[NEWS] Four science links, from water on the frontier to climate change to Tau Ceti exoplanets

• At Wired, Matt Simon explores the remarkably wrong-headed theory of the 19th century US that “rain follows the plough.”
• These National Geographic photos of the unexplored lakes in Angola that feed the Okavango are remarkable.
• Rachel Brown examines billy burr, the Colorado hermit whose collection of decades of climate data is invaluable.
• Universe Today notes a new study confirming the existence of Tau Ceti e and f, potentially habitable rocky exoplanets just 12 light years away.

[ISL] Four links from islands, from dividing Ireland, to the Chamorro and Haida, to the Caribbean

• Peter Geoghegan writes at Open Democracy about the mess that Brexit has made of Ireland, two decades after the Troubles’ end.
• Anthrodendum’s Alex Golub notes that a North Korean attack on Guam, among other things, would threaten the Chamorro natives of the island.
• The Toronto Star carries an excerpt from a book by Mark Dowie looking at how the Haida, of Haida Gwaii, managed to win government recognition of their existence.
• CBC’s Sameer Chhabra explores how Canadian students at Caribbean medical schools find it very difficult to get jobs back home.

[URBAN NOTE] Five Toronto links: the Toronto Public Library, Hanlan’s, parks, and Montréal laneways

• blogTO notes that the Toronto Reference Library will be holding a huge sale again next week.
• Inside Toronto profiles Sephora Hussein, new collection head of the Merril Collection.
• Michael Lyons writes about the importance of the newly-reopened Hanlan’s beach on the Toronto Islands.
• Jake Tobin Garrett argues at Torontoist for the importance of the proposed Rail Deck Park.
• Emily Macrae argues at Torontoist there is much Toronto can learn from the green–literally–laneways of Montréal.

[BLOG] Some Wednesday links

• Bad Astronomer Phil Plait shares a stunning amateur astronomer’s photograph of a gravitationally-lensed galaxy billions of light-years away.
• Centauri Dreams reports on the successful imaging from Argentina of Kuiper belt object MU69, a possible binary.
• Dangerous Minds traces the origin of the garden gnome to a time when the rich had people in their gardens.
• The Dragon’s Gaze links to a paper suggesting TRAPPIST-1’s inner planets have had their atmospheres burned off.
• Language Hat notes the struggle to rid Appalachian dialects of English of their stigma.
• Language Log compares Chinese, Greek, and Latin, as classical languages of philologists.
• Marginal Revolution reports that a new job is that of intimacy director, guiding actors and others in intimate scenes.
• Neuroskeptic reports on an apparently solid paper suggesting female brains are more active than male ones.
• Noel Maurer notes that, although Venezuela’s system of government was alert to fraud, its leaders responded by not caring and moving ahead.
• Roads and Kingdoms reports on a visit to post-Jammeh Gambia.
• Strange Maps reports on a bizarre 1920 proposal to unite Europe and divide it into regions shape like pie slices.
• Towleroad notes that Karl Stefanovic thinks Australian politicians’ treatment of same-sex marriage is disrespectful.
• Window on Eurasia notes a study saying Tajik immigrants in Moscow adapt better than migrants from provincial Russia.

[PHOTO] Garden of Fanningbank, Charlottetown

The formal garden of Fanningbank seemed to be somewhat past its peak at the end of July, but it was still carefully manicured, and still enjoyed the benefits of its location between the cool blue of Charlottetown Harbour and the dense green trees of Victoria Park.

[NEWS] Five science links: Uganda coffee, the cetenophore, the Rapanui, Proxima b, Przybylski’s star

• National Geographic reports on how, unchecked, global warming may wreck the coffee industry of Uganda.
• Aeon notes the nervous system of the ctenophore, product of a separate evolutionary process from our own.
• Phys.org describes a recent study suggesting Easter Island was not wrecked by ecocide. (The Rapanui were devastated by others, I would add.)
• Even with an active magnetic field, an Earth-like atmosphere of Proxima Centauri b might be eroded away by flares. Universe Today reports on the climate model making this prediction.
• Does bizarre Przybylski’s star, HD 101065, contain exotic superheavy elements in its atmosphere? New Scientist wonders.

[BLOG] Some Sunday links

• The Broadside Blog’s Caitlin Kelly re-introduces herself to her readers.
• Bruce Dorminey shares one man’s theory about how extraterrestrials could use exoplanet sightings to build up a galactic communications network.
• Far Outliers shares some unusual Japanese words, starting with “amepotu” for American potato.
• Language Hat takes</a. note of an effort to preserve the Kiowa language.
• Did the spokeswoman of the NRA threaten to “fisk” the New York Times or threaten something else? Language Log reports.
• Drew Rowsome notes that, compared to San Francisco, Toronto does not have much of a public kink scene.
• Starts With A Bang’s Ethan Siegel examines the quantum reasons behind the explosion produced by sodium metal and water.
• Understanding Society takes rightful issue with The Guardian’s shoddy coverage of Dearborn, Michigan, and that city’s Muslims and/or Arabs.
• Unicorn Booty notes that Canada is, at last, starting to take in queer refugees from Chechnya.
• Yorkshire Ranter Alex Harrowell notes the embarrassing support for Jean-Luc Mélenchon for Venezuela. Was opposing the US all he wanted?