Hello "Sister Planet!": Venus will cross in front of the sun this afternoon, performing a "transit" that has sky-watchers all fired up. This won't happen again in your lifetime and should be visible throughout North America and on parts of every continent. (That is, if it's not cloudy.) Here's everything you need to know about the physics, history, and viewing tips for the rare interplanetary event. National Geographic, NASA
Skywatching shutterbugs: And in case you wanted to photograph the tiny planet in front of the massive sun, here are some pointers. Discovery
Raining cats and buses: Scientists answer a question that has long perplexed us: how the heck do mosquitos survive in the rain? With the typical raindrop having 50 times the mass of a mosquito, the impact is like a human getting hit by a bus. But the bugs, light and nimble with a nicely evolved exoskeleton, simply hitch a ride on the raindrop for a bit before flying off. Los Angeles Times
Slaughterhouse .5: Carnivorous locavores might not know that while the cows they eat grow up on nearby pastures, ranchers usually have to send them far away to be killed. So much for cows with low carbon hoofprints. Now, in what one rancher calls "nano-scale animal processing," some small farmers in New York and Vermont are taking the matter into their own hands. NPR's The Salt
Frosted forests: Where just 50 years ago there was nothing but frozen tundra, there are now forests. Arctic warming is bringing about the growth of these so-called Siberian "pop up" forests at an astonishing rate. TIME
Imagine that: A cap-and-trade program intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions has ... reduced greenhouse gas emissions! Power plants involved in RGGI, a pioneering program affectionately called (or loathingly, depending on your politics) "Reggie" saw carbon dioxide emissions drop nearly a quarter in the first three years. New York Times
Beyond Physics: BP freaks the heck out of scientists by issuing a subpoena for the personal emails of two Woods Holes oceanographers that the company hired to estimate the flow rate of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Smells like a smear campaign. Mother Jones
Cartridge king: A 12-year-old boy starts an office product recycling service, makes a thousand bucks, donates it all to charity, and becomes a national hero. Treehugger
Tips: @OnEarthMag (tag it #greenreads)
Image: Sylvie Beland, SpaceWeather.com
