[BLOG] Some Thursday links
Dec. 26th, 2019 11:51 am- Bad Astronomer Phil Plait notes that Betelgeuse is very likely not on the verge of a supernova, here.
- Centauri Dreams looks at the mapping of asteroid Bennu.
- Chris Bertram at Crooked Timber reposted, after the election, a 2013 essay looking at the changes in British society from the 1970s on.
- The Dragon's Tales shares a collection of links about the Precambrian Earth, here.
- Karen Sternheimer at the Everyday Sociology Blog writes about fear in the context of natural disasters, here.
- Far Outliers reports on the problems of privateers versus regular naval units.
- Gizmodo looks at galaxy MAMBO-9, which formed a billion years after the Big Bang.
- io9 writes about the alternate history space race show For All Mankind.
- JSTOR Daily looks at the posters used in Ghana in the 1980s to help promote Hollywood movies.
- Language Hat links to a new book that examines obscenity and gender in 1920s Britain.
- Language Log looks at the terms used for the national language in Xinjiang.
- Paul Campos at Lawyers, Guns and Money takes issue with Jeff Jacoby's lack of sympathy towards people who suffer from growing inequality.
- Marginal Revolution suggests that urbanists should have an appreciation for Robert Moses.
- Sean Marshall writes, with photos, about his experiences riding a new Bolton bus.
- Caryl Philips at the NYR Daily writes about Rachmanism, a term wrongly applied to the idea of avaricious landlords like Peter Rachman, an immigrant who was a victim of the Profumo scandal.
- The Russian Demographics Blog shares a paper looking at the experience of aging among people without families.
- Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel explains why the empty space in an atom can never be removed.
- Strange Maps shares a festive map of London, a reindeer, biked by a cyclist.
- Window on Eurasia notes how Mongolia twice tried to become a Soviet republic.
- Arnold Zwicky considers different birds with names starting with x.
[BLOG] Some Monday links
Dec. 23rd, 2019 03:13 pm- 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.
[BLOG] Some Friday links
Dec. 6th, 2019 04:48 pm- Architectuul looks at the Portuguese architectural cooperative Ateliermob, here.
- Bad Astronomer Phil Plait looks at how white dwarf WD J091405.30+191412.25 is literally vapourizing a planet in close orbit.
- Caitlin Kelly at the Broadside Blog
explains - Centauri Dreams looks at the slowing of the solar wind far from the Sun.
- John Holbo at Crooked Timber considers the gap between ideals and actuals in the context of conspiracies and politics.
- The Dragon's Tales reports on how the ESA is trying to solve a problem with the parachutes of the ExoMars probe.
- Far Outliers reports on what Harry Truman thought about politicians.
- Gizmodo reports on a new method for identifying potential Earth-like worlds.
- io9 pays tribute to legendary writer, of Star Trek and much else, D.C. Fontana.
- The Island Review reports on the football team of the Chagos Islands.
- Joe. My. God. reports that gay Olympian Gus Kenworthy will compete for the United Kingdom in 2020.
- JSTOR Daily looks at how early English imperialists saw America and empire through the lens of Ireland.
- Paul Campos at Lawyers, Guns and Money does not like Pete Buttigieg.
- The LRB Blog looks at the London Bridge terrorist attack.
- The Map Room Blog shares a map of Prince William Sound, in Alaska, that is already out of date because of global warming.
- Marginal Revolution questions if Cuba, in the Philippines, is the most typical city in the world.
- The NYR Daily looks at gun violence among Arab Israelis.
- The Planetary Society Blog considers what needs to be researched next on Mars.
- Roads and Kingdoms tells the story of Sister Gracy, a Salesian nun at work in South Sudan.
- The Russian Demographics Blog shares a paper noting continued population growth expected in much of Europe, and the impact of this growth on the environment.
- Strange Maps shares a map of fried chicken restaurants in London.
- Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel explains why a 70 solar mass black hole is not unexpected.
- John Scalzi at Whatever gives his further thoughts on the Pixel 4.
- Window on Eurasia notes that, last year, 37 thousand Russians died of HIV/AIDS.
- Arnold Zwicky starts from a consideration of the 1948 film Kind Hearts and Coronets.
[BLOG] Some Friday links
Nov. 22nd, 2019 06:45 pm(A day late, I know; I crashed after work yesterday.)
- Antipope's Charlie Stross has a thought experiment: If you were superwealthy and guaranteed to live a long health life, how would you try to deal with the consequence of economic inequality?
- Vikas Charma at Architectuul takes a look at the different factors that go into height in buildings.
- Bad Astronomy notes S5-HVS1, a star flung out of the Milky Way Galaxy by Sagittarius A* at 1755 kilometres per second.
- The Broadside Blog's Caitlin Kelly shares photos from two Manhattan walks of hers, taken in non-famous areas.
- Centauri Dreams looks at habitability for red dwarf exoplanets. Stellar activity matters.
- Maria Farrell at Crooked Timber shares words from a manifesto about data protection in the EU.
- Dangerous Minds shares photos from Los Angeles punks and mods and others in the 1980s.
- Bruce Dorminey notes a ESA report suggesting crew hibernation could make trips to Mars easier.
- Gizmodo notes that the Hayabusa2 probe of Japan is returning from asteroid Ryugu with a sample.
- Imageo shares photos of the disastrous fires in Australia from space.
- Information is Beautiful reports on winners of the Information is Beautiful Awards for 2019, for good infographics.
- JSTOR Daily explains how local television stations made the ironic viewing of bad movies a thing.
- Kotaku reports on the last days of Kawasaki Warehouse, an arcade in Japan patterned on the demolished Walled City of Kowloon.
- Language Hat notes how translation mistakes led to the star Beta Cygni gaining the Arabic name Albireo.
- Language Log reports on a unique Cantonese name of a restaurant in Hong Kong.
- Robert Farley at Lawyers, Guns and Money links to an analysis of his suggesting the military of India is increasingly hard-pressed to counterbalance China.
- The LRB Blog notes the catastrophe of Venice.
- Marginal Revolution notes a paper suggesting states would do well not to place their capitals too far away from major population centres.
- Justin Petrone at North! remarks on a set of old apple preserves.
- The NYR Daily looks at how the west and the east of the European Union are divided by different conceptions of national identity.
- Jim Belshaw at Personal Reflections reports from his town of Armidale as the smoke from the Australian wildfires surrounds all. The photos are shocking.
- Emily Lakdawalla at the Planetary Society Blog lists some books about space suitable for children.
- Drew Rowsome reviews the Canadian film music stand, inspired by the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike.
- The Russian Demographics Blog shares a paper noting that, in Switzerland, parenthood does not make people happy.
- The Signal notes that 1.7 million phone book pages have been scanned into the records of the Library of Congress.
- Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel explains the concept of multi-messenger astronomy and why it points the way forward for studies of astrophysics.
- Strange Maps looks at how a majority of students in the United States attend diverse schools, and where.
- Strange Company explores the mysterious death of Marc-Antoine Calas, whose death triggered the persecution of Huguenots and resulted in the mobilization of Enlightenment figures like Voltaire against the state. What happened?
- Towleroad hosts a critical, perhaps disappointed, review of the major gay play The Inheritance.
- Understanding Society's Daniel Little looks at the power of individual people in political hierarchies.
- Window on Eurasia shares an opinion piece noting how many threats to the Russian language have come from its association with unpopular actions by Russia.
- Arnold Zwicky explores queens as various as Elizabeth I and Adore Delano.
[URBAN NOTE] Six Toronto links
Nov. 13th, 2019 01:51 pm- The Pilot, in Yorkville, celebrates its 75th anniversary as a venue. Global News reports.
- Some immigrant businesspeople recently bought an old Toronto Hydro building in the north of the city as a shelter for immigrants. Global News reports.
- The backlash against the proposed condo tower at Yonge and Eglinton branded by Pharrell Williams has been swift. blogTO reports.
- Urban Toronto notes that a 13-story mixed-use building has been proposed for 888 Dupont Street, at the corner of Dupont and Ossington.
- A TV crew in North York last week cancelled its shoot in North York, near the site of last year's ramming attack on Yonge Street. CTV News reports.
- A poster on r/Toronto noted last week the six-year anniversary of the admission of then-mayor Rob Ford that he smoked crack.
- Oh, why not a fashion show organized around the theme of Cheetos? VICE reports.
- A farmer in the Gaspé peninsula is trying to retrieve all of his missing yaks. CBC Montreal has it.
- A Newfoundland researcher and artist is examining the relationship of the island with Atlantic slavery. Global News reports.
- Atlas Obscura takes a look at the alternative comics scene in the Middle East, centered on Lebanon.
- Vanity Fair shares an account of how Netflix tried to sell itself, and its model, to Blockbuster and failed.
- Peterborough is facing a serious shortage of housing. Global News reports.
- In Kingston, the restoration of the Bellevue House that was home to John A MacDonald continues. Global News reports.
- The federal government will provide funding for the new streetcar route in Québec City. CTV News reports.
- Will the Detroit television documentary series filmed by Anthony Bourdain see a release? One hopes.
- Richmond, a Vancouver suburb home for decades to a substantial diaspora from Hong Kong, is deeply affected by the ongoing protests there. The Toronto Star reports.
[BLOG] Some Monday links
May. 13th, 2019 06:05 pm- Ingrid Robeyns at Crooked Timber takes us from her son's accidental cut to the electronic music of Røbic.
- D-Brief explains what the exceptional unexpected brightness of the first galaxies reveals about the universe.
- Far Outliers looks at how President Grant tried to deal with the Ku Klux Klan.
- JSTOR Daily looks at the surprising influence of the Turkish harem on the fashion, at least, of Western women.
- This Kotaku essay arguing that no one should be sitting on the Iron Throne makes even better sense to me now.
- Language Hat looks at the particular forms of French spoken by the famously Francophile Russian elites of the 19th century.
- Scott Lemieux at Lawyers, Guns and Money notes how teaching people to code did not save the residents of an Appalachia community.
- Marginal Revolution notes how, in the early 19th century, the young United States trading extensively with the Caribbean, even with independent Haiti.
- At the NYR Daily, Colm Tóibín looks at the paintings of Pat Steir.
- Peter Rukavina writes about how he has been inspired by the deaths of the Underhays to become more active in local politics.
- Daniel Little at Understanding Society shares his research goals from 1976.
- Window on Eurasia notes the conflicts between the Russian Orthodox Church and some Russian nationalists over the latter's praise of Stalin.
- Arnold Zwicky looks at dragons in history, queer and otherwise.
- Atlas Obscura remarks on the remarkable decades-long archive of taped television made by Marion Stokes.
- Motherboard notes, rightfully, that Americans will have good reason to be upset with data caps.
- Hydro-Québec is set to continue expanding its energy exports, with New York being the latest consumer. CBC reports.
- The National Observer comments on the game-changing improvements of batteries.
- Wired notes that home robotics company Anki is winding down, though not without leaving a good legacy for the future.