Nerd News: Color-Changing Cars & A Bird Breaks A World Record

It’s time for “Nerd News,” covering the most important news for your brain. Here’s a quick rundown of this week in science…

1.  A study found humans may have started wearing clothes over 300,000 years ago.  Simple things, like draping themselves in bearskin furs. And, as we learned two years ago today, we’re still draping ourselves with bearskin furs.

2.  Guinness announced that a bird broke a world record by flying 8,435 miles non-stop from Alaska to Australia.  It’s a type of bird called a “bar-tailed godwit” that had a tracker on.  It flew 11 straight days without stopping to eat or rest.

3.  A study on the physics of skipping stones across water found it might be fun to use round rocks sometimes.  Flat rocks will give you more skips.  But heavier, rounder stones are more likely to give you one big “mega-bounce.”

4.  And here are a few of the weirdest gadgets from the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas this week:  A toilet sensor to analyze your pee, BMW’s color changing cars (video above), a self-driving baby stroller, an oven that lets you livestream food while it cooks, a huggable, anti-anxiety pillow that “breathes” like it’s alive, and a locker that deodorizes your smelly shoes in 37 minutes.