[NEWS] Five sci-fi links: Star Trek, Neuromancer and cyberspace, solarpunk, cyberpunk

• Not too long ago, the Toronto Star noted that back in 1966 it had reported on the filming of "The Man Trap" , the first Star Trek episode to air. Its report is here.


• This io9 report on how Alex Kurtzman talks about the tension between staying loyal to canon in Star Trek and doing something new provides insight.


• This Mark Hill essay at Heterotopia Magazine looks at how the Commodore 64 version of Neuromancer reflects the cyberspace imagined very early in the history of the online world, all graphics and BBSs.


• This Adam Boffa essay at Longreads takes a look at solarpunk, a new SF genre characterized by a hopeful post-apocalyptic environment imagining ecologically sound technologies and societies.


• Lee Constantinou, writing at Slate, suggests that the continued survival of cyberpunk and children genres like solarpunk speaks of an exhaustion of the imagination of SF writers, in a lack of belief in change.

[PHOTO] Iced laneway

[URBAN NOTE] Seven city links: smart cities, coffee, accessible transport, regionalism, boomtowns,

• The Conversation notes the concerns of Canadians about the potential privacy concerns regarding smart cities.


• This CityMetric article examines the particular role of the chain coffeeshop in the contemporary city.


• Will the tragic death of young mother Malaysia Goodson, killed trying to access public transit, lead to the spread of accessible infrastructure? Guardian Cities considers.


• A forced amalgamation of the different regional municipalities of Toronto could easily come into conflict with locals' identities, the Toronto Star noted.


• National Geographic considers Silicon Valley-type boomtowns around the world. (Toronto is on that list.)


• This Bloomberg article makes the point that, in same cases, merging cities with prosperous suburbs might be a godsends for the wider conurbations.


• This Curbed article by novelist Jami Attenberg looks at what has changed for her--what she has gained--since moving from large metropolis New York City to the smaller centre of New Orleans.

[NEWS] Seven politics links: childcare, China in Canada, drugs, Venezuela, Brexit, Finland

• CBC reports on childcare costs across Canada, noting how exceptionally low and affordable they are in Québec.


• If China withdraws its students studying in Canadian universities from the country in the way Saudi Arabia did its students, the financial impact on many centres of higher education would be significant. Global News reports.


• NOW Toronto notes how Doug Ford, surprisingly, has managed to make a mess of the nascent legal cannabis sector of retail.


• VICE explains how Europe has largely managed to avoid a fentanyl crisis--Europe's drug dealers have much more of a vested interest in the survival of their clients.


• This Open Democracy essay notes how, in the light of the breakdown of Venezuela, this central alliance of China in Latin America is looking increasingly problematic.


• This essay at Open Democracy by an anonymous anti-Brexit activist from northern England notes that, in the end, an already vulnerable North is going to have to take responsibility for the Brexit it voted for when catastrophe hits.


• DW reports the results of Finland's guaranteed minimum income experiment: Although well-being was improved, recipients did not increase their participation in the labour market.

[NEWS] Seven links about animal intelligence: orangutans, chimpanzees, humpback whales, fish, bees

• Orangutans are smart enough to talk about things not immediately present, D-Brief notes.


• The Crux notes that chimpanzees apparently have not developed small talk.


• The remarkable evolution of the songs of humpback whales over time looks a lot like the evolution of pop culture among humans, I think. D-Brief reports.


• Vox notes how, in many ways, trying to understand and communicate with humpback whales is so close to SETI.


• This article at The Conversation looks at a recent adoption of a narwhal into a group of belugas. What does it mean about these species' social relationships?


• Gizmodo notes that, recently, the species of fish known as the cleaner wrasse passed the mirror test for self-awareness. What does this mean about fish intelligence? What does this mean about the test?


• Honeybees, it turns out, can add and subtract. Motherboard reports.