The scientific benefits of going for regular walks, and some tips for incorporating more walks into your life. The town in Florida whose water was almost poisoned when a nefarious individual hacked into their water supply. The researchers hoping to recycle face masks as roads. And a pandemic-themed spec script roundup. Sponsors: Lightstream, Get a special interest rate discount at lightstream.com/kottke Fitbod, Get 25% off a membership when you sign up now through 2/28 at Fitbod.me/kottke Links:...
Feb 09, 2021•18 min
How the Royal Shakespeare Company is using live motion capture to animate a virtual show in real time. A case study of a California town who has this whole pandemic response thing down. A 3D printed house has hit the market on Long Island. And there’s actually still more to say about Four Seasons Total Landscaping? Plus some related recommendations. Sponsors: Fitbod, Get 25% off a membership when you sign up now through 2/28 at Fitbod.me/kottke Lightstream, Get a special interest rate discount a...
Feb 08, 2021•19 min
How learning to juggle is the perfect example of what happens to your brain when you learn a new skill. A new literary version of Street Fighter II. Why Burger King France is handing out free potatoes. And, following on yesterday’s story about the fetus album, a three-year-old has written a completely delightful new album with her dad. Sponsors: Indeed, Get a free $75 credit at Indeed.com/GOODNEWS OurCrowd, ourcrowd.com/kottke Links: Here’s What Learning to Juggle Does to Your Brain (Wired) STRE...
Feb 05, 2021•17 min
We were bracing for a flu and COVID double whammy of a winter, but it never came. What happened? An intriguing new community initiative taking off in Europe to help prevent the mounting problem of electronic waste. And have you heard of fetuscore? Ok, it’s not a thing yet. But it may be soon because there’s a new album coming out that was recorded by a baby before she was born. Sponsors: OurCrowd, ourcrowd.com/kottke Indeed, Get a free $75 credit at Indeed.com/GOODNEWS Links: The Pandemic Broke ...
Feb 04, 2021•19 min
What causes ice ages? The science behind your frying pan. You know, the one that’s supposed to be non-stick but isn’t. Scientists explain why. Other scientists have engineered spinach to send emails. Sort of. And did you hear about the Hollyboob prank? If not, or if you supremely don’t care, it may say more about our current relationship to viral stunts than the stunt in question. Sponsors: Indeed, Get a free $75 credit at Indeed.com/GOODNEWS OurCrowd, ourcrowd.com/kottke Links: Ice Ages: What C...
Feb 03, 2021•19 min
How a 1970s seat belt crash test and the animated movie Frozen helped potentially solve the 62-year-old Dyatlov Pass mystery. A fascinating correction to something I said yesterday about Langston Hughes. And remembering Captain Sir Tom Moore. Sponsors: OurCrowd, ourcrowd.com/kottke Indeed, Get a free $75 credit at Indeed.com/GOODNEWS Links: Has science solved one of history’s greatest adventure mysteries? (National Geographic) 9 Russian Adventurers Mysteriously Froze to Death. A New Theory Expla...
Feb 02, 2021•18 min
Sharing some thoughts from Langston Hughes on this first day of Black History Month, and questioning what makes someone a hero in our history books. Plus, the discovery of a new blue pigment. And all the Mars news for February. Sponsors: Indeed, Get a free $75 credit at Indeed.com/GOODNEWS OurCrowd, ourcrowd.com/kottke Links: We Are the American Heartbreak: Langston Hughes on Race in a Rare Recording (Brain Pickings) Langston Hughes Reads Langston Hughes (Open Culture) How We Celebrate Black Her...
Feb 01, 2021•19 min
What did everyday Romans in Pompeii eat? An archaeologist has tried to reconstruct their meals. Merriam-Webster has added 520 new words to the dictionary. How do they decide which words get added? And a sci-fi dictionary to explore this weekend. Plus, Spotify wants to try to guess your music taste based on the tone of your voice. Sponsors: Audible, audible.com/kottke or text kottke to 500-500 to start your 30-day free trial The Jordan Harbinger Show, jordanharbinger.com/subscribe Links: Reconstr...
Jan 29, 2021•18 min
The mathematics of knitting. How France is trying to legally protect smells. A cautionary tale that will inspire you to go check on your office building if you’ve been working from home and no one’s done that for a few months. And a horrifying new product from Kraft Mac and Cheese. Sponsors: The Jordan Harbinger Show, jordanharbinger.com/subscribe Audible, audible.com/kottke or text kottke to 500-500 to start your 30-day free trial Links: How one physicist is unraveling the mathematics of knitti...
Jan 28, 2021•18 min
A brief dip into the GameStop Wall Street mayhem. A new water-is-wet kind of study proving that money indeed can buy you happiness. And the story of some students who just found out their new professor this semester has been dead for two years. Sponsors: Audible, audible.com/kottke or text kottke to 500-500 to start your 30-day free trial The Jordan Harbinger Show, jordanharbinger.com/subscribe Links: How GameStop found itself at the center of a groundbreaking battle between Wall Street and smal...
Jan 27, 2021•17 min
New DNA analysis upends some long held assumptions about the evolutionary background of dire wolves. How Adobe Flash broke an entire railway system. Astronomers have discovered a sextuply-eclipsing sextuple star system. Say that six times fast… And the definitive Werner Herzog interview on… skateboarding. Sponsors: The Jordan Harbinger Show, jordanharbinger.com/subscribe Audible, audible.com/kottke or text kottke to 500-500 to start your 30-day free trial Links: Dire Wolves Were Not Really Wolve...
Jan 26, 2021•18 min
The word “robot” was coined one hundred years ago today in a play about robots taking over the world. Good thing that hasn’t happened yet! ...right? The story behind the moon rock in President Biden’s newly redesigned Oval Office. And the first-known tyrannosaur embryo fossils have been found, shedding new light on the T-Rex’s cousins. Sponsors: Audible, audible.com/kottke or text kottke to 500-500 to start your 30-day free trial The Jordan Harbinger Show, jordanharbinger.com/subscribe Links: On...
Jan 25, 2021•18 min
NASA trained an AI to detect craters on Mars. A possible discovery of giant prehistoric carnivorous worms. A new Swedish practice to adopt. And a mobile site that will match you with your film critic soulmate. Sponsors: NordVPN, Get 68% off a two-year plan plus an additional free month––at nordvpn.com/kottke or use coupon KOTTKE Links: NASA Is Training an AI to Detect Fresh Craters on Mars (Wired) Researchers Say They've Found Ancient Dens of Giant Carnivorous Worms (Gizmodo) Is This a Fossilize...
Jan 22, 2021•17 min
Recharge Rooms are helping frontline healthcare workers cope with the continued toll the pandemic is taking on their well-being. How bats are helping scientists create better biologging instruments and the discoveries being made with the technology. The nonprofit working on a coast-to-coast, entirely off-road bike trail across the US. And the inevitable generator that transports Senator Bernie Sanders and his folding chair anywhere in the world. Sponsor: NordVPN, Get 68% off a two-year plan plus...
Jan 21, 2021•17 min
New findings into the cannibalism and sheer size of baby megalodons. Teaching AIs to become our teachers. And The Great Gatsby has only been in the public domain for twenty days and things are already getting weird. Sponsor: NordVPN, Get 68% off a two-year plan plus an additional free month––at nordvpn.com/kottke or use coupon KOTTKE Links: Baby Megalodons Were 6-Foot-Long Womb Cannibals, Study Suggests (NY Times) AI can solve Rubik's cube—and tell us how it did it. (Fast Company) Vampire Great ...
Jan 20, 2021•17 min
A synthetic cornea implant has successfully helped a legally blind man regain his sight. Team USA and Team Canada women’s hockey players can’t stop falling in love and living happily ever after together. And a deep dive into the briny waters of the sea shanty trend––how it started, some standout covers, why the trend has taken off, and if we should even care. Sponsors: NordVPN, Get 68% off a two-year plan plus an additional free month––at nordvpn.com/kottke or use coupon KOTTKE Fundrise, Get sta...
Jan 19, 2021•19 min
Several of the women who influenced Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and left their own marks on the civil rights movement. A new documentary tracking the FBI’s surveillance of Martin Luther King Jr. and other prominent Black activists, using documentation recently released by the National Archives. And a run-down of the many ways this week’s US Presidential Inauguration will differ from years past. Sponsors: Fundrise, Get started today at fundrise.com/kottke NordVPN, Get 68% off a two-year plan plus ...
Jan 18, 2021•19 min
A couple of stories for the birds today. First, ravens at the Tower of London are living up to their collective name of a conspiracy of ravens by possibly foretelling the fall of Britain. And a pigeon in Australia who was almost sentenced to death by government officials. Plus, the many ways in which Wikipedia is like an MMORPG. And, because I know we all want to relive it so badly, introducing 2020: The Game. Sponsors: Fitbod, Get 25% off a membership when you sign up now through 2/28 at Fitbod...
Jan 15, 2021•18 min
The workaround the Unicode Consortium used to make sure we still get new emojis in 2021, pandemic or not. Facial hair is biologically useless. So why do some humans have it? And the SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule returning this evening will be carrying on it a case of twelve unopened bottles of red wine. But why? Sponsors: Skillshare, Get a free trial of Premium Membership at skillshare.com/kottke Fitbod, Get 25% off a membership when you sign up now through 2/28 at Fitbod.me/kottke Links: The Emoj...
Jan 14, 2021•18 min
Pablo Escobar’s pet hippos have multiplied and are ravaging part of Colombia’s capital. An AI that can create very impressive and artistic images from text commands. Maybe a little too impressive. And a discovery in England this week that could’ve been way worse. Sponsors: Fitbod, Get 25% off a membership when you sign up now through 2/28 at Fitbod.me/kottke Skillshare, Get a free trial of Premium Membership at skillshare.com/kottke Links: Pablo Escobar's hippos are the world's largest invasive ...
Jan 13, 2021•15 min
The sixteenth-century manual on containing the spread of disease that is eerily reminiscent of current COVID guidelines. Bitcoin millionaires who can’t access their digital wallets due to forgotten passwords. And the guy whose massive beer collection is playing an important role in archaeological studies. Sponsors: Skillshare, get a free trial of Premium Membership at skillshare.com/kottke Fitbod, Get 25% off a membership when you sign up now through 2/28 at Fitbod.me/kottke Links: The 432-year-...
Jan 12, 2021•15 min
It’s time for two writers to pay up on a 25-year-old bet about whether tech would destroy civilization. Tim Berners-Lee’s new quest to transform the web into the one he envisioned when he created it. How the most recent COVID-19 Stimulus Bill created a new National Park––and also may reveal previously classified government research on UFOs? Sponsors: Fitbod, Get 25% off a membership when you sign up now through 2/28 at Fitbod.me/kottke Skillshare, get a free trial of Premium Membership at skills...
Jan 11, 2021•16 min
What folklorists can teach us about the structure and resilience of conspiracy theories. The genome of the platypus has been sequenced, and it’s just as weird as you’d expect. And a Swedish film festival that’s sending one person to an abandoned lighthouse on a remote island for a weeklong stay without any human contact or outside communication. Sponsors: Magic Spoon, Save $5 at magicspoon.com/kottke and use code KOTTKE NordVPN, Get 68% off plus an additional free month––at nordvpn.com/kottke or...
Jan 08, 2021•16 min
A prototype for self-repairing planetary exploration robots made of ice. The surprising history of the word “dude.” And a new Danish children’s cartoon about the misadventures of a man with a huge dong. Yep. Sponsors: NordVPN, Get 68% off plus an additional free month––at nordvpn.com/kottke or use coupon KOTTKE Magic Spoon, Save $5 at magicspoon.com/kottke and use code KOTTKE Links: Robots Made of Ice Could Build and Repair Themselves on Other Planets (IEEE) The surprising history of the word ‘d...
Jan 07, 2021•17 min
Space missions to keep your eye on in 2021. How satellites built to spy on the Soviets have helped unravel environmental mysteries. Why the dark ages aren’t considered so dark anymore. And a completely perplexing auction from David Hasselhoff and his 14 foot replica doll. Sponsors: Magic Spoon, Save $5 at magicspoon.com/kottke and use code KOTTKE NordVPN, Get 68% off plus an additional free month––at nordvpn.com/kottke or use coupon KOTTKE Links: Six space missions to look forward to in 2021 (Th...
Jan 06, 2021•17 min
People who are choosing to be surveilled by strangers and productivity nannies in order to stay on task while remote working. A 3D-printed hydrogel inspired by cephalopods that changes shape when exposed to light. And UK officials have arguably messed up a commemorative coin, again. Sponsors: NordVPN, Get 68% off plus an additional free month––at nordvpn.com/kottke or use coupon KOTTKE Magic Spoon, Save $5 at magicspoon.com/kottke and use code KOTTKE Links: People are hiring productivity nannies...
Jan 05, 2021•16 min
What “time confetti” is and how to stop spreading it everywhere. A new development in the teleportation of information that means good things for the possibility of quantum internet. And how TikTokers raised a million dollars for The Actors Fund over the weekend with a crowd-sourced fan-created musical, inspired by Ratatouille . Sponsors: Magic Spoon, Save $5 at magicspoon.com/kottke and use code KOTTKE NordVPN, Get 68% off plus FOUR additional free months––at nordvpn.com/kottke or use coupon KO...
Jan 04, 2021•18 min
Why talking out loud to yourself is actually an important cognitive skill, or so I’m telling myself. A new population of blue whales with a distinct song was recently discovered in the Indian Ocean. And a new AI that will hilariously and viciously judge your taste in music. Sponsors: Skillshare, get a free trial of Premium Membership at skillshare.com/kottke The Jordan Harbinger Show, jordanharbinger.com/subscribe Links: Talking out loud to yourself is a technology for thinking (Psyche) A New Po...
Dec 30, 2020•20 min
How is it that humans figured out how to read? New cosmological findings that may finally solve the Hubble tension. And, more monoliths continue to pop up, a look at two of the more interesting ones from this past week. Sponsors: Skillshare, get a free trial of Premium Membership at skillshare.com/kottke BitTrust IRA, Waive your signup fee BitTrustIRA.com/kottke Links: Reading, That Strange and Uniquely Human Thing (Nautilus) Language is a tool, a technology (NomeDaBarbarian, Twitter) Astronomer...
Dec 29, 2020•15 min
How your brain takes out the trash while you sleep. The English man who crossed the Alps on a space hopper. And a subreddit where over half a million people pretend our world is just one big MMORPG. Sponsors: BitTrust IRA, Waive your signup fee BitTrustIRA.com/kottke Skillshare, get a free trial of Premium Membership at skillshare.com/kottke Links: Deep sleep drives brain fluid oscillations (Science) During deep sleep, the brain does housekeeping (Reuters) Brain pumps comment (Christopher Mims, ...
Dec 28, 2020•16 min
