Sallie Gardner Was The Galloping Horse In The First Proto-Movie

This month in 1878, a horse named Sallie Gardner ran past a series of cameras in Palo Alto, California. The series of photos those cameras took paved the way for motion pictures.

How Google Street View Could Help Stop Invasive Weeds

A project out of the University of California - Davis uses images from a very well known navigation system to help slow the spread of invasive species.

The 1924 Olympic Men’s Cross Country Race Was Literally A Hot Mess

Today in 1924, another one of these early Olympic events that went way off the rails: a very difficult and very strange mens’ cross country race. 

By |2024-12-08T17:20:15-05:00July 12, 2023|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , |

Don Karkos Regained Sight In His Right Eye After A Horse Headbutted Him

It was around this time in 2006 that a Navy veteran named Don Karkos got headbutted by a horse… and it turned out great!

By |2024-12-08T17:21:16-05:00December 13, 2022|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , |

A Wristband Can Help Keep Firefighters Healthy

Firefighting is dangerous work, in part because of the exposure to dangerous chemicals. Researchers are learning more about those exposures thanks to a simple silicone wristband.

By |2024-12-02T08:18:29-05:00June 7, 2022|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , |

The Pack Horse Librarians Brought Books To Readers In Remote Places

National Library Week is here, so it’s a good time to tell the story of librarians who traveled through eastern Kentucky during the Great Depression on horses and mules carrying books and magazines in saddlebags.

By |2024-12-02T08:40:51-05:00April 5, 2022|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , |

Clever Hans, The Horse That “Solved” Math Problems

Back about 120 or so years ago, in Berlin, Germany, you might have encountered a strange sight: a man named Wilhelm Von Osten asking math questions of a horse named Clever Hans. Was the horse actually solving the problems, or was something else at work? 

By |2024-12-08T17:22:02-05:00December 13, 2021|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , |

Dogs Are Saving Citrus Orchards From Disease

Orchards in the US and elsewhere have been trying to head off a disease called citrus greening. Research shows that dogs can sniff out this disease better and more quickly than any other method we have.

By |2024-12-15T15:55:37-05:00February 12, 2020|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , |
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