News of the remarkable density of planets, including potentially Earth-like planets, in the system of nearby ultra-cool dwarf TRAPPIST-1 spread across the blogosphere. This NASA JPL illustration comparing the TRAPPIST-1 worlds with the four rocky worlds of our own solar system, underlining the potential similarity of some worlds to the worlds we ( Read more... )

• James Bow offers his prescriptions for a fix to thje issues of guaranteed minimum income.
• The Dragon's Gaze links to a paper suggesting that, from the perspective of long-term habitability of exoplanets, stars slightly more massive than the sun are preferable.
• Language Hat introduces the toponym of the "triplex confinium", here the point where Serbia ( Read more... )

• Centauri Dreams notes the sad news that, because of the destructive way in which the stellar activity of young red dwarfs interacts with oxygen molecules in exoplanet atmospheres, Proxima Centauri b is likely not Earth-like.
• Crooked Timber takes issue with the idea of Haidt that conservatives are uniquely interested in the idea of purity.
• D-Brief ( Read more... )

• blogTO shares ten facts about Union Station.
• Centauri Dreams describes possible ice volcanoes on Ceres.
• Crooked Timber argues in favour of implementing a basic income before a universal income, on grounds of reducing inequality and easing the very poor.
• The Crux shares an argument against dark matter.
• The Dragon's Gaze talks about nitrogen and oxygen ( Read more... )

• blogTO notes the rapid expansion of A&Ws across Toronto's neighbourhoods.
• Centauri Dreams reports that none of the exoplanets of nearby Wolf 1061 are likely to support Earth-like environments, owing to their eccentric and occasionally overclose orbits.
• The Dragon's Gaze links to a paper looking at high-temperature condensate clouds in hot Jupiter ( Read more... )

Universe Today's Matt Williams reports on a paper suggesting that Proxima Centauri b could potentially support life, so long as its atmosphere and magnetosphere are sufficiently dense to ward off charged particles from its sun.

[W]hile some research has cast doubt on the possibility that Proxima b could indeed support life, a new research study ( Read more... )

Science Magazine's Joshua Sokol shares the wonderfully plausibly bizarre idea of alien life floating in the upper atmospheres of brown dwarfs.

There’s an abundant new swath of cosmic real estate that life could call home-and the views would be spectacular. Floating out by themselves in the Milky Way galaxy are perhaps a billion cold brown dwarfs, ( Read more... )

The Guardian's Hannah Devlin reports on new models of Venus' environment which suggest this world was very broadly Earth-like well into the history of solar system. This is tantalizing, not least because of the prospects for life.

Its surface is hot enough to melt lead and its skies are darkened by toxic clouds of sulphuric acid. Venus is often ( Read more... )

• blogTO notes that 1975 was a formative year for Toronto.
• Centauri Dreams speculates about the oceans of Pluto and Saturn's Dione.
• Crooked Timber talks about Hannah Arendt's arguments about the importance of bearing testament.
• D-Brief looks at the cnyodont, an extinct reptile ancestral to mammals.
• Dangerous Minds shares photos of Patti Smith.

• blogTO notes that Toronto has its first Ethiopian food truck.
• Beyond the Beyond considers the alien ocean of Europa.
• Centauri Dreams looks at the protoplanetary disks of brown dwarfs.
• D-Brief notes that Saturn's moon Dione may have a subsurface ocean.
• The Dragon's Gaze looks at how broadly Earth-like exoplanets form their atmospheres.