[BLOG] Some Thursday links

• Bad Astronomer Phil Plait reports suggestions the bizarre happenings at Boyajian's Star could be explained by an evaporating exomoon.


• Centauri Dreams looks at how the crowdsourced evScope telescope is being used to support the Lucy mission to the Jupiter Trojans.


• The Crux explains the phenomenon of misophobia.


• D-Brief shares suggestions that an asteroid collision a half-billion years ago released clouds of dust that, reaching Earth, triggered the mid-Ordovician ice age.


• Dangerous Minds shares video of a perhaps underwhelming meeting of William Burroughs with Francis Bacon.


• io9 makes the case for more near-future space exploration movies like Ad Astra.


• Joe. My. God. notes a Trump retweeting of the lie that Ilham Omar celebrated on 9/11.


• JSTOR Daily notes how fire could destroy the stressed rainforest of the Amazon.


• Scott Lemieux at Lawyers, Guns and Money notes how few judges in the US have been impeached.


• The LRB Blog looks at how the already tenuous position of Haitians in the Bahamas has been worsened by Dorian.


• The Map Room Blog looks at the importance of the integrity of official maps in the era of Trump.


• Marginal Revolution looks at the political importance of marriage ceremonies in Lebanon and Gaza.


• Drew Rowsome interviews the Zakar Twins on the occasion of their new play Pray the Gay Away, playing in Toronto in October.


• The Russian Demographic Blog shares statistics on birthrates in the different provinces of the Russian Empire circa 1906.


• Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel reports on the first experiment done on the photoelectric effect, revealing quantum mechanics.


• Window on Eurasia looks at growing anti-Chinese sentiments in Central Asia.


• Arnold Zwicky looks at "The Hurtful Dog", a Cyanide and Happiness cartoon.

[URBAN NOTE] Five Toronto links: Chinatown, neigthbourhoods, Port Lands, TTC maps, TTC open house

• Downtown Pets and Aquarium has reopened, just south of its old Chinatown location. blogTO reports.


• John Lorinc at Spacing writes about what Toronto should do as it moves towards an intensification of development in its neighbourhoods.


• Blayne Haggart writes at The Conversation about how the Sidewalk Labs plan for the Port Lands in Toronto really should become an election issue.


• Sean Marshall takes issue with some of the maps used by the TTC to advertise its different and varied routes.


• Robert Mackenzie at the Transit Toronto blog notes that, on Saturday the 21st, the TTC will be hosting open houses at the Leslie Barns and Greenwood Yard.

[URBAN NOTE] Five city links: Kingston, Town of the Blue Mountains, Québec City, Calgary, Edmonton

• Kingston will be hosting an open house discussion on the legacies of its most famous resident, John A. MacDonald. Global News reports.


• The Toronto Star reports on a beach and land ownership controversy in the Georgian Bay resort Town of the Blue Mountains, here.


• CBC Montreal reports on the closure of the Québec City church Très-Saint-Sacrement, after just under a century of operation, here.


• Cost increases for the Green Line LRT in Calgary may lead to route changes. Global News reports.


• The Brick has taken over the space of Sears in the West Edmonton Mall, offering hope to shopping malls of survival. Global News reports.

[NEWS] Five space science links: Mars, Phobos and Deimos, Psyche, GSN O69, galaxies

• Universe Today looks at the explosions of sand which mark spring on Mars, here.


• The Mars moons of Phobos and Deimos are excellent first stops for crewed missions, Universe Today argues here.


• Universe Today notes that, in their hot youth, metal asteroids like Psyche might have had volcanoes ejecting molten iron.


• The supermassive black hole at the heart of galaxy GSN 069 is eating something on a 9 hour cycle. Universe Today explains.


• What is killing star formation in the distant galaxies of the Virgo Cluster? The Conversation reports.

[MUSIC] Madonna, "Express Yourself" (live)

The live version of "Express Yourself" performed in 1993 by Madonna in Sydney and released to video on The Girlie Show: Live Down Under is a joy, an energetic disco reworking that is one of my early-morning energy songs.

"Madonna - Express Yourself (The Girlie Show)" (Watch on YouTube)