[BLOG] Some Friday links

[rfmcdonald]

• Bad Astronomer Phil Plait notes how the dinosaurs seem to have been killed off 65 million years ago by a combination of geological and astronomical catastrophes.


• Centauri Dreams examines Kepler 1658b, a hot Jupiter in a close orbit around an old star.


• The Crux reports on the continuing search for Planet Nine in the orbits of distant solar system objects.


• D-Brief notes how researchers have begun to study the archaeological records of otters.


• Cody Delistraty profiles author and journalist John Lanchester.


• Far Outliers reports on the terrible violence between Hindus and Muslims preceding partition in Calcutta.


• L.M. Sacasas at The Frailest Thing suggests the carnival of the online world, full of hidden work, is actually an unsatisfying false carnival.


• Hornet Stories reports that São Paulo LGBTQ cultural centre and homeless shelter Casa 1 is facing closure thanks to cuts by the homophobic new government.


• io9 reports on one fan's attempt to use machine learning to produce a HD version of Deep Space Nine.


• JSTOR Daily takes a look at the increasing trend, at least in the United States and the United Kingdom, to deport long-term residents lacking sufficiently secure residency rights.


• Lawyers, Guns and Money looks at the literally medieval epidemics raging among the homeless of California.


• Marginal Revolution considers how the Book of Genesis can be read as a story of increasing technology driving improved living standards and economic growth.


• The NYR Daily interviews Lénaïg Bredoux about #MeToo in France.


• The Planetary Society Blog considers the subtle differences in colour between ice giants Uranus and Neptune, one greenish and the other a blue, and the causes of this difference.


• The Speed River Journal's Van Waffle shares beautiful photos of ice on a stream as he talks about his creative process.


• Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel considers what the universe was like back when the Earth was forming.


• Window on Eurasia reports on a statement made by the government of Belarus that the survival of the Belarusian language is a guarantor of national security.


• Arnold Zwicky was kind enough to share his handout for the semiotics gathering SemFest20.