[BLOG] Some Wednesday links

[rfmcdpei]

• blogTO notes that the Toronto Eaton Centre is set to be subtly renamed.
• Centauri Dreams notes the absence of evidence for extragalactic supercivilizations.
• The Dragon's Gaze observes a new observatory that should be able to detect Earth-like worlds around red dwarfs and links to a paper describing how dwarf planets can heat Kuiper belts.
• The Dragon's Tales notes evidence suggesting the solar system could have ejected a gas giant, notes Canada is on the verge of buying French Mistrals, and looks at a blockade of Crimea by Crimean Tatars and right-wing Ukrainian nationalists.
• Language Hat links to John McWhorter's history of Aramaic.
• Language Log looks at the controversy in South Korea on using Chinese characters in education.
• Languages of the World looks at how different languages address god.
• The Planetary Society Blog notes the current state of our knowledge and planning for Uranus and Neptune.
• pollotenchegg maps language identity in early Soviet Ukraine.
• The Power and the Money speculates as to why Russia is in Syria, and comes up with little that is reassuring.
• The Russian Demographics Blog notes statistics on Muslim pilgrimages to Mecca.
• Spacing Toronto suggests that an answer to the Gardiner East can be found in the rail corridor.
• Window on Eurasia looks at the Russian deployment in Syria, speculates about future intentions in Central Asia and actual issues with Belarus, and suggests a turn to China will not help Asian Russia.
• Zero Geogrpahy maps the generation of academic knowledge.