Scientists at universities in the UK and the Netherlands have been testing out a system in which algorithms parse through high-resolution images taken by satellites to identify elephants and their locations, which could help protect these endangered pachyderms from poaching and habitat loss. Plus: scientists discover a type of electric eel, previously thought to be loners, hunt - and zap - prey in groups. 

Scientists Use Satellite Imagery to Count Elephants (Interesting Engineering)

Shocking Study Finds Electric Eels Hunt Together (Smithsonian)

Help keep our show going as a backer on Patreon!

In January 1997, Pat Boone - the pop and gospel singer - made a record where he sang Hendrix, AC/DC, Deep Purple and Metallica. How did he, of all people, end up "In A Metal Mood"? Plus: heavy metal is so popular in Finland that there's even a metal band geared toward little kids! 

Pat Boone (AV Club)

Heavy metal dinosaurs rock the kiddie crowd in Finland (The Age)

If you think our Patreon backers aren't the ones who make this show possible, you got another thing comin'

Some presidential inauguration days are memorable; others are quiet. But the one for Martin Van Buren was probably cheesy, thanks to a giant cheddar sent to Andrew Jackson and a public party to eat it just before Van Buren moved into the White House. (Appropriately enough, today is also National Cheese Lover's Day.)

Was the White House Really Trashed at Andrew Jackson's First Inauguration? (HowStuffWorks)

The Real Story of the Huge Chunk of Cheese That Sat in the White House for a Year (Food and Wine)

NATIONAL CHEESE LOVER’S DAY – January 20 (National Day Calendar)

On this day in 1981, Muhammad Ali, a hero to millions inside the boxing ring, was a hero outside of it, convincing a man on a ninth-floor fire escape to come back inside the building and seek help. 

When Muhammad Ali Met a Man on a Ledge (New York Times)

The Time Muhammad Ali Stopped a Man From Leaping to His Death (Slate)

If you or someone you know may be considering suicide, there is help: contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/, or the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. could stir hearts and provoke minds through his writing and his speeches like few others in history. And so it’s even more amazing that his first speech as a public figure, at the outset of the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955, came together with almost no time to prepare it.

32 things you probably didn't know about Martin Luther King Jr. (Insider)

When Martin Luther King, Jr. Became A Leader (The New Yorker)

(1955) Martin Luther King, Jr. “The Montgomery Bus Boycott” (BlackPast.org)

The (possibly apocryphal) story goes that on this day in 1797, haberdasher John Hetherington walked onto the streets of London wearing the first top hat, which caused so much hubbub that he was arrested and fined for disturbing the peace! Plus: in January 1974, MIT professor James Henry Williams, Jr. built a 35 pound yo-yo made of two bicycle wheels, and dropped it off the side of a 21-story campus building. 

History of the Top Hat (International Formalwear Association via Archive.org)

James H. Williams, Jr. and the world's largest yo-yo, 1974 (MIT Black History)

Hats or not, we think our Patreon backers are tops

It was today in 1972 that NBC first broadcast one of the most memorable sitcoms in TV history, “Sanford and Son." Here's a few facts about the show and its star, Redd Foxx. Plus: photographer Mike Mayou went out with a drone-mounted camera in Minnesota to catch the sunset but got something even more amazing. 

15 Big Facts About Sanford and Son (Mental Floss)

Photographer Flies Drone To Discover a Once-in-a-Lifetime Shot of 3 Bobcats Sitting on a Log (My Modern Met)

Join Cool Weird Awesome as a backer on Patreon for a price even Fred Sanford wouldn't mind paying

Judging by metronome marks on his sheet music, Ludwig von Beethoven wanted his compositions played really, really fast. Or did he? A new data analysis suggests that the master composer and early metronome adopter may have just misread his device as he wrote down tempos. Plus: Lady Gaga has her own cookies! 

Big data will analyze the mystery of Beethoven's metronome (EurekAlert!)

REVIEW: Lady Gaga Oreo Cookies (The Impulsive Buy)

Every moment with our Patreon backers is like a symphony of greatness

I certainly did not expect 2021 to be what it is, but what did people back in the day predict our world would be like now? Entrepreneur Magazine looked back at predictions from a hundred years ago, and some of them were surprisingly close to the mark. Plus: Robert "Buz" Chmielewski, who's had only limited feeling and movement in his hands and fingers for 30 years, is using special gear and the power of his mind to control prosthetics and serve himself dessert. 

What Will Happen In 2021? Here's What People In 1921 Predicted. (Entrepreneur)

Quadriplegic patient uses brain signals to feed himself with two advanced prosthetic arms (Johns Hopkins University)

We predict you will greatly enjoy being one of our backers on Patreon

The sunk-cost fallacy - when we keep at something even when it’s really not worth it anymore, just because we’ve already put so much time or effort in - is a part of human nature. But new research shows it's also a part of the nature of - this is the best part - video game playing monkeys. Plus: our first story on world records of 2021. Meet the world's largest spam musubi! 

Monkeys, Like Humans, Persist At Tasks They’ve Already Invested In—Even When They Don’t Succeed (Georgia State University)

The world’s largest spam musubi is not from Hawaii (KHON)

No sunk costs with our Patreon backers!