Here’s one instance where the doctor really CAN say “this won’t hurt a bit.” 4D-printed microneedles could perform of the medical functions of hypodermic needles - giving us vaccines and medicines, taking blood samples - except no shots. Plus: the story of a cat and her 3D-printed titanium paws. 

High-Tech Printing May Help Eliminate Painful Shots (Rutgers)

Surgeons Gave This Adorable Can Four Amazing 3D-Printed Paws (Futurism)

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There's a project out of the University of Maine that's found that wild blueberries can help us heal cuts and other wounds. Plus: this weekend the 3rd annual Hawaii Island Steel Guitar Festival gets underway.

Wound-healing treatment using wild blueberries receives MTI grant (University of Maine)

The 3rd Annual Hawaii Island Steel Guitar Festival (This Week Hawaii)

Backing Cool Weird Awesome on Patreon is like making beautiful music

Sounds like good news for the millions affected by heart disease: a nanoparticle that can target the plaque inside those blood vessels and actually reduce it! Plus: an animal rescue in Leesville, SC, needs piggy cuddlers! 

Nanoparticle chomps away plaques that cause heart attacks (Science Daily)

Sanctuary seeks 'piggy cuddlers' to socialize rescued swine (UPI)

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Researchers at UCLA have developed a coating that can take care of persistent ice in winter, and amazingly, it’s all due to fish. Plus: Kendall Diwisch of Edmonton, Alberta. who helped three kittens get unstuck from an icy situation. 

Hydrogel coating is first to prevent ice formation in 3 different ways (UCLA)

WATCH: Man Rescues Kittens Stuck In Ice By Pouring Warm Coffee On Them (CBS Seattle)

Patreon backers keep Cool Weird Awesome warm on the coldest days!

Kryptos is a puzzle sculpture that’s been on the grounds of CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia since 1990. Three of its four coded messages have been solved - and now we have a clue that might reveal the fourth. Plus: the story of the J.W. Westcott II, the only ship that has its own ZIP code. 

Kryptos (CIA.gov)

This Sculpture Holds A Decades-Old C.I.A. Mystery. And Now, Another Clue. (New York Times)

A Look at J.W. Westcott Co.: The Detroit Business That Delivers Mail Via Boat (Hour Detroit)

No codes here, our message is clear: Cool Weird Awesome is made possible by our backers on Patreon!

On this day in 1862, President Abraham Lincoln wrote to the king of Siam, now Thailand, to say thanks, but no thanks, to the king's offer of a herd of elephants. It was a gracious letter, which was appropriate because elephants themselves have lovely manners. 

Lincoln Rejects the King of Siam's Offer of Elephants (American Battlefield Trust)

Elephant Emotions (PBS Nature)

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A growing number of hockey fans are paying attention to blind hockey, where players have either full blindness or 10 percent vision or less. That puts the emphasis on sound. Plus: introducing the Telecaster guitar that's been signed by 16 Navajo code talkers! 

‘It’s Freeing’: Hockey League Gives Visually Impaired Players An Opportunity To Hit The Ice (CBS New York)

They can’t see, but blind hockey players can pass, shoot and score (Washington Post)

Fender Telecaster signed by 16 Navajo Code Talkers (Indian Country Today)

Backing Cool Weird Awesome sounds like a pretty good idea

Of all the great breakthroughs we’ve made in outer space, there are none sweeter than this: last month, astronauts on the International Space Station baked chocolate chip cookies. But baking cookies in space is a little different than baking them on Earth. Plus: a new device called the Exolung can keep air flowing for virtually as long as a diver likes. 

Space-baked cookies not chips off old block (The Columbian)

The Exolung gives divers an 'unlimited' underwater air supply (Designboom) 

Backing Cool Weird Awesome on Patreon is sweet 

The Rubik's Cube first came to a toy fair in London 40 years ago today. I have never finished one, but the enthusiasts known as speedcubers can now solve an entire cube in seconds. Plus: did you know that Horshack from "Welcome Back Kotter" did the voice on the Rubik's Cube cartoon show? 

9 fun facts about the Rubik’s Cube on its 40th birthday (New York Post)

How the Inventor of the Rubik’s Cube Cracked His Own Code (Great Big Story on YouTube) 

Back Cool Weird Awesome on Patreon and it will help you solve Rubik's Cubes (probably)

Researchers at Purdue University have managed to spin a very tiny object at the ungodly rate of 300 billion revolutions per minute - and it's powered only by light. Plus: Google Maps allows users to rate and review rivers, lakes and anywhere else that people want to go. So what's the best-reviewed river Earth has to offer? 

Light powers world's fastest-spinning object (Purdue)

What is the world’s best river? (Quartz)

Cool Weird Awesome backers on Patreon can light up the whole universe