“Apples that won’t go brown could be could be planted in Canada as early as 2014. Canadian biotech company Okanagan Specialty Fruits Inc. has applied to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency for permission to grow and market its ‘arctic granny’ and ‘arctic golden’ apples. The genetically engineered fruit, initially developed in Australia, was created with its gene responsible for enzymatic browning turned off, or ‘silenced.’ There are other varieties of apples, such as empires, that keep their white flesh even when exposed for several hours, but the arctics are completely non-browning, and will remain white for several days, even weeks. Okanagan Specialty Fruits hopes to complete the approval process by this summer in Canada and the United States so it can begin planting its trees next year. The company said test fruit could be expected the year after.” w/ photo

“There are a couple things at play here, some involving the paper, some involving your skin. For one thing, what part of your body comes in contact with paper the most? Right, the majority of paper cuts happen on the fingers and hands. Your hands are pretty complex sensory instruments, and they’re absolutely jam-packed with nerve fibers called nociceptors. These guys sense temperature, pressure and pain, and there are more of them per square inch in your hands and fingers than most other parts of your body. Injuries there are noticed much more than similar injuries elsewhere. The same small paper cut on a less nerve-dense area, such as, say, your leg, won’t send nearly as many pain signals to your brain.” w/ photo

“In humans, we believe a small part of the brain, known as the ‘anterior insular cortex’, controls our self-awareness and our empathy. Within that region lies a unique brain cell – the von Economo neuron, or VEN – which seems to lie at the heart of our consciousness – helping us feel those feelings which give life meaning, from love and confidence, to hate and embarrassment. For a long time, the VEN was assumed to be unique to humans, great apes, whales and elephants. But now Henry Evrard, neuroanatomist at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Tübingen, Germany, has discovered that the VEN occurs also in the brains of macaque monkeys.” w/ photos

“The biggest fear for a projectionist at a movie theater used to be loading reels out of order, or tearing the print. Now, it’s deleting the film… Digital conversion and projection is already common in chain theaters across the country, with 27,000 screens in the U.S. (over two thirds) converted to digital. The switch started in earnest last year after major studios like 20th Century Fox privately notified theater owners in December 2011 of the coming new world order. And at CinemaCon this year, Fox’s master plan was announced: all digital, no film by 2013.” w/ photos

“The ancient Babylonians used a number system with base 60 (sexagesimal)… but why? time to find out.” — numberphile

“These are Josef Mengele stuff that made me feel sick. Horrified. Along with the poor monkey who’s head was reattached to another body. Thank God it died shortly after. How awful to survive that. Also, there are many different experiments people did through the history. While researching ‘mad scientist’s’ lab it made me think of people who did this. What was it, a pure scientific curiosity or something else? Some of the experiments I can comprehend and somehow justify. If an experiment on poor dog will help in saving many people I will support, but some of the experiments makes you wonder. Why the hell would someone do this? These are just the experiments we know about.” w/ photos

“What was the reason for these scientist to perform experiments like these ones. In first part we were talking about some pretty sick stuff. Scientist who was researching asphyxiation by hanging himself, still sounds bizarre and it makes me wonder if this was his masochistic outage or a really important research. Than there was a story of veterinary who experimented with possible mixture of human and primate gens. Thanks to God that didn’t work out. But that was just an introduction into the real madness.” w/ photos

“Too much sugar could be making you stupid, according to researchers. The suggestion follows tests in the laboratory comparing high-fructose corn syrup, which is six times sweeter than cane sugar and a common ingredient in processed foods, with omega-3 fatty acids, known to aid memory and learning. In an experiment on rats, one group had a sugary diet for six weeks and another was fed healthily. At the start of the study, published in the Journal of Physiology, the University of California team tested how well the rats navigated a maze – placing landmarks to help them learn the way. Six weeks later, the researchers tested the rats’ ability to recall the route. Study co-author Professor Fernando Gomez-Pinilla said the rats fed just a sugary diet were slower and their brains had declined.” w/ photos

“A mini documentary about The White Roof Project which is a nonprofit organization dedicated to curbing climate change through a simple solution.” — PressToPlayIt

“As part of our special feature on ribbon mics this week, we’re taking a trip through the microphone’s early days — from invention to old-school broadcasting. Enjoy these historic photos of a time when recorded and amplified audio were a novelty, rather than a necessity of everyday life.” w/ photos

“No one knows for absolute sure why some trees secrete resin. However, with the aid of some marvelous macrophotography, although the mystery surrounding this subject cannot be solved for certain, its beauty – at times deadly – becomes evident… Resin is something of a puzzle and why plants secrete it has been the subject of heated debate for many years. Resins consist of compounds that do not seem to play any part in the main physiology of the plants from which it comes. So some scientists do see it as a waste product – an excretion rather than a secretion. Others argue, however, that it is a secretion as it has many benefits to the plant. The compounds inside resins seem to have an effect on a wide range of insects and herbivores – a deadly one at that. Plus resin can also attract birds and insects that can stand its toxicity while at the same time snacking on the predators of the plant.” w/ photos

“Did you know that the first vibrator in history may have been invented by Egyptian Queen Cleopatra? Apparently, she had the idea of filling a hollow gourd with angry bees. The violent buzzing caused the gourd to vibrate and then… well, then, the rest is history. And that history gets weirder and weirder from there, from bees to Victorian-era steam-powered dildos and handcracked vibration devices to the famous Hitachi Magic Wand from the 70s and the most modern devices, almost abstract designs with Bluetooth control and throbbing memory. Boys and girls, ladies and gentleman, here is the amazing, bizarre history of the vibrator.” w/ photos

“Next month we will be the last people living today to witness one of the rarest astronomical events: the transit of Venus. If it’s not cloudy, we need do no more than draw back our curtains on June 6 to see the brightest star of the night transformed into a tiny black dot crossing the face of the sun. But astronomers in the 18th Century traveled thousands of miles and risked their lives to witness this precious sight. They did so because they believed Venus held the key to the most pressing astronomical quest of the age: the size of the solar system.” w/ photos

“Ignored by dieters because they are ‘fattening’, few would class the potato as a ‘wonder food’ packed full of vitamins, minerals and nutrients. But the spud is actually better for the body than traditional superfoods – such as bananas, broccoli, beetroot, nuts and avocado, a study has found. The researchers said people are wrong to shun it in favor of modern and more expensive alternatives. A jacket potato has five-and-a-half times as much fibre as the average banana – and is packed with more vitamin C than is found in three avocados, the Daily Express reported.” w/ photos

“Must… Resist… Resist… *YAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWNNNN*… Crap!” — latviandude

“Why are oil prices rising and costs going through the roof? Seems like every time the economy starts to get stronger, oil prices go way up, and then the economy crashes again. In his book The Third Industrial Revolution, Jeremy Rifkin reveals the truth about the tie between our economy’s health and gas prices. Epipheo thought we’d help spread the word about why energy, power, and gasoline can cost so much money and be so expensive.”

“If you’ve never heard of Epiphilympics Ponzi Scheme, now you know how it works, why it’s a terrible investment, and how to avoid it.”

“You’ve heard the warnings: If you swallow gum, it will stay in your digestive system for nearly a decade. Which would mean there’s a decent chance you’ve got some hanging out in your gut right now. If you look at its ingredients—a delicious mix of indigestible compounds—it certainly seems possible. And if you look at the medical books, swallowed gum has caused some serious problems. Is it possible that your mom’s crazy warnings were right?” w/ photos

“This Is one of the most profound 1.5 minutes on what it takes to break through indecision and follow one’s dreams. Please don’t be offended by the language — this is where the spoken word triumphs.” — ArtLoversStudio18

“Cochlear implants have restored basic hearing to hundreds of thousands of people. However, the conventional device requires a microphone, speech processor and radio transmitter coil to be worn externally. Many wearers feel self-conscious having their condition so publicly on display. It also prevents patients from activity like swimming. Now a team led by the University of Utah have developed a tiny prototype that is implanted in the middle ear, which means it can’t be seen. The device is currently the size of an eraser on a pencil and weighs just 25mg. However, research leader Professor Darrin Young said they must now reduce its size by a third and improve its ability to detect quieter, low-pitched sounds before testing it on patients.” w/ photos

“Over the last 50 years, as our telescopes have got bigger and better, we have started to learn a little bit about our cosmic neighbors. And astronomers have found a huge array of planets out there, with some startling characteristics, certainly worthy of a mention in an intergalactic version of the Guinness Book of Records. For instance there’s the fastest planet – SWEEPS-10 – which flies around its sun at a distance of just 740,000 miles – about three times the moon’s distance from Earth – meaning a year lasts just 10 hours… With more advanced telescopes reaching out into ever greater expanses of space and picking up new planets every month, the question is: What fantastic discoveries the next fifty year will bring?” w/ photos

“It is a question that has long puzzled scientists. What made our ancestors break away from apes and advance so dramatically? Now researchers believe they may have explained the missing link – a duplicated gene. Researchers believe that a copy of gene SRGAP2, which appeared in ‘ape men’ around 2.5million years ago, helped our brain cells move faster and make more connections – enabling the brain to become more complex… In addition to providing insight into the origins of the modern human brain, the findings offer clues to the neurological brain disorders including autism, epilepsy and schizophrenia in which development of cell connections is affected.” w/ photos

“Good comments can turn an OK story into a great one. Great comments can easily eclipse the post they’re attached to. We’re not here to talk about those. We’re here to talk about the dregs, the scum, the poison. We’re here to talk about the reason most people don’t read the comments, and even fewer people bother writing them. We’re here to figure out who has the worst comments on the internet.” w/ photos

“Every little bit helps… even if that means cutting down amount of paper towels used by one person EACH time they use the restroom… seems to make sense to me. Cut down trees to plant more, yes, cut down on the need to cut and keep the trees we have? (and then plant more) Yes please.” — KateMHarris

“A 3-minute journey through the last 250 years of our history, from the start of the Industrial Revolution to the Rio+20 Summit. The film charts the growth of humanity into a global force on an equivalent scale to major geological processes.” — arlindbosh

“He is already recognized as one of the greatest artists of the Renaissance period. Now a stunning new exhibition at Buckingham Palace demonstrates how Leonardo da Vinci was also one of the most ground-breaking anatomists of all time. Indeed his findings dating from the late 1490s and early 1500s were so revolutionary that some could not be conclusively proved until the development of MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) scanners in the 1980s, which use radio waves to take detailed pictures of the body. Da Vinci’s fascination with the human body began through his desire to be ‘true to nature’ in his paintings and led him to embark on what can only be described as a campaign of dissection in hospitals and medical schools throughout Florence.” w/ photos

“Have you been drinking tonight, sir? Oh. Crap. If you’re in a car, that’s not a question you want to hear from a man in uniform. And if the answer is yes, you’re in for the worst pop quiz of your life: the field sobriety test. Look, you should not drive drunk. Ever. No, seriously, not ever. The goal of this piece is not to show you how to beat a field sobriety test — in most cases, no amount of preparation can help you anyway. But you know what? They make for one hell of a drinking game. Try ‘em out for yourself — from the comfort and jail-free safety of you own home. May the best drunk win!” w/ photos

“These brainy marine mammals can ‘read,’ plan ahead, and communicate in astounding ways. Off the coast of Honduras, on Roatan Island, a legendary experiment in dolphin communication is being attempted for the first time in 20 years — one that could prove that dolphins can, in effect, ‘speak’ with one another to coordinate their behavior. Other studies reveal that these playful marine mammals can plan ahead and problem-solve in ways few other animals can.”

“Meet an extraordinary Border collie and other dogs that are changing our view of canine intelligence. New discoveries are revealing that ‘man’s best friend’ is smarter than we ever thought, with a brain that resembles our own in ways we never imagined. Travel to Wolf Park, where scientists are tracing the evolutionary path that turned wild animals into our cuddly companions, and meet a superdog with a vocabulary of over 1,000 words. This brilliant border collie understands 1,022 nouns.”

“Since Pulp Fiction, it seems safe to argue, Jackson has been the busiest actor on the planet too. This year he has four movies, his annual average since 1994, coming out, including ‘The Avengers’ next month, based on the Marvel comic book. He’s been in big-budget films like ‘Jurassic Park’; low-budget movies like ‘Black Snake Moan’; blockbusters like ‘Star Wars’ and bombs like ‘The Long Kiss Goodnight.’ He’s been the star, played the sidekick, filled bit parts. His acting has been critically acclaimed and panned as ‘lackluster’. But one thing remains constant: Samuel L. Jackson works. It’s all but impossible to turn on a TV set any night of the week without happening on one of his movies. Hence his anointment by Guinness World Records as ‘the highest-grossing film actor’ of all time. His movies have taken in more than $7.4 billion, most of which, he pointed out, ‘didn’t end up in my pocket.’ Maybe not, but the residuals alone earn him about $300,000 a year. ‘I get paid all day, every day,’ he said — ‘which is almost too much for a sensitive artist.” w/ photos