Yesterday we told you that a bunch of Canada got colder than Mars. Today, it looks like the same is true for the majority of North America. This guy in Northern Ontario (where it was -41°C and -41°F) filled a SuperSoaker with boiling water, went out into the cold, and created his own clouds. It's like the intense version of seeing your breath.

Read More

A team of European penguin researchers found some unexpected results when they turned infrared heat sensing cameras on a group of emperor penguins they were studying. The outer layer of the birds feathers, they found, was actually colder than the surrounding air. While it goes against common sense, keeping their outermost layers ice-cold may actually help penguins stay warm deeper inside -- where it counts.

Read More

For many of us, Valentine's Day is a wonderful time to celebrate the one we love. For others among us... well, we mostly just try not to hate all you cute couples too much and get through the day without feeling too many feelings.  For those of us who would rather shut down our perceptions today, there's a far-off glimmer of hope -- researchers at the University of Southern California have succeeded in turning off the ability of mice to feel. Well, to feel the sensation of cold, anyway, though we're hopeful that turning off the ability to feel the bitter sting of disappointment or the dull, lasting ache of loneliness is just down the road.

Read More

I think we can agree that the common cold sucks. I also think we can agree that it doesn't suck nearly as badly as cancer. Researchers at the Salk Institute, though, may be on the trail of a way to turn the lesser of these two evils into a weapon in the fight against the other. This week, a study in the journal Cell reports that the Salk team has taken steps toward hijacking the common cold's ability to disable immune responses within cells. That could lead to engineered cold viruses that hunt down and destroy cancer cells, while leaving healthy cells in peace.

Read More

Located in New York, the Geekosystem team has been wondering why this winter doesn't seem very wintery. It has only snowed once in New York City so far this year, at an oddly early time toward the end of October, compared to this time last year when it literally snowed in 49 states. Right now, it is 45 degrees outside in New York City in the middle of January, with a high of 52. That's not very cold considering what happened in New Jersey a little over one year ago. Last year around this time, snow cover was at 50% across the country, compared to a measly 19% now. Why is it so not cold this year? Wunderground meteorologist Jeff Masters explains it has to do with an unusual jet stream over the last few months.

Read More