[BLOG] Some Thursday links

[rfmcdonald]

• Centauri Dreams takes a look at the exciting early news on potentially habitable nearby exoplanet Ross 128 b.


• The Crux notes that evidence has been found of Alzheimer-like illness in dolphins. Is this, as the scientists argue, a symptom of a syndrome shared between us, big-brained social species with long post-fertility lifespans?


• D-Brief takes a look at the idea of contemporary life on Mars hiding away in the icy regolith near the surface.


• Far Outliers notes one argument that Germany lost the Second World War because of the poor quality of its leaders.


• Gizmodo notes the incredibly bright event PS1-10adi, two and a half billion light-years away. What is it? No one knows ...


• Lawyers, Guns and Money celebrates the end of the Mugabe dictatorship in Zimbabwe.


• The Map Room Blog links to some fascinating detailed maps of the outcome of the Australian mail-in vote on marriage equality.


• Roads and Kingdoms visits rural Mexico after the recent quake.


• Cheri Lucas Rowlands shares some beautiful photos of fantastical Barcelona.


• Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel notes the insights provided by Pluto's mysterious cool atmosphere, with its cooling haze, has implications for Earth at a time of global warming.


• Window on Eurasia notes that Russia is not going to allow even Tatarstan to include the Tatar language as a mandatory school subject.