While the temperature may be dropping outside, spring has just arrived at the Butterfly Conservatory, a 1,300-square-foot enclosure designed to resemble a rainforest, with lush tropical vegetation and flowering plants. Inside, get up close to more than 500 brilliantly colored butterflies as they float freely about the greenery, often landing on visitors’ heads and clothes. Now in its ninth year, the exhibit features illustrated displays, including a case of cocoons and emerging pupae, and nectar-stocked feeding stations. (Ashman)

For the artists of the Disappeared exhibition, fighting against the various totalitarian regimes throughout Latin American history meant torture, kidnapping, and death. Luis Gonzalez Parma, Ivan Navarro, Marcelo Brodsky, and 11 other natives of turbulent nations such as Colombia, Brazil, and Venezuela use all means necessary, including paintings, photographs, and mixed-media to illustrate the faces, bodies, and names of politically involved loved ones who vanished from the late 1950s to 1980s. (Franklin)

With HIV/AIDS maintaining its status as the leading cause of death for African-American women ages 25 to 34, it’s a no-brainer that ACT-UP continues its heated crusade against the silence that surrounds the epidemic and its victims. Today, the group commemorates 20 years of outreach and outrage with a call for civil disobedience. March alongside activists and other concerned citizens as they take to the streets with a depressingly familiar S.O.S. For those interested in playng a lead role there’s a marshal training workshop on Friday at the LGBT Center. At 11:30 a.m., meet at the Federal Building on Broadway and Wooster, actupny.org/20th-year-anniversary/index.html, free; Friday at 6:30, LGBT Center, 208 W 13th Street, 212-620-7310, free. (Franklin)

Over 200 original copies of opinionated, provocative, political, and progressive print media that were at the heart of the counterculture movement of the ’60s and ’70s are on display at the Radical Living Papers: Alternative and Underground Publications and Art (1960–1975) exhibit. Among the papers featured are Berkeley Barb, Black Panther Papers, East Village Other, Los Angeles Free Press, The Realist, and Rat. Partially curated by Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth; sponsored in part by Arthur magazine, perhaps the closest modern-day equivalent to the publications in this show. (Switzer)

Sure he floated like a butterfly and stung like a bee, but the biggest ass whuppin’ ever delivered by Muhammad Ali was the one he put down on the U.S. government back in 1964 when he defied the draft and refused to fight in the Vietnam War. The heavyweight champ’s reasoning was simple: “I ain’t got no quarrel with those Vietcong!” Tonight, New York Times columnist William Rhoden moderates a discussion about the fast-talkin’ boxer’s defiance, the price he paid for his stance (including his five-year ban from the world of U.S. boxing), and the resulting controversy. Participants include Ali’s friend, former professional football player Walter Beach, and authors on his legacy Dave Zirin and Thomas Hauser. (Franklin)

It’s all about the kids tonight at "Writing Youth Culture," a gathering of some of the top authors in the field. Discussing the challenges of covering youth issues are Abby Ellin (Teenage Waistland: A Former Fat Kid Weighs in on Living Large, Losing Weight and How Parents Can (and Can’t) Help); Alissa Quart (Branded: The Buying and Selling of Teenagers); Dave Marcus (What It Takes to Pull Me Through: Why Teenagers Get Into Trouble and How Four of Them Got Out), Lauren Sandler (Righteous: Dispatches From the Evangelical Youth Movement), and others. (Switzer)

What if you could actually see images as Goldfrapp’s “Strict Machine” blasts through the speakers? It might look a lot like this digital music show featuring kaleidoscopic visuals compliments of the Museum and MTV2. It’s like Disney’s Fantasia for adults, with animation synchronized to songs by Coldplay, Stereolab, Moby, and U2 instead of Beethoven, Bach, and Stravinsky. (Franklin)

What if you could actually see images as Goldfrapp’s “Strict Machine” blasts through the speakers? It might look a lot like the kaleidoscopic visuals at the American Museum of Natural History and MTV2’s collaborative digital music show SonicVision: How Do You See Your Music? It’s like Disney’s Fantasia for adults, with animation synchronized to songs by Coldplay, Stereolab, Moby, and U2 instead of Beethoven, Bach, and Stravinsky. (Franklin)