[BLOG] Some Sunday links

[rfmcdonald]

• Bad Astronomer Phil Plait, looking at the Moon, considers what a "small" crater is.


• Citizen Science Salon looks at Amino Labs, a start-up that aims to enable people--even children--to use simple kits to engage in bioengineering.


• Crooked Timber notes that the collapse in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies means good things for the global environment.


• The Crux considers the extent to which gender--gender identity, gendered roles--is unique to humans.


• A Fistful of Euros considers the generalized extremism of the "filets jaunes" of France and where this might lead that country.


• L.M. Sacasas at The Frailest Thing shares the skepticism of Jacques Ellul in a "technical" humanism, one that seeks to ameliorate the details of a dehumanizing life.


• Gizmodo considers how we can start preparing for the risks of powerful artificial intelligence to humans, even potentially existential ones.


• The Island Review interviews Nancy Campbell, a writer concerned with the islands and cultures of the Arctic like Greenland.


• Language Hat considers the idea of "efficient languages". What does this idea even mean?


• Language Log considers the potential impact of making English an official language on Taiwan.


• The LRB Blog considers the political future of France.


• Window on Eurasia notes how many people in Kyrgzystan are becoming angered by China's Xinjiang policies.


• Arnold Zwicky considers St. Bernard, in connection with dogs and otherwise.