[BLOG] Some Tuesday links

[rfmcdonald]

• The Crux looks at Henrietta Leavitt, the astronomer who helped measure the size of the universe.


• D-Brief notes that the Chang'e-4 rover has briefly woken up to conduct science on the Moon before returning to hibernation.


• Gizmodo notes that an ancient feather thought for generations to belong to Archeopteryx actually belongs to a different feathered animal.


• JSTOR Daily notes the importance of protecting wild plants related to major foodstuffs, like coffee, from extinction.


• Language Hat links to a chart depicting the evolution of alphabets from the original Proto-Sinaitic.


• Lawyers, Guns and Money explores the bizarre scandal surrounding Virginia governor Ralph Northam. (I think him badly compromised, myself.)


• Marginal Revolution looks at the reasons for the unexpected flight of capital from emerging economies. (Insecurity seems to be one cause.)


• The Planetary Society Blog shares some galactic astrophotography of Adam Block.


• Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel notes the importance of continuing to try to answer the big questions of science.


• Window on Eurasia notes the emergence in Russia of people who reject Russian statehood and instead claim Soviet legitimacy, echoes of sovereign citizens and Reichsbürger of Germany.


• Arnold Zwicky takes a look at the idea of alphabetic order, starting with the question of how to learn it.