RoboTalk: Fresh It Up: Recent Episodes
Jocelyn Yan
Do you know why cats always bring dead animals to your doorstep, or why the scratching sound cause you goosebumps? Have you heard that Russia is holding a real Hunger Games, and UK scientists brought a pancake into the universe?
With RoboTalk, no anecdote can escape your ears! Listen to daily updated stories and discover a world you never heard of.
All stories from this podcast are selected from the Internet and transformed from text to audio either by Amazon’s Polly service or Microsoft’s cognitive services.
Great News! Right now you can add RoboTalk to your Amazon Echo, and have Alexa play the newest episode for you using voice commend. Start using this feature by simply searching "RoboTalk" on your echo app and adding it to your skills.
This podcast is designed for individual interests exchange. Please contact us at wodewuyue@gmail.com for any concern or feedback.
"This New Hyper-Flexible Touchscreen Means Your Next Phone Could Bend and Stretch", Written and Published by Peter Dockrill, on March 18th, 2017, on Science Alert. This article was transformed from text to audio by Amazon's Polly service.
"Galapagos penguin 'teenagers' still beg their parents for food, and they oblige— when there’s a lot of food", Written and Published by Elena Motivans, on March 17th, 2017, on ZME Science. This article was transformed from text to audio by Amazon's Polly service.
"'Mona Lisa' Is Smiling, Really", Written and Published by Laura Geggel, on March 15th, 2017, on LiveScience. This article was transformed from text to audio by Amazon's Polly service.
"Your Brain Plays a Cool Trick to Help You Hear in Noisy Places", Written and Published by "Cari Romm", on "March 14th, 2017", on "New York Magazine". This article was transformed from text to audio by Amazon's Polly service.
"Maths—why many great discoveries would be impossible without it", Written and Published by "Gabriel Lord", on "March 10th, 2017", on "Phys.org". This article was transformed from text to audio by Amazon's Polly service.
"Your Dog’s Not Above Lying to You to Get a Snack", Written and Published by "Cari Romm", on "March 15th, 2017", on "New York Magazine". This article was transformed from text to audio by Amazon's Polly service.
"BALD GUYS ARE SEEN AS SMART, DOMINANT, AND JUST PLAIN SEXY, NEW STUDY SAYS", Written and Published by "Zeynep Yenisey", on "February 1st, 2017", on "Maxim". This article was transformed from text to audio by Amazon's Polly service.
"A sommelier explains why you should buy the cheapest bottle on the wine list", Written and Published by "Libby Kane", on "March 11th, 2017", on "Independent". This article was transformed from text to audio by Amazon's Polly service.
Swearing, drinking and staying up late could all mean you're actually cleverer than most
Maybe you thought the apocalypse would come from a nuclear war or climate change or revolting sentient robots or something. But after reading about a strange new humpback whale behavior, you might want to add a cetacean coup to your list.
The English language contains an alphabet soup of swear words. Those of a sweary disposition can draw upon the A-word, the B-word, the C-word, the F-word, the S-word, the W-word and many more. So here's a puzzle - if you see the F-word spelled out with all four letters, are you more offended than when you read F with asterisks?
I realized I wasn’t buying into reading because I had made it difficult to access it. My reading light was in a bad position where I couldn’t comfortably reach the switch from my bed. I would have to get up out of bed to turn it on or off. Also, my bed was too tall and against a window sill so I couldn’t prop myself up when I didn’t feel like holding a book above my head. And worst of all, I had a giant TV in my room. Why read when I can fall asleep to Bob’s Burgers every night instead?
When calling in sick just won't do, a couple men took ditching work to a whole new level.
According to a new school policy, students can specify how they want to be referred to starting at age 16, and everyone in the school will respect that.
Do beautiful people earn more while those who are not so gorgeous are paid less? It's not as simple as that, according to new research. People's salaries are influenced by more than just physical attractiveness, and individual differences count too.
Just remember: no matter the circumstances of the split, your dog is always firmly on your team.
It's less about you being a jokester than about finding a style of humor that makes you both laugh.
Something to think about next time you want to give your dog a hug: They might be a little more receptive if you crank up the speakers first.
Engineers meet is taking on a new flavor, as an entrepreneur aims to help people to make animal-free meat at home, like brewing beer, by sharing cell cultures.
"What he is doing can last a lifetime. He can do a lot more than I did, as far as inspring people."
Erica House, a mother-of-six from Detriot Michigan, proudly supported her daughter Corey after she revealed she was a transgender girl. A year after she was surprised Corey with her first estrogen prescription, Erica is living as a man named Eric. Eric said his husband Les and their children have been completely supportive of him and his transition. The father has been taking testosterone since February, and he hopes to have tops surgery to remove his breasts next month.
"Building a house.was the most difficult challenge we ever faced," said Brookins, "and so was rebuilding our family amid the trauma of abuse"
In one experiment, just telling a man he would be observed by a female was enough to hurt his psychological performance.
Looking at skinny people can help you consume less food. Sounds like a easier way for diet!
Every holidays season for the past six years, Jim Glaub and Dylan Parker receive hundreds of letters to Santa Claus at their New York apartment.
After being told that horses were to expensive to ride on, Sarah Simpson happily chose an alternative, cow.
2016 has been a sad year for us. Many talented people unfortunately left us this year. We created this audio clip in rememberance of those who had made a great memory for us. Thank them all for being a part of our lives. 2016 may be gone soon, but the people will always be remembered. (Note these people are not the only talented ones who left us this year, there are many more of them to be remembered.)
Here's the list of people whose voices appeared in this clip:
-
Background Music - Space Oddity by David Bowie
-
Pat Harrington Jr, One Day At A Time
- Alan Rickman, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
- Abe Vigoda, The Godfather
- Harper Lee, Author of To Kill a Mockingbird
- Tony Burton, Rocky
- Gene Wilder, Start the Revolution Without Me
- Hugh O' Brian, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp
- Noel Neill, Superman
- Bernard Fox, Bewitched
- Carrie Fisher, Star Wars
-
Debbie Reynolds, Singing in the Rain
-
Ending Song - Heroes by David Bowie
When everyone thought this Reddit discussion may just be an usual conversation about working at Disney, a story of a real magical moment in life made everyone teared up. Hope this magical moment can also touch your heart and brighten your day.
Do you know Nutella can also be used for hair dye? Oh well... we just might finish all of it before we even give it a try just because Nutella is DELICIOUS.
Feeling like those vacation days aren't enough for you? Most people don't even use all of them as they need to "stay busy".
Real Hunger Games- and you can even send gifts to your favorite contestant, just like what they did in the movie!
Who doesn't love a Christmas tree that's actually made by a pile of Christmas presents?
The first thing you see after you wake up in the morning is a dead bird? Don't panic, your cat is just pitying you.
The creator of the most famous Chinese dish- General Tso's Chicken, has passed away on Nov 30th.