idaho Got Its Name Is Strangely Fascinating (Only in Idaho)

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We're revisiting some of our favorite stops on the roads and highways this week. In this episode from May 2020, we visit a rock in Newbury, New Hampshire, with the words "CHICKEN FARMER I  STILL LOVE YOU" painted on it, and try to figure out why. Plus: why is there a giant statue of a  chicken eating burgers on top of a restaurant in Wisconsin? Lots of chicken mysteries out there, I guess.

You Asked, We Answered: What's Up With That 'Chicken Farmer I Still Love You' Rock? (NHPR) 

Merrill, Wisconsin: Chicken Holding Burger, Beer (Roadside America)

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We're revisiting some of our favorite stops on the roads and highways this week. In this episode from April 2021, we look at Route 66, the interstate highway with the most memorable roadside attractions - including the giant fiberglass sculptures known as Muffler Men and Uniroyal Gals. Plus: a sculpture contest at Baltimore’s American Visionary Art Museum: the Honey, I Shrunk The Kinetic Sculpture Race!

Cruise through the Land of Lincoln on IL's Route 66 (Roadtrippers)

Giant Women: The Uniroyal Gal (Roadside America)

Honey, I Shrunk the Kinetic Sculpture Race (American Visionary Art Museum)

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Today in 2016, Celeron, New York unveiled and dedicated a statue of its most famous resident, TV legend Lucille Ball. It took the place of a different statue from 2009 that had been nicknamed "Scary Lucy." Plus: this day in 1928 was the birthday of artist Andy Warhol, who, among many other accomplishments, helped make Pop Tarts popular.

New Lucille Ball statue replaces ‘Scary Lucy’ (CNN)

13 Things You Never Knew About Pop-Tarts (Huffington Post)

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The Olympic Games are supposed to bring the countries of the world together, but that isn't always what happens. Several times the Games have been canceled, and at other times, boycotts have led some countries to hold their own alternative competitions. Plus: we mark the birthday of the great Black scientist and inventor Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson.

...And Meanwhile In Philadelphia (Sports Illustrated)

Spartakiade: A Bolshevik alternative to the Olympics (The Charnel House)

Counter Olympics (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum)

GANEFO I Sports and Politics in Djakarta (RAND Corporation)

Boycott nations will stage own games (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via Google News) 

Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson (Black-Inventor.com)

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