Six strange galaxies found hiding in Hubble’s vast archive

Today’s Image of the Day from the European Space Agency shows six strange galaxies that look nothing like the calm, orderly spirals many people picture when they hear the word “galaxy.”

Bent arcs of light, smeared shapes, broken rings, and objects that resist easy labels all appear in one frame. Each one is real. Each one was hiding in plain sight.


Whenever you feel disappointed that your craft project didn't come out perfect, remember this -- even the universe doesn't make everything perfect, and imperfect things can still be beautiful.

Supreme Court rules against Colorado's conversion therapy ban on First Amendment grounds

"Colorado's law addressing conversion therapy does not just ban physical interventions. In cases like this, it censors speech based on viewpoint," Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote for the majority. "Colorado may regard its policy as essential to public health and safety. Certainly, censorious governments throughout history have believed the same. But the First Amendment stands as a shield against any effort to enforce orthodoxy in thought or speech in this country."


Here's the thing about politics: every weapon in your hand is also a weapon in your enemy's hand.

We should immediately use this to attack every gag rule against talking about homosexuality and where to get a safe abortion and every other things the despots want to muzzle, on the grounds of free speech. All of them at once, forcing the despots to play whack-a-mole while contradicting what they just argued above. Then keep all the things they say, and match them up, showing how it's not about free speech but that they will say anything to get what they want. Shine a light on it. Cockroaches hate light.

Today is mostly cloudy, mild, and breezy.  It rained earlier.

I fed the birds.  I've seen a few sparrows and house finches.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 3/31/26 -- I planted a red curly willow where the old contorta willow was.

I saw a male pheasant running along the road.

EDIT 3/31/26 -- I did some work around the yard.








.
 

This is an advance announcement for the Tuesday, April 7, 2026 Poetry Fishbowl. This time the theme will be "I am SO done with this!" I'll be soliciting ideas for  activists, rebels, Women Who Run with the Saberteeth, explorers, traitors, exes, people who escape domestic violence, refugees, runaway youth, escaped slaves or other captives, housemates, siblings, parents, teachers, clergy, leaders, superheroes, supervillains, teammates, alien or fantasy species, failure analysts, ethicists, stray or feral animals, other people who get into untenable situations, protesting, planning, throwing in the towel, escaping, running like someone left the gate open, adventuring, hitchhiking, quitting school, divorcing, disowning, betraying, teaching, leaving your comfort zone, discovering things, conducting experiments, observation changing experiments, troubleshooting, improvising, adapting, cleaning up messes, cooperating, bartering, taking over in an emergency, saving the day, discovering yourself, studying others, testing boundaries, coming of age, learning what you can (and can't) do, sharing, preparing for the worst, expecting the unexpected, fixing what's broke, upsetting the status quo, changing the world, accomplishing the impossible, recovering from setbacks, returning home, trails, sailing ships, campervans or RVs, distant lands, the forest primeval, prehistory, liminal zones, schools, homeless shelters, hotels, churches, sharehouses, campfires, laboratories, supervillain lairs, makerspaces, nonhuman accommodations and adaptations, stores, farmer's markets, starships, alien planets, magical lands, foreign dimensions, other places where the intolerable happens, unhappy relationships, protest rallies, slavery or captivity, locks or chains, travel mishaps, sudden surprises, the buck stops here, trial and error, weird food, secret ingredients, supplements that turn out to be metagenic, intercultural entanglements, asking for help and getting it, enemies to friends/lovers, interdimensional travel, Get a Life Program, lab conditions are not field conditions, superpower manifestation, the end of where your framework actually applies, ethics, innovation, problems that can't be solved by hitting, teamwork, found family, complementary strengths and weaknesses, personal growth, and poetic forms in particular.

Among my more relevant series for the main theme:

An Army of One is developing its own neurovariant culture after rebelling against the Galactic Arms.

The Bear Tunnels introduces modern principles to people in the past.

A Conflagration of Dragons has the Six Races (plus the dragons) who all have different cultures and climates.  This often poses challenges for the refugees.

Coracle Shores is about leaving a distressed world for somewhere better.

The Daughters of the Apocalypse has people trying to find enough resources to survive, when former cities are unsafe.

The Moon Door explores a women's chronic pain group and lycanthropy.

Not Quite Kansas deals with demons and angels, also characters dumped out of their original worlds.

The Ocracies has a wide variety of countries crammed together, each with a totally different government.  Sometimes people leave their homeland to find something they like better.

One God's Story of Mid-Life Crisis follows Shaeth as he works on becoming the God of Drunks after quitting as the God of Evili.

Path of the Paladins includes a few characters who have walked away from unbearable situations, like Johan.

Peculiar Obligations combines Quakers and pirates, the latter of whom are well versed in weighing anchor.

Polychrome Heroics has ordinary humans, supernaries, blue-plate specials, superheroes, supervillains, primal and animal soups all trying to get along and figure out how to make a functional society.  The supervillains are the most likely to cut and run from a bad situation.

Schrodinger's Heroes has a lot of situations that people want to get away from including Chris avoiding some of his relatives, Morgan moving to a new dimension, and dimensions that just suck for everyone.

The Wandering is a series about fantasy time travel where people loop back within their own lifespan.

Or you can ask for something new.

Linkbacks reveal a verse of any open linkback poem.

If you're interested, mark the date on your calendar, and please hold actual prompts until the "Poetry Fishbowl Open" post next week. (If you're not available that day, or you live in a time zone that makes it hard to reach me, you can leave advance prompts. I am now.) Meanwhile, if you want to help with promotion, please feel free to link back here or repost this on your blog.

( New to the fishbowl? Read all about it! )

Title: beyond a shadow of doubt that is memory
Fandom: Limbus Company
Rating: PG / General Audiences
Length: 100 words
Content notes: Spoilers for Canto VII: The Dream Ending, and Don Quixote (Limbus)’s backstory.
Summary: Here is the place she always longed for.

( Story )

My bareroot plants arrived from Prairie Moon today:

Spicebush (plant)

American Plum (plant)

Title: Riverwalk
Fandom: none
Rating: G
Content notes: None apply
Summary: icons of places along the San Antonio Riverwalk - all original photos were taken by me


( Riverwalk )

Today is cloudy and cool with howling wind.

I fed the birds.  I've seen a few sparrows and house finches plus a fox squirrel.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 3/30/26 -- My bareroot plants arrived from Prairie Moon.  Regrettably it is now 79F outside with howling wind, not suitable for planting, and the rest of the week predicts rain. :/

Title: Swept away
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Torchwood Team
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 1,857 words
Content notes: None
Author notes: Written for Challenge 510 - River
Summary: Jack was hell bent on catching their alien, but now it’s become a rescue mission of another kind.

( Read more... )

These are some posts from the later part of last week in case you missed them:
Activism
Climate Change
Bingo
Wildlife
Birdfeeding
Gaming
Communities
Science
Birdfeeding
Read "This is a prayer to Baba Yaga"
Philosophical Questions: Government
Wildlife
Poetry Fishbowl Report for March 3, 2026
Unsold Poems for the March 3, 2026 Poetry Fishbowl
Space Exploration
Birdfeeding
Follow Friday 3-27-26: Manga
Poem: "A Generous Impulse"
Photos: Coles County Community Garden
Poem: "A Darkness in the Sky"
Community Thursdays
Birdfeeding
Photos: Charleston Food Forest Part 2 Left Side
Photos: Charleston Food Forest Part 1 Right Side
Today's Adventures
Poem: "Become for Us a Highway"
Birdfeeding
Economics
Renewable Energy
Good News

Linguistics has 46 comments. Philosophical Questions: Pregnancy has 64 comments. Safety has 76 comments.




marchmetamatterschallenge is running this month. See my tracking post and the first check-in post.


The weather has been erratic here, with more whiplash. We did get a good soaking rain recently. Seen at the birdfeeders this week: a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches, a male cardinal, and a fox squirrel. Red-winged blackbirds have been singing overhead. Leafing out: mayapple, Dutchman's breeches. Currently blooming: crocuses, daffodils, squill, violets, apricot, grape hyacinths, tulips, cherry.

The Quiet Alliance That Helps Cities Change

In city after city, a quiet alliance often develops between two people who rarely coordinate directly: the resident pushing from outside city hall and the staff member working inside it.

One pushes from outside. The other nudges from within.

This informal partnership rarely appears on an organizational chart, yet it turns out to be one of the most reliable ways local change actually happens. A recent story from Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, illustrates how this dynamic unfolds, but before getting there it helps to understand the environment inside local government that makes this relationship so important.


Nagging as an activism tactic.

Even moderate levels of warming can unleash extreme climate damage

Some climate futures at 3.6°F (2°C) of warming may be harsher for drought, rain, and fire than average projections at 5.4°F (3°C) or even 7.2°F (4°C), according to a new study.

The findings challenge a common assumption that moderate warming marks a boundary between manageable climate change and severe disruption.


2°C is not moderate. 1.5°C would have been moderate -- causing serious problems, but things civilization could withstand -- except we're far past being able to meet that goal.  2°C is tipping points dumping humans into a global environment unlike what they evolved to live in.  3°C is bend over and kiss your ass goodbye.  (Note that many scientists expect a rise of 3°C or more.)  But don't worry too much about Earth.  It has survived a lot worse.  Eventually species will adapt or new ones will evolve.

I have made blackout on my 3-1-26 card for the National Crafting Month Bingo fest.


B1 (smudges) -- "Confident Guesswork and Improvisation" (Frankenstein's Family)
B2 (mended clothes) -- "The Sisters Grimké" (Peculiar Obligations)
B3 (artisan) -- "Nuff Respect" (Polychrome Heroics: Trichromatic Attachments)
B4 (writing) -- "The Expression That Crosses Boundaries" (Polychrome Heroics: Shiv)
B5 (rag rugs) -- "Hidden Opportunities" (Polychrome Heroics and Schrodinger's Heroes)

I1 (ink pens) -- Photos: House Yard
I2 (thread) -- "Our Homemade Safety Nets" (Polychrome Heroics)
I3 (tension) -- "Find a Way Forward" (The Freaks Club)
I4 (upcycling) -- fruit box pots
I5 (lacking storage) -- "Foraging Forever" (A Conflagration of Dragons)

N1 (crocheting) -- studied video tutorials
N2 (time) -- "The Duplicity of Seasons" (The Freaks Club)
N3 (WILD CARD: paint) -- "Become for Us a Highway" (Feathered Nests)
N4 (sewing) -- "A Generous Impulse" (Polychrome Heroics: Iron Horses)
N5 (small spaces) -- "Walnut Park" (Polychrome Heroics: Broken Angels)

G1 (tangles) -- "Whirlwind Romances" (The Freaks Club)
G2 (stone) -- "A Darkness in the Sky" (standalone)
G3 (yarn) -- "Pearls of Wisdom" (Polychrome Heroics)
G4 (tape) -- "Colorful Opportunities" (Arts and Crafts America)
G5 (ribbon) -- "Refusing to Melt" (Alien Romance)

O1 (food) -- "Baked Innovation" (The Freaks Club)
O2 (woodworking) -- "A Proper Community Is a Commonwealth" (Polychrome Heroics: Broken Angels)
O3 (colors) -- "A Confusion of Honeybees" (standalone)
O4 (garden crafts) -- DIY tomato cage
O5 (poetry) -- "The Express Bus to Crazy-Ass Death Land" (Monster House)

Beavers are turning rivers into powerful carbon sinks

Beavers might be one of nature’s most unexpected allies in locking away carbon and fighting climate change.

Beavers may be unlikely climate heroes, but new research suggests they could play a powerful role in fighting climate change. By building dams and transforming streams into wetlands, these industrious animals dramatically reshape how carbon moves and is stored in landscapes. Over just 13 years, a beaver-engineered wetland in Switzerland stored over a thousand tonnes of carbon—up to ten times more than similar areas without beavers.


It's not just carbon. Beavers also greatly reduce the impact of droughts and wildfires by storing water in the environment over large areas.  As ecosystem engineers, they create many more niches for other species to share the habitats they create -- fish, amphibians, aquatic invertebrates, weasels, minks, otters, wading birds, waterfowl, and so on.  Crucially, they do all this work for free.  All they need is space, saplings, and a thread of water.  So if you see an opportunity for beaver restoration, jump on it.