Cool Weird Awesome With Brady Carlson

Researchers at the University of Washington call it a "GoPro for beetles" - a ultralight, wireless, steerable camera that can ride on the back of a bug. And it's pretty effective at letting us see what these bugs see. Plus: a new online chart tracks the vocal range of famous pop singers, by measuring the highest and lowest notes they ever sung on a recording. A GoPro for beetles: Researchers create a robotic camera backpack for insects (University of Washington) Vocal Ranges of the World's Greatest Singers (Bookofjoe) Hit the high notes as a Cool Weird Awesome backer on Patreon!  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

Change is in the air in the border region between Spain and France. A small island there called Pheasant Island is about to change countries, as it does twice a year. Plus: some enterprising race fans in Poland use construction cranes to help them get a good view of their favorite drivers even while physical distancing.  The island that switches countries every six months (BBC) Fans Rent Cranes to Watch Car Race from Outside Arena During Pandemic (Oddity Central) Start your weekend off right as a Cool Weird Awesome backer on Patreon --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

On this day in 1988, the Ostry family of Bruno, Nebraska got 328 people to lift a barn - a real, actual barn - and moved it 110 feet by hand. That's some impressive crowdsourcing. Plus: a guy invents a machine that can spot his face and lob M&Ms at it, which I'm pretty sure can win a guy a lot of friends.  Nebraska family looks back on barn moving event (WOWT) Guy Builds Machine That Shoots Chocolate into His Mouth on Command (Interesting Engineering) Backing Cool Weird Awesome on Patreon is a little bit like a barn raising, every little bit helps  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

A team of engineering students at Harvard is teaming with a startup called Savormetrics to develop a device that can tell us when avocados will be ripe. It's one step on the way to solving the costly problem of food waste. Plus: a project in Belgium called #ArtGenetics is learning about the evolution of fruits and vegetables through classic paintings.  Forestalling food waste (Harvard) Old Paintings Reveal How Fruits and Vegetables Have Evolved Over the Centuries (VICE) Becoming a Cool Weird Awesome backer on Patreon is delicious --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

Today is said to be the day in 1858 that a colonial magistrate in India began using fingerprints for identification. But that's just one part of the history of how and why our prints are such a valuable bit of biometric information today. Plus: a guy in Jamaica showed up to collect a big lottery prize in a Darth Vader costume, because why not?  How Fingerprinting Works (How Stuff Works) Jamaican Darth Vader claims $95 million lottery prize (Toronto Sun) Cool Weird Awesome's Patreon backers have their fingerprints all over this show --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

Most sports teams do promotions to get more fans into the games, but in 2002 the Charleston, S.C. RiverDogs held "Nobody Night," turning fans away at the gate to have an official attendance of zero. Plus: want to see a giant metal baseball? Drop by next time you're in Muscotah, Kansas.  RiverDogs' "Nobody Night" Promotion Recalled on Today's ESPN's "First Take" (MILB.com) Muscotah, Kansas: World's Largest Baseball (Roadside America) Knock it out of the park every day as a Cool Weird Awesome backer on Patreon --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

This week we're replaying some of our favorite outer space-themed episodes of the show. In this episode from March 2020, NASA fixes a problem with its Mars lander, essentially by telling  the lander to use a robotic arm to help itself – or, depending on the  headlines you read, to whack itself. Plus: a Wisconsin man finds a  clever way to share a beer with his neighbor in the era of social  distancing. NASA fixes Mars lander by hitting it with a shovel (CNN) NASA’s Mars InSight Lander to Push on Top of the ‘Mole’ (NASA) Social distancing the Wisconsin way: Richfield man shares a beer with his neighbor via RC car (Fox 6 Now) It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood when you’re a Cool Weird Awesome backer on Patreon! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

This week we're replaying some of our favorite outer space-themed episodes of the show. In this episode from October 2019, science brings whales and outer space together for the first time since the fourth Star Trek movie. The British Antarctic Survey partners with researchers in Chile on a way to protect whales via satellite. Plus: the story of a paraglider who manages to land smoothly  and carefully on a couch. Stranded whales detected from space (British Antarctic Survey) Parachute Landing On Couch (YouTube) Backing Cool Weird Awesome on Patreon is smooth --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

This week we're replaying some of our favorite outer space-themed episodes of the show. In this episode from January 2020, we find out that astronauts on the International Space Station baked chocolate chip cookies, only 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  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

This week we're replaying some of our favorite outer space-themed episodes of the show. In this episode from March 2020, we check out the ultimate in working remotely: sending directions beyond the reach of the sun! The way we send those commands to Voyagers 1 and 2 is pretty  basic, but with twists to make up for the extremely long distance.  Plus: ISS astronauts have been growing space veggies, and they’re pretty  good for us. How are the Voyager spacecraft able to transmit radio messages so far? (How Stuff Works) Voyager 2 Returns to Normal Operations (NASA) NASA’s Space Lettuce Is Safe And Nutritious, Paving Way For Crops On The Moon And Mars (Newsweek) Backing Cool Weird Awesome on Patreon is like taking a trip through the cosmos --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

This week we're replaying some of our favorite outer space-themed episodes of the show. In this episode from July 2019, we look back at when the BBC brought in Pink Floyd, the band known for playing space rock, to improvise on-air for its Apollo 11 coverage. Plus: it’s been 25 years since the time that  Pizza Hut produced an ad for UK television in which all the dialogue was in Klingon. My moon-landing jam session (The Guardian) 13 Minutes To The Moon (BBC) Watch this fantastic 1994 Pizza Hut TV commercial that’s entirely in Klingon (Boing Boing) And if the band you’re in starts playing different tunes, see you on the Cool Weird Awesome Patreon page! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

Vantablack is a color that's so black it absorbs almost all of the light nearby. There's new research out about a "vantafish" that does almost the same thing to avoid its hungry bioluminescent neighbors. Plus: you've heard of drive-in theaters; Paris is going to have a "float-in" theater featuring "socially distanced boats" on the Seine.  Vantablack? Meh. Meet the Ultra-Black Vantafish (Wired) Floating Movie Theater With Socially Distant Boats Set for Paris (Interesting Engineering) Back the only podcast that can make a Spinal Tap reference AND a Rebecca Black reference in its first 30 seconds! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

While county and state fairs are canceled for 2020, the 4-H group In Morris County, New Jersey, has found a way to bring the fair experience online, as a virtual fair inside the game Minecraft. Plus: Iceland wants you to send them the sounds of you screaming about this frustrating year so they can play those screams on loudspeakers.  Welcome to the Morris County (Virtual) 4-H Fair! (Rutgers) Frustrated by lockdown? Iceland offers to release your screams over loudspeaker (Irish Examiner) Being a Cool Weird Awesome backer on Patreon will make you scream with joy --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

The drone company Skydio has just announced a new 3D scanning software that’s intended for use on large-scale structures like bridges. That may help us deal with the tens of thousands of "structurally deficient" bridges in the US. Plus: ever seen a guy do a shredding guitar solo riding on a OneWheel skateboard?  Introducing Skydio 3D Scan™ (Skydio via YouTube) This guitar-playing skateboarder is warming hearts in pandemic-stricken Atlanta (CNN) You can make Cool Weird Awesome fly as a backer on Patreon! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

There was a story out of Italy where a driver got a ticket for driving 437 miles per hour. Since that's almost three times as fast as the car could legitimately go, it's believed to have been a malfunction of a local speed camera. Plus: the creations of cabinet maker Henk Verhoeff aren't malfunctioning, they're meant to be, as the artist put it, "broken and weird." Ancona: a Ford Focus caught at 703 km / h (due to the speed camera) (Autoappassionati) How do speed cameras work? (The Guardian) This Retired Cabinet Maker Goes Viral For Making Broken And Weird Furniture That Belongs In Disney Movies (Bored Panda) Speed on over to our Patreon site and join us as a backer! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

Pastries come and go, but in Brooklyn, people still talk about the blackout cake from Ebinger's, a cake so beloved that when the bakery closed, people bought up cakes, kept them in their freezers and ate them only on special occasions. Plus: it's the birthday of Erno Rubik, so maybe someday visit the Rubik's Cube-themed hotel room in Houston, Texas.  Ebinger’s Blackout Cake is Gone But Not Forgotten (Edible Brooklyn) There’s A Rubik’s Cube Hotel In Texas And It’s The Definition Of Nostalgia (Only In Your State) It would be so sweet to have you as a Cool Weird Awesome backer on Patreon --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

Our entire show is based on the idea that we might say something interesting enough that it might get you to perk up your ears, figuratively speaking. Or, as a team at Saarland University has found, maybe not so figuratively speaking. Plus: a sculpture garden in Dublin, Ohio pays tribute to ears of a different kind.  Our animal inheritance: Humans perk up their ears, too, when they hear interesting sounds (Science Daily) Field of Giant Corn Cobs (Roadside America) Keep backing Cool Weird Awesome on Patreon and we'll keep giving you great shows to hear --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

Every year in the US there are some 600,000 knee replacement surgeries. But a team at Duke University might help some people avoid those surgeries with a hydrogel that can stand in for cartilage. Plus: engineers at NIKE develop a ball that can really soar.  From The Lab, The First Cartilage-Mimicking Gel That's Strong Enough For Knees (Duke University) NIKE's new flight ball promises a 'revolution in football aerodynamics'  (designboom) Help Cool Weird Awesome keep moving forward as a backer on Patreon! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

Today we download video games online all the time. Back 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: there's a comet headed Earth's way, and it might make for some great viewing this month, or 6,000 years from now. Either one.  You Could Download Video Games From the Radio in the 1980s (Interesting Engineering) Comet NEOWISE could give skywatchers a dazzling show this month. Here's what to know. (Space.com) Cool Weird Awesome backers on Patreon have exclusive downloads that only they can get! Not even the radio has them! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

Today is believed to be the birthday of Leroy "Satchel" Paige, perhaps the most legendary pitcher baseball ever saw. Paige was a star for decades, and once pitched three scoreless innings in the major leagues at age 59. Plus: we'll visit the man who earned the world's first degree in ninja studies.  Fifty years ago, Satchel Paige pitched his last big-league game in KC ... at age 59 (Kansas City Star) Meet the Japanese man who holds the world's only master's degree in ninja studies (CNN) Joining Cool Weird Awesome's backers on Patreon is almost as fast as a Trouble Ball - almost. Nothing's as fast as a Trouble Ball.  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message