[BLOG] Some Tuesday links

[rfmcdonald]

• Bad Astronomer Phil Plait shares the latest from exoplanet PDS 70b, which has a gain in mass that has actually been detected by astronomers.


• The Crux considers what information, exactly, hypothetical extraterrestrials could extract from the Golden Record of Voyager. Are the messages decipherable?


• D-Brief shares the most detailed map yet assembled of Comet 67P, compiled from images taken by the Rosetta probe.


• Karen Sternheimer at the Everyday Sociology Blog writes about the way changing shopping malls reflect, and influence, changes in the broader culture.


• Hornet Stories notes that, while Pope Francis may not want parents of gay children to cut their ties, he does think the parents should look into conversion therapy.


• JSTOR Daily links to a paper examining how beekeeping in early modern England led to the creation of a broader pattern of communications and discourse on the subject.


• Language Hat shares the story of an American diplomat in 1960s Argentina, and his experiences learning Spanish (after having spoken Portuguese) and travelling in the provinces.


• Language Log shares a biscriptal ad from Hong Kong.


• The LRB Blog shares a story told by Harry Stopes about a maritime trip with harbour pilots from Cornwall.


• Roads and Kingdoms shares an anecdote of a family meal of empanadas in the Argentine city of Cordoba during the world cup.


• Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel explains why, in the early universe, the most massive stars massed the equivalent of a thousand suns, much larger than any star known now.


• Towleroad shares Karl Schmid's appearance on NBC Today, where he talked with Megyn Kelly about HIV in the era of undetectability.


• Window on Eurasia notes the many obstacles placed by the Russian government in the way of Circassian refugees from Syria seeking refuge in their ancestral North Caucasus homeland.