[BLOG] Some Friday links

[rfmcdonald]

• The Big Picture shares photos of motorbike racing in South Africa.


• Centauri Dreams considers the stellar weather that planets of red dwarf stars might encounter.


• Dead Things looks at two genetic studies which complicate the narrative of humanity's spread.


• Dangerous Minds shares the infamous anti-disco night of 1979 that spelled the end of the genre in North America.


• The Everyday Sociology Blog considers how one makes a home among strangers.


• Joe. My. God. notes that the UKIP MP claims the sun is responsible for the bulk of the Earth's tides not the moon, and reports on a Kentucky judge who says gays ruined straight men's ability to hug.


• Language Log looks at changing patterns of language usage in Japanese.


• Lawyers, Guns and Money mocks the cosmic perspective of Gary Johnson.


• The LRB Blog reports from devastated Lesbos.


• Maximos62 maps the smoke from this year's Indonesian fires.


• The NYRB Daily shares vintage photos from mid-1960s Cuba.


• The Planetary Society Blog reports on a recent tour of NASA facilities.


• Window on Eurasia reports on a call for a single Circassian alphabet, suggests a Russian initiative to use sufism to unite Russian Muslims will end badly, and argues that Russian criticism of language policy in post-Soviet countries is linked to geopolitics.