#objects

Why do hot objects glow?

Minute Physics · EN

100 Objects #20: AA Sobriety Chip

Comedian, writer, and podcaster Jamie Loftus has always known about Alcoholics Anonymous. As a kid, she loved the album where her dad kept all his AA chips — that little piece of plastic that marks a day, a month, a year of sobriety. Now as an adult, Jamie wanted to understand where that little chip

99% Invisible · EN

The Problem With Football Helmets

In 2024, James Daniels became likely the first NFL football player to wear a new kind of helmet during a game – an apparatus called the Guardian Cap. The new lid was a marked departure from what fans are used to. Guardian Caps offer an extra layer of padding, and make the player’s helmet more

99% Invisible · EN

100 Objects #21: Window from the House of D

In 1932, the Women’s House of Detention—New York City’s first women’s prison—opened in the heart of Greenwich Village. It was opened to make “wayward” women quiet, private, and properly feminine. And the building had one unique feature originally meant to be a sort of kindness—a special kind of window that the women inside could open.

99% Invisible · EN

100 Objects #22: AOL Disc

In 1998, the recording industry was thriving. But the company pressing more compact discs than anyone else in America wasn’t a record label…it was an internet company: America Online. The AOL Disc was a marketing coup—hugely successful. It’s not an overstatement to say that it’s the campaign that introduced America to the internet. Because of

99% Invisible · EN