[BLOG] Some Friday links

[rfmcdonald]

• Bad Astronomer Phil Plait notes how a photo of the Large Magellanic Cloud makes him recognize it as an irregular spiral, not a blob.


• Centauri Dreams celebrates the life of cosmonaut Alexei Leonov.


• John Quiggin at Crooked Timber takes issue with one particular claim about the benefits of war and empire.


• The Crux looks at fatal familial insomnia, a genetic disease that kills through inflicting sleeplessness on its victims.


• D-Brief looks at suggestions that magnetars are formed by the collisions of stars.


• Dangerous Minds introduces readers to the fantasy art of Arthur Rackham.


• Cody Delistraty considers some evidence suggesting that plants have a particular kind of intelligence.


• The Dragon's Tales notes the expansion by Russia of its airbase in Hneymim, Syria.


• Karen Sternheimer writes at the Everyday Sociology Blog about the critical and changing position of libraries as public spaces in our cities.


• Gizmodo looks at one marvelous way scientists have found to cheat quantum mechanics.


• Information is Beautiful outlines a sensible proposal to state to cultivate seaweed a as source of food and fuel.


• io9 notes that, in the exciting new X-Men relaunch, immortal Moira MacTaggart is getting her own solo book.


• JSTOR Daily notes how the now-defunct Thomas Cook travel agency played a role in supporting British imperialism, back in the day.


• Language Log notes that the Oxford English Dictionary is citing the blog on the use of "their" as a singular.


• Scott Lemieux at Lawyers, Guns and Money considers the grounds for impeaching Donald Trump.


• The LRB Blog looks at the politics of Mozambique at the country approaches dangerous times.


• Sean Marshall notes the southern Ontario roads that run to Paris and to London.


• Neuroskeptic notes a problematic scientific study that tried to use rabbits to study the female human orgasm.


• Steve Baker at The Numerati looks at a new book on journalism by veteran Peter Copeland.


• The NYR Daily makes the point that depending on biomass as a green energy solution is foolish.


• The Planetary Science Blog notes a 1983 letter by then-president Carl Sagan calling for a NASA mission to Saturn and Titan.


• Roads and Kingdoms interviews photojournalist Eduardo Leal on his home city of Porto, particularly as transformed by tourism.


• Drew Rowsome notes the book Dreamland, an examination of the early amusement park.


• The Russian Demographics Blog shares a paper considering, in broad detail, how the consequence of population aging could be mitigated in the labour market of the European Union.


• Strange Company reports on a bizarre poltergeist in a British garden shed.


• Window on Eurasia notes the new strength of a civic national identity in Kazakhstan, based on extensive polling.


• Arnold Zwicky, surely as qualified a linguist as any, examines current verb of the American moment, "depose".