A Bit More Detail

• Anthropology.net notes a remarkably thorough genetic analysis of a piece of chewing gum 5700 years old that reveals volumes of data about the girl who chew it.


• 'Nathan Burgoine at Apostrophen writes an amazing review of Cats that actually does make me want to see it.


• Bad Astronomy reports on galaxy NGC 6240, a galaxy produced by a collision with three supermassive black holes.


• Caitlin Kelly at the Broadside Blog writes about the mechanics of journalism.


• Centauri Dreams argues that the question of whether humans will walk on exoplanets is ultimately distracting to the study of these worlds.


• Crooked Timber shares a Sunday morning photo of Bristol.


• The Dragon's Tales notes that India has a launch date of December 2021 for its first mission in its Gaganyaan crewed space program.


• Andrew LePage at Drew Ex Machina looks at the Saturn C-1 rocket.


• Karen Sternheimer at the Everyday Sociology Blog considers if the vogue for minimalism meets the criteria to be considered a social movement.


• Far Outliers ?notes how, in the War of 1812, some in New England considered the possibility of seceding from the Union.


• Gizmodo looks at evidence of the last populations known of Homo erectus, on Java just over a hundred thousand years ago.


• Mark Graham links to a new paper co-authored by him looking at how African workers deal with the gig economy.


• io9 announces that the Michael Chabon novel, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, is set to become a television series.


• Joe. My. God. shares a report that Putin gave Trump anti-Ukrainian conspiracy theories.


• JSTOR Daily considers what a world with an economy no longer structured around oil could look like.


• Language Hat takes issue with the latest talk of the Icelandic language facing extinction.


• Language Log shares a multilingual sign photographed in Philadelphia's Chinatown.


• Paul Campos at Lawyers, Guns and Money notes the document release revealing the futility of the war in Afghanistan.


• The LRB Blog looks at class identity and mass movements and social democracy.


• Tyler Cowen at Marginal Revolution suggests that, even if the economy of China is larger than the United States, Chinese per capita poverty means China does not have the leading economy.


• Diane Duane at Out of Ambit writes about how she is writing a gay sex scene.


• Jim Belshaw at Personal Reflections reflects on "OK Boomer".


• Roads and Kingdoms interviews Mexican chef Ruffo Ibarra.


• Peter Rukavina shares his list of levees for New Year's Day 2020 on PEI.


• The Russian Demographics Blog shares a map indicating fertility rates in the different regions of the European Union.


• Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel explains how quantum physics are responsible for vast cosmic structures.


• Charles Soule at Whatever explains his reasoning behind his new body-swap novel.


• Window on Eurasia notes how the negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in Paris show the lack of meaningful pro-Russian sentiment there.


• Yorkshire Ranter Alex Harrowell talks about his lessons from working in the recent British election.


• Arnold Zwicky looks at a syncretic, Jewish-Jedi, holiday poster.

• Centauri Dreams takes a look at how stellar winds from red dwarfs complicate the habitability of planets in their circumstellar habitable zones.


• The Crux, noting the 75th anniversary of the atomic age, notes some non-nuclear weapons achievements of this era.


• D-Brief notes the exceptional strength of prehistoric women farmers.


• Daily JSTOR takes a look at the instantaneity and power--frightening power, even--of celebrity culture in an era where technology gives us access to the intimate details of their lives.


• Far Outliers notes that Pearl Buck, American author and missionary in China, actually was egalitarian and feminist.


• The Frailest Thing's Michael Sacasas considers all those texts created in the past, of importance then and relevant even now, which have been forgotten. How can the canon be restored?


• Imageo shares photos of the eruption of Mount Agung, in Bali.


• Language Hat notes the intense interest of Roman Italy in all things Egyptian, including hieroglyphics. Where, exactly, was the like European interest in the cultures it colonized more recently?


• Language Log tries to find people who can identify the source language of a particular text. It seems Turkic ...


• Lingua France talks about Robert Luis Stevenson and his opinions (and the blogger's) about the weather of Edinburgh.


• Lovesick Cyborg notes the seriously destabilizing potential of roboticization on human employment. To what extent can improving education systems help?


• Tariq Ali at the LRB Blog talks about the latest religious-political crisis in Pakistan.


• The Map Room Blog links to an article describing a Vietnamese historian's search for cartographic proof of his country's claims in the South China Sea.


• The NYR Daily considers an interesting question: how, exactly, do you get an actor to act naturally for film? What strategies do filmmakers use?


• The Power and the Money's Noel Maurer notes a new genetic study hinting at a much greater survival of indigenous populations--women, at least--in Argentina than was previously suspected.


• Roads and Kingdoms notes an interesting effort to try to preserve and restore the older districts of Kabul.


• Seriously Science notes the exploration of the microbial life populating the coffee machine sludge of some inquisitive scientists.


• Window on Eurasia notes that substantially Russian-populated northern Kazakhstan is at risk of becoming a new Russian target, especially after Nazarbayev goes.


• Arnold Zwicky shares some thoughts on people of colour and the LGBTQ rainbow flag.

• Bad Astronomy shares photos of the ripple made by moon Daphnis in the rings of Saturn, as does the Planetary Society Blog.


• The Broadside Blog questions whether readers actually like their work.


• Centauri Dreams notes evidence for the discovery of a Jupiter-mass planet in the protoplanetary disk of TW Hydrae.


• Dangerous Minds links to the 1980s work of Lydia Lunch.


• Far Outliers reports on how the Afghanistan war against the Soviets acted as a university for jihadists from around the world.


• Kieran Healy looks at some failures of Google Scholar.


• Language Hat reports on a fascinating crowdsourced program involving the transcription of manuscripts from Shakespeare's era, and what elements of pop history and language have been discovered.


• The LRB Blog compares Trump's inauguration to those of Ronald Reagan.


• The Map Room Blog links to an exhibition of the maps of Utah.


• Understanding Society reports on a grand sociological research project in Europe that has found out interesting things about the factors contributing to young people's support for the far right.


• Window on Eurasia reports on instability in the binational North Caucasian republic of Kabardino-Balkaria, describes the spectre of pan-Mongolism, and looks at the politicization of biker gangs in Russia.

• blogTO notes the growing concentration of chain stores on lower Ossington.


• The Broadside Blog's Caitlin Kelly describes her luck in interviewing a New York City firefighter.


• Citizen Science Salon reports on a citizen science game intended to fight against Alzheimer's.


• Language Hat starts from a report about unsold Welsh-language Scrabble games to talk about the wider position of the Welsh language.


• Lawyers, Guns and Money shares the astounding news leaked about Donald Trump's billion-dollar losses.


• Marginal Revolution links to a psychology paper examining the perception of atheists as narcissistic.


• Towleroad reports on the informative reality television series of the United States' gay ambassador to Denmark.


• Window on Eurasia notes how Russia's war in Aleppo echoes past conflicts in Chechnya and Afghanistan, and examines the position of Russia's border regions.

• The Atlantic notes the import of the assassination of the head of the Taliban.


• The BBC observes Spotify has more revenues, but is still not making money.


• Bloomberg suggests Brexit would embolden central European populists and slow down growth, and looks at Coca Cola's end of production in Venezuela.


• Bloomberg View suggests a new class of educated Chinese professionals will hurt middle-class wages.


• The CBC notes the lifting of the mandatory evacuation order for northern Alberta oil sands camps.


• Daily Xtra looks at the importance of Facebook in spreading knowledge to PrEP.


• Gizmodo notes the proliferation of cephalopods in the world's oceans.


• The Miami Herald describes how desperate Venezuelans are turning to urban gardening.


• The National Post looks at Kevin O'Leary's interest in Canadian politics.


• The Toronto Star reports on the lifting of the American arms sales embargo against Vietnam.


• Wired notes Grindr can still be hacked to identify users' locations.

• blogTO notes that the Union-Pearson Express is offering big discounts to attract riders, and observes that free WiFi in the TTC has been extended to Sherbourne and Castle Frank stations.


• The Dragon's Gaze links to a paper suggesting hot Jupiters can form in situ.


• The Dragon's Tales notes Japan wants Australia to buy its naval vessels.


• The Everyday Sociology Blog looks back at eight years of output, and suggests it shows the broad scope of sociology.


• Far Outliers notes the rate of mental illness among Soviet Afghanistan veterans.


• Geocurrents looks at the very late settlement of Kiribati's Line Islands.


• Joe. My. God. notes that Cyprus has approved civil unions.


• Lawyers, Guns and Money shares on the shallow roots of the Non-Aligned Movement in the Third World.


• Marginal Revolution notes that highly-educated people keep dropping out of the army.


• Steve Munro notes the relationship between development charges and transit planning in Toronto.


• The Power and the Money's Noel Maurer suggests unlikely ways for a Republican to take Democratic-leaning Michigan.


• Savage Minds shares an ethnographic perspective on the history of Pilgrims in New England.


• Transit Toronto notes that CP will be sending in trains filled with food to promote food banks.


• Window on Eurasia warns about the vulnerability of Belarus to integration with Russia.

• The Broadside Blog's Caitlin Kelly writes about the things important to her.


• Crooked Timber's Chris Bertram shares a quietly beautiful picture of a Paris cafΘ late at night.


• The Dragon's Gaze notes a paper suggesting that atmospheric haze on exoplanets might be a biosignature.


• The Dragon's Tales notes that the Earth appears not to have gotten its water from comets, and examines the geology of Mars' massive Hellas crater.


• Far Outliers notes initial Soviet goals in Afghanistan and looks at Soviet reluctance to get involved.


• Joe. My. God. notes panic in the Republican Party establishment over a possible victory of Carson or Trump.


• Language Hat notes some online resources on Beowulf and the Hittite language.


• pollotenchegg maps the distribution of ethnic Germans in Ukraine in 1926.


• Torontoist notes an architecturally sensitive data centre on Cabbagetown's Parliament Street.


• Towleroad notes Ukraine's passage of a LGBT employment non-discrimination bill.


• Window on Eurasia notes Putin's attempt at forming an anti-globalist coalition and notes Russian opinions about Western passivity.

A Montreal couple and their son who were convicted of first-degree murder in the so-called honour killings of four female family members are appealing for a new trial.

Mohammad Shafia, his wife Tooba Yahya and their son Hamed, filed a 110-page factum with the Ontario Court of Appeal, arguing Justice Robert Maranger failed to intervene when the Crown presented arguments that they believe improperly swayed jurors in their decision-making.

The document also questions the testimony of University of Toronto Prof. Shahrzad Mojab, an "honour killing" expert who testified on behalf of the Crown.

The three accused were each given an automatic life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years for their roles in the deaths.

The bodies of Zainab, 19, Sahar, 17, and Geeti Shafia, 13, along with Mohammad Shafia's first wife, Rona Mohammad Amir, 50, were found in the family's Nissan, submerged in a lock on the Rideau Canal on June 30, 2009. The prosecutors at their trial said the three accused felt the sisters and Amir had been acting dishonorably by not following family rules.

In a lengthy factum filed at Ontario’s Court of Appeal, the Shafias take specific aim at the “overwhelmingly prejudicial” testimony of a key Crown witness: Shahrzad Mojab, a University of Toronto professor who researches honour-based violence. A leading expert in her field, Mojab told the original Kingston jury that in some Middle Eastern cultures, a family’s reputation is measured by the obedience and chastity of its women—and that even the mere perception of inappropriate conduct can be a death sentence. “The shedding of blood is the way of purifying the name of the family in the community,” she told a packed courtroom on Dec. 5, 2011. “It is an expected act. It is expected that the honour of the family be restored and controlled.”

Lawyers representing the Shafia trio (father Mohammad, mother Tooba Yahya, and eldest son, Hamed) say the trial judge, Justice Robert Maranger, never should have allowed Mojab to take the stand. Her evidence “created enormous prejudice,” they argue, because it implied the accused “had a disposition to commit family homicide as a result of their cultural background.” Originally from Afghanistan, the family immigrated to Canada in 2007.

“Allowing cultural disposition evidence tempts jurors to follow their worst impulses and creates the risk that defendants will be judged by their background rather than their proven actions,” reads their joint factum, obtained by Maclean’s.

“By reinforcing pre-existing stereotypes of violent and primitive Muslims, [Mojab’s testimony] created the risk that the jury’s verdict would be tainted by cultural prejudice.”

The factum points out that Ontario’s high court has described Muslims as “a minority that many believe is unfairly maligned and stereotyped in contemporary Canada,” and that “cultural caricatures of ‘dangerous Muslim men’ and ‘imperilled Muslim women’ ” are “well-entrenched in popular culture and mainstream media.” “By placing the deaths of the deceased in a context of culturally inspired violence against women,” the factum continues, “Dr. Mojab’s evidence risked engaging racial and cultural animus.”

• The Broadside Blog's Caitlin Kelly asks her readers what work means to them.


• Centauri Dreams considers Saturn's A ring.


• Crooked Timber examines a mid-19th century horror story.


• The Dragon's Gaze reports on the circumstellar disks of supergiants in the Magellanic Clouds and on TW Hydrae.


• The Dragon's Tales reports on the Donbas war.


• The Everyday Sociology Blog looks at the interactions between science fiction and social media.


• Geocurrents looks at Argentina's north-south economic divide and examines controversial energy policies.


• Joe. My. God. and Towleroad react to Kim Davis' claims.


• Language Hat considers spelling reform.


• Language Log explains Obama's strange Chinese nickname.


• Languages of the World notes controversies over Spanish pronunciations.


• Lawyers, Guns and Money notes bootleg Soviet liquor in the Afghanistan war.


• Marginal Revolution Looks at China's surprisingly mixed experience of the 1930s and notes China's weak growth prospects.


• pollotenchegg maps language and identity in southeastern Ukraine in 1926 and finds continuities with the present.


• Strange Maps depicts the distribution of refugees across Europe.


• Towleroad notes the success of Truvada in preventing HIV infection.


• The Volokh Conspiracy notes how people can claim religious exemptions on the job.


• Window on Eurasia notes the solidarity of Belarusian soccer fans with Ukraine, notes the vulnerabiliy of Belarus to Russia, examines controversy over the Rail Baltica project, and wonders if the Donbas war will be to Russia what the Afghanistan war was to the Soviet Union.


• Zero Geography celebrates the publication of a new book.

Isreal Ahmet, an ethnic Uighur who immigrated to Afghanistan from western China, lived and worked in Kabul for more than a decade before being detained and deported by Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security (NDS) last summer.

Ahmet, who lived in a meagre, mud-brick house, was described as an honest businessman by those who know him.

An NDS official - speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorised to talk to the media - told Al Jazeera that Ahmet was detained for lacking legal documentation and carrying counterfeit money. He was held in a jail cell with more than two dozen other Chinese Uighurs, including women and children.

Flagged as a spy, Ahmet was quickly escorted to the Kabul International Airport, where Chinese officials were waiting for him. He boarded a plane and has not been heard from since.

Eleven other Uighur men sharing a cell with Ahmet were also sent back to China, according to the NDS official, adding that six women and 12 children in another cell had refused to go. The whereabouts of these women and children are currently unknown.

"Some [of the detainees] were spies, some were [potential] suicide attackers and some illegally entered the country," said the NDS official.