• James Bow calls for an end to the US-Canada Safe Third Country agreement prohibiting people coming from American soil from claiming refugee status in Canada.
• D-Brief reports on the vast array of man-made minerals appearing in what is now being called the Anthropocene Era of Earth.
• Dangerous Minds notes the efforts of the Disco Preservation Society to ( Read more... )

• blogTO notes the Distillery District's Toronto Light Festival.
• Border Thinking Laura Agustín looks at migrants and refugees in James Ellroy's The Black Dahlia.
• Centauri Dreams suggests that Perry's expedition to Japan could be taken as a metaphor for first contact.
• The Dragon's Gaze links to a report about how brown dwarf EPIC 219388192 b.
• The LRB Blog ( Read more... )

Astronomy's John Wenz reports on a proposal to try to initiate contact with a hypothetical civilization on Proxima Centauri b that does not necessarily leave me cold, or worried. A hypothetical Proximan civilization only a decade more advanced in observational astronomy that us might well be aware of the existence of Earth, could conceivably even ( Read more... )

• blogTO notes Niagara Falls' new light show.
• Body Horrors reports on a 1980 epidemic of MRSA among Detroit drug users.
• Centauri Dreams describes the final orbits of Cassini around Saturn.
• The Dragon's Gaze links to a paper suggesting Tabby's Star is being star-mined.
• Language Log looks at an element of Chinese slang regarding telecommunications.

• Centauri Dreams looks at signs of advanced technologies detectable by SETI searches.
• D-Brief notes evidence of the domestication of turkeys in eth and 5th century Mexico.
• Dangerous Minds discusses a legendary 1985 concert by Einstürzende Neubauten.
• Joe. My. God. notes the banning of Tila Tequila from Twitter.
• Language Log looks about a Hebrew ( Read more... )

• blogTO shares some photos of Toronto in colour from the 1950s.
• Centauri Dreams talks about SETI in the light of the Anthropocene era.
• Dangerous Minds notes that there is now a hipster nativity scene available for purchase.
• The Dragon's Gaze links to a paper suggesting that tidal heating could explain the difference between super-Earths and mini- ( Read more... )

• Beyond the Beyond notes an upcoming exhibition of photos of Vaclav Havel.
• blogTO notes a local controversy over the demolition of a community-built skate park.
• Centauri Dreams considers how advanced starfaring civilizations might deal with existential threats.
• Crooked Timber looks at how presidential debates could be used to teach logic.
• Language Hat ( Read more... )

• blogTO recommends some Toronto-related Vine clips.
• Centauri Dreams notes a SETI study of Boyajian's Star.
• Crooked Timber criticizes one author's take in the politics of science fiction.
• The Dragon's Gaze links to a paper examining the auroras of hot Jupiters.
• The Dragon's Tales links to a paper finding that atmospheric methane did not warm the early ( Read more... )

• blogTO reports that Honest Ed's will have its final sign sale this weekend.
• D-Brief looks at the New Horizons probe's next target after Pluto, and reports that Venus is tectonically active.
• Centauri Dreams reports on the mechanics of the antimatter sail.
• Dangerous Minds features a video of France Gall singing about computer dating in 1968.
  
• The Dragon' ( Read more... )

• blogTO shares photos of old Toronto department stores.
• Discover's Citizen Science Salon reports on how people are facing California seals and sea lions faced with famine.
• D-Brief warns people to be cautious about the newest claim of detections of extraterrestrial intelligence.
• The Dragon's Gaze reports on the discovery through microlensing of a ( Read more... )