By Mother Nature Network staff
More from Guest Bloggers blog

Since launch a year ago, NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) telescope has photographed hundreds of millions of asteroids, stars, galaxies, and other celestial bodies.

In this slideshow, you'll find 10 of the most dazzling images from the scope taken over the past year.

More from Mother Nature Network:

• 10 incredible images of black holes
• Photos of animals you can see through
• 8 jaw-dropping images of Mars
• Eye-opening photos from under the microscope
• The best iconic photos from NASA

Check out Yahoo! Green on Twitter and Facebook.

Read More »from 10 dazzling images from the WISE telescope

By Lori BongiornoBubbleTrees are anything but average tents. These prefabricated, globe-shaped tents are transparent so you can't get much closer to nature unless you sleep outside. The tents, which are currently only available in Europe, come decked out with portable sofas, beds, and more. Some mod

By Melissa Breyer, Care2 Green Living
More from Care2 Green Living blog

Dust. It floats lazily through beams of sunlight, it settles gently on surfaces, and it tangles with other mysterious miscellany to create inanimate creatures beneath the couch -- but where does it come from, and is it harmful?

The surprising answer is most indoor dust comes from outdoors, and it's not always all that innocuous. Over 60 percent of house dust originates outdoors, according to a report from scientists in Arizona, "Migration of Contaminated Soil and Airborne Particulates to Indoor Dust," which appeared in the ACS Environmental Science & Technology journal.

In the study, David Layton and Paloma Beamer note that household dust consists of a mixture that includes dead skin shed by people, fibers from carpets and upholstered furniture, and tracked-in soil and airborne particles blown in from outdoors. It can include lead, arsenic and other potentially harmful substances that migrate indoors

Read More »from Where does dust come from?

By Chanie Kirschner, Mother Nature Network
More from Guest Bloggers blog

Q: Why is it that I can tickle my kids, can tickle my husband, but I can't tickle myself? I thought about this after a tickle fight with my 5-year-old, who bursts into uncontrollable giggles after I tickle her, but is stone-faced when she tries to tickle herself. She often tries to make herself laugh by tickling herself, but can't. Why is this?

A: Interesting question. I myself used to be so incredibly ticklish, I would start laughing even before someone tickled me. Just the very thought of being tickled would do it. But as I got older (and the fun got sucked out of me, I guess), I grew less and less ticklish - and I've often wondered why that is. Before I ponder the answer to my query, though, the polite thing to do would be to answer yours, no?

There are two types of tickling, named in 1897 by the psychologist G. Stanley Hall. There is knismesis (a light tickle that does not induce laughter) and

Read More »from Why can't I tickle myself?

By Mel, selected from DivineCaroline
More from Care2 Green Living blog

By Sheer Balance, DivineCaroline

Chances are that at some point in your life you went on a diet. You may even be on one now. Or you made a New Year's resolution to diet in 2011. Let me stop you there. If you are planning on losing weight in the future, save your money and time, and instead, resolve not to diet. No, I'm not kidding.

I'm going to tell you a secret … dieting doesn't work. Some of you may be thinking: "But my friend lost 20 pounds on the Atkins diet!" or "I have heard fantastic things about Nutrisystem." Sure, these diets work in the short term, but after a dieter stops dieting, they most likely put back on some, if not all of the weight.

I'd like you to indulge me and make a resolution or set a goal not to diet. And, I want you to remember the following things about diets, why they don't work, and what are better solutions:

1. Lack of nutrition
Contrary to popular belief,

Read More »from Seven reasons not to diet

(Photo: Jupiterimages)By Sara Novak, Planet Green
More from Guest Bloggers blog

You've heard it a thousand times: if you want to fall asleep you have to give up caffeine. So you've done that and you still can't seem to sleep through the night.

Well, your diet has a huge bearing on the way you feel especially if a sleep deficiency has become a part of your life. Choose foods that promote sleep rather than keeping you up all night.

Five foods to prevent insomnia:

1. Pumpkin seeds
Pumpkin seeds are a great source of magnesium which serves to calm the body down. Magnesium helps to relieve the stress that can keep us up all night. Just 1 oz. of pumpkin seeds has 151 mg of magnesium, making it one of the most magnesium-rich foods out there.

2. Cottage cheese
Cottage cheese contains tryptophan, a sleep inducing amino acid that relaxes the entire body and mind. If you don't do dairy you can also find tryptophan in soy milk, tofu, hummus, and lentils.

3. Sesame seeds
Sesame seeds are rich in

Read More »from Five surprising foods that prevent insomnia (and five that cause insomnia)

By Melissa Breyer
More from Care2 Green Living blog

Second only to heart disease as a leading cause of death in the United States, cancer is responsible for close to 500,000 deaths per year. Many products we use in our homes contain ingredients linked to or suspected to cause cancer, not to mention other ingredients that can cause allergies, asthma, and other health problems. Poor government regulation in the face of so many chemical ingredients is to blame, but we can take charge once we know what to look for.

Luckily, it's fairly easy to replace many of these products with nontoxic options that work well and are often quite a bit cheaper. For example, you can swap out toxic cleaning products by creating a simple nontoxic cleaning kit -- most of the ingredients you probably already have on hand.

Here is a list of some of the top offenders in terms of carcinogenic risk. Of course, these products don't necessarily lead to cancer, but why take the risk when there are

Read More »from 8 known carcinogens to remove from your house

By Sarah Irani, EcoSalon
More from Guest Bloggers blog

(Photo: Flickr / tillwe)

Is the economy beating you up? It's time to get creative. Next time you have an ache or pain, forget about a costly trip to the drugstore and test-drive some of your grandmother's remedies instead. It'll save money and be gentler on your body and the environment. Recessionistas (and gents), welcome to the DIY medicine cabinet.

1. Stop Bleeding

You'd think it would burn, but a sprinkle of cayenne pepper on a cut will quickly stop the bleeding and actually relieve the pain.

2. Toothache

There's nothing so bad as the shooting pain of a toothache. You don't want to ignore a tooth problem, because an infection that close to your brain can be extremely dangerous if it spreads. But in order to reduce swelling and pain while you wait for a dentist appointment, try putting a few drops of clove oil on your tooth and gums, and bite down on a smashed piece of garlic (which has excellent antibacterial properties). This has always

Read More »from Natural remedies for the 15 most common aches, pains, and health complaints