[BLOG] Some Wednesday links

The Buzz at the Toronto Public Library bids farewell to V.S. Naipaul.
• Centauri Dreams takes a look at ultra-hot Jupiters, gas giants orbiting close enough to their star that water in their atmosphere breaks down and rubies rain down from their skies.
• The Crux explores the pathways among neurons that transform experiences into memories.
• D-Brief notes that, according to a study of mice, the more fit a person is the better they will shiver.
• Karen Sternheimer at the Everyday Sociology Blog notes how the shift to a cashless economy leaves people who don’t have access to good-quality financial services marginalized. How can they function if they lack access to a bank account?
• The Finger Post praises Tokyo’s Narita airport, among other things for offering excellent Japanese food.
• Russell Arben Fox at In Media Res considers the evolution of the Mormons of the American West as a distinctive voting bloc.
• Lucy Ferris at Lingua Franca talks about language learning, in the light of an American state governor’s campaign against French language instruction, as something that can open up new possibilities and perspectives.
• Bill McKibben at the NYR Daily argues that the best political response of Americans to Trumpism and its environmental outrages is to vote Democratic in the upcoming midterms.
• The Planetary Society Blog’s Emily Lakdawalla notes the postponement of the launch of the Indian Chandrayaan-2 Moon probe to the start of January 2019, for technical reasons with the probe and its launcher.
• Drew Rowsome notes the homophobic censorship by Facebook of non-explicit LGBTQ content like his.
• Peter Rukavina flowcharts the evolution of different Charlottetown coffeeshops, by location and by owners, over the past few years.
• Starts With A Bang’s Ethan Siegel notes evidence that the first stars in the early universe formed around 250 million years after the Big Bang.
• Window on Eurasia notes that Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan have just engaged in a swap of territories, the better to create a coherent frontier between the two neighbours.