4 huge solar flares in 48 hours: What’s going on with the sun?

Genetically modified animals that glow in the dark

Scientists inserted a gene into cats that helps them resist Feline immunodeficiency virus—a close relative of HIV and tracked it with a green fluorescent protein. These cats appeared normal during the day, but can glow at night if prompted.


Thanks science.

Can cloning redwoods help fight climate change?

A recent study revealed Earth is currently warmer than any given point in the past 11,300 years. So what should we do? 

One idea: Clone and plant a lot of gigantic trees with a glutton’s appetite for carbon dioxide.  Archangel Ancient Tree Archive is spearheading a movement to plant California’s towering redwood trees in Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain, Ireland, Canada, Germany, and other parts of the United States. 

According to NASA previous research has demonstrated that these monstrous organisms are capable of digesting much more carbon than any other tree on the planet.

Read more…

Photo from: DLILLC/Corbis

Presented without comment. 

8 brilliant scientific screw-ups

Anesthesia (1844)
Mistake leading to discovery: Recreational drug use
Lesson learned: Too much of a good thing can sometimes be, well, a good thing

For decades Nitrous oxide was considered no more than a party toy. Finally, in 1844, a dentist came upon the idea after witnessing a nitrous mishap at a party. High on the gas, a friend of fell and suffered a deep gash in his leg, but didn’t feel a thing. In fact, he didn’t know he’d been seriously injured until someone pointed out the blood pooling at his feet.

7 other accidental scientific discoveries

Photo from: Topical Press Agency/Getty Images

Scientists: Why penis size does matter 

Women prefer big penises, thunders a new study published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, or PNAS. (Say it out loud.) Researchers had 105 women rate computer-generated nude images of male bodies on a scale of 1 to 7.

“As you increase penis size, the amount of attractiveness scores gets bigger,” said post-doctoral researcher Brian Mautz. 

Since early humans didn’t wear clothes, male penises were obvious to women. So if women chose their mates based on the size of their genitalia, it’s possible that these decisions influenced the evolution of bigger penises, according to National Geographic.

Oh. Thank goodness for clothes, then. And having a face.

Read more…

Meet Aereo: The online streaming start-up that will change the way you watch TV

• What is it? 
  Aereo is “live TV, wherever you are, whenever you want.” It lets you watch broadcast channels live on a browser on an iPhone or iPad or on TV-connected devices like Apple TV and Roku. You can also record shows à la DVR and save them to watch later.
  
  
• And this is legal?
  Yes, at least according to a federal appeals court ruling earlier this month. But networks aren’t happy. On Tuesday, News Corp. threatened to pull Fox off the airwaves and move it to cable if Aereo prevails in court, claiming that the start-up is threatening the network’s ability to sell advertising.
  
  
• Where is it available?
  For now, just metropolitan New York. But Aereo says they plan on expanding to big cities nationwide.
  
  
• Is it free?
  

Photo: Facebook.com/Aereo

As we reflect on Margaret Thatcher’s legacy, we are reminded of this gem surfaced by our Bad Opinion Generator.