rfmcdonald | Entries tagged with military

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Window on Eurasia notes the post-Soviet collapse of the numbers of learners of the Russian language, here.

Window on Eurasia reports the claim of a Russian politician that in 1991, securing the nuclear arsenal of Ukraine was a bigger priority than trying for borders changes, here.

Window on Eurasia notes how Belarus cannot protect itself from Russia, here.

Window on Eurasia explains why the Soviet Union let the Armenians and Georgians keep their alphabets, here.

Window on Eurasia explains how Russia's naval and marine power is not doing well, here.

Architectuul visits the studio of Barbas Lopes Arquitectos in Lisbon, here.

Bad Astronomer takes a look at a new paper examining the effectiveness of different asteroid detection technologies, including nuclear weapons.

Centauri Dreams reports on a new study suggesting potentially habitable planets orbiting Alpha Centauri B, smaller of the two stars, could suffer from rapid shifts of their axes.

John Quiggin at Crooked Timber argues some polls suggest some American conservatives really would prefer Russia as a model to California.

Bruce Dorminey notes the discovery, by the Murchison Widefield Array in Australia, of 27 supernova remnants in our galaxy.

The Dragon's Tales shares a collection of links about stealth aircraft, here.

Gizmodo notes a new study suggesting that DNA is but one of very very many potential genetic molecules.

Language Hat shares a reevaluation of the Richard Stanyhurst translation of the Aeneid, with its manufactured words. Why mightn't this have been not mockable but rather creative?

Erik Loomis at Lawyers, Guns and Money celebrated the 50th anniversary of the takeover of Alcatraz Island by Native American activists.

Chris Bertram writes at the LRB Blog, after the catastrophe of the Essex van filled with dozens of dead migrants, about the architecture of exclusion that keeps out migrants.

Marginal Revolution shares a comment looking at the fentanyl crisis from a new angle.

Jenny Uglow writes at the NYR Daily about a Science Museum exhibit highlighting the dynamic joys of science and its progress over the centuries.

Personal Reflections' Jim Belshaw takes a look at the question of how to prevent the wildfires currently raging in Australia. What could have been done, what should be done?

The Planetary Society Blog reports on proposals from China for two long-range probe missions to interstellar space, including a Neptune flyby.

Drew Rowsome reviews the wonderfully innocent Pinocchio currently playing at the Young People's Theatre.

Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel looks at the evidence for the universe, maybe, being closed.

Window on Eurasia notes that the Alexandria Patriarchate is the next Orthodox body to recognize the Ukrainian church.

Arnold Zwicky looks at irregular versus regular, as a queer word too.

Bad Astronomer notes a new study explaining how climate change makes hurricanes more destructive.

Centauri Dreams shares a mosaic photo of the sky with Alpha Centauri highlighted.

The Crux shares a paper explaining why the bubonic plague rarely becomes mass epidemics like the Black Death of the 14th century.

D-Brief notes the new ESA satellite ARIEL, which will be capable of determining of exoplanet skies are clear or not.

Gizmodo consults different experts on the subject of smart drugs. Do they work?

JSTOR Daily explains why Native Americans are so prominent in firefighting in the US Southwest.

Language Log looks at evidence for the diffusion of "horse master" between speakers of ancient Indo-European and Sinitic languages.

Lawyers, Guns and Money notes the election of Chesa Boudin as San Francisco District Attorney.

The LRB Blog considers the apparent pact between Farage and Johnson on Brexit.

Marginal Revolution looks at a paper examining longer-run effects of the integration of the US military on racial lines in the Korean War.

The NYR Daily looks at how Big Pharma in the US is trying to deal with the opioid epidemic.

The Signal explains how the Library of Congress is expanding its collections of digital material.

Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel explains how future generations of telescopes will be able to directly measure the expansion of the universe.

The Volokh Conspiracy explains why DACA, giving succor to Dreamers, is legal.

Window on Eurasia notes that, after a century of tumult, the economy of Russia is back at the same relative ranking that it enjoyed a century ago.

Arnold Zwicky reports on an old butch cookbook.

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".

Architectuul profiles architectural photographer Lorenzo Zandri, here.

Bad Astronomy's Phil Plait notes a new study suggesting red dwarf stars, by far the most common stars in the universe, have plenty of planets.

The Broadside Blog's Caitlin Kelly shares 11 tips for interviewers, reminding me of what I did for anthropology fieldwork.

Centauri Dreams notes how water ice ejected from Enceladus makes the inner moons of Saturn brilliant.

The Crux looks at the increasingly complicated question of when the first humans reached North America.

D-Brief notes a new discovery suggesting the hearts of humans, unlike the hearts of other closely related primates, evolved to require endurance activities to remain healthy.

Dangerous Minds shares with its readers the overlooked 1969 satire Putney Swope.

The Dragon's Tales notes that the WFIRST infrared telescope has passed its first design review.

Gizmodo notes how drought in Spain has revealed the megalithic Dolmen of Guadalperal for the first time in six decades.

io9 looks at the amazing Jonathan Hickman run on the X-Men so far, one that has established the mutants as eye-catching and deeply alien.

Joe. My. God. notes that the Pentagon has admitted that 2017 UFO videos do, in fact, depict some unidentified objects in the air.

JSTOR Daily looks at the origin of the equestrian horseback statue in ancient Rome.

Language Log shares a bilingual English/German pun from Berlin.

Erik Loomis at Lawyers, Guns and Money reflects on the legacy of Thomas Jefferson at Jefferson's grave.

Tyler Cowen at Marginal Revolution looks at a new book arguing, contra Pinker perhaps, that the modern era is one of heightened violence.

The New APPS Blog seeks to reconcile the philosophy of Hobbes with that of Foucault on biopower.

Strange Company shares news clippings from 1970s Ohio about a pesky UFO.

Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel explains why the idea of shooting garbage from Earth into the sun does not work.

Frank Jacobs at Strange Maps explains the appearance of Brasilia on a 1920s German map: It turns out the capital was nearly realized then.

Towleroad notes that Pete Buttigieg has taken to avoiding reading LGBTQ media because he dislikes their criticism of his gayness.

Arnold Zwicky looks at diners and changing menus and slavery.

Ryan Anderson at anthro{dendum} looks at the unnatural history of the beach in California, here.

Architectuul looks at the architectural imaginings of Iraqi Shero Bahradar, here.

Bad Astronomy looks at gas-rich galaxy NGC 3242.

James Bow announces his new novel The Night Girl, an urban fantasy set in an alternate Toronto with an author panel discussion scheduled for the Lillian H. Smith Library on the 28th.

Centauri Dreams looks at the indirect evidence for an exomoon orbiting WASP-49b, a possible Io analogue detected through its ejected sodium.

Crooked Timber considers the plight of holders of foreign passports in the UK after Brexit.

The Crux notes that astronomers are still debating the nature of galaxy GC1052-DF2, oddly lacking in dark matter.

D-Brief notes how, in different scientific fields, the deaths of prominent scientists can help progress.

Bruce Dorminey notes how NASA and the ESA are considering sample-return missions to Ceres.

Andrew LePage at Drew Ex Machina looks at the first test flights of the NASA Mercury program.

The Dragon's Tales looks at how Japan is considering building ASAT weapons.

Andrew LePage at Drew Ex Machina looks at the first test flights of the NASA Mercury program.

Far Outliers looks how the anti-malarial drug quinine played a key role in allowing Europeans to survive Africa.

At In Media Res, Russell Arben Fox considers grace and climate change.

io9 reports on how Jonathan Frakes had anxiety attacks over his return as Riker on Star Trek: Picard.

JSTOR Daily reports on the threatened banana.

Language Log looks at the language of Hong Kong protesters.

Erik Loomis at Lawyers, Guns and Money notes how a new version of The Last of the Mohicans perpetuates Native American erasure.

Marginal Revolution notes how East Germany remains alienated.

Neuroskeptic looks at the participant-observer effect in fMRI subjects.

The NYR Daily reports on a documentary looking at the India of Modi.

Corey S. Powell writes at Out There about Neptune.

The Planetary Society Blog examines the atmosphere of Venus, something almost literally oceanic in its nature.

Noel Maurer at The Power and the Money considers how Greenland might be incorporated into the United States.

Rocky Planet notes how Earth is unique down to the level of its component minerals.

The Russian Demographics Blog considers biopolitical conservatism in Poland and Russia.

Starts With a Bang's Ethan Siegel considers if LIGO has made a detection that might reveal the nonexistence of the theorized mass gap between neutron stars and black holes.

Frank Jacobs at Strange Maps looks at Marchetti's constant: People in cities, it seems, simply do not want to commute for a time longer than half an hour.

Understanding Society's Daniel Little looks at how the US Chemical Safety Board works.

Window on Eurasia reports on how Muslims in the Russian Far North fare.

Arnold Zwicky looks at cannons and canons.

Bad Astronomy's Phil Plait shares images of Jupiter, imaged in infrared by ALMA.

Centauri Dreams looks at ocean upwelling on one class of super-habitable exoplanet.

D-Brief looks at how the Komodo dragon survived the threat of extinction.

Far Outliers reports on a mid-19th century slave raid in the Sahel.

Gizmodo notes that the secret US Air Force spaceplane, the X-37B, has spent two years in orbit. (Doing what?)

JSTOR Daily looks at the economic underpinnings of medieval convents.

Dave Brockington writes at Lawyers, Guns and Money about the continuing meltdown of the British political system in the era of Brexit, perhaps even of British democracy.

The LRB Blog looks at the impact of Brexit on the Common Travel Area.

Marginal Revolution reports on how Poland has tried to deter emigration by removing income taxes on young workers.

Carole Naggar writes at the NYR Daily about the photography of women photographers working for LIFE, sharing examples of their work.

Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel explains why time has to be a dimension of the universe, alongside the three of space.

Frank Jacobs of Strange Maps shares NASA images of the forest fires of Amazonia.

Window on Eurasia notes that many Russophones of Ukraine are actually strongly opposed to Russia, contrary Russian stereotypes of language determining politics.

Bad Astronomer Phil Plait shares images of galaxy M61.

Centauri Dreams looks at a proposal for the Solar Cruiser probe, a NASA probe that would use a solar sail.

D-Brief notes the discovery of bacteria on coasts which manufacture dimethyl sulfide.

Bruce Dorminey writes about some facts about the NASA X-15 rocket plane.

The Dragon's Tales reports on the strange nuclear accident in Nyonoksa, Russia.

JSTOR Daily reports on the recent uncovering of the ancient Egyptian city of Heracleion, under the Mediterranean.

Language Hat looks at 19th century standards on ancient Greek language.

Language Log notes an ironically swapped newspaper article subhead.

Lawyers, Guns and Money looks at the role of Tom Cotton in the recent Greenland scandal.

Marginal Revolution glances at the relationship between China and Singapore.

The NYR Daily looks at how the car ride played a role in the writing of Jacques Lacan.

The Russian Demographics Blog shares an index on state fragility around the world.

Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel explains why Jupiter suffers so many impacts from incoming bodies.

John Scalzi at Whatever reports on what seems to have been an enjoyable concert experience with Iron Maiden.

Window on Eurasia reports a claim that, with regards to a border dispute, Chechnya is much more unified than Dagestan.

Bad Astronomy's Phil Plait looks at Westerlund-1, a massive star cluster with many bright stars in our galaxy.

Centauri Dreams notes a finding that giant planets like Jupiter are less likely to be found around Sun-like stars.

D-Brief notes how, in a time of climate change, birds migrated between Canada and the equator.

Bruce Dorminey lists five overlooked facts about the Apollo 11 mission.

The Dragon's Tales notes that the US House of Representatives has approved the creation of a US Space Corps analogous to the Marines.

JSTOR Daily considers tactics to cure groupthink.

Tyler Cowen at Marginal Revolution, looking at the experience of Hong Kong, observes how closely economic freedoms depend on political freedom and legitimacy.

Casey Dreier at the Planetary Society Blog explains his rationale for calculating that the Apollo project, in 2019 dollars, cost more than $US 700 billion.

Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel looks at the star R136a1, a star in the 30 Doradus cluster in the Large Magellanic Cloud that is the most massive star known to exist.

Window on Eurasia notes how Circassians in Syria find it very difficult to seek refuge in their ancestral lands in the North Caucasus.

Arnold Zwicky looks, in occasionally NSFW detail, at the importance of June the 16th for him as a date.

Centauri Dreams considers the recent study of near-Earth asteroid 1999 KW4, looking at it from the perspective of defending the Earth and building a civilization in space.

Ingrid Robeyns at Crooked Timber continues a debate on universal basic income.

The Dragon's Tales considers if India does need its own military space force.

JSTOR Daily looks at how foster care in the United States (Canada, too, I'd add) was also synonymous with sending children off as unpaid farm labourers.

Erik Loomis at Lawyers, Guns and Money shares a proposal, linking immigration to high-income countries to the idea of immigration as reparation for colonialism.

The LRB Blog considers the ever-growing presence of the dead on networks like Facebook.

Muhammad Idrees Ahmad at the NYR Daily looks at how Bellingcat and other online agencies have transformed investigative journalism.

The Russian Demographics Blog shares a speech by the head of the Bank of Japan talking about the interactions of demographic change and economic growth.

Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel notes the mystery behind the great mass of early black hole J1342+0928.

Strange Company looks at the unsolved Christmas 1928 disappearance of young Melvin Horst from Orrville, Ohio. What happened?

Window on Eurasia notes that Uzbekistan is moving the Latin script for Uzbek into closer conformity with its Turkish model.

Bad Astronomy notes how, in galaxy 3XMM J150052.0+015452 1.8 billion light-years away, a black hole has been busily eating a star for a decade.

Centauri Dreams considers how relativistic probes might conduct astronomy. How would their measurements be changed by these high speeds?

The Crux reports on how scientists are trying to save the platypus in its native rivers of Australia.

D-Brief reports on the quiet past of Kuiper Belt object Ultima Thule.

The Dragon's Tales reports on UAV news from around the world.

Joe. My. God. reports a statement by a Trump biography suggesting that the American president believes in not following laws because of his belief in his own "genetic superiority".

JSTOR Daily reports on the importance of the longleaf pine in the history of the United States.

Language Hat considers, in the case of Australia, the benefits of reviving indigenous languages.
Abigail Nussbaum at Lawyers, Guns and Money considers how the success of Israel in hosting Eurovision is a blow against the Netanyahu government.

James Butler at the LRB Blog looks at the peculiar position of private schools in the UK, and their intersection with public life.

Marginal Revolution looks at a paper analyzing two centuries of British writers noting that productivity was boosted for the least productive if they lived in London.

The NYR Daily notes the end of famed French periodical Les temps modernes.

Emily Lakdawalla at the Planetary Society Blog notes the expected crash of Chinese smallsat Longjiang-2 from its lunar orbit at the end of July.

Noel Maurer at The Power and the Money notes how ex-president of Argentina Cristina Fernández, running for election this year, was lucky in having the economic crash occur after the end of her presidency.

Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel explains the different reasons behind the blues of the sky and the ocean.

Window on Eurasia notes that three hundred thousand Russians have died of HIV/AIDS since the virus manifested on Soviet territory in the late 1980s, with more deaths to come thanks to mismanagement of the epidemic.

Architectuul notes the recent death of I.M. Pei.

Bad Astronomer Phil Plait notes what, exactly, rubble-pile asteroids are.

The Broadside Blog's Caitlin Kelly writes about definitions of home.

Centauri Dreams considers white dwarf planets.

The Crux notes how ultra-processed foods are liked closely to weight gain.

D-Brief observes that a thin layer of insulating ice might be saving the subsurface oceans of Pluto from freezing out.

Bruce Dorminey notes the critical role played by Apollo 10 in getting NASA ready for the Moon landings.

The Dragon's Tales notes the American government's expectation that China will seek to set up its own global network of military bases.

Andrew LePage at Drew Ex Machina reports on the Soviet Union's Venera 5 and 6 missions to Venus.

Far Outliers looks at the visit of U.S. Grant to Japan and China.

Gizmodo notes a recent analysis of Neanderthal teeth suggesting that they split with Homo sapiens at a date substantially earlier than commonly believed.

io9 notes the sheer scale of the Jonathan Hickman reboots for the X-Men comics of Marvel.

Joe. My. God. shares the argument of Ted Cruz that people should stop making fun of his "space pirate" suggestion.I am inclined to think Cruz more right than not, actually.

JSTOR Daily notes the wave of anti-black violence that hit the United States in 1919, often driven by returned veterans.

Language Hat shares a recognizable complaint, written in ancient Akkadian, of bad customers.

Language Log shares a report of a village in Brittany seeking people to decipher a mysterious etching.

This Scott Lemieux report at Lawyers, Guns and Money about how British conservatives received Ben Shapiro is a must-read summary.

Benjamin Markovits at the LRB Blog shares the reasons why he left his immigrant-heavy basketball team in Germany.

Marginal Revolution looks at one effort in Brazil to separate people from their street gangs.

The NYR Daily looks at how ISIS, deprived of its proto-state, has managed to thrive as a decentralized network.

Personal Reflections' Jim Belshaw tells of his experiences and perceptions of his native region of New England, in southeastern Australia.

The Planetary Society Blog notes how the Chang'e 4 rover may have found lunar mantle on the surface of the Moon.

The Power and the Money's Noel Maurer notes that while Argentine president Mauricio Macri is polling badly, his opponents are not polling well.

Roads and Kingdoms shares a list of things to do in see in the Peru capital of Lima.

The Signal examines how the Library of Congress engages in photodocumentation.

Van Waffle at the Speed River Journal explains how he is helping native insects by planting native plants in his garden.

Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel notes how scientific illiteracy should never be seen as cool.

Towleroad notes the questions of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as to why Truvada costs so much in the United States.

Window on Eurasia notes how family structures in the North Caucasus are at once modernizing and becoming more conservative.

Yorkshire Ranter Alex Harrowell notes how the distribution of US carriers and their fleets at present does not support the idea of a planned impending war with Iran.

Arnold Zwicky examines the tent caterpillar of California.

The Conversation notes how urban beekeepers can play a key role in saving bees from extinction.

Motherboard looks at the comparative intelligence, and generosity, of wolves versus their domesticated dog counterparts.

National Geographic looks at how marine mammals, particularly cetaceans, have been used in different militaries.

Smithsonian Magazine looks at how recent studies have demonstrated the diversity among Denisovan populations.

Smithsonian Magazine looks at the new consensus about the remarkable capabilities of Neanderthals.

Architectuul takes a look at "infrastructural scars", at geopolitically-inspired constructions like border fences and fortifications.

Centauri Dreams notes what we can learn from 99942 Apophis during its 2029 close approach to Earth, just tens of thousands of kilometres away.

D-Brief reports on the reactions of space artists to the photograph of the black hole at the heart of M87.

Dangerous Minds shares the first recording of Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart.

The Dragon's Tales notes that Germany has begun work on drafting laws to cover space mining.

Gizmodo reports on what scientists have learned from the imaging of a very recent impact of an asteroid on the near side of the Moon.

io9 makes the case that Star Trek: Discovery should try to tackle climate change.

Joe. My. God. notes that Verizon is seeking a buyer for Tumblr. (Wouldn't it be funny if it was bought, as other reports suggest might be possible, by Pornhub?)

JSTOR Daily reports on a 1910 examination of medical schools that, among other things, shut down all but two African-American medical schools with lasting consequences for African-American health.

Language Log asks why "Beijing" is commonly pronounced as "Beizhing".

Simon Balto asks at Lawyers, Guns and Money why the murder of Justine Ruszczyk by a Minneapolis policeman is treated more seriously than other police killings, just because she was white and the cop was black. All victims deserve the same attention.

Russell Darnley at Maximos62 shares a video of the frieze of the Parthenon.

The NYR Daily responds to the 1979 television adaptation of the Primo Levi novel Christ Stopped at Eboli, an examination of (among other things) the problems of development.

Peter Rukavina is entirely right about the practical uselessness of QR codes.

Daniel Little at Understanding Society points readers towards the study of organizations, concentrating on Charles Perrow.

Window on Eurasia notes the argument of one Russian commentator that Russia should offer to extend citizenship en masse not only to Ukrainians but to Belarusians, the better to undermine independent Belarus.

Arnold Zwicky shares photos of some of his flourishing flowers, as his home of Palo Alto enters a California summer.

CityLab reports on a replica of a remarkable proto-bicycle, the laufmaschine, first built in 1815 in response to the climate catastrophe of Mount Tambora.

This Wired feature looking at how northern Russians scavenged and reused rocket components launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome is evocative.

Seasteading, it turns out, is something that should not be undertaken in waters already claimed by a sovereign power. The National Post reports.

The Jasons, a think tank of prominent scientists on contract with the Pentagon for decades, are looking for new backers after their contract's end. NPR reports.

Nicole Javorsky reports at CityLab on remarkable efforts to try to seriously plan the design of an outpost on the Moon.

Bad Astronomy's Phil Plait notes how the warp in space-time made by the black hole in V404 Cygni has been detected.

The Crux reports on the discovery of the remains of a chicha brewery in pre-Columbian Peru.

D-Brief notes a new model for the creation of the Moon by impact with primordial Earth that would explain oddities with the Earth still being molten, having a magma ocean.

Bruce Dorminey shares the idea that extraterrestrial civilizations might share messages with posterity through DNA encoded in bacteria set adrift in space.

The Dragon's Tales reports on progress in drones and UAVs made worldwide.

Gizmodo notes some of the privacy issues involved with Alexa.

JSTOR Daily explains how some non-mammals, including birds and fish, nurse their young.

Language Hat reports on the latest studies in the ancient linguistic history of East Asia, with suggestions that Old Japanese has connections to the languages of the early Korean states of Silla and Paekche but not to that of Koguryo.

Language Log considers the issues involved with the digitization of specialized dictionaries.

Paul Campos at Lawyers, Guns and Money remembers the start of the Spanish Civil War.

Tyler Cowen at Marginal Revolution points towards his recent interview with Margaret Atwood.

The NYR Daily reports on a remarkable new play, Heidi Schreck's What The Constitution Means To Me.

Towleroad reports on what Hunter Kelly, one of the men who operatives tried to recruit to spread slander against Pete Buttigieg, has to say about the affair.

Window on Eurasia suggests that a Russian annexation of Belarus would not be an easy affair.

Arnold Zwicky reports on the latest signs of language change, this time in the New Yorker.

In an extended meditation, Antipope's Charlie Stross considers what the domestic architecture of the future will look like. What different technologies, with different uses of space, will come into play?

Bad Astronomer Phil Plait looks at the new SPECULOOS exoplanet hunting telescope, specializing in the search for planets around the coolest stars.

The Crux looks at the evolutionary origins of hominins and chimpanzees in an upright walking ape several million years ago.

D-Brief notes the multiple detections of gravitational waves made by LIGO.

The Dragon's Tales looks at the development of laser weapons by China.

Karen Sternheimer at the Everyday Sociology Blog looks at the gap between social theory and field research.

Gizmodo shares an interesting discussion with paleontologists and other dinosaur experts: What would the dinosaurs have become if not for the Chixculub impact?

Hornet Stories notes the ways in which the policies of the Satanic Temple would be good for queer students.

io9 notes how the Deep Space 9 documentary What We Leave Behind imagines what a Season 8 would have looked like.

Joe. My. God. reports that activist Jacob Wohl is apparently behind allegations of a sexual assault by Pete Buttigieg against a subordinate.

JSTOR Daily takes a look at the uses of the yellow ribbon in American popular culture.
Language Hat shares an account of the life experiences of an Israeli taxi driver, spread across languages and borders.

Scott Lemieux at Lawyers, Guns and Money makes deserved fun of Bret Easton Ellis for his claims to having been marginalized.

Marginal Revolution considers, briefly, the idea that artificial intelligence might not be harmful to humans. (Why would it necessarily have to be?)

The NYR Daily considers a British exhibition of artworks by artists from the former Czechoslovakia.

Peter Rukavina looks at gender representation in party caucuses in PEI from the early 1990s on, noting the huge surge in female representation in the Greens now.

The Signal looks at how the Library of Congress is preserving Latin American monographs.

Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel explains how Einstein knew that gravity must bend light.

Window on Eurasia explains the sharp drop in the ethnic Russian population of Tuva in the 1990s.

In a guest opinion at The Guardian, Stephen DeGrace makes the argument for PEI to vote for a mixed-member proportional electoral system at the end of April.

14 thousand voters, 13% of the electorate, cast votes in the advance polling on PEI. CBC PEI reports.

CBC PEI reports that the Sikh holiday of Vaisakhi was widely celebrated by the Island's growing Sikh community.

The Guardian notes the creation by Charlottetown of a registry of secondary and garden suites, the better to grapple with the housing crisis.

Peter Rukavina links to Harry Holman's blog post explaining why there is a cannon lodged in the sidewalk at Queen and Grafton.

Centauri Dreams notes the remarkable imaging of the atmosphere of HR 8799 e.

Crooked Timber starts a discussion about books that, once picked up, turned out to be as good as promised.

The Crux considers obsidian, known in the Game of Thrones world as dragonglass.

Bruce Dorminey notes that NASA is considering a proposal for a floating Venus probe that would be recharged by microwaves from orbit.The Dragon's Tales shares a report that Russia has developed a new satellite to work with a new anti-satellite weapons system.

Far Outliers notes what U.S. Grant learned from the Mexican-American War, as a strategist and as a politician.

L.M. Sacasas at The Frailest Thing suggests, drawing from the image of M87*, that we have had a world disenchanted by the digital technology used to produce the image.

JSTOR Daily shares what critical theory has to say about the binge-watching of television.

Language Hat notes the Cherokee-language inscriptions on the wall of Manitou Cave.

Language Log considers when the first conversing automaton was built.

Lawyers, Guns and Money takes a look at a corner of 1970s feminism forgotten despite its innovative ideas.

Marginal Revolution considers the idea of restricting some new migrants to particular regions of the United States.

The NYR Daily explores the important new work by Igiaba Scego, Beyond Babylon.

Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel answers a surprisingly complex question: What is an electron?

Window on Eurasia explains why the cost of a professional military means Russia will not abandon the draft.

Arnold Zwicky explores "johnson" as a euphemism for penis.

Charlie Stross hosts at Antipope another discussion thread examining Brexit.

Architectuul takes a look at five overlooked mid-20th century architects.

Bad Astronomy shares a satellite photo of auroras at night over the city lights of the Great Lakes basin and something else, too.

The Broadside Blog's Caitlin Kelly writes about the directions love has taken her, and wonders where it might have taken her readers.

Centauri Dreams reports on the Hayabusa 2 impactor on asteroid Ryugu.

John Quiggin at Crooked Timber takes issue with the claims of Steven Pinker about nuclear power.

D-Brief notes the detection, in remarkable detail, of a brilliant exocomet at Beta Pictoris.

The Dragon's Tales considers the possibility that China might be building a military base in Cambodia.

Karen Sternheimer writes at the Everyday Sociology Blog about the importance of small social cues, easily overlookable tough they are.

Far Outliers notes the role of Japan's imperial couple, Akihito and Michiko, in post-war Japan.

L.M. Sacasas at The Frailest Thing writes about the potential inadequacy of talking about values.

Gizmodo notes a new study suggesting the surprising and potentially dangerous diversity of bacteria present on the International Space Station.

Mark Graham shares a link to a paper, and its abstract, examining what might come of the creation of a planetary labour market through the gig economy.

Hornet Stories takes a look at Red Ribbon Blues, a 1995 AIDS-themed film starring RuPaul.

io9 notes that Guillermo del Toro and Cornelia Funke are co-writing a Pan's Labyrinth novel scheduled for release later this year.

Joe. My. God. notes a new study suggesting 20% of LGBTQ Americans live in rural areas.

JSTOR Daily takes a look at the Bluestockings, the grouping of 18th century women in England who were noteworthy scholars and writers.

Language Hat notes an ambitious new historical dictionary of the Arabic language being created by the emirate of Sharjah.

Language Log examines, in the aftermath of a discussion of trolls, different cultures' terms for different sorts of arguments.

Erik Loomis at Lawyers, Guns and Money notes how early forestry in the United States was inspired by socialist ideals.

The Map Room Blog links to a map showing the different national parks of the United Kingdom.

Alex Tabarrok at Marginal Revolution, noting the new findings from the Chixculub impact, notes how monitoring asteroids to prevent like catastrophes in the future has to be a high priority.

The New APPS Blog explains how data, by its very nature, is so easily made into a commodity.

The NYR Daily considers the future of the humanities in a world where higher education is becoming preoccupied by STEM.

Corey S. Powell at Out There interviews Bear Grylls about the making of his new documentary series Hostile Planet.

Personal Reflections' Jim Belshaw considers the pleasures of birds and of birdwatching.

Jason C. Davis at the Planetary Society Blog noted the arrival of the Beresheet probe in lunar orbit.

Drew Rowsome reviews the new amazing-sounding play Angelique at the Factory Theatre.

The Russian Demographics Blog notes a paper that makes the point of there being no automatic relationship between greater gender equality and increases in fertility.

The Signal looks at how the Library of Congress has made use of the BagIt programming language in its archiving of data.

Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel comes up with questions to ask plausible visitors from other universes.

Strange Company notes the mysterious deaths visited on three members of a British family in the early 20th century. Who was the murderer? Was there even a crime?

Towleroad notes the activists, including Canadian-born playwright Jordan Tannahill, who disrupted a high tea at the Dorchester Hotel in London over the homophobic law passed by its owner, the Sultan of Brunei.

Window on Eurasia notes rising instability in Ingushetia.

Yorkshire Ranter Alex Harrowell notes that the British surveillance of Huawei is revealing the sorts of problems that must be present in scrutiny-less Facebook, too.

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