Do you know what it means to missNew Orleans? I thought I did, but I only got there once and stayed in the Franch Quarter. But this guy says thay New Orleans has pretty much never done anything right. more inside

My God.

Visions of Science Awards 2005 have been named and awarded. The overall winner is of salt and pepper. Some beautiful images throughout the site.

LA Monkeys, Assemble! We talked about this before, now let's make it happen sometime soon. Let's have ourselves a good old fashioned meetup at some place with a cheap happy hour. more inside

Curious George: Trick for finding free iTunes downloads? Am wondering if anyone knows of a trick for finding free downloads on iTunes. Question sparked when, recently, a thread floated around the web about some free downloadable Scandinavian pop music. Does one just have to stumble across the freebies, or is there a way to find them?

Falkland's minefields have become a mating haven for penguins. All the thousands of leftover mines from the early 80's Falkland Islands War are keeping would-be intruders from trampling on fertile mating ground. The penguins, not heavy enough to trigger the mines, are getting their squawk on.

Hours of Fun

The biggest buried treasure *in history* has been discovered.

Feral flowers. This rare wildflower landscape portfolio represents a 19-year historical documentation of a phenomenon in the Californian deserts known as "carpet blooms". A surreal display of flowers on such a scale and magnitude not seen anywhere else on earth.

A Walk Through Durham Township

Profiles of men who knit just in case you didn't think it possible. Have a yen for yarn? Learn to knit! Knit Happens? Blog about it! Knit a rabbit, knit a kitten, knit a dog a sweater. For the HP-obsessed, knit all the woolly wear from the Harry Potter movies! Sci-fi fan? Knit Doctor Who's scarf! (Warning: Tom Baker's scarf varied from 12-17 feet in length.)

Curious, George: Help The Visually Disadvantaged. Hi. I have an elementary question here, something I'm sure some of our monkeys can help me with — where are the best places to look for an education in visual design? more inside

Giant Squid Caught on Camera! At last, proof of the elusive, mysterious, and slightly shy giant squid. Absolute proof that the scurvy sea-dawgs of yesteryear weren't just drunk on grog and high on life! more inside

My my, doesn't the time fly Happy centenary!

Spacefilter: Astronomers have found the first evidence of cracks in a neutron star's crust. The star cracked when it was rocked by the strongest "starquake" ever recorded, researchers said last week. more inside

Ye olde Chew and Screw. A dine-and-dash in Jersey, with a little something extra for the staff. [via obscurestore] more inside

The Farmers Wife - Images from the land of corn & soybeans

I'm a vegetarian, but I do eat roadkill, so says Fergus Drennan, forager extraordinaire. His business, Wild Man, can be found at The Goods Shed in Canterbury. Now off you go, forage! "A man is standing at my front door holding a dead fox. It is stiff with rigor mortis and seems to be grinning at me."

Portrait of a Master

Much has been written about Philippe Dufour, his mastery of the craft of watchmaking, his insistence on perfection, his stubborn-ness to remain close to the art of his forebears, his open-ness to sharing with collectors and other watchmakers alike.

Dogonauts!!! Before there were manned missions to space, the way was paved by animals; cute, furry animals. Laika was the first cosmonaut, traveling in a low orbit around the earth, before dying of stress, in November, 1957. Later dogonauts Belka and Strelka fared better, not only returning to earth alive, but sending progeny to the Kennedy White House. more inside