• blogTO looks at deserted Mirvish Village.
• Crooked Timber reenages with the Rachel Carson and DDT myth.
• The Crux looks at the Mandela Effect, exploring false memories.
• Dangerous Minds makes the case for the musical genius of Bobbie Gentry.
• From the Heart of Europe's Nicholas Whyte recounts his visit to Albania's bunker museum.

• 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... )

• The Broadside Blog's Caitlin Kelly describes a week in her life as a freelance writer.
• The Dragon's Tales notes how the Indus Valley Civilization did, and did not, adapt to climate change.
• Language Log reshares Benjamin Franklin's writings against German immigration.
• The NYRB Daily follows one family's quest for justice after the shooting by police of ( Read more... )

• Centauri Dreams shares a proposal for the relatively rapid industrialization of space in a few short years using smart robots with 3d printign technology.
• To what extent, as Crooked Timber speculates, the Arthurian myth complex science fictional?
• Dangerous Minds shares a lovely middle-finger-raised candle.
• The Dragon's Gaze looks at the interactions ( Read more... )

• Apostrophen's 'Nathan Smith notes that his husky loves the winter that has descended on Ottawa.
• blogTO notes Toronto's continuing housing price spikes.
• D-Brief notes that chimpanzees apparently are built to recognize butts.
• Dead Things reports on discoveries of the first land vertebrates.
• The Dragon's Gaze notes the weird patterns of KIC 8462852.

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The Toronto Star's Azzura Lalani explains why the gray jay, Canada's new national bird, does not have the Canadian "grey" in its name.

Canadians haven’t wasted much time since the gray jay was named Canada’s national bird on Wednesday asking why its name is spelled the American way ( Read more... )

Madeleine Bunting's essay at The Guardian arguing that the Hebrides have played an outsize role in the formation of British national identities caught my attention.

For a century, Jura has been an anomaly: remote, but under 100 miles from Glasgow or Edinburgh; sparsely populated, yet associated with periodic influxes of the powerful, wealthy and ( 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 warned yesterday of impending snowfall.
• Centauri Dreams considers if planets in the circumstellar habitable zones of red dwarfs, like Proxima Centauri b, might tend to be ocean worlds.
• Crooked Timber tries to track down the source of some American electoral maps breaking down support for candidates finely, by demographics.
• D-Brief shares ( Read more... )