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Planet cool is now alive and operational, yahoo! Feel free to pursue our categories, and to drop us a letter if you have something cool you'd like to share.

Be sure to bookmark this website, as we'll be adding loads of fresh content daily!

-- Matt & Lynsey

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Naica Mine: Discovered by chance, the secret Mexican crystal caves big enough to drive a car through

Discovered by two miners looking for lead, these amazing crystal-lined caves could be mistaken for Superman's ethereal Arctic lair.

These stunning white beams of gypsum have been growing at a snail's pace for hundreds of thousands of years in caves below Naica in Mexico.

Ten years after the amazing discovery, scientists are petitioning the Mexican government to claim for Unesco World Heritage status to protect the unique formations for future generations. more

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20 Beautiful Landscape Photographs From August 2011

This post features the beautiful landscape photographs from the month of August 2011. We will try to publish the best photographs of different categories from every month in the coming days. source

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Welcome To Masdar City

Masdar City is the world's first sustainable city - it's taking shape in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

This movie was part of an interactive presentation made, by the architecture and real estate marketing agency, Wordsearch, for the World Future Energy Summit (WFES), January, 2010, hosted by Masdar. more

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'Extinct' giant sponges, once used as bath tubs, are rediscovered

It's the sponge that takes the idea of a sponge bath to a whole new level: the giant Neptune's Cup. First discovered in 1822, these sponges once grew so large that they were commonly used as bath tubs for children. However, that handy use quickly led to overharvesting, and the last time anyone saw one alive was in 1908. Many believed the sponges had become extinct.

That was until March of this year, when biologists doing a routine survey dive along Singapore's coast spotted something that none of them could immediately identify. Of course they couldn't: a living Neptune's Cup sponge hadn't been spied for more than 100 years. more

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11 Most Amazing Astronomy Stories of 2011

What a year it has been for science and astronomy.

From the discoveries of potentially habitable alien planets to the detection of a tiny new moon around Pluto and jaw-dropping lunar and solar eclipses, astronomical research in 2011 has not only made extraordinary strides but also raised new and tantalizing questions for the future.

"It has been an incredible year for science," Ralph McNutt, a planetary scientist at Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory, told SPACE.com. "All one can hope is that we will keep the appropriate institutions in place so the following years will be as incredible, if not more so."

McNutt is a project scientist for NASA's Messenger mission to Mercury. He is also a co-investigator on the New Horizons mission to Pluto, in addition to being involved in the Cassini mission at Saturn and the twin Voyager spacecraft at the edge of the solar system. more

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German Chocolate Cake With Coconut-Pecan Cajeta Frosting... And Another 30 of the Holiday's Best Recipes

Ingredients
For the Cake:

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for the pans
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups firmly packed light muscovado sugar
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups strong brewed black coffee, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

For the Frosting:

1 3/4 cups whole milk
1 3/4 cups unsweetened coconut milk
1 cup goat's milk or additional whole milk
3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
Seeds scraped from 1/2 vanilla bean
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, cold
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons coconut rum (optional)
1 1/4 cups coarsely chopped pecans, toasted
1 1/4 cups sweetened shredded coconut, toasted

For the Ganache:

1 cup heavy cream
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut, toasted, for garnish
1/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted, for garnish
Coconut Whipped Cream, for serving

Directions

Make the cake: Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F. Butter two 9-inch-round cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a medium bowl... more

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Vitamin D Has Mixed Effects on Cancer, Broken Bones

Extra vitamin D and calcium may offer some protection against fractures in elderly people, but have little or no impact on cancer risk, according to a fresh look at the medical evidence.

Some research has suggested that vitamin D, with or without calcium, might help stave off cancer, but recent trials have slashed those hopes.

"It turns out that as a group, all of the micronutrient supplements have been disappointing," said Dr. Michael Pollak, who heads the division of cancer prevention at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, and was not involved in the new work.

"Even one of the best candidates, which is vitamin D, is certainly no slam dunk," he told Reuters Health.

The new report, out Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine, was commissioned by the government-backed U.S. Preventive Services Task Force to inform its public recommendations. more

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Eco-Friendly, Space-Saving Toilet & Washbasin Combo from Roca

There are many great designs around for bathrooms and toilets where space in not an issue. But not all of us have the luxury of an enormous space in which to accommodate these fantastic products. Those of us who live in small apartments or houses often have to deal with a lack of floorspace, which requires some degree of creative thinking when it comes to configuring our rooms.

Bathrooms and toilets in particular can be tricky and the configuration is often dictated by the plumbing outlets to a certain extent. But here at Freshome we are always on the lookout for innovative and creative ways to transform small homes into practical, workable and enjoyable spaces. more

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How Haiti’s Earthquake Inspired LinkedIn’s Skill-based Volunteer Marketplace

It’s not just for landing your next job anymore. In the event of a natural disaster, LinkedIn has a new service--LinkedIn For Good--that will connect people in need with people with the skills to help them. It’s all part of their desire to increase volunteerism, and create social change with human capital.

In 2010, a 7.0-magnitude earthquake stuck west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital, disrupting life for millions of residents and razing infrastructure across the impoverished country. The widespread destruction led to an outpouring of support, with donations flooding in from around the world. But the country needed more--more than just Sean Penn and Wyclef Jean, at least--and some turned to an unlikely source for help: LinkedIn.

"When the Haiti disaster happened, they called us and said, 'We’re getting lots of money and physical goods, but what we need are electricians and plumbers and people who can help us rebuild homes,'" recalls Deep Nishar, LinkedIn’s SVP of product. "'How do we find them?'" more

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Writing (and life) summarized in a comic strip

I was a great fan of the brilliant "Calvin and Hobbes" comic strip, which has ended but is being rerun in a lot of newspapers and available in collected form (I even splurged on the complete box set a while back). I also admire the write/artist who created it, Bill Watterson, who never yielded to the temptation to license his characters for the usual flood of products that come from a hit comic strip.

I think a worthy successor may be the strip called "Cul de Sac" by Richard Thompson. more

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Occupy the High School Senior Parking Lot: A Manifesto

We, the class of 2012, urge you to pause for a minute from your duties of forcing the "rules" of the "American't Dream" down the throats of today's youth and look out your windows at the world. There you will see us, putting aside religion, gender and tons of other conflicting stuff to stand united at the edge of a really really big precipice in American history, and more specifically, the curb. We have assembled in the student parking area on the east side of the building, also known as "The Senior Lot" or "The smoker's hangout." We have renamed it "The Parkway of Liberty" in honor of our honorable cause. Let it be known that we unanimously agreed that "Freedom's Freeway" was a better name but Carey Ferguson had already started painting the banner before we could change it. It was a setback, for sure, but if nothing else it should be a testament to the unstoppable power of our revolution now that the gears are in motion.

Our goal is simple: We intend to stay out here fighting the tyranny of American capitalism until future generations no longer have to suffer the disproportionate allocation of wealth in this country, and at least until finals week is over. more

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2NE1 - "HATE YOU": A cool introduction to K-pop!

2NE1's NEW digital single "HATE YOU" M/V
Directed by graphic artist Mari Kim, the music video is fully animated. Check out how 2NE1 girls transformed into hip animation characters!!
Download this song on iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/hate-you-single/id451679633

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Batman: The Dark Knight Rises Official Trailer (VIDEO)

The Dark Knight Rises Official Trailer [HD]
Director: Christopher Nolan
Release: 7/20/2012
Studio: Warner Brothers
Website: http://www.thedarkknightrises.com/

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Is Superbus the future of public transport? (VIDEO)

Richard Branson loves it, says Wubbo Ockels, former astronaut and creator of the super-fast, super-long Superbus.

And he's not the only one.

"We've had interest from Las Vegas. We also had interest from Dubai, Abu Dhabi and the Netherlands," Ockels said.

The 15 meter-long (50 feet) Superbus is a new spin on public transport that aims to match the speed and comfort of a train while offering the flexibility and convenience of the car.

It has a top speed of 250 kph (155 mph) and Ockels envisions it running on a dedicated highway. But it's not just high-speed transport from A to B, Ockels says -- the Superbus can also use normal roads at normal speeds. more

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Love These Oil Paintings? They're Actually Made Of Yarn

Cayce Zavaglia has developed an extraordinary technique for using wool thread to evoke the colors and textures of oil paint.

From several feet away, Cayce Zavaglia's portraits look like hyper-realistic oil paintings--the sort where every last blemish and strand of wayward hair is so meticulously rendered, you have to wonder if the artist has obsessive-compulsive tendencies (she certainly wouldn’t be alone).

Zoom in, though, and you realize that Zavaglia is even more fanatical than that: Each portrait is entirely--painstakingly--hand-stitched. The larger ones measure about a foot tall and 3 feet wide, and take as many as six months to complete.

Zavaglia is trained as a painter. But when she got pregnant with her daughter, she decided not to use oils anymore (what with all the turpentine and varnish fumes wafting around). So she vowed instead to "paint" with wool thread. more

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Meet My Keepon, the dancing yellow robot set to be this year's favourite Christmas toy

It might not look like much, but this dancing robot is set to become this year's must-have Christmas toy.

Following in the footsteps of the Furby, Tamagotchi and Tickle Me Elmo, the enchanting $39.99 yellow robot, is sold exclusively at Toys R Us in the U.S., currently at reduced rate of $34.99.

Called My Keepon, it was originally designed to help autistic children interact but soon became a global hit.

Almost three million people have watched a YouTube video of it dancing to Spoon's I Turn My Camera On.

The toy, which looks like two tennis balls, has flown off the shelves since it was released, making it the must-have toy for Christmas 2011.

Thanks to a built-in microphone in the robot's nose it can pick up the tempo in any song.

It then matches the beat with an uncanny sense of timing and looks like it's dancing.

The toy also mirrors movements and even giggles when tickled.

My Keepon is made by small British toy development company Wow! Stuff, which said it was struggling to meet orders. more

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"Flying rhino" video shows dramatic black rhino relocation in South Africa

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — A group of critically endangered black rhinos recently made an incredible journey across South Africa, a trip documented in a dramatic video.

The "flying rhinos" were transported by helicopter from the Eastern Cape province to a waiting vehicle, and then to a new home in Limpopo — a journey of nearly 1,000 miles.

The relocation of 19 black rhinos took place under the World Wildlife Fund's Black Rhino Range Expansion Project, which is working to increase the sub-species' population numbers, with the video filmed by Green Renaissance for WWF South Africa.

The "flying rhinos" will form the project's seventh new population group to be established in the last eight years.

Black rhinos are critically endangered. There are only about 4,000 in Africa, double the number in the 1980s when the population bottomed out.

Rhinos, both black and white, are being targeted by poachers who hack off their horns and sell them for medicinal use in Vietnam and China. (The difference between black and white rhinos is not actually their color, but rather their eating habits and mouth shape — the black rhino is a browser, and the white rhino, a grazer). more

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Lioness saves little cub from cliff (VIDEO)

And now for something fun. How about photos of a lioness saving her little lion cub?

These photos, taken in Kenya's Masai Mara National Park, show a lion cub who falls down a steep ravine. The little cub struggles but looks like it will fall further.

Other lions try to rescue the little tyke but they find the cliff too steep.

The mama lioness comes to the rescue by going down the treacherous slope and bringing her little one back up. She carries it in her mouth and then gently grooms it afterwards.

How is that for heartwarming?

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The Sloths Are Coming (Slowly) to a TV Near You!

Filmmaker Lucy Cooke's full length hour-long documentary "Too Cute! Baby Sloths" premiers this Saturday, December 17th at 8pm EST on Animal Planet. The film (and trailer below) features lots of baby Sloths, the residents of The Sloth Sanctuary of Costa Rica, the world's only Sloth sanctuary. Most are orphans whose mothers have been killed by power lines or cars. These orphans have a new, if slightly unconventional mom in celebrated Sloth whisperer Judy Arroyo.

Two of the biggest stars of the film (and trailer) are Violet and Sebastian - the sanctuary's first ever twins. While Lucy was filming they both got sick with a skin condition and had to pay a visit to the sanctuary 'slothpital'. Violet got wrapped up in pink bandages and Sebastian was given specialized sloth pajamas made out of sports socks! (Sebastian in his jammies above) more

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Ravens are the only species other than apes who can 'point' and share objects like humans

Ravens ‘point to’ objects to attract each other’s attention in a similar way to humans, research has discovered.

Until now, it was thought the only animals which communicate this way were apes.

But a study by German and Austrian experts revealed ravens to be far more intelligent than previously thought.

They observed wild ravens using their beaks to show and offer each other objects such as moss, stones and twigs.

The birds, which belong to the corvid family with crows and magpies, made signals using their beaks as if they were hands. The experts likened this to the way very young children point and hold up objects as a way of saying ‘look here’ or ‘take this’.

The gestures were mainly between ravens of the opposite sex and helped them become closer. The ravens that attracted a potential mate using them often ended up ‘sharing’ the object with their friend.

The study’s author, Dr Simone Pika, of the Max Planck Institute in Berlin, said it was the first evidence ravens use gestures ‘to test the interest of a potential partner or to strengthen an already existing bond’. more

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Great balls of fire: Chinese compete in ethnic games (VIDEO)

Yao sportsmen put on a traditional sports display, during which contestants attempt to toss a fireball into an opponent's basket.

A folk troupe of ethnic Yao Chinese staged a performance of traditional games in Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Not content with handling a ball of fire, they also drew crowds demonstrating the skill of 'skimming over a sea of fire', as they ran across burning wooden logs to throw fruits at gongs five meters away as quickly and accurately as possible.

The troupe also showcased a discipline known as 'climbing the mountain of knives' during which a barefoot performer scaled a seven metre pole embedded with 36 sharp blades.

There are over 2.6 million ethnic Yaos living in mountain communities scattered over five south China provinces. source

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