While I am definitely into photography, I only recently learned about rephotography -- the practice of returning to the site of a previous photograph and taking a new image, then comparing them. Third View is a "rephotographic survey of the American West," showcasing series of rephotographs (a minimum of two, but often three) from a variety of locations. From the site: Third View revisits the sites of historic western American landscape photographs. The project makes new photographs, keeps a field... READ ON

Last week, police in Iran apprehended a group of 14 squirrels on, get this, suspicion of spying. Apparently the rodents had been outfitted with eavesdropping equipment and were picked up on a tip from foreign intelligence services. Now, it's possible that this is all a stunt to show how tough Iranians are on crime, but if the squirrels really are enemy operative, they would join the historic ranks of cloak-and-dagger animals. Here's a look at some other non-human spies, illustrated with help from our... READ ON

Since my recent visit to the End of the Oregon Trail, I've been wondering about daguerreotypes. After a bit of research, I bring you this Daguerreotype Q&A: Why doesn't anyone smile in these pictures? The common answer for this is a partially fact-based myth: because it took a long time to expose the image, the subject had to sit still. And, the story goes, frowning is easier to hold in place than smiling. The truth is that very early daguerreotypes (those from 1839-1845) did take 60-90 seconds of... READ ON

I'm such a sucker for stories like this. Maybe it's because my grandpop was a Chief of forestry in India, and kept an abandoned bear cub in his house for a few months when my mom was a child; or perhaps it's because I read Gerald Durrell's My Family and Other Animals a few too many times as a kid, but I love ridiculous stories of people keeping big game as pets. The Daily Telegraph has this lovely story of Jessica the hippopotamus, who lives with some rangers in South Africa. Apparently, she washed up very... READ ON