A strange thing happened yesterday. An old story we wrote about former Microsoft CTO Nathan Myhrvold -- titled "Stratoshield: Nathan Myhrvold explains how to save the planet" -- became one of the most viewed stories on TechFlash. The accompanying video also saw page views and comments jump through the roof.

Why? Turns out Myrhvold was just on CNN talking about his grand plan to reduce global warming by pumping liquid sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere. The 22-minute interview -- conducted by Fareed Zakaria -- is certainly entertaining. The head of Intellectual Ventures starts the interview with a comment about a trip to photograph penguins in Patagonia.

"Penguins, it turns out, have amazing sphincter muscles. And they are able to project like there's no tomorrow," said Myhrvold.

From there, Myhrvold dives into his thoughts on global warming and why just limiting carbon emissions might not be enough to solve problem.

"If you wanted a problem that was almost perfectly designed to be difficult for us to grapple with, this would be it because the cost is very high, the solution is going to require a lot of sacrifice, but the benefit is diffuse and global and way out in the future. And that is the kind of type of problem that humans are bad at."

Myhrvold calls his stratoshield concept a "plan B" for global warming, citing a Benjamin Franklin paper about a volcano eruption in the 1780s. If a volcanic eruption can cool the planet, Myhrvold says a man-made geo-engineering approach could do it.

Myhrvold admits that pumping liquid sulfur into the stratosphere through a "fat garden hose" sounds "nuts." But he said it could save the planet, negating global warming "as we know it today."

Zakaria -- who calls Myhrvold one of America's great scientists/inventors -- also asks Myhrvold about the U.S. possibly losing its edge in innovation. In fact, Myhrvold said one of the first things he did at Microsoft was take a recruiting trip to India to find talented engineers.

"I can't say it is a bad thing that China and India develop," said Myhrvold, adding that a molecular biologist in a classroom in one of those countries could develop the drug that saves his life.

The interview concludes with Myhrvold discussing the concept behind Intellectual Ventures, comparing the concept to venture capital. "Our company is about investing in inventions," he says. "...We think if we can create a business model where we are successful doing this, there will be category of folks called 'invention capitalists.'"

Full interview here.