59 images of galaxies interacting with one another, newly released to celebrate the Hubble Space Telescope's 18th anniversary. Images available for download here. As featured in today's APOD.

No, **you** are NOT lesbians ***WE*** ARE Lesbians and we're fightin' for it!

RIP Albert Hoffmann - he made a vast discovery. A vast one, I tell you. more inside

Cognitive surplus is a concept that produced an "aha!" moment for me. Many blogs have covered Clay Shirky's presentation at Harvard of his new book Here Comes Everybody (no sniggering!). Via.

Hubert's Freaks - This is the story of Bob Langmuir, a brilliant but troubled rare-book dealer whose headlong pursuit of an archive from a 1960s Times Square freak show leads to the discovery of a trove of hitherto unknown photographs by the great American genius Diane Arbus.

To Die For I’d been told that trust was the most crucial element involved when choosing a fugu chef. It was like selecting a heart surgeon or a private pilot. “The fugu chef has your life in his hands,” one of my Japanese friends had said. Which is why my first impulse, upon greeting Mr. Naohisa Hashimoto, is to turn around, in the most diplomatic possible way, of course, and run screaming back to my hotel.

One-Woman Animated Feature. Sita Sings the Blues is a new feature-length animated film. Aside from its gorgeous art and music, it's remarkable in that all the animation was done by one woman, both by computer and by hand. more inside

International Tapir Day is not today. Love a tapir anyway!

Men Who Explain Things Smart women and the men who have no concept of such a thing. more inside

Invite a doggie into your home when the crotchfruit is tiny, and they won't sneeze when they get bigger. more inside

What brought me to France in the first place was a story I'd heard about François Mitterrand, the former French president, who had gorged himself on one last orgiastic feast before he'd died. For his last meal, he'd eaten oysters and foie gras and capon — all in copious quantities — the succulent, tender, sweet tastes flooding his parched mouth. And then there was the meal's ultimate course: a small, yellow-throated songbird that was illegal to eat. Rare and seductive, the bird — ortolan — supposedly represented the French soul. And this old man, this ravenous president, had taken it whole — wings, feet, liver, heart. Swallowed it, bones and all. Consumed it beneath a white cloth so that God Himself couldn't witness such a barbaric act. I wondered then what a soul might taste like. more inside

Raymond Scott was a musician and composer you may not have heard of but if you've ever watched Looney Tunes or Merrie Melodies, you've heard his music. more inside

The beautiful white horses of England The Uffington hill figure More on hill figures Wiltshire White Horses More from the air more inside

And you thought YOUR landlord sucked... Don't rent from Kip and Nicole Macy.

"A college student was last seen having a night on the town. He was partying with friends when they became separated. No one is sure how he ended up in the water. This is the disturbing path that almost all of the cases listed on this blog have taken." - Speculation that several disappearances in the Chicago and Great Lakes area are the work of a serial killer targeting young college men. via The Chicagoist

You don't want it, he can't have it back.

Conference on World Affairs. Founded in 1949, free and open to the public, discussing many many issues that affect us today. Notables who've spoken at it include R. Buckminster Fuller, Henry Kissinger, Roger Ebert, Andy Ihnatko, and Arthur Miller. more inside

Lost Films is the project of a single photographer, but spans the work of many. He acquires old cameras that still have film in them, or comes across exposed but undeveloped film. The film is developed and what prints can be salvaged are made. Though they're mostly family snapshots, there's something fascinating and lovely about these glimpses into the lives of ordinary people and the decades they lived in.

The Proceedings of the Old Bailey, 1674-1913. A fully searchable edition of the largest body of texts detailing the lives of non-elite people ever published, containing 197,745 criminal trials held at London's central criminal court.

Live Webcast of a Collossal Squid Dissection Coming Up - lets go watch them chop this fat bastard up. more inside