[BLOG] Some Saturday links

• Architectuul writes about the exciting possibility of using living organisms, like fungi, as custom-designed construction materials.
• Bad Astronomy looks at first-generation stars, the first stars in the universe which exploded and scattered heavy elements into the wider universe.
• Caitlin Kelly writes at the Broadside Blog, as an outsider and an observer, about the American fascination with guns.
• The Toronto Public Library’s Buzz lists some top memoirs.
• Centauri Dreams considers the vexed issue of oxygen in the oceans of Europa. There may well not be enough oxygen to sustain complex life, though perhaps life imported from Earth might be able to thrive with suitable preparation.
• The Crux looks at the well-established practice, not only among humans but other animals, of using natural substances as medicines.
• D-Brief looks at the NASA Dart mission, which will try to deflect the tiny moon of asteroid Didymos in an effort to test asteroid-diversion techniques.
• io9 reports George R.R. Martin’s belief that Gandalf could beat Dumbledore. I can buy that, actually.
• JSTOR Daily takes a look at the local reactions to Woodstock.
• Language Hat looks at the language in a 19th century short story by Nikolai Leskov, concerned with the difficulties of religious conversion for a people whose language does not encompass the concepts of Christianity.
• Robert Farley at Lawyers, Guns and Money links to a book review of his examining the Marshall mission to Nationalist China after the Second World War.
• Marginal Revolution links to survey results suggesting that, contrary to the Brexit narratives, Britons have actually been getting happier over the past two decades.
• The NYR Daily reports on an exhibition of the universe of transgressive writer Kathy Acker in London.
• Drew Rowsome reviews the innovative new staging of the queer Canadian classic Lilies at Buddies in Bad Times.
• Towleroad reports on the progress of Pete Buttigieg.
• Window on Eurasia notes that Russia and Ukraine are becoming increasingly separated by their very different approaches to their shared Soviet past.
• Arnold Zwicky looks at the latest evolutions of English.