Cheddar
From Cheddar. Maybe the biggest constraint on the urban U.S. housing market, a $61 billion annual industry, is the amount of available space. In response, developers and architects have been searching for creative solutions to zoning regulations. What started as a creative solution is now the standard blueprint for all modern apartment construction. Cheddar explains…
From Cheddar. Throughout the 1900s hospitals incorporated new technology, advanced medicine, and now standard practices aimed at improving the condition of hospitalized patients. But one thing was overlooked: design. Today, research has emerged that suggest the widely accepted hospital layout is actually hindering patient outcomes. Further reading: Smithsonian Mag https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/when-fresh-air-went-out-fashion-hospitals-180963710/ Cleveland.com https://www.cleveland.com/healthfit/2010/09/blueprint_for_healing_–_hospi.html WHO https://www.who.int/gpsc/country_work/gpsc_ccisc_fact_sheet_en.pdf NY…
From Cheddar. The U.S. has always lagged behind more than two dozen countries in building anything resembling high-speed rail. Many hope that part of Biden’s latest $2 trillion infrastructure plan would help fund construction for a decades-old proposal for a 200 mph high-speed line that could take passengers from Boston to New York City in…
From Cheddar. Barcodes have radically changed the world, helping fuel the rise of everything from massive companies like Walmart to major world powers like China. And it all started with a man daydreaming on a beach in 1949. This is The Lightbulb Moment. A Cheddar and CuriosityStream Original Series. The show that uncovers the surprising…
From Cheddar. There’s no visual difference between American chocolate and European chocolate – but there’s definitely a taste difference. Cheddar explains the scientific reason why American chocolate tastes “sour” to European consumers. Further reading: The Irish Times https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/food-and-drink/what-s-really-inside-your-bar-of-cadbury-dairy-milk-1.3535947 Business Insider https://www.businessinsider.com/why-british-and-american-chocolate-taste-different-2015-1 NY Times https://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/11/dining/11cand.html?oref=login&_r=0 BBC http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-31924912 Subscribe to Cheddar on YouTube: http://chdr.tv/subscribe Connect with Cheddar!…
From Cheddar. In 1841 on the small island of Réunion, a 12-year-old slave did something no one had been able to do before; artificially pollinate the vanilla plant. The vanilla bean took the world by storm, sparking the artificial flavor revolution and changing the way we eat forever. This is The Lightbulb Moment. A Cheddar…
From Cheddar. There’s an expensive and time-consuming fad sweeping America’s ports: dredging. This is the process by which ports dig up the bottoms of their channels, either to maintain depth or go even deeper. In the last 5-10 years, dredging has taken ports by storm. To take just two examples: the Port of Boston recently…
From Cheddar. In 2007, a group of Facebook engineers introduced “the awesome button” to their boss, Mark Zuckerberg. Although he didn’t agree with it at the time, the awesome button, later dubbed the like button, would soon become integral to Facebook’s business model. But the consequences of this seemingly simple widget stretched beyond Facebook, changing…
From Cheddar. You’ve heard of Ratatouille…but have you heard of Ratatoing? What about Little Bee, Metal Man, Atlantic Rim, or Snakes On a Train? The mockbuster is a slightly ripped off versions of tentpole films that are strategically released within days of the actual blockbusters release. And while that sounds like a lawsuit waiting to…
From Cheddar. The early days of online video were plagued by low resolution, stamp-sized video, and unbearable buffering times. But one day that all changed. In the late 90s one breakthrough technology revolutionized streaming video, setting the foundation for the era of Netflix. This is The Lightbulb Moment. A Cheddar and CuriosityStream Original Series. The…
From Cheddar. You can’t separate classic New York City architecture from the fire escape. They’re all over. You’ve also seen them in classic movies like West Side Story. And if you live in an apartment with one, you essentially have 6 square feet of free balcony. But this iconic aspect of the New York aesthetic…
From Cheddar. Dwight Eisenhower’s interstate system was the biggest infrastructure project of its time. But what justified this cost was its potential to connect all corners of America, boosting the post-war economy. However, the unforeseen impacts of the highway system seemed to do the opposite of its creator’s intention. This is The Lightbulb Moment. A…
From Cheddar. There are a few certainties in life, death, taxes, and seemingly always choosing the slowest checkout line at the supermarket. Waiting in line sucks. But lately, supermarkets are switching to a new type of line and that line is much longer. However according to queueing experts that might not be a bad thing.…
From Cheddar. Thomas Edison’s most prolific invention is arguably not the lightbulb we all know him for, but the lab in Menlo Park New Jersey that he used to create it. Edison pioneered the world’s first research and development team there, working with a group of experimenters to methodically home in on the holy grail…
From Cheddar. For the millions of women who take hormonal birth control pills, a continued monthly period is part of the deal. It’s been this way since the pill was originally designed in the 1950s, despite monumental advances in general biomedical knowledge of the last six decades. More recent research has even shown that these…
From Cheddar. Did you know the Cubicle was originally designed to set workers free? A wild, forward thinking designer named Robert Propst dreamed up what he called “The Action Office” as a groovy 1960s workplace utopia that would unleash the modern knowledge worker’s vast untapped potential. This is how it all went so wrong. This…
From Cheddar. Unlike candy or cereal, we assume that the color of natural foods are a result of the environment. But some aren’t actually the color we assume. That’s because the government plays a key role in determining the colors of your food!. And for that, we can thank the margarine wars of the late…
From Cheddar. In 1856, a chemistry student named William Henry Perkin accidentally created a strange substance with a rich purple hue. That accident turned out to be the world’s first synthetic dye. In just a few years, Perkin’s ‘Mauve’ would take over the fashion industry, make food look more appetizing, and enable stunning advances in…
From Cheddar. Have you ever wondered why houses in the U.S. seem so much less sturdy than houses elsewhere? You can hear through the walls, they’re constantly needing maintenance, and aren’t great at regulating temperature. Cheddar explains why American homes are so flimsy – and the history that made them this way. Subscribe to Cheddar…
From Cheddar. Actress Hedy Lamarr, deemed the world’s most beautiful woman, had an overlooked knack for inventing. During WWII, in an effort to help the Allies, she invented a technology designed to intercept Axis communications. This technology laid the groundwork for wireless internet. This is her story. This is The Lightbulb Moment. A Cheddar and…
From Cheddar. If you walk over to the dairy section of a supermarket, you’ll find soy milk, almond milk, cashew milk, and oat milk nestled right next to dairy milks. Despite the dairy industry spending over $30 million dollars between 2005 and 2010 they may not have a stranglehold on the market anymore. Cheddar explains…
From Cheddar. Many take for granted today that Florida is the Sunshine State. But that wasn’t always the case. In the 1920s, an army of real estate boosters set out to redefine Florida from an economic backwater to a ritzy vacation destination, sparking a land boom –and bust–the likes of which America had never seen…
From Cheddar. This is The Lightbulb Moment. A Cheddar and CuriosityStream Original Series. The show that uncovers the surprising impact of less-celebrated inventions and the moments of inspiration that made them possible. This series consists of 10 episodes on topics ranging from how the barcode gave rise to China’s modern economy to the story of…
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From Cheddar. For over a century, 105 miles of pipes underneath Manhattan’s streets have delivered steam to some of the city’s oldest and tallest buildings. But once in a while, a pipe explodes – blasting a massive hole into the street and spraying boiling hot steam, water, and asbestos into the air. These catastrophes tend…
From Cheddar. On an average summer night, around 1,500 flights traverse the Atlantic from the United States to Europe. And almost all take this one route – like a highway at rush hour. These planes are separated by only 40 miles in distance and 25 miles laterally. Vertically, they fly as close as 1,000 feet…
From Cheddar. In the 90s, buffet chains like Old Country Buffet and Golden Corral were seemingly everywhere. But since 2000, the industry has been in decline. While hygienic concerns and shifting consumer preferences have hindered the success of buffets, the business model was flawed from the start. Subscribe to Cheddar on YouTube: http://chdr.tv/subscribe Connect with…
From Cheddar. Christmas trees weren’t always a staple of the holiday. But today, Christmas wouldn’t be complete without a decked out tree- real or artificial. Sales of fake trees have slowly risen over the last few decades, while the market for real trees has remained stagnant. But market competition is just one of the struggles…
From Cheddar. Whether you love or hate Christmas music you can’t escape it during the holiday season. On top of that, you’ve heard the songs thousands of times. That’s because most of them have been around for more than 70 years. So what started this 1940s Christmas music boom? Well, we can actually thank at…
From Cheddar. For much of it’s existence the New York City subway system was a mess of competing signage leaving unexperienced riders understandably confused. That is until one typeface came along and unified the entire system and in doing so solidified itself as one of the defining typefaces of the city. Further reading: NYC Subway…
From Cheddar. Over 24 million adults in the United States have eye issues: Either you’re born with eye issues, you grow up to have eye issues, or you get so old that your eyes deteriorate into one big issue. So why are our eyes an engineering nightmare? Well to answer that, we need to look…
From Cheddar. Airships were once believed to be the future of human flight. Even with competition from airplanes, airships remained the preferred form of air travel up until the early 1940s. So why did they fall out of favor so quickly and which flaws ultimately made them a design disaster? Further Reading: Empires of the…
From Cheddar. Pfizer and Moderna each recently introduced the first COVID-19 vaccines – and both are over 90% effective. An unprecedented achievement. But it isn’t all roses. These vaccines need to be stored in extreme cold. And that’s a huge logistical challenge. So what is it about these vaccines that require such brutal cold? Subscribe…
From Cheddar. Have you ever used Google Street View to look around Europe and wondered why Germany is almost entirely blank? For years Google has tried to get Street View into the country, yet has faced heavy public backlash every time. Cheddar explains why Germany is so anit-Street View, and why Google won’t give up…
From Cheddar. American arcades are largely dead, killed by negative public sentiment and advancements in personal gaming. But arcades in Japan were able to survive and today are thriving. Even amidst a global pandemic. Cheddar Explains how Japanese arcades evolved to stay relevant. Further reading: The Verge https://www.theverge.com/2013/1/16/3740422/the-life-and-death-of-the-american-arcade-for-amusement-only Travel Outlandish https://traveloutlandish.com/blog/japanese-arcades-tokyo/ Japan Times https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2019/08/17/general/japan-video-game-arcades-relevant/ Kotaku…
From Cheddar. Concrete has given rise to modern life. It’s so ubiquitous and takes so many forms that it might be easy to forget about. Yet now there is increasing pressure to change the way we use and make concrete. As cities warm and flood, as biodiversity is reduced and as water becomes more scarce…
From Cheddar. Very little was clear on Election Night 2020 except that, once again, the polls had underestimated support for Donald Trump. So what is it that makes Trump’s support so hard for pollsters to count? Further reading: USA Today https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/11/04/polls-biden-had-lead-over-trump-election-results-unclear-wednesday/6158248002/ Pew Research https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/08/05/key-things-to-know-about-election-polling-in-the-united-states/ Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/11/02/shy-trump-voters-myth/ Inside Elections http://www.insideelections.com/news/article/where-do-we-go-from-here Real Clear Politics https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2020/president/us/general_election_trump_vs_biden-6247.html FiveThirtyEight…
From Cheddar. San Francisco has a population of over 883,000 residents, but it only has two cemeteries for the entire city. But neither of them perform active burials. So why are bodies showing up under the city? 1. KQED https://www.kqed.org/news/10779164/why-are-so-many-dead-people-in-colma-and-so-few-in-san-francisco 2. Town of Colma https://www.colma.ca.gov/departments/cemeteries/ 3. NY Times https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/06/sports/football/the-town-of-colma-where-san-franciscos-dead-live.html 4. SF Chronicle https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Colma-cemeteries-rapidly-running-out-of-space-for-12890771.php Subscribe to…
From Cheddar. All across America old bridges are being replaced. In the place of deteriorating truss and suspension bridges architects are choosing the aesthetically pleasing cable-stay bridges. But this modern design actually dates back to the 16th-century. Cheddar explains why cable-stay bridges took so long to catch on and why they are the new go-to…
From Cheddar. President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden met for a second and final debate on Thursday night in Nashville. The debate lasted one and a half hours. Here are some of the highlights. Subscribe to Cheddar on YouTube: http://chdr.tv/subscribe Connect with Cheddar! On Facebook: http://chdr.tv/facebook On Twitter: http://chdr.tv/twitter On Instagram: http://chdr.tv/instagram…
From Cheddar. Have you ever wondered where the dramatic "IN A WORLD…" movie trailer narration went? It was a staple of movie trailers in the 80s and 90s, but nowadays it’s nowhere to be found. Cheddar explains where the movie trailer narration came from – and why it disappeared. Subscribe to Cheddar on YouTube: http://chdr.tv/subscribe…
From Cheddar. 6,283 pedestrians were killed by motor vehicles in the United States in 2018 – the highest number of fatalities since 1990. But what’s causing this spike in pedestrian deaths, when driver deaths continue to decline? Cheddar explains the real reason why the numbers keep climbing. NYTimes https://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/18/business/economic-scene-are-bigger-vehicles-safer-it-depends-whether-you-re-passenger.html Governing.com https://www.governing.com/topics/transportation-infrastructure/gov-SUV-rise-pedestrian-deaths.html Streetsblog https://usa.streetsblog.org/2018/05/09/study-links-rise-of-suvs-to-the-pedestrian-safety-crisis/ GHSA https://www.ghsa.org/resources/Pedestrians20…
From Cheddar. Jingles dominated the American advertising sector for a large portion of the mid to late 1900s. But now they’ve mostly become a relic of a bygone era. So what killed the jingle? Well, the demise is a result of both a shift in the advertising industry and a hit song by Michael Jackson.…
From Cheddar. The sunny skies, warm weather, and diverse landscapes of Los Angeles allow for filming whatever, and whenever. But did you know the movie capital of the world was actually in Fort Lee, NJ? And if it wasn’t for Thomas Edison, it might still be there today. Subscribe to Cheddar on YouTube: http://chdr.tv/subscribe Connect…
From Cheddar. New York City was hit hard by the coronavirus. It was the epicenter of COVID-19 during the spring and summer of 2020. Thousands of residents and businesses have at least temporarily left America’s largest city. While the city is struggling with short term effects, experts warn the economic consequences could be permanent. This…
From Cheddar. Have you ever noticed just how many self-storage places there are and how they seemingly popped up out of nowhere? Well it’s not just you, there are more self-storage facilities in the United States than there are McDonalds. The now $38 billion industry is a product of both an uncanny business model and…