Bloomberg's multi-authored article on the prospects for ailing Japanese corporation Sharp can be best read as another data point reflecting the decline of Japan's economy.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe came into office on a pledge of resuscitating the economy with market reforms and stimulus programs. Now his government’s commitment to ( Read more... )

• blogTO identifies five fast-changing neighbourhoods.
• Crooked Timber praises Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan quartet.
• The Dragon's Gaze examines the formation of supermassive stars.
• A Fistful of Euros reflects on global income inequality.
• Geocurrents examines Russia's demographic issues.

The Inter Press Service's Dennis Engbarth writes about Taiwan's apparent impending shift away from nuclear energy.

Taiwan may soon be the first nation in Asia to resolve to become a nuclear free nation after four decades of reliance on nuclear power ( Read more... )

• At Antipope, Charlie Stross talks about the American far right and the popularity of Trump.
• The Broadside Blog's Caitlin Kelly writes about her shortlist of places to visit around the world.
• The Dragon's Gaze notes the trinary brown dwarf system VHS 1256-1257.
• The Dragon's Tales notes the use of CRISPR to edit human genomes.
• Geocurrents has a mini- ( Read more... )

• blogTO notes the quiet death of the payphone in Toronto.
• Centauri Dreams considers Centaurs as possible impactors.
• The Dragon's Gaze notes the exotic materials likely to exist on super-Earths.
• The Dragon's Tales notes a Taiwan presidential candidate opposed to union with China.
• Far Outliers notes the origins of the Soviet ethnofederal system.

• blogTO shares photos of Yonge and Dundas in the grimy 1970s.
• The Big Picture shares photos from a Tibetan Buddhist assembly.
• Crooked Timber shares a photo of Bristol's floating bridge.
• The Dragon's Gaze reports on an estimate of the number of extraterrestrial technological civilizations.
• The Dragon's Tales notes an atlas of drought in Europe.

• blogTO notes the opening of a new Taiwanese fried chicken restaurant location in Toronto.
• Centauri Dreams notes an odd crater on Charon.
• D-Brief reports on a study suggesting that geography--specifically, topography--can influence the number of consonants in a language.
• The Dragon's Gaze reports on the craziness of the KOI-89 planetary system and ( Read more... )

• Claus Vistesen of Alpha Sources notes that though the stock market might be peaking, we don't know when.
• blogTO warns that Toronto might consider a bid for the 2024 Olympics.
• James Bow thinks about Ex Machina.
• The Broadside Blog's Caitlin Kelly looks forward to her impending visit to Maine.
• Centauri Dreams features an essay by Michael A.G. Michaud ( Read more... )

• 3 Quarks Daily notes, after the Economist, that badly-educated men have not adapted well to global trade, high technology, and feminism.
• blogTO notes that the High Park peacock roaming around Roncesvalles may have returned to its home in the zoo.
• The Broadside Blog's Caitlin Kelly provides tips for people moving to freelance writing from staff ( Read more... )

Earlier this month, The Atlantic featured a Reuters photo essay by Thomas Peter depicting the cats of the Japanese island of Aoshima. As one source describes it, Aoshima--located off of the coast of the major Japanese island of Shikoku--is an island with an aging human population and a rapidly growing cat population. This latter gives it some ( Read more... )