Taste test: The Great Grocery Smackdown. Food writer Corby Kummer shops for organic foods and reports in The Atlantic,

I would buy two complete sets of ingredients, one at Walmart and the other at Whole Foods. The chef would prepare them as simply as possible, and serve two versions of each course, side by side on the same plate, to a group of local food experts invited to judge....

As I had been in my own kitchen, the tasters were surprised when the results were unblinded at the end of the meal and they learned that in a number of instances they had adamantly preferred Walmart produce. And they weren't entirely happy.

Curiouser: Alice in Wonderland links. Some links here are broken, but good ones include illustrations by Salvador Dali, Ralph Steadman, the original John Tenniel woodcuts I remember as a child. Disney used these as a basis for the animated film. I remember them being familiar but less scary. Via MeFi.

In vain: Woman tries to shut down Large Hadron Collider over apocalypse fears

(Germany's) highest court said that the woman -- whom it didn't identify -- had failed to demonstrate any connection between experiments at the CERN collider outside Geneva and the apocalypse.

The Federal Constitutional Court in the western Germany city of Karlsruhe threw out the woman's appeal because she was "unable to give a coherent account of how her fears would come about."

In Greek mythology, Apollo gave Cassandra the gift of prophecy; when she did not return his love, he added a curse that no one would ever believe her predictions.

Worth saving: A year later, Providence branch libraries thriving. My colleague Phil Marcelo tells the best possible tale:

A year ago.... The Providence Public Library was threatening to close five of the city's nine neighborhood branches to save money. Smith Hill was one of them.

But a group of residents, angry and frustrated, banded together to save the branches. They hired a consultant. They drew up a business plan. They received the support of city politicians.

What emerged was highly unusual. The activists created the Providence Community Library, which took over the branches and, contrary to recent trends, kept them all open.

And you can still request books you see online to be delivered to your local branch.