A Bit More Detail

• The Guardian reports on how selfie dysmorphia is prompting some people to seek plastic surgery.


• The Island Review shares D Niko Holmes' beautiful photos of Brtish Columbia's Salt Spring Island.


• The Island Review notes the volcanic photography of Joseph Wright on Lanzarote.


• Wired shares the work of photographer Ioana Cîrlig in the factory towns of Romania.


• The NYR Daily looks at the work of pioneering Turkish photographer Yıldız Moran.

• Bad Astronomer Phil Plait takes a look at the question of how far, exactly, the Pleiades star cluster is from Earth. It turns out this question breaks down into a lot of interesting secondary issues.


• The Broadside Blog's Caitlin Kelly starts an interesting discussion around the observation that so many people are uncomfortable with the details of their body.


• Centauri Dreams reports on the exciting evidence of cryovolcanism at Ceres.


• The Crux reports on new suggestions that, although Neanderthals had bigger brains than Homo sapiens, Neanderthal brains were not thereby better brains.


• D-Brief notes evidence that the ability of bats and dolphins to echolocate may ultimate derive from a shared gene governing their muscles.


• Bruce Dorminey notes that astronomers have used data on the trajectory of 'Oumuamua to suggest it may have come from one of four stars.


• Far Outliers explores the Appalachian timber boom of the 1870s that created the economic preconditions for the famed feud between the Hatfields and the McCoys.


• Language Hat notes the unique whistling language prevailing among the Khasi people living in some isolated villages in the Indian state of Meghalaya.


• Lingua Franca, at the Chronicles, notes that the fastest-growing language in the United States is the Indian language of Telugu.


• Jeremy Harding at the LRB Blog writes about the import of the recognition, by Macron, of the French state's involvement in the murder of pro-Algerian independence activist Maurice Audin in 1958.


• Tyler Cowen at Marginal Revolution praises the diaries of Mihail Sebastian, a Romanian Jewish intellectual alive during the Second World War


• The New APPS Blog takes a look at the concept of the carnival from Bakhtin.


• Gabrielle Bellot at NYR Daily considers the life of Elizabeth Bishop and Bishop's relationship to loneliness.


• Jason Davis at the Planetary Society Blog describes how CubeSats were paired with solar sails to create a Mars probe, Mars Cube One.


• The Power and the Money's Noel Maurer considers some possible responses from the left to a conservative Supreme Court in the US.


• Roads and Kingdoms takes a look at the challenges facing the street food of Xi'an.


• Rocky Planet examines why, for decades, geologists mistakenly believed that the California ground was bulging pre-earthquake in Palmdale.


• Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel examines how some objects called stars, like neutron stars and white dwarfs and brown dwarfs, actually are not stars.


• Frank Jacobs at Strange Maps notes how China and Europe stand out as being particularly irreligious on a world map of atheism.


• Window on Eurasia notes the instability that might be created in the North Caucasus by a border change between Chechnya and Ingushetia.


• Arnold Zwicky shares some beautiful pictures of flowers from a garden in Palo Alto.

• Anthropology.net shares in the debunking of the Toba catastrophe theory.


• Architectuul features Mirena Dunu's exploration of the architecture of the Black Sea coastal resorts of Romania, built under Communism.


• The Broadside Blog's Caitlin Kelly writes about the importance of sleep hygiene and of being well-rested.


• Bad Astronomer Phil Plait notes the filaments of Orion, indicators of starbirth.


• Centauri Dreams notes how solar sails and the Falcon Heavy can be used to expedite the exploration of the solar system.


• D-Brief notes the discovery of debris marking the massive flood that most recently refilled the Mediterranean on the seafloor near Malta.


• Lucy Ferriss at Lingua Franca uses a recent sickbed experience in Paris to explore the genesis of Bemelmans' Madeline.


• Lawyers, Guns and Money noted recently the 15th anniversary of the American invasion of Iraq, trigger of a world-historical catastrophe.


• The LRB Blog hosts Sara Roy's defense of UNRWA and of the definition of the Palestinians under its case as refugees.


• The NYR Daily notes how the regnant conservative government in Israel has been limiting funding to cultural creators who dissent from the nationalist line.


• Roads and Kingdoms uses seven food dishes to explore the history of Malta.


• Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel explains why, even though dark matter is likely present in our solar system, we have not detected signs of it.


• Daniel Little at Understanding Society examines the field of machine learning, and notes the ways in which its basic epistemology might be flawed.


• Window on Eurasia notes how the dropping of the ethnonym "Mongol" from the title of the former Buryat-Mongol autonomous republic sixty years ago still makes some Buryats unhappy.

• D-Brief notes that the opioid epidemic seems to be hitting baby boomers and millennials worst, of all major American demographics.


• Hornet Stories shares one timetable for new DC films following Justice League.


• Joe. My. God. notes a case brought by a Romanian before the European Court of Justice regarding citizenship rights for his American spouse. This could have broad implications for the recognition of same-sex couples across the EU, not just its member-states.


• Language Hat reports on a journalist's search for a village in India where Sanskrit, ancient liturgical language of Hinduism, remains the vernacular.


• The Map Room Blog links to a review of an intriuging new book, Nowherelands, looking at ephemeral countries in the 1840-1975 era.


• The NYR Daily looks at the textile art of Anni Albers.


• The Planetary Society Blog explores the navigational skills of the Polynesians, and their reflection in Moana.


• Roads and Kingdoms reports on the widespread jubilation in Zimbabwe following the overthrow of Mugabe.


• Rocky Planet notes that Öræfajökull, the largest volcano in Iceland if a hidden one, has been showing worrying signs of potential eruption.


• Drew Rowsome reports on House Guests, an art installation that has taken over an entire house at Dundas and Ossington.


• Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel looks at the story of how the quantum property of spin was discovered.


• Window on Eurasia suggests new Russian policies largely excluding non-Russian languages from education are causing significant problems, even ethnic conflict.


• Arnold Zwicky considers music as a trigger of emotional memory, generally and in his own life.

• Centauri Dreams continues the debate over whether KIC 8462582 has been dimming.


• Joe. My. God. notes the collection, organized by the Romanian Orthodox Church, of three million signatures against same-sex marriage.


• The LRB Blog considers racism in old works of fiction.


• The NYRB writes on the handles of Wittgenstein.


• The Russian Demographics Blog notes a migration of Chinese prostitutes to Africa.


• Towleroad notes the defense by an Arkansas television station of a gay reporter who works there.


• The Volokh Conspiracy reports on a poll suggesting Native Americans do not care much about the name of the Washington Redskins.


• Window on Eurasia warns that Mongolia's dams of rivers feeding into Lake Baikal might kill the lake, and notes the Russian economic crisis is making the military more attractive to job-seekers.


• Arnold Zwicky shares photos of three native flowering plants of California.

• Centauri Dreams considers, among other things, studies of Alpha Centauri.


• D-Brief talks about the unexpected chill of Venus' poles.


• The Dragon's Tales shares a photo of the San Francisco shoreline.


• Far Outliers notes the rare achievements of Michael the Brave.


• Joe. My. God. notes the recent finding by an American court that transgendered students are protected.


• The LRB Blog reports on the nuitards.


• Marginal Revolution notes some of the singular failure of the Brazilian economy over the past century.


• The Power and the Money's Noel Maurer wonders why some people apparently call Russia and North Korea the 51st states.


• pollotenchegg maps election results onto declared language in Ukraine.


• Savage Minds starts a series on decolonizing anthropology.


• Torontoist celebrates the tenth anniversary of Type Books.


• Transit Toronto notes upcoming repairs to Ossington.


• Window on Eurasia reports on Russian fears that the Russian economy might be doomed to stagnate.

Romania’s finance chief sees an opening for her nation to become eastern Europe’s go-to investment destination as nerves jangle over government policies in Poland, until recently the region’s top performer.

The second-poorest European Union member has been underestimated by investors and eclipsed by its neighbors for too long, said Finance Minister Anca Dragu, citing a calmer political backdrop and an economic expansion that’s set to surge more than 4 percent this year. Standard & Poor’s cut Poland’s credit rating on Jan. 15 on concern the new government is undermining the independence of institutions such as courts and media.

“There are certain developments in the region that have investors worried,” Dragu said Friday in an interview in Bucharest. “Compared with that, Romania’s economic growth is balanced and sustainable, we have an educated population and relative political stability that we need to appreciate more because we don’t have extremist parties that cause problems in other countries.”

Romania is no stranger to political drama itself: Dragu is part of a technocrat cabinet led by former European Commissioner Dacian Ciolos, who took over in November after anti-corruption protests in the European Union and NATO member prompted his predecessor to quit. It also faces competition to lure cash fleeing Poland from other local peers, such as the Czech Republic, a regional haven whose 10-year borrowing costs are lower than every country in the world except for Japan, Switzerland, Germany, and the Netherlands.

According to a latest report by Bravenewcoin, countries in the region, collectively known as the 'Black Sea Basin,' is experiencing rapid growth in both bitcoin adoption, and infrastructure. There are over 13,600 locations to buy bitcoin in person in the region.

It's not at all apparent when looking at an ATM placement map, such as Coin ATM Radar, how densely populated these areas are with shops and machines that will sell bitcoins for the local currency.

Such websites only list bitcoin-focused ATM machines, not multipurpose kiosks, nor shops where you can go to the counter and purchase bitcoins from the clerk. If you could include these kinds of shops and machines, which are every bit as good at selling bitcoins as a bitcoin ATM, then it's clear that countries in eastern Europe have an extraordinarily high degree of bitcoin access.

Some of the biggest payment Kiosk companies include the IBOX in the Ukraine, JSC Nova in Georgia and Zebra Pay in Romania, the report said. Striking agreements to add Bitcoin exchange applications to these kiosks, in one or both directions, has so far been an easy job for local Bitcoin entrepreneurs.

Transnistria certainly needs a shoulder to lean on. A clampdown on the transit of excisable goods, launched last March by Ukraine and enthusiastically taken up by Saakashvili, is severely restricting a trade on which its economy has long relied.

Moreover, the authorities cut pensions by 30 percent in February, promising to return what’s owed once the economic crisis abates. That has led to a daily crowd of mostly elderly people gathering outside the city’s Russian consulate, hoping to access higher pensions under a newly expedited procedure for Russian citizenship.

In the line are also some working-age people looking to leave. Among them is Andrian Braga, who at 23 decided to move to Moscow with his wife and two-year-old daughter. “Things are bad, but they always have been. The fact that everyone’s leaving is nothing new,” he said, standing outside the consulate clutching his daughter’s new Russian passport.

The region has always struggled. Since separating from Moldova, Europe’s poorest country, it’s also been dependent on Moscow’s aid. Heavily subsidized Russian gas has provided a lifeline, saddling Transnistria with a $5 billion debt that would fall on Chisinau if the territory were reabsorbed. Trolleybuses course through central Tiraspol, decorated with pictures of beaming pensioners and the words “Into the future together with Russia!” Like dozens of big-ticket items dotted throughout the region — from modern hospitals to construction cranes — the vehicles bear the logo of their sponsor: Moscow-based non-profit “Eurasian Integration,” founded in 2012 by Russian MP and leader of nationalist party Rodina, Alexey Zhuravlev.

Locals praise Moscow’s projects for providing much-needed jobs, while many young men see conscription into the Russian Army’s regional force as the only chance for a secure job at home. Uniformed soldiers are a common sight in Tiraspol, congregating outside army bases or along the vast perimeter of the former Soviet aerodrome that now lies decaying on its outskirts.

[Y]ou'll find yourself in the Iron Gates, a stretch of the river winding its way through a spectacular set of gorges, about 40 straight miles north of the point where Serbia, Romania, and Bulgaria meet. Set in the middle of Europe's mightiest river and surrounded by these spectacular outcrops of rock, Ada Kaleh's location was as exotic as it was strategic.

One mile long and a quarter mile wide, the island was a spit of sand and gravel thrown up by the Danube's meandering flow. Some claim that the island was known to the ancients as Cyraunis, an island mentioned in the Histories (5th c. BC) as “covered in olive trees.” Although blessed with a Mediterranean microclimate — figs and almonds thrived on the island, but so did vipers and scorpions — it is more likely Herodotus was referring to the Kerkennah archipelago off the Tunisian coast.

[. . .]

Because of its location, the island became strategically significant during the struggle between the Austrian and Ottoman empires for dominance on the Balkan Peninsula. In 1689, Austrian troops built a pentagonal fortress on the island, which they called Neu-Orschowa. The fortress was destroyed by the Ottomans two years later (with a little help from their Hungarian vassals). Undeterred, the Austrians built another fortress after they regained the island in 1692. Perhaps they shouldn't have: in 1699, the Ottomans took over the island for most of the next two centuries.

The Austrians did make two comebacks. In 1716, during the Second Austro-Turkish War, they took over again and, as if they couldn't help themselves, again started reinforcing the fortress. It didn't do them much good: after a four-month siege in 1738, during the Third Austro-Turkish War, they were kicked out again. The Austrians came back again briefly in 1789, during the Fourth Austro-Turkish War, but returned the island in the Treaty of Sistova (1791).

That treaty concluded the long series of Austro-Turkish conflicts that had started in 1526 with the Battle of Mohacs. In the 19th century, Ada Kaleh would gradually lose its strategic importance, even as Ottoman power in the Balkans waned. But the island remained a magnet for history-book events. In 1804, Serbian rebels led by Milenko Stojković caught and executed the Janissary junta who had fled Belgrade and taken refuge on the island. It was plundered by the Russian army during the Turkish-Russian war of 1806-1812. Lajos Kossuth, the leader of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, found refuge on the island after its collapse.