[BLOG] Some Monday links

[rfmcdonald]

• Centauri Dreams takes a look at Pluto.


• The Dragon's Tales links to a paper suggesting that the "young faint sun paradox" can be explained by high but not very high levels of carbon dioxide and methane on the early Earth.


• Eastern Approaches argues that Poland isn't going to become the Saudi Arabia os shale gas any time soon.


• Far Outliers takes a look at overlooked interracial fluidity and family in the American South.


• Inkless Wells' Paul Wells, writing at MacLean's, wants greater press access to the Lac-Mégantic catastrophe.


• Language Log takes a look at the failure of artificial intelligence as evidenced by the nonsensical conversations of a pair of Siri bots.


• The Planetary Society Blog has a guest writer suggesting that even under NASA's budget strictures, a Uranus probe could be possible.


• Noel Maurer at The Power and they Money makes the case that arming the Syrian rebels shouldn't be done, in that the outcomes produced by non-supply--a weakened regime or a weakened transition--are less threatening to American interests.


• Towleroad links to a paper suggesting that homophobia is associated with fear of unwanted sexual advances.


• Window on Eurasia quotes a Russian writer who argues that, if the Soviet Union had survived, immigration to Russia would have been substantially heavier and more politically controversial.