A Bit More Detail

Assorted Personal Notations, Essays, and Other Jottings

[BLOG] Some Saturday links

  • Anthrodendum recommends design researcher Jan Chipchase’s Field Study Handbook for anthropologists interested in field practice.
  • Architectuul investigates strange similarities between buildings built in far-removed parts of the world.
  • Centauri Dreams takes a look at TESS, the next generation of exoplanet-hunting satellite.
  • Crooked Timber investigates the connections between the spiritualism of the 19th century and the fiction of the uncanny.
  • D-Brief notes the many names, often delightful, that newly-discovered locations on Mercury and Charon have received.
  • Cody Delistraty investigates two exhibitions of French satirists, including Charlie Hedo’s Georges Wolinski, to examine the nature of satire.
  • The Dragon’s Tales considers the possibility of cryomagna leaving marks on the surface of Europa.
  • Drew Ex Machina takes a look at the strangely alien skies of TRAPPIST-1e. What would its sun look like? How would the other planets appear?
  • The Everyday Sociology Blog takes a look at the new prominence of multigenerational households in the United States. While a response to economic strains, it also looks back to past traditions.
  • Hornet Stories notes how, on RuPaul’s Drag Race, Monet X Change gave a decent explanation behind the surprisingly recent birth of the modern British accent.
  • Imageo notes how a massive blob of warm water is rising to the surface of the Pacific.
  • At In A State of Migration, Lyman Stone explores the unique population history of Maine, to my eyes easily the most Atlantic Canadian of the fifty American states.
  • JSTOR Daily links to a paper exploring why modern video games can produce such rewarding experiences for players. (We can get meaning from many places.)
  • Language Log takes a look at the complexity of Chinese language classifications with a song by Yishi Band. What exactly is Yibin Sichuanese?
  • Lawyers, Guns and Money takes a look at an interesting question: When did Jews in the United States become white?
  • The LRB Blog takes a look at the baffling reasons behind the poisoning of the Skribins with Novichok, and the science behind it.
  • Marginal Revolution notes that this year, GDP per capita measured at PPP in Spain is higher than in Italy. (This probably says more about the disarray in Italy.)
  • The NYR Daily shares an interesting interview with cartoonist Art Spiegelman.
  • Personal Reflections’ Jim Belshaw tells of his experiences on a trip to the small Australian city of Armidale, in the region of New England.
  • Justin Petrone reflects on the tidy and clean, minimalist even, rural landscape of Estonia.
  • Progressive Download’s John Farrell notes brain scans that provide evidence of consciousness even in very young infants.
  • Drew Rowsome praises the Toronto production of the musical Fun Home, based on the Alison Bechdel graphic novel. I, for one, can’t wait to see it.
  • Starts With A Bang’s Ethan Siegel notes that, although Proxima Centauri is far too active a star for Proxima Centauri b to be Earth-like, that world could still plausibly host life-supporting environments.
  • Ilya Somin at the Volokh Conspiracy suggests a recent deal at the federal level in the US between Trump and Cory Gardner has created space for states to legalize marijuana without fear of federal intervention.