Elephant self-recognition Considered an indicator of self-awareness, mirror self-recognition has long seemed limited to humans and apes. more inside

The Running Man [YouTube]? No, a Japanese game show. [via Emptyflower]

Garden of Weedin' Oregon's medical marijuana growers want to win respect, help the sick...and grow the kindest bud on the planet. [via] more inside

An exercise in watershed awareness. You live in the big here. Wherever you live, your tiny spot is deeply intertwined within a larger place [...] What do you know about the dynamics of this larger system around you? Or to reverse the question, how completely does urban life insulate you from your biome?

Daily Scans. A pack of Livejournal users sharing and troping on the slash subtext juicy bits of their favorite DC/Marvel comic books. more inside

The Amazing Lie Diet Patients tricked into believing that they once were sick on strawberry ice cream subsequently avoid the food. Curiously, chocolate chip cookies seem immune to the effect. [via blog.bioethics.net] more inside

Metahistory Quest Closely aligned with deep ecology, and going deeper, our Quest explores the power of human potential to shape society, serve the earth, and co-evolve with the non-human world. What you get when you give some baby boomers enough crystals and enough cash. more inside

The Pending Banana Apocalypse. Frankenfruit battles The Fungus as traditional banana scientists look on helplessly. Action-packed collectors' first issue!

How To Cook A Whale Found Dead. Traditional Kwakuitl recipes for a variety of hearty seafoods. Rib-sticking good.

Das erste Bier-Schwimmbad der Welt An Austrian brewery creates an unusual spa. In German, sorry. [via Gizmodo, out of character]

Treadmilling in the sand traps Introducing SHOT ONLINE, the first MMORPG to model the pulse-pounding excitement of professional golf. more inside

LIvE GIRLS Flag-waving, Bible-thumping babes are waiting for you to help them spread freedom... Right Now! SFW, really. [via Susie Bright]

THE ILLUSTRATED GEORGE Art software for a possibly talented teenager. more inside

Weasels Ripped My Flesh. [First link requires NYTimes reg.]

Chunky orange hell unleashed from above or afar. A single pumpkin impact sounds like a distant mortar round. [via Hit and Run]

What are the tax rates for marijuana? Pursuant to K.S.A. 79-5202, the tax rates are: Processed, $3.50 per gram; Wet Plant, $0.40 per gram; Dry Plant, $0.90 per gram. Kansas taxes the once-underground economy.

A new old space dust trail, visible from Europe tonight. The earth will pass through a thousand-year-old dust stream tonight (8 Nov), making a Leonid display possible just before midnight UTC. Europe only, really. more inside

Giant Spiders from Allah One man's miracle is another man's nightmare.

Fight fire with fire; fight dung with dung. I don't remember this in Dante, but it must appear somewhere within Malebolge: a smoky, stinky blaze in the dried crust of a three-acre manure lagoon on a dairy farm.

Earth's real biodiversity is invisible, whether we like it or not. "As one moves down the size spectrum of organisms, from the romantic large mammals and birds, through nondescript small arthropods, on down to protozoan, bacterial and viral species, not only does concern for diversity and conservation fall away, it even changes sign." Save the endangered Archaea!