Cool Weird Awesome With Brady Carlson

You know about the Echo and the Google Home, but do you know about the Butler In A Box? It was a voice-controlled smart home device in the 1980s, and could do many of the same things our smart speakers do today. Plus: it's the birthday of Dr. Mark Dean, a computing pioneer who helped create some of the most important technology we have, and also saw the future of technology quite a few times.  Butler In A Box (Popular Mechanics via Google Books) Magician's Versatile Box Gives New Meaning To "Butler Did It" (Deseret News) Mark Dean designed the first IBM PC while breaking racial barriers (Engadget) Maybe with help from our Patreon backers, we can stream this show on a Butler in a Box --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

People like to collect all kinds of things, but Mark Davis had a collection that even he thought was a little unusual: cassettes containing the music and announcements that Kmart stores used to play over their speaker systems, complete with announcements from "KMRT - Kmart Radio." Plus: on National Pig Day, a story about a pig in the 70s who had an unusual job.  Hear that? It's the sound of Kmart's glory days, saved from the trashcan (Detroit Free Press) Attention K-Mart Shoppers (Internet Archive) Guard Pig (Weird Universe) Attention Cool Weird Awesome shoppers, say thanks to our Patreon backers, who make the whole show possible --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

In warm months, we can open the window and let in fresh air - only that can also let in a lot of outdoor noise, too. A special sound-absorbing window design from a team at the National University of Singapore might let the air in without all the extra noise. Plus: firefighters in Medina, Ohio, rescue turtles and tortoises with some special equipment.  Novel window design reduces outdoor noise and improves ventilation (National University of Singapore) Medina Ohio Shed Fire (Medina Fire Dept.) Our backers on Patreon keep all the good episodes coming without any extra noise --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

Physarum polycephalum is pretty smart for a slime mold. It can find its way back to the places where food had previously been even though it doesn't have a nervous system. Researchers in Germany have just figured out how this organism does it. Plus: American Beatlemania may have begun in February 1964, but George Harrison made a nice, quiet trip to southern Illinois the previous fall.  A memory without a brain (Science Daily) The Charming Story of George Harrison's Vacation In Small Town America (Smithsonian) We know you're smart, so join our smart backers on Patreon to keep this show strong! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

Lasso is a prototype for an in-home recycling system. Instead of dropping your recyclables on the curb, you'd put them in the machine, to be scanned, cleaned and broken down into the raw materials that companies buy to make new cans and bottles. Plus: meet AI Art House, a site selling wall art designed by software trying to emulate some of the all time great (human) painters.  Lasso Is A Robot That Will Recycle Your Recycling At Home (designboom) Adorn Your Walls With AI-Generated Art (UrbanDaddy) Our backers on Patreon are some of the best humans there are! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

Today in 1861, President-elect Abraham Lincoln arrived in Washington, having been snuck into the city to avoid a plot against his life in Baltimore. Kate Warne, the first women detective in America, was key to getting him there safely. Plus: Alex Trebek's family has donated some of the late Jeopardy! host's suits for a very fitting cause.  Pinkerton Spy, Feminist Icon (Crimereads) The woman who helped protect Lincoln from the men who tried to kill him in 1861 (Washington Post) How Alex Trebek’s Suits Are Making A Difference (Inside Wink) Help this show make new episodes as a backer on Patreon! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

It's true, a researcher at Purdue University and her team trained four pigs on how to use a joystick and play a video game. Pigs are pretty smart, after all. Plus: if you're in need of hugs these days but aren't able to get them safely from other humans, the robot named HuggieBot 2.0 might be able to help.  Pigs show potential for ‘remarkable’ level of behavioral, mental flexibility in new study (Frontiers Science News) Soft, Human-Sized Robot Gives Excellent Hugs (Interesting Engineering) We're sending virtual hugs to all our backers on Patreon --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

This week we're replaying some of our sweetest episodes of all time. In this episode from November 2020, we marked National Candy Day, and the day after Election Day, with a visit to the back row of the U.S. Senate chamber, where, for over half a century,  senators have kept a desk drawer filled with candy to share with colleagues. Plus: in Japan, candy is also fine art, thanks to the practice of amezaiku, or sculpting molten sugar syrup. The History Of The Senate’s Sweet Candy Desk (DCist) Reviving a Centuries-Old Japanese Confectionery Art (New York Times) Backing our show on Patreon is so sweet  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

This week we're replaying some of our sweetest episodes of all time. In this episode from December 2019, researchers in Switzerland say they’ve found a way to change the color of  chocolate, and without adding any colors or dyes to it. Instead, they  use a special imprint to give it a glowing, rainbow-y patina. Plus: the annual PeepsFest is getting underway, and they're going to do a ball  drop for New Year's with a giant Peep! Making chocolate colourful (ETH Zurich) PeepsFest Happy New Year to everyone, especially our backers on Patreon! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

This week we're replaying some of our sweetest episodes of all time. In this episode from October 2019 we marked National Candy Corn Day. While no candy gets more hassle around Halloween time than candy corn, it also has its fans. I mean, someone's eating those 9 billion pieces produced each year. Plus: a haunted house in Utah with an unforgettably creepy name. The Saccharine History of Candy Corn (National Geographic) 2019 Strangling Brothers Haunted Circus (Visit Salt Lake) Backing Cool Weird Awesome on Patreon is so, so sweet --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

This week we're replaying some of our sweetest episodes of all time. In this episode from June 2019, when I was traveling to Buffalo, New York for a book event, I decided to celebrate one of the city's beloved foods: sponge candy. Meanwhile, an ice cream shop in Buffalo has done what you might expect an ice cream shop in Buffalo to do: add Buffalo sauce to the ice cream. Buffalo sponge candy (Atlas Obscura) A treat with heat: Lake Effect Ice Cream unveils wing-sauce flavor (Buffalo News) Make more Cool Weird Awesome as a backer on Patreon! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

This week we're replaying some of our sweetest episodes of all time. In this episode from April 2019, we look at Peeps, which are the stuff of candy and cultural legend. Not only are there billions of them produced, eaten and/or used in dioramas every year, there's a PeepsMobile, a converted Volkswagen Beetle with a giant yellow Peep on top, and there's PeepResearch.org - an entire website devoted to researching what happens to the candies when you mess with them. The sticky, sugary history of Peeps (Vox) Emory pair unlocks the mystery of Peeps (Emory University) RAM 10th Annual International PEEPS Art Exhibition (Racine Art Museum) --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

Today is the anniversary of the release in 1954 of the classic monster movie “Creature From The Black Lagoon.” The woman who designed the creature, Milicent Patrick, was almost forgotten, but film lovers and fans have been working to make sure her story is told. Plus: for those who find working from home isn't really working, Japan has a solution that's increasingly popular: an office-in-a-box known as a Telecube.  Movie monster maker Milicent Patrick finally gets her due in ‘The Lady From the Black Lagoon’ (Los Angeles Times) Get your work done inside Tokyo’s first convenience store private working booth (Sora News 24) The people who really make our show happen are the Cool Weird Awesome backers on Patreon! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

New research shows certain types of male butterflies can create an anti-pheromone they cover their partners in, hoping that the smelly chemical will ward off other males. Definitely not the most thoughtful Valentine's Day gift ever. Plus: data analysis shows the language people use about their relationships can predict a breakup months before it happens!  Butterflies Mark Their Mates To Repel Other Suitors (University of Cambridge) Reddit Study Reveals How Many Months It Takes To Get Over A Breakup (Inverse) We love our Patreon backers with all our hearts, so share the love today --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

Frost damage is a growing problem for fruit growers, but a team at Washington State University has developed a cellulose nanocrystal coating that can insulate the buds of grapes and cherries and keep them safe during cold snaps. Plus: a meteorologist who worked in Antarctica just got back the wallet he accidentally left there more than half a century ago.  Cellulose nanocrystals insulate crops against frost damage (Washington State University) San Diego man reunited with wallet lost in Antarctica 53 years ago (San Diego Union Tribune) Help this show grow as a backer on Patreon! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

Millions of people are wearing masks these days to protect themselves and others. And researchers in Australia have found a way to reuse those single-use, disposable masks to make new roads. Plus: it's National Pizza Day, so here's a very geometry-heavy way to slice up a pizza and still make it equal for two eaters.  Used face masks can make roads: Aust study (The West Australian)  The Pizza Theorem (Futility Closet) We'd grab a pizza with our backers on Patreon --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

Building new schools can take lots of time and money, but a new initiative has developed a construction method using 3D printing that they say can put an entire classroom together in a week or less. Plus: a new photo project is recreating great images from fine art and pop culture, but with all the people and characters replaced by hot dogs! The schools of the future can be built in less than a week (Fast Company) Pop Culture and Fine Art Recreated With Hot Dogs (Laughing Squid) We don't need to 3D print our show, but if we did, we'd probably be able to because of our backers on Patreon --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

Guitars as we know them date back to 16th century Europe, but stringed instruments have been around for even longer. And the earliest guitar-like instrument we've been able to find appears to have belonged to Har-Mose, who played for Queen Hatshepsut 3500 years ago in ancient Egypt. Plus: it's National Weatherpersons Day, and boy are we getting lots of weather at our show's HQ.  Guitar: The Instrument That Rocked The World (Visit Omaha) A Brief History of the Guitar (Science of Rock) 5 Facts About the Trickiness of Weather Forecasting (Mental Floss) Rock out with us as a Cool Weird Awesome backer on Patreon! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

It was today in 1932 that the makers of the cheese curl (or one of them, there are several origin stories) applied for a patent for their creation. Only their creation was supposed to be something entirely different. Plus: LEGO City is a bustling place, and some fans are hoping it will add bike lanes for LEGO riders.  Junk Food’s Happiest Accident (Tedium) Elmer's Cheesy History (Elmer's CheeWees) LEGO bike lanes might be on their way thanks to this idea (Designboom) This podcast and its backers on Patreon are a delicious combination --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

A new website called the Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction is taking us back through the words that have made sci-fi what it is and showing how much this genre has shaped popular culture. Plus: meet a planet that's barely orbiting a brown dwarf, some 450 light years from earth, a spot in the actual universe that seems more like science fiction.  A New Way to Trace the History of Sci-Fi’s Made-Up Words (WIRED) The Weirdest Binary: Planet and Not-a-Star Barely Orbit Each Other (Bad Astronomy) Space is the place for us and our backers on Patreon, join us! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message