• Astronomy Now notes a white dwarf star that is consuming what looks to be limestone debris from one of its planets. Is this a sign of marine life?
• Bloomberg notes Rolls-Royce's opposition to Brexit, notes how international sanctions are hurting Hezbollah, looks at China's massive spending on infrastructure, notes how Donald Trump has barred the ( Read more... )

• Bloomberg observes Iran's boycott of the hajj and Iranian hopes for relatively strong economic growth this year, looks at the impact of Middle Eastern economic decline on Thai hospitals, and notes the absence of IKEA from Ukraine.
• CBC notes retesting has revealed eight Russian athletes who used banned substances at the London Olympics.
• Foreign Policy ( Read more... )

• Bloomberg notes Saudi Arabia's efforts to cut Iran off from trade with its neighoburs, looks at how population growth in London will outpace--and be different from--population change in the rest of the United Kingdom, and reports on the plight of child labourers in Indonesia's tobacco fields.
• Bloomberg View argues Uber is no match for mass transit ( Read more... )

• The Big Picture shares photos of a Shanghai neighbourhood that refuses to sell out to developers.
James Bow rates California rail.
• Centauri Dreams looks at the large dwarf planet 2007 OR10.
• Dangerous Minds notes a campaign by a 9/11 conspiracy theorist to raise funds to buy an airplane and a building.
• The Dragon's Gaze looks at the Kepler-223 system.
• ( Read more... )

• Africa is a Country looks at how Ethiopians interpret the 1966 visit of Haile Selassie to Jamaica.
• The Building Blog depicts how a California town is literally being visibly distorted by seismic forces.
• Bloomberg considers the import of Beyoncé's debut of Lemonade on Tidal.
• Bloomberg View notes how the China-Venezuela money-for-oil pact is failing and ( Read more... )

• blogTO notes that a strip of stores just north of Yonge and Eglinton will be demolished for, naturally, condos.
• The Broadside Blog's Caitlin Kelly shares her thoughts about the theatre.
• Joe. My. God. shares new music from Tegan and Sara.
• Marginal Revolution reports on an open letter sent out by economists to Iran talking about how the country can ( Read more... )

• Centauri Dreams imagines how a mission to Planet Nine might work.
• The Dragon's Gaze notes a literal gap in our mapping of nearby brown dwarfs.
• The Dragon's Tales analyzes the makeup of Saturn's moon Tethys.
• The Everyday Sociology Blog offers advice on resume writing for sociology majors.
• Joe. My. God. notes Bruce Springsteen's cancellation of a North ( Read more... )

• blogTO notes the spread of condos along the western waterfront of Toronto.
• Centauri Dreams considers the idea of planetary cloaks.
• Crooked Timber considers strategic voting in the American context.
• Dangerous Minds notes, with photos, two nuns in California who grow medical marijuana.
• The Dragon's Tales note evidence of invasive species introduced to ( Read more... )

• Centauri Dreams looks at debris disks, and potential planetary formation, around red giant stars.
• Crooked Timber notes the Bitcoin frenzy.
• The Dragon's Gaze looks at studies of the atmospheres of hot Jupiters.
• Lawyers, Guns and Money cannot understand skepticism about the harmful nature of the waters of the Michigan city of Flint.

Bloomberg's Golnar Motevalli notes the apparent interest in both China and Iran in greatly expanding their trade and investment flows, including in non-oil sectors.

China and Iran mapped out a wide-ranging 25-year plan to broaden relations and expand trade during the first visit by a Chinese leader to the Islamic republic in 14 years ( Read more... )