Cool Weird Awesome with Brady Carlson

We don’t know for sure why dreaming is a thing at all - but a neuroscience researcher at Tufts University has an idea that might help explain them. It’s called the overfitted brain hypothesis - and it’s based on something that happens with artificial intelligence. Plus: a new book showcases scenic photos of certain small buildings in the Alps that everybody has to use once in a while.  Our dr...

Researchers at Washington State University have found a way to convert plastic waste into jet fuel that takes only an hour. And it's also less energy-intensive, which could make recycling plastic more cost-effective and more common. Plus: today in 2017, a high school in Virginia made sure to include a beloved service dog in its yearbook photos!  New technology converts waste plastics to jet f...

Today in 1977, Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre opened in California, co-founded by Atari's Nolan Bushnell as a kid-friendly way to promote video gaming and bring the world closer to animatronic mice. Plus: this week in 1905, a film camera documents the funeral procession of the last known surviving veteran of the War of 1812.  An Oral History Of Those Creepy-Ass Chuck E. Cheese Robots (M...

Today in 2005, an 11 year old pitcher in upstate New York, Katie Brownell, brought her A-game to the Little League field. She not only pitched a perfect game, she struck out all 18 batters she faced! Plus: Houston's famous Art Car Parade is back this weekend.  Meet Katie Brownell, the girl who once struck out 18 batters in a perfect Little League game (MLB.com) Houston Art Car Parade Our Patr...

Way out there beyond the edge of the solar system, Voyager 1 is measuring the density of the stuff out there. And because that stuff is vibrating, it comes out as sound. In other words, there are sounds in interstellar space and we have now recorded them. Plus: a look at a very chill hobby some bartenders have taken up in Japan.  In the emptiness of space, Voyager 1 detects plasma 'hum' (Phys...

UCLA did the research: at least 65 different animal species apart from humans exhibit vocal play sounds that are similar to laughter. So what kind of jokes should we be telling them? Plus: how an acclaimed 1972 movie might have been lost forever, if the man hunting for the original copy had shown up a week later.   Animals laugh too, UCLA analysis suggests (UCLA) The Recovery and Re-Release o...

Today in 1875, aviation pioneer Harriet Quimby was born. She isn't as well known as Amelia Earhart or Bessie Coleman but, as the first woman to fly across the English Channel, she definitely made an impact. Plus: on Minnesota's birthday, a look at a fact you might not know about its famous state fair.  Harriet Quimby (National Aviation Hall of Fame) Queen of the Channel Crossing (NOVA) Sept....

It's the day in 1899 that dancing, acting and singing legend Fred Astaire was born. He's best known for his iconic dancing with Ginger Rogers, but before that, he danced on stages all over the world with his sister, Adele - and she was the one who got most of the attention. Plus: a music rental company teams up with a metal drummer to create a drum kit so big it's more like a drum fortress. ...

It was this week in 1965 that Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards got up in his sleep, started up a portable tape recorder, and recorded a guitar riff and an opening line that would soon be iconic: "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction." Here's more of how the song came together. Plus: if this year has left you stressed out, there's a new game that might help you find some calm. It's Literally Just M...

A research team at the University of Rochester and the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands has found a way to bioprint a strong, flexible and eco-friendly material that could one day serve as fabric for t-shirts, energy storage for space missions and much more. Plus: there's a world record for longest golf drive into a moving car... you knew that was a record, right?  Will your...

There's apparently a group now fundraising for restoring Notre Dame Cathedral by asking people to "adopt" their favorite gargoyles. So maybe it's a good time to figure out why those big scary stone figures are outside cathedrals in the first place. Plus: Cinco de Mayo is here, and some of the many ways we celebrate are more traditional than others.  Adopt a Gargoyle and Help Fund the Rebuildi...

Fifteen people just took part in the Deep Time project, where they lived in a cave in France as far away from time as we can get. And some interesting things happened. Plus: scientists in Brazil have just spotted a pumpkin toadlet, a tiny orange amphibian that glows green under ultraviolet light.  15 People Lived 40 Days in a Sunless Cave Without Clocks to Study Time (Vice) Biologists Discove...

Two new construction projects bring the ancient art of using soil and other materials on a building site to create a new house, in these cases with the help of 3d printers. Plus: Scan the World is an online museum that has 3D scans of thousands of great artworks.  This is the first house to be 3D printed from raw earth (It's Nice That) This 3D Printed House Is Made From A Mix Of Soil, Straw,...

Today is the day in 1926 that Route 66 got its name. The interstate highway may not be the only one of its kind, but it's certainly the one with the most memorable roadside attractions - including the giant fiberglass sculptures known as Muffler Men and Uniroyal Gals. Plus: there’s a sculpture contest this weekend at Baltimore’s American Visionary Art Museum - the Honey, I Shrunk The Kinetic Sculp...

Wearables are big right now, and while they're increasingly useful, they're also limited by the batteries they require. A new effort out of Japan has developed a way to power devices through a chemical found in human perspiration. Plus: Airo is a self-driving concept car that is not only all-electric, it has a built in filter to clean the air it drives through. No Batteries? No Sweat! Wearable Bio...

Today in 2019 a runner in the London Marathon set a world record, though it wasn’t recognized as such right away. Here's the story of Jessica Anderson, who was looking to break the world record for fastest marathon run in a nurse’s uniform. Plus: NoseID lets people scan their dogs' one-of-a-kind nose prints into their system, and if the dogs get away, someone else can scan their noses to figure ou...

It's the birthday of Ulysses S. Grant, hero of the Civil War and the only sitting president to have been arrested. Here's the story of how Grant was out speeding through Washington DC and ended up in trouble with the law. It's also the birthday of telegraph pioneer Samuel Morse, so we'll have the story of one of the cleverest uses of Morse Code in the world.  That Time A President Got In Trou...

What if we set aside a few minutes each day to enjoy discovering something new?  That’s what we do every day on Cool Weird Awesome. Join us! 

It's National Pretzel Day, so of course we're going to take a deep dive into the history of this near-perfect snack. Plus: if you're hungry for pretzels, we'll tell you about a pretzel-themed restaurant in Maryland.  The Religious History of Pretzels (Food and Wine) History of Pretzels (The Spruce Eats) The Pretzel: A Twisted History (History.com) The Pretzel-Themed Restaurant In Maryland Whe...

This week we're replaying some of our favorite shows about our favorite games. In this episode from September 2020, a research project builds a handheld device modeled on Nintendo's Game Boy that gets its power from solar panels and the energy created by pushing buttons - no batteries necessary. Plus: a programmer recreates the classic video game Doom inside an electronic pregnancy test. Technolog...

This week we're replaying some of our favorite shows about our favorite games. In this episode from July 2020, we look at how, in the 1980s, gamers without the Internet (such as it was) had to buy or borrow their games. But a few could download programs off the radio. Plus: the arrival of a comet that made some great viewing. If you missed it, you'll get another chance 6,000 years from now. ...

This week we're replaying some of our favorite shows about our favorite games. In this episode from June 2020, the FDA approves a video game-based treatment for ADHD. Plus: a school librarian in western Virginia finds a clever way to get books to her students while schools and libraries are closed. Children with ADHD can now be prescribed a video game, FDA says (CNN) Google-backed drones will drop...

This week we're replaying some of our favorite shows about our favorite games. In this episode from May 2019, we pay tribute to Ralph Baer, who invented home video games from his workshop in Manchester, New  Hampshire. The city has honored its gaming pioneer with a "Baer Square," complete with a statue, in a city park. Plus: a place called the Maritime Republic of Eastport in Annapolis holds...

This week we're replaying some of our favorite shows about our favorite games. In this episode from December 2019, we look at the history of Oregon Trail, the invention of three student teachers from Minnesota who ended up changing video game history without realizing it. Plus: a hospital in San Antonio, Texas marks the holiday season by sending all its December newborns home in  red and whit...

As automakers move toward all-electric vehicles, we're going to need a lot more batteries, only there are difficulties in getting some of the key elements. A startup called Nth cycle may have a way to help. Plus: meet a young reader who really knows how to multitask.  This new tech mines old batteries to find critical ingredients for electric vehicles (Fast Company) 5-Year-Old Indian-American...