[PHOTO] Six photos of a walk along Grenadier Pond in High Park on a hot fall day

This particular September day was a hot one, fall making up for this Toronto summer's lack of heat. There were fewer people taking advantage of this heat than I might have expected. All the more sights for me, then.

[BLOG] Some Wednesday links

• Bad Astronomer Phil Plait looks at the bizarre extrasolar visitor 'Oumuamua, as does Centauri Dreams, as does Bruce Dorminey. Yes, this long cylindrical extrasolar visitor swinging around the sun on a hyperbolic orbit does evoke classic SF.


• The Boston Globe's The Big Picture shares some photos of autumn from around the world.
  
• D-Brief examines how artificial intelligences are making their own videos, albeit strange and unsettling ones.


• Dangerous Minds shares some Alfred Stieglitz photos of Georgia O'Keefe.


• Daily JSTOR takes a look at the mulberry tree craze in the United States.


• The Dragon's Gaze links to a paper examining at water delivery to terrestrial planets in other solar systems. Worlds with as little water as Earth are apparently difficult to produce in this model.


• Hornet Stories profiles the gay destination of Puerto Vallarta, in Mexico.


• Lawyers, Guns and Money notes the new vulnerability of Haitian migrants in the United States.


• The LRB Blog notes the end of the Mugabe era in Zimbabwe.


• The NYR Daily features a stellar Elaine Showalter review of a Sylvia Plath exhibition at the Smithsonian National Picture Gallery.


• Personal Reflections' Jim Belshaw reports on how the production of New England Cheese reflects the modernization of Australian agriculture.


• Roads and Kingdoms reports on the awkward position of Rohingya refugees in India, in Jammu, at a time when they are facing existential pressures from all sides.


• Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel shares twenty beautiful photos of Mars.


• Towleroad shares a fun video from Pink, "Beautiful Trauma", featuring Channing Tatum.


• The Volokh Conspiracy notes that a Trump executive order threatening sanctuary cities has been overturned in court.


• Window on Eurasia notes one study claiming that the children of immigrant workers in Russia tend to do better than children of native-born Russians.

[NEWS] Five links on science, culture: blue whales, Hedy Lamarr, telecom, infrastructure, misogyny

• Apparently 80% of blue whales are left-handed. National Geographic reports.


• The FCC has just stopped support for a program that subsidizes vital telecommunications for, among other groups, Native Americans. VICE reports.


• Between political challenges and problems with construction, major infrastructure projects are failing to meet their goals at a noteworthy rate. National Geographic reports.


• VICE recounts the story of Hedy Lamarr, noteworthy actor and brilliant scientist, from the perspective of a documentary noting how misogyny kept her from employing her talents to the fullest.


• This Claire Dederer article in The Paris Review, talking about the works of monstrous men can (or should?) be salvaged from the legacies of their creators, is tremendously important.

[URBAN NOTE] Four Toronto links: Kodak Building 9, King Street, Rail Deck Park, Celebration Commons

• blogTO notes that Kodak Building 9 has been moved, to serve as part of the Mount Dennis station on the Eglinton line.


• Toronto police are now fining drivers on King Street who are not respecting new transit-friendly policies there. The Toronto Star reports.


• A new study estimates that the proposed Rail Deck Park would cost the city of Toronto 1.6 billion dollars. (I think it's worth it.) Global News reports.


• blogTO reports on plans for a massive new park at Ontario Place, Celebration Commons, some twenty acres in size.

[URBAN NOTE] Five notes on changing cities: Quayside, Andy Byford, NYC, Vancouver, Brasilia

• Spacing shares Ken Greenberg's take on what Sidewalk Labs could do for an evolving City of Toronto.


• Royson James reflects on what outgoing TTC head Andy Byford has done for Toronto, almost despite itself, over in the Toronto Star.


• Jim Dwyer's description of the state of the New York City subway system, something Byford will have to handle, is alarming, over in The New York Times.


• Kerry Gold shares the convincing argument of academic John Rose that Vancouver is facing not a shortage of housing but rather a shortage of affordable housing. Policies can be instituted to change this. The Globe and Mail has it.


• The Inter Press Service reports on a massive complex built in Brasilia by construction giant Odebrecht that now, in the Brazilian crisis, has been left empty. What to do with it? More here.

[NEWS] Three Justice League notes: box office, shared universe, Ezra Miller

• I have to say that the argument of Steven Zeitchik that DC Comics may not be able to sustain its shared universe, given the apparent underperformance of Justice League, is not obviously wrong. I do think DC is now getting it, mind. His article is hosted at the Toronto Star.


• Scott Mendelson argues that, if Justice League performs well enough later on and/or internationally, the film could still be viewed as a worthwhile investment in the individual characters and later films. Tis article is over at Forbes.


• Pop Sugar notes that Ezra Miller, fresh from an excellent performance in Justice League as the Flash, is set to become the first out queer actor to headline an action film.