[PHOTO] Twenty-one more photos of Ripley's Aquarium

This is the second post in my Ripley's Aquarium photo series, continuing from yesterday's. One more will come tomorrow.

RIpley's Aquarium has a lot of species, and some interesting viewing facilities. I was particularly taken by the tank that stretches above the viewers' path, letting us see fish from below. (The horseshoe crabs were also cute.)

The rest will come tomorrow, starting with the lionfish and cuttlefish.

[BLOG] Some Tuesday links

• Bad Astronomer Phil Plait answers the question of why asteroids tend to explode high in atmosphere.


• Centauri Dreams carries Keith Cooper's suggestion that METI activists should wait until the first generation of detailed exoplanet investigations give an idea as to what is out there before they begin transmitting.


• The Crux notes how indigenous peoples in Guyana use drones to defend their land claims.


• JSTOR Daily summarizes an article on the sexually radical and politically progressive Kansas freethinkers, subject even to death threats.


• The Everyday Sociology Blog considers the question of who benefits from automotion in early 21st century society.


• Far Outliers notes how, in the Second World War, American missionaries also became interrogators thanks to their knowledge.


• The Frailest Thing's Michael Sacasas, linking to an article on #elsagate, notes how many video creators were making content not for human audiences but rather to please YouTube algorithms.


• Language Log deals with one manifestation of the controversy over the use of "they" as a gender-neutral first-person singular pronoun.


• Lawyers, Guns and Money notes the terribly suspicious denial of anti-Semitism from Roy Moore's wife. Alabamans, vote against this man.


• The LRB Blog shares Gill Partington's examination of some modern art exhibits dealing with the mechanics of reading.


• Russell Darnley of maximos62 examines how Human Rights Day, celebrating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights signed on 10 December 1948, is not the only important date in international human rights history.


• The NYR Daily notes how Donald Trump's actions have only worsened the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.


• Cheri Lucas Rowlands shares beautiful photos from a visit to England.


• Spacing shares an article by Sean Ruthen examining the dynamic difference of the different cities of Italy, based on the author's recent trip there.
  
• Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel looks at how young massive black hole J1342+0928 poses a challenge.


• Window on Eurasia notes how the main demographic challenges for the Baltic States these days are not so much ethnic conflicts but rather population aging and emigration.


• Arnold Zwicky takes a look at timeless similarities between classics of homoerotic art and modern-day gay photography. NSFW, obviously.

[NEWS] Five links about ethnic conflict: language in Canada, wilderness, Catalonia, Czechs on Tibet

• CBC notes that major First Nations languages in Canada like Cree and Ojibwe may soon be supported by translators in the Canadian Parliament in Ottawa.


• Julian Brave NoiseCat at VICE argues against an imagining of wilderness that imagines territories without indigenous peoples. Such too readily can enable abuse of the natural world.


• Bloomberg notes how the Spanish authorities in Catalonia have overriden local governments and populations by transferring dispute art objects to a different Spanish region. This won't end well.


• Transitions Online notes how traditionally strong Czech support for Tibet and Tibetan exiles has been fading in recent years, with China becoming a bigger player.li
  
• Paul Wells at MacLean's takes a look at what might be the latest round of the language debate in Montréal. How important are greetings? (I think, for the record, they might be more important than Wells argues.)

[URBAN NOTE] Five Toronto links: TTC and Uber, Eliot's, Sidewalk Labs, Lia Denbok, Michael Redhill

• Must the TTC try to compete with Uber, and how? I wonder if the comparison between the two even makes sense. The Toronto Star reports.


• blogTO notes that beloved Toronto bookstore Eliot's is closing, with a fantastic sale. I think I will be making at least one visit there.


• John Lorinc at Spacing notes that Sidewalk Labs' negotiations with regards to Quayside have hit some problems.


• Toronto Life shares some of teenage photographer Lia Denbok's stunning photos of homeless people in the city.


• MacLean's has a brief article/a> sharing the suggestion of novelist Michael Redhill, author of Giller-winning Bellevue Square, that Torontonian authors have come of age in being able to deal with their city.

[NEWS] Four links on animals: Beluga DNA, the dolphin of Tiji, the language of crows, pandas

• The DNA of the beluga whale has been sequenced for the first time, using the DNA of belugas recently dead at the Vancouver Aquarium. Global News reports.


• Japanese fishers responsible for the brutal slaughter of dolphins in a cove in Taiji, so red that it makes the water red, claim they do not feel guilty. (Why try to hide the slaughter, then?) The Guardian reports.


• Vanessa Hrvatin, at the National Post, notes an effort by researchers at the University of Washington Bothnell to try to decipher the language of crows. What are they saying?


• MacLean's wonders if there is cause to be concerned for the welfare of Canada's pandas, now in residence in the Toronto Zoo and scheduled for a move next year to the Calgary Zoo. Is that place safe?