Cool Weird Awesome With Brady Carlson

The event has been cancelled for 2021, but this was supposed to be the time when some adventurous types headed to Switzerland to take part in a race like no other: a run up a world record staircase known as the Niesen Stairway Run. Plus: a lot of us have been doing video calls and meetings more than ever, but the technology isn't totally new. In fact, Sony made a video phone back in the late 1980s!  Niesen flight of stairs (Niesen) Video phone (Techmoan on YouTube) Our Patreon backers always help us reach new heights --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

The National Geographic Society has recognized a fifth ocean, the Southern Ocean, on earth. How the oceans got their names - and why we don't think of them as one big ocean, which is what it is - is a long and fascinating story. Plus: a designer in South Korea has invented a "third eye" to warn people looking at their phones while walking before they collide with someone or something (or, maybe, to get them to look up more often).  How many oceans are there? (NOAA) Dividing the Ocean Sea by Martin W. Lewis (Geographical Review via JSTOR)  National Geographic recognizes new, 5th ocean (WFLA) A Wearable Robotic Third Eye That Alerts People to Look Up From Their Phones to Avoid Obstacles (Laughing Squid) We'd sail on any of the oceans with our Patreon backers --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

We use a lot of energy to ship goods, but it's not always very efficient. With pasta, for example, most of what we're shipping is the air in the box. So a team at Carnegie Mellon University found a way to make flat-packed pasta that changes shape as it cooks. Plus: the New York Times briefly published a story that claimed "Fields of Watermelon Found on Mars, Police Say." It was almost certainly a test page, but still, maybe the Mars rover should do a quick check.  Mighty morphin’ flat-packed pasta takes on 3D shapes as it cooks (Ars Technica) New York Times Publishes Then Deletes Article Claiming Watermelons Were Found on Mars (Futurism) Our Patreon backers keep this show in great shape every day --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

Today would have been the 93rd birthday of the great actor and comedian Jerry Stiller. He was perhaps best known for playing the overbearing and incomprehensible loudmouth dad Frank Costanza on "Seinfeld," but according to his real-life kids, he was a pretty nice dad. Plus: a new textile exhibit in New York uses fragrances to evoke the artist's childhood in Bangalore, India.  How Ben Stiller Will Remember His Father (The New Yorker) Ben Stiller shares sweet childhood story about Jerry Stiller trying to catch a bike thief (Yahoo) Thread Infused with Scent Embellishes Embroidered and Woven Textiles to Stimulate Memories (Colossal) Our Patreon backers are extra nice too!  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

The 1934 US Open was a prestigious but kind of strange golf tournament. The guy who won it, Olin Dutra, was sick as a dog the whole time. And another top player reportedly knocked himself out of contention after accidentally hitting himself in the head with a club.  Bobby Cruickshank - the war hero who became one of Scottish golf's nearly men in United States (The Scotsman) Olin Dutra overcomes bout of food poisoning to win by one stroke over Sarazen at Merion (U.S. Golf Association) Our Patreon backers always help us reach the green --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

In the old days, tennis balls were white, but when documentary film legend David Attenborough pushed the BBC to carry the Wimbledon tournament in color, the tennis world realized those balls weren't showing up very well for home viewers. Plus: the community of Fitzgerald, Georgia is hoping to attract tourists with - what else - a giant steel topiary chicken.  The reason tennis balls are yellow -- or maybe green (CNN) 'New balls, please' for mice homes (BBC) ‘This is not a model kit’: 62 ft. Fitzgerald chicken starts to take form (WALB) Support our show as a backer on Patreon for just $1 a month! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

Today in 1769 Captain James Cook and his crew observed the transit of Venus from Tahiti, a big deal for astronomers then; only his French colleague Guillaume Le Gentil had spent years preparing to do the exact same thing, and had much worse luck on his expedition. Plus: for World Bicycle Day, a visit to a giant bicycle sculpture in South Dakota.  Transit of Venus: a tale of two expeditions (The Conversation) 7 Strange Spots In South Dakota That Will Make You Stop And Look Twice (Only in South Dakota) Everywhere we go, whatever we do, our Patreon backers go with us --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

Sometimes it’s not just what you’re communicating, it’s how you communicate it. Pausing for effect can help get your point across. Humans know this, but according to researchers, so do some kinds of fish. Plus: a sculpture made only of "air and spirit" sells for 15,000 Euros. That's definitely not nothing.  Electric fish -- and humans -- pause before communicating key points (Washington University in St. Louis) The Invisible statues of Salvatore Garau (Weird Universe) Power this show as a backer on Patreon! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

If you know the story of the Loch Ness Monster, the story of the Ogopogo in Canada's British Columbia might sound familiar. But there's a whole other side to this story that comes from the Okanagan/syilx people, who first lived in the area. Plus: a town in Lithuania built a real-time video "portal" to a town in Poland, so they could see each other even when they couldn't travel.  Canada's mysterious lake monster (BBC) ‘Pretty creepy’: Okanagan man believes he’s captured ‘definitive Ogopogo sighting’ on video (GlobalNews) Vilnius, Lithuania built a ‘portal’ to another city to help keep people connected (The Verge) Join our backers on Patreon and help make new episodes of our show! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

In our Memorial Day episode from 2019, we look at the many places with Memorial Day origin stories. Officially, the community that started Memorial Day is Waterloo, New York, but it's not the only one.  How Waterloo, NY, became the birthplace of Memorial Day (New York Upstate) Birthplace of Memorial Day? That Depends Where You’re From (New York Times) Memorial Day History (VA.gov) --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

DARPA’s Information Innovation Office and researchers at the University of Central Florida taught a deep learning algorithm to spot sarcasm by feeding it back articles of The Onion and snarky threads from Twitter and Reddit. I'm so excited. Plus: it's National Road Trip Day, how about a visit to a town with a very road trip friendly name?  Big Whoop: DARPA Makes Oh-So-Clever Online Sarcasm Detector (Interesting Engineering) These 8 Kansas Towns Have The Silliest Names But Are So Worth A Visit (Only in Kansas) No snark to detect when we say our Patreon backers are the best --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

On the anniversary of the opening of San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge, here's the story of another one of the city's icons: Norton I, a man who proclaimed himself emperor of the United States and people went along with it. Plus: a Chinese millionaire has bought a soccer team and has added himself to the roster, and people are going along with it.  Emperor Norton I (American Heritage) The truth about Chinese football club owner’s 126kg son viral story (South China Morning Post) Our Patreon backers make our show feel like royalty!  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

Today in 1977, Marvel Comics publishes a KISS Super Special - and what was really unusual was that the band members had each added a little of their blood into the ink. Plus: a fire-breathing pipe organ that wouldn't be at all out of place at a KISS concert.  Did KISS Mix Their Blood in the Ink of Their Comic Book? (Snopes) Flamethrower Pipe Organ (The Awesomer) We wanted the best, we got the best - our Patreon backers --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

Today in 1977, "Star Wars" premiered in movie theaters, and became a movie, pop culture and merchandising phenomenon. But how is it that, in one scene, an Imperial Stormtrooper walks helmet-first into an overhead door? Plus: in Kent, Ohio, there's a restaurant with a large-scale replica of an X-wing fighter out front. If you visit, stay on target!  ‘Star Wars’ Head-Banging Stormtrooper Explains the Classic Blunder (Hollywood Reporter) STAR WARS Book Explains Why that Stormtrooper Hit His Head in A NEW HOPE (Nerdist) The Quirkiest Restaurant In Ohio That’s Impossible Not To Love (Only In Your State) The Force is strong in our Patreon backers  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

In northwestern Russia, on the Kola Peninsula, there's a metal cap covering a hole that scientists dug 7.5 miles down. Here's the story of the Kola Superdeep Borehole project. Plus, a classic rock band finds out what it's like to be in the financial hole, on a resource-intensive US tour.  Beneath this Metal Cap is the World's Deepest Hole (Slate) Greg Lake (The Times) Our Patreon backers are really, really deep, man  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

Next week many of us will be watching for the Super Blood Moon, which is actually three moon phenomena all happening at the same time, thus earning its memorable and maybe kind of terrifying nickname. Plus: this month marks 20 years since the world’s first pizza delivery in space. The Largest and Brightest Supermoon of the Year Is Happening This Month (Travel + Leisure) Pizza sets new delivery record (BBC) Our Patreon backers are even more super than a Supermoon --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

Time is a funny thing, and measuring time can get pretty wild too. The proof is a study out of the UK that finds clocks that use more energy, and give off more heat, are also more accurate. Plus: a book of photos by Rumi Ando showcases Tokyo, but with its signs, cables, doors and windows removed.  Clocks that tell time more accurately use more energy – new research (The Conversation) Yes, This Tokyo Photographer’s Candy-Colored Cityscapes Should Make You Feel Unsettled (Dwell) It doesn't take much time to join our highly accurate backers on Patreon! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

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 dreams' weirdness might be why we have them, argues new AI-inspired theory of dreaming (Science Daily) A new book documenting the toilets of the Alps. (Present and Correct) Knowing our Patreon backers is a dream come true --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

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 fuel in an hour (Washington State University) Teen’s Service Dog Gets Photo In Yearbook Because He’s A Very Good Boy (Huffington Post) Our Patreon backers keep us fresh every day, join them!  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

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 (Mel Magazine) The surprising and horrifying backstory behind Charles Entertainment Cheese (Insider) Funeral of Hiram Cronk (Library of Congress) --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message