[BLOG] Some Wednesday links

[rfmcdonald]

• Centauri Dreams notes a new project to look for planets around near stars, starting with relatively massive worlds in torch orbits.


• Daniel Drezner argues that the limited support likely to be given to the Syrian rebels by the United States reflects a certain realpolitik on the part of the Obama administration. Neither Assad nor the rebels will be able to win.


• The Dragon's Tales notes the discovery of two planetary candidates orbiting the star GJ 221, a star with fewer heavy elements in its composition than the Sun. This seems to confirm a trend: a star doesn't need to have many heavy elements to form relatively massive planets.


• Eastern Approaches reports on the Czech political scandal that has just claimed the prime minister.


• At A Fistful of Euros and his own blog, Alex Harrowell talks about how the Turkey protests were triggered in part by the decline in Istanbul's public space, like parks. A common urbanity works to make everyone happy.


• At Lawyers, Guns and Money, Robert Farley notes that the Sino-American summit hasn't gotten much coverage compared to (say) the Soviet-American summits a couple of decades ago.


• The Power and the Money's Noel Maurer has a few posts regarding the unlikelihood of a Nicaragua Canal (1, 2, 3).


• Normblog's Norman Geras links to a few different people with their own views on what should be done with Syria.


• At the Planetary Society blog, Emily Lakdawalla notes that Lego will be putting out a model of the Curiosity Mars rover.


• Supernova Condensate discusses the prospects of an ammonia-dominated world. What would its seas, or its biochemistry, look like? (There's a picture.)


• Window on Eurasia reports the speculations of a Russian analyst who thinks--absurdly, IMHO--that Central Asia's most likely fates include state failure and conquest by China.