[PHOTO] West across the Don towards downtown Toronto

After exiting a friend's home on Broadview Avenue last night, I looked out to the west, over Riverdale Park and towards the skyline of downtown. The views from here, up on the eastern slopes of the Don Valley, can be incredible.

[PHOTO] Three photos of dinosaur fossils at the AMNH (@amnh)

My interest in dinosaurs is a late-developing one. I don't remember being particularly caught up in dinosaurs when I was younger--I read about them, yes, but I read about everything. It's my interest in birds, I think, those dinosaurs which have made it to the contemporary world, that have got me interested in their ancestors.

[BLOG] Some Tuesday links

• David Shane Lowry at anthro{dendum} considers the extent to which implicit policies of eugenics, determining whose survival matters and whose do not, exist in the 21st century in an era of climate change.


• Kambiz Kamrani at Anthropology.net takes issue with the contention of Richard Goss that Neanderthals became extinct because they lacked the physical coordination necessary to be good hunters or good artists.


• Bad Astronomer Phil Plait notes that the Chixculub asteroid impactor 66 million years ago created a tectonic shock worldwide that made things worse, the effects of the impact winter being worsened by massive induced volcanic activity.


• D-Brief shares the story of a British man whose chronic pain was relieved by a swim in icy-cold winter waters.


• The Dragon's Tales reports that China may well be on track to building the first exoscale computer, first in the world.


• Hornet Stories notes that out Olympic athlete Eric Radford is the first to win a gold medal.


• JSTOR Daily engages with an old conundrum of economists: why are diamonds more expensive than water?


• Lawyers, Guns and Money examines how urban Native Americans tend to have insecure housing, being on the margins of the real estate market in cities and without options in their home reserves. This surely also is the case in Canada, too.


• Lucy McKeon at the NYR Daily writes about all the photographs she has never seen, images that she has only heard descriptions of.


• Drew Rowsome notes the reappearance of queer theatre festival Rhubarb at Buddies in Bad Times, with shows starting tomorrow.


• Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel notes that the Trump administration's proposed budget for NASA in FY2019 will gut basic science programs.


• Window on Eurasia notes the emergence of a survivalist subculture in Russia, following somewhat the pattern of the United States.


• Arnold Zwicky starts from noting a sample of a rap song in a Mountain Dew commercial and goes interesting places in his latest meditations.

[URBAN NOTE] Four city links: global distribution, smaller cities, AI in cities, shopping mall music

• Marginal Revolution links to a paper suggesting that whereas cities in developed countries tend to be spread evenly across resource-rich agricultural areas, cities in developing countries tend to cluster near coasts where transport is easier.


• At In Medias Res, Russell Arben Fox responds to Krugman in considering what role there is for smaller cities and towns in the 21st century.


• Tracey Lauriault at Policy Options argues that, in projects like Google's involvement in Toronto's Quayside, the underlying values of the AI systems used should always be thoughtfully considered. What do they represent?


• Dangerous Minds shares the oddly haunting YouTube videos of a man who plays classic 1980s pop songs in deserted shopping malls.

[URBAN NOTE] Six Toronto links: crowding and suicide on the TTC, Scarborough RT, defensive design

• Steve Munro at Torontoist dissects John Tory's ten-point plan to deal with TTC crowding. This is, at best, a repackaging of previously planned initiatives.


• Torontoist takes a look at some elements of defensive urban design, intended to deter people from loitering too much or being otherwise inconvenient.


• The Scarborough rapid transit route may be down for at least a year while subway construction is ongoing, forcing buses to be used. The Toronto Star reports.


• The growing number of suicides in Toronto involving TTC vehicles is apparently responsible for rising rates of absenteeism among TTC staff. The Globe and Mail reports.


• Frequent TTC riders are dissatisfied with overcrowding and the quality of service. Global News reports.


• Robert Mackenzie at Transit Toronto <a href="https://transit.toronto.on.ca/archives/weblog/2018/02/01-a_perfect_.shtml'><U>looked</u></a> at the factors going into the big, system-threatening, overcrowding on the morning of the 30th of January.</li> </ul>

[URBAN NOTE] Six city links: skyscrapers, Queens, Montréal, Vancouver, Gangneung, Amsterdam

• CNN reports on the rise of slender skyscrapers, in New York City and elsewhere.


• VICE notes how badly the temporary shutdown of the L line has been hurting the Queens neighbourhood of Astoria.


• National Observer wonders what Montréal can do to be friendlier to seniors. (Being open to consulting broader demographics is a good start.)


• Global News notes concerns in Vancouver that excessive condo development could block the view of the mountains surrounding that metropolis.


• CBC reports on the South Korean city of Gangneung, a place that has become the locus of that country's coffee culture.


• VICE reports on the effect that licenses allowing nightclubs to operate 24 hours a day has had on nightlife in Amsterdam.