• Bad Astronomy's Phil Plait evaluates the doability of Elon Musk's proposal for colonizing Mars.
• blogTO notes that Casa Loma will be transformed into a haunted house for the month of October.
• The Dragon's Tales notes NASA's belief that Europa almost certainly has watery plumes.
• False Steps shares an early American proposal for a lunar base.
• Far Outliers ( Read more... )

• blogTO describes how Parkdale's Harry's diner is going to be revamped.
• The Broadside Blog's Caitlin Kelly describes the joys of making friends through the blogosphere.
• Centauri Dreams looks at Kuiper Belt object Niku and its strange orbit.
• The Map Room Blog looks at the controversy over Google's map of Palestine.
• Marginal Revolution notes how Faroese ( Read more... )

• blogTO notes the expansion of condo development further east on the waterfront.
• The Dragon's Tales notes theropod dinosaurs were also good scavengers.
• Language Hat shares translator jokes.
• The LRB Blog reports on the relocation of some refugees on Chios to a camp.
• Marginal Revolution links to a report suggesting that the misallocation of labour during ( Read more... )

Earlier this month, Paul Goble at Window on Eurasia linked/a> to "Экономические последствия распада РФ. Только факты, без эмоций", translated by Google as "The economic consequences of the collapse of the Russian Federation. Just the facts, without emotion". This article imagined a scenario where the Russian Federation would come apart at the seams ( Read more... )

• The Big Picture shares photos from the International Day of Yoga, on the 21st.
• blogTO notes that the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art has moved from West Queen West to the Junction.
• Centauri Dreams considers Titan.
• The Dragon's Tales notes that the Messinian salinity crisis may not have led to the end of the Mediterranean entirely, and looks at ( Read more... )

• blogTO notes the bizarre Evan Solomon scandal at CBC.
• The Dragon's Gaze reports on the nascent planetary system of HD 169142, which includes a Nemesis-class exoplanet distant from its star.
• The Dragon's Tales links to a paper suggesting that the very young Titan had a much denser atmosphere.
• Far Outliers notes that as late as the 1830s, New Mexico was ( Read more... )

• blogTO examines the nature of Toronto's abundant consumption of electricity.
• The Dragon's Gaze links to a study of the atmosphere of Wasp 80b.
• The Dragon's Tales notes that Russian rocket manufacturer Energomash may go out of business as a result not of sanctions but of threatened sanctions.
• Lawyers, Guns and Money does not approve of Kenya's plan to ( Read more... )

• blogTO shares some wacky and unusual maps of the Toronto subway system.
• The Broadside Blog's Caitlin Kelly describes her reason why she did not want to have children.
• Gerry Canavan has another post of links.
• Centauri Dreams looks at Earth-like planets with circumbinary orbits and considers a new model of gas giant formation that explains Jupiter.
• ( Read more... )

• Alpha Sources' Claus Vistesen argues that as a result of various factors including shrinking populations, economic bubbles are going to be quite likely.
• blogTO argues that Toronto's strip clubs are in trouble.
• The Broadside Blog's Caitlin Kelly wonders who is going to pay for journalism in the future.
• Centauri Dreams looks at ringed Centaur objects.
• ( Read more... )

In the South China Morning Post, Daniel Allen has a long and thoughtful essay on the now largely Russian-controlled borderland of Karelia. I'm left very much with the impression of a Finnic past and a Russian future for this territory.

Below his snow-dusted shapka hat, Anatoliy Vasiljev's rheumy eyes peer through a pair of fogged-up spectacles ( Read more... )