How To Make 2,000 Year Old Seeds Sprout (Cool Weird Awesome 833)
Today in 2021, a very long wait was over. Researchers harvested three bunches of dates from trees that had sprouted from seeds over two thousand years old.
Donald Gorske Has Eaten 30,000 Big Macs And He’s Still Going (Cool Weird Awesome 773)
50 years ago today, a man named Donald Gorske ate a McDonald’s Big Mac. It was the first of over 30,000, and yes, he holds the world record for most Big Macs eaten by a single person.
Mollusk Shells Inspire An “Unbreakable” Glass (Cool Weird Awesome 630)
Glass is versatile stuff, but fragile. A new project out of McGill University is modeled after the material in mollusk shells and could make glass a lot more durable.
Ora Nichols Took Radio Sound Effects To The Next Level (Cool Weird Awesome 595)
Today is National Radio Day, so it's a good day to talk about one of the legends of old-time radio: sound effects virtuoso Ora Nichols.
How To Make Protein Powder Out Of Waste Plastic (Cool Weird Awesome 593)
It's not a direct route, but two researchers have figured out a way to take waste plastic, feed it to special bacteria, and then end up with nutritious protein powder.
Meet The Inventor Of The Christmas Card (Cool Weird Awesome 442)
In 1843, British civil servant Henry Cole wanted a way to send holiday greetings to friends, colleagues and loved ones without having to write letter after letter. And that's where commercial Christmas cards began. Plus: did you know that chili pepper plants were once considered just as festive as poinsettias?
Kissing Under A Parasite: How Mistletoe Became A Holiday Tradition (Cool Weird Awesome 441)
For centuries, mistletoe has been a symbol of holiday love, renewal and fertility. Even though it's actually a parasite that steals nutrients from trees. Plus: a poinsettia in the suburbs of Montreal has gone from half-dead to entirely huge!
The Keyboard Made From Plants (Cool Weird Awesome 439)
A Spanish tech startup called Bioo has built an installation in which plants serve as the keys of a kind of "green piano." Plus: for International Mountain Day, a look at some of the peaks with more down-to-earth names.
The Friendship Oak Is Over 500 Years Old And Still Going Strong (Cool Weird Awesome 284)
Today is Arbor Day, and so we’re going to talk about the Friendship Oak, a remarkable tree in Mississippi that just keeps on keeping on.
Checking In To The House Plant Hotel (Cool Weird Awesome 104)
The online plant store Patch is offering to take care of the house plants for you while you’re on holiday, in what it’s calling the world’s first plant hotel.