[BLOG] Some Tuesday links

[rfmcdonald]

• Bad Astronomer Phil Plait notes that the measured rate of the expansion of the universe depends on the method used to track this rate, and that this is a problem.


• On Sunday, Caitlin Kelly celebrated receiving her annual cheque from Canada's Public Lending Program, which gives authors royalties based on how often their book has been borrowed in our public libraries.


• In The Buzz, the Toronto Public Library identified five books in its collection particularly prone to be challenged by would-be censors.


• D-Brief suggests that, if bacteria managed to survive and adapt in the Atacama desert as it became hostile to life, like life might have done the same on Mars.


• Far Outliers notes the crushing defeat, and extensive looting of, the Moghul empire by the Persia of Nader Shah.


• Hornet Stories looks at the medal hauls of out Olympic athletes this year in Pyeongchang.

Imageo notes satellite imagery indicating that fisheries occupy four times the footprint of agriculture. Aquaculture is starting to look like a necessary idea, I think.

• At In Media Res, Russell Arben Fox praises Porch Fires, a new biography of Laura Ingalls Wilder by Caroline Fraser, for its insights on Wilder and on the moment of the settlement of the American West.


• JSTOR Daily notes how, in the 19th century after the development of anesthesia, the ability to relieve people of pain was a political controversy. Shouldn't it be felt, wasn't it natural?


• Language Hat links to an article taking a look behind the scenes at the Oxford English Dictionary. How does it work? What are its challenges?


• At Lingua Franca, Roger Shuy distinguishes between different kinds of speech events and explains why they are so important in the context of bribery trials.


• The LRB Blog shares some advice on ethics in statecraft from the 2nd century CE Chinese writer Liu An.


• J. Hoberman at the NYR Daily reviews an exhibit of the work of Bauhaus artist Jozef Albers at the Guggenheim.


• Roads and Kingdoms shares an anecdote of travellers drinking homemade wine in Montenegro.


• Drew Rowsome interviews Native American drag queen and up-and-coming music star Vizin.


• Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel explains how star S0-2, orbiting so close to the black hole at the heart of the Milky Way Galaxy, will help prove Einsteinian relativity.


• Vintage Space explains, for the record, how rockets can work in a vacuum. (This did baffle some people this time last century.)


• Window on Eurasia suggests that, on its 100th anniversary, Estonia has succeeded in integrating most of its Russophones.