A Bit More Detail

Assorted Personal Notations, Essays, and Other Jottings

Posts Tagged ‘islands

[PHOTO] Exuma on my screen in Toronto

Exuma on my screen #toronto #exuma #bahamas #satelliteimage #googleearth #googlehome #television

Written by Randy McDonald

May 8, 2020 at 10:00 pm

[BLOG] Some Friday links

  • Architectuul looks at the Portuguese architectural cooperative Ateliermob, here.
  • Bad Astronomer Phil Plait looks at how white dwarf WD J091405.30+191412.25 is literally vapourizing a planet in close orbit.
  • Caitlin Kelly at the Broadside Blog explains</a< to readers why you really do not want to have to look for parking in New York City.
  • Centauri Dreams looks at the slowing of the solar wind far from the Sun.
  • John Holbo at Crooked Timber considers the gap between ideals and actuals in the context of conspiracies and politics.
  • The Dragon’s Tales reports on how the ESA is trying to solve a problem with the parachutes of the ExoMars probe.
  • Far Outliers reports on what Harry Truman thought about politicians.
  • Gizmodo reports on a new method for identifying potential Earth-like worlds.
  • io9 pays tribute to legendary writer, of Star Trek and much else, D.C. Fontana.
  • The Island Review reports on the football team of the Chagos Islands.
  • Joe. My. God. reports that gay Olympian Gus Kenworthy will compete for the United Kingdom in 2020.
  • JSTOR Daily looks at how early English imperialists saw America and empire through the lens of Ireland.
  • Paul Campos at Lawyers, Guns and Money does not like Pete Buttigieg.
  • The LRB Blog looks at the London Bridge terrorist attack.
  • The Map Room Blog shares a map of Prince William Sound, in Alaska, that is already out of date because of global warming.
  • Marginal Revolution questions if Cebu, in the Philippines, is the most typical city in the world.
  • The NYR Daily looks at gun violence among Arab Israelis.
  • The Planetary Society Blog considers what needs to be researched next on Mars.
  • Roads and Kingdoms tells the story of Sister Gracy, a Salesian nun at work in South Sudan.
  • The Russian Demographics Blog shares a paper noting continued population growth expected in much of Europe, and the impact of this growth on the environment.
  • Strange Maps shares a map of fried chicken restaurants in London.
  • Starts With A Bang’s Ethan Siegel explains why a 70 solar mass black hole is not unexpected.
  • John Scalzi at Whatever gives</a his further thoughts on the Pixel 4.
  • Window on Eurasia notes that, last year, 37 thousand Russians died of HIV/AIDS.
  • Arnold Zwicky starts from a consideration of the 1948 film Kind Hearts and Coronets.

[BLOG] Some Wednesday links

  • Bad Astronomer Phil Plait notes the findings that the LISA Pathfinder satellite was impacted by hypervelocity comet fragments.
  • Centauri Dreams reports on what we have learned about interstellar comet Borisov.
  • Bruce Dorminey notes the ESA’s Matisse instrument, capable of detecting nanodiamonds orbiting distant stars.
  • Gizmodo reports a new study of the great auk, now extinct, suggesting that humans were wholly responsible for this extinction with their hunting.
  • The Island Review links to articles noting the existential vulnerability of islands like Venice and Orkney to climate change.
  • Joe. My. God. reports on the claim of Tucker Carlson–perhaps not believably retracted by him–to be supporting Russia versus Ukraine.
  • Language Hat reports on the new Indigemoji, emoji created to reflect the culture and knowledge of Aboriginal groups in Australia.
  • Lawyers, Guns and Money notes one of the sad consequences of the American president being a liar.
  • James Butler at the LRB Blog writes about the optimism of the spending plans of Labour in the UK, a revived Keynesianism.
  • Marginal Revolution notes the exceptional cost of apartments built for homeless people in San Francisco.
  • Strange Maps looks at some remarkable gravity anomalies in parts of the US Midwest.
  • Towleroad notes the support of Jamie Lee Curtis for outing LGBTQ people who are homophobic politicians.
  • Understanding Society looks at organizations from the perspective of them as open systems.
  • Whatever’s John Scalzi gives a generally positive review of the Pixel 4.
  • Arnold Zwicky notes the irony of sex pills at an outpost of British discount chain Poundland.

[BLOG] Some Sunday links

  • Architectuul visits the studio of Barbas Lopes Arquitectos in Lisbon, here.
  • Bad Astronomer takes a look at a new paper examining the effectiveness of different asteroid detection technologies, including nuclear weapons.
  • Centauri Dreams reports on a new study suggesting potentially habitable planets orbiting Alpha Centauri B, smaller of the two stars, could suffer from rapid shifts of their axes.
  • John Quiggin at Crooked Timber argues some polls suggest some American conservatives really would prefer Russia as a model to California.
  • Bruce Dorminey notes the discovery, by the Murchison Widefield Array in Australia, of 27 supernova remnants in our galaxy.
  • The Dragon’s Tales shares a collection of links about stealth aircraft, here.
  • Gizmodo notes a new study suggesting that DNA is but one of very very many potential genetic molecules.
  • Language Hat shares a reevaluation of the Richard Stanyhurst translation of the Aeneid, with its manufactured words. Why mightn’t this have been not mockable but rather creative?
  • Erik Loomis at Lawyers, Guns and Money celebrated the 50th anniversary of the takeover of Alcatraz Island by Native American activists.
  • Chris Bertram writes at the LRB Blog, after the catastrophe of the Essex van filled with dozens of dead migrants, about the architecture of exclusion that keeps out migrants.
  • Marginal Revolution shares a comment looking at the fentanyl crisis from a new angle.
  • Jenny Uglow writes at the NYR Daily about a Science Museum exhibit highlighting the dynamic joys of science and its progress over the centuries.
  • Personal Reflections’ Jim Belshaw takes a look at the question of how to prevent the wildfires currently raging in Australia. What could have been done, what should be done?
  • The Planetary Society Blog reports on proposals from China for two long-range probe missions to interstellar space, including a Neptune flyby.
  • Drew Rowsome reviews the wonderfully innocent Pinocchio currently playing at the Young People’s Theatre.
  • Starts With A Bang’s Ethan Siegel looks at the evidence for the universe, maybe, being closed.
  • Window on Eurasia notes that the Alexandria Patriarchate is the next Orthodox body to recognize the Ukrainian church.
  • Arnold Zwicky looks at irregular versus regular, as a queer word too.

[URBAN NOTE] Five Montréal links

  • Renovating the Oratoire St. Joseph will surely be costly. CTV News reports.
  • CBC Montreal looks back to when the Montreal Expos seemed like they might not be bought.
  • Le Devoir notes how, in Québec, the Liberals are concentrated on the islands of Montreal and in Laval, in their fortress.
  • An old Montreal metro car has been repurposed as a hangout for Polytechnique students. CBC reports
  • CBC Montreal reports on the proposal of Matt McLauchlin to name a plaza at Frontenac metro station after murdered activist Joe Rose. I like the idea.

[BLOG] Some Wednesday links

  • {anthro}dendum features a post by Kimberly J. Lewis about strategies for anthropologists to write, and be human, after trauma.
  • Bad Astronomer Phil Plait reports on exoplanet LHC 3844b, a world that had its atmosphere burned away by its parent star.
  • Centauri Dreams looks at Neptune from the perspective of exoplanets discovered near snow lines.
  • D-Brief reports on the new Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument, installed at Kitt Peak to help map galaxies and dark energy.
  • Gizmodo
  • looks at how Airbnb is dealing with party houses after a fatal mass shooting.
  • The Island Review shares some drawings by Charlotte Watson, inspired by the subantarctic Auckland Islands.
  • JSTOR Daily looks at the late 19th century hit novel Ramona, written by Helen Hunt Jackson to try to change American policy towards indigenous peoples.
  • Language Hat looks at how, until recently, the Faroese language had taboos requiring certain words not to be used at sea.
  • Lawyers, Guns and Money looks at a proposal to partially privatize American national parks.
  • The LRB Blog looks at what Nigel Farage will be doing next.
  • Marginal Revolution looks at a speculative theory on the origins of American individualism in agrarian diversity.
  • The NYR Daily looks at an exhibition of the artwork of John Ruskin.
  • Personal Reflections’ Jim Belshaw remarks on a connection between Arthur Ransome and his region of New England.
  • Drew Rowsome shares an interview with folk musician Michelle Shocked.
  • Starts With A Bang’s Ethan Siegel emphasizes the importance of the dark energy mystery.
  • Towleroad notes a posthumous single release by George Michael.
  • Daniel Little at Understanding Society celebrates the 12th anniversary of his blog, and looks back at its history.
  • Window on Eurasia looks at Ingushetia after 1991.
  • Arnold Zwicky looks at All Saints Day.

[URBAN NOTE] Seven Toronto links

  • I do hope Toronto does something with the abandoned foot court on Queen West and John. blogTO reports.
  • blogTO looks at the new Villiers Island set to occupy the mouth of the Don River in the Port Lands.
  • An Ossington laneway is going to be repainted after a botched improvement project destroyed its public art. The Toronto Star reports.
  • Steve Munro fisks a defense by the Toronto Board of Trade of the proposed Ontario Line, here.
  • Andrew Cash, sadly not elected in my riding of Davenport, writes in the Toronto Star about the importance of Toronto having active local MPs.
  • National Observer looks at how the City of Toronto is encouraging residents grow gardens for pollinators.
  • Samantha Edwards writes at NOW Toronto about how the long-closed Paradise on Bloor theatre is set to reopen in December.

[BLOG] Some Saturday links

  • Bad Astronomy notes the new X-ray telescope eROSITA.
  • Centauri Dreams notes evidence of a recent collision between planets in the system of BD +20 307.
  • D-Brief notes the appearance of a strange new sort of storm on Saturn.
  • Bruce Dorminey notes the discovery by astronomers of a set of orbits that can direct comets into the inner solar system.
  • Drew Ex Machina’s Andrew LePage shares some vintage Skylab photos of his native Massachusetts.
  • Far Outliers notes how, in 1786, the United states was uninclined to pay tribute to the Barbary States.
  • Gizmodo’s George Dvorsky reports on a new fossil discovery showing how quickly mammals took over after the Cretaceous.
  • The Island Review shares an essay by photographer Alex Boyd about his new book Isles of Rust, drawing from Lewis & Harris.
  • JSTOR Daily looks at sustainable butchery.
  • Language Hat notes that Sumerian cuneiform is now in Unicode.
  • Victor Mair at Language Log notes how the Indo-Iranian “don” so commonly forms part of the hydronyms for major European rivers.
  • Scott Lemieux at Lawyers, Guns and Money calls for an in-depth investigation of Donald Trump, not necessarily an impeachment.
  • The LRB Blog examines the background of the mass protests in Santiago and wider Chile.
  • The Map Room Blog shares an illuminating cartogram depicting the #elxn43 results in Canada.
  • Marginal Revolution looks at how the government of China has been using the NBA to buy social peace.
  • The NYR Daily interviews Naomi Oreskes about her campaign to have the science behind global warming, and the actions of the scientists involved, understood.
  • The Russian Demographics Blog links to a paper concluding that traditional gender specializations in British families no longer provide a reproductive advantage.
  • Starts With A Bang’s Ethan Siegel explains why the speed of gravity must equal the speed of light, if general relativity is to work.
  • Window on Eurasia examines the rapid and uncontrolled growth of urban populations in Kazakhstan.

[BLOG] Some Sunday links

  • Architectuul looks at the Porto architectural project Critical Concrete, here.
  • Bad Astronomer Phil Plait shares the evidence for our galaxy having experienced a phase as a quasar a quarter-million years long some 3.5 million years ago.
  • Author James Bow celebrates the end of his publicity tour for The Night Girl, including a controversy over cover art featuring the CN Tower.
  • Robert Zubrin at Centauri Dreams considers how we could detect energy from artificial singularities used for power and propulsion. (Is this how we find the Romulans?)
  • The Crux considers whether or not the new proposals for more powerful supercolliders in China and Europe are likely to produce new discoveries.
  • D-Brief explains why older generations so often look down on the young: The elders idealize their younger selves too much.
  • Dead Things notes new evidence, in the tracks of trilobites moving in line 480 million years ago, for early life being able to engage in collective behaviour.
  • io9 interviews Kami Garcia about her new YA book featuring venerable DC character Raven, remaking her for new readers.
  • The Island Review interviews David Gange about The Frayed Atlantic Edge, his book account of his kayak trip down the western coasts of Britain and Ireland.
  • JSTOR Daily explains why Martin Luther King Jr. thought so highly of jazz.
  • Eleanor Penny argues at the LRB Blog against taking Malthus, with his pessimism trending towards a murderous misanthropy, as a prophet for our times.
  • The NYR Daily looks at the play American Moor, which touches on the efforts of black actors to engage with Shakespeare.
  • Drew Rowsome reviews the new film The Flick, an old to old-style movies and theatres.
  • The Russian Demographics Blog shares a map depicting Hutterite migrations across early modern Europe.
  • Starts With A Bang shares new speculation that some evidence for dark matter might actually be a mistake in measurement.
  • Strange Maps notes the now mostly submerged continent of Greater Adria.
  • Window on Eurasia shares a suggestion that the deep Russophilia of many ordinary people in Belarus might support union with Russia.
  • Arnold Zwicky looks at the different meanings of “unaccompanied”.

[BLOG] Some Saturday links

  • Adam Fish at anthro{dendum} compares different sorts of public bathing around the world, from Native America to Norden to Japan.
  • Charlie Stross at Antipope is unimpressed by the person writing the script for our timeline.
  • Architectuul reports on an architectural conference in Lisbon.
  • Bad Astronomer Phil Plait shares stunning photos of the eruption of the Raikoke volcano in Kamchatka.
  • Centauri Dreams looks at what the Voyager spacecraft have returned about the edge of the solar system.
  • John Quiggin at Crooked Timber takes issue with the idea of bipartisanship if it means compromising on reality, allegorically.
  • The Crux counts the number of people who have died in outer space.
  • D-Brief notes that the Andromeda Galaxy has swallowed up multiple dwarf galaxies over the eons.
  • Dead Things notes the identification of the first raptor species from Southeast Asia, Siamraptor suwati.
  • The Dragon’s Tales notes a paper tracing the origins of interstellar comet 2/Borisov from the general area of Kruger 60.
  • Karen Sternheimer at the Everyday Sociology Blog writes about the privilege allowing people access to affordable dental care.
  • Gizmodo tells how Alexei Leonov survived the first spacewalk.
  • io9 looks at the remarkable new status quo for the X-Men created by Jonathan Hickman.
  • Selma Franssen at the Island Review writes about the threats facing the seabirds of the Shetlands.
  • JSTOR Daily looks at what led Richard Nixon to make so many breaks from the American consensus on China in the Cold War.
  • Language Log notes an undergraduate course at Yale using the Voynich Manuscript as an aid in the study of language.
  • Abigail Nussbaum at Lawyers, Guns and Money explains her recent experience of the socialized health care system of Israel for Americans.
  • The LRB Blog looks at how badly the Fukuyama prediction of an end to history has aged.
  • The Map Room Blog shares a few maps of the new Ottawa LRT route.
  • Marginal Revolution notes a paper establishing a link between Chinese industries undermining their counterparts in Mexico and Mexican social ills including crime.
  • Sean Marshall reports from Ottawa about what the Confederation Line looks like.
  • Adam Shatz at the NYR Daily looks at the power of improvisation in music.
  • Roads and Kingdoms looks at South Williamsburg Jewish deli Gottlieb’s.
  • Drew Rowsome reviews</a the new Patti Smith book, Year of the Monkey.
  • The Russian Demographics Blog shares a paper looking as the factors leading into transnational movements.
  • Starts With A Bang’s Ethan Siegel considers the question of the direction(s) in which order in the universe was generated.
  • Window on Eurasia shares a report noting the very minor flows of migration from China to Russia.
  • Yorkshire Ranter Alex Harrowell looks at the politics in the British riding of Keighley.
  • Arnold Zwicky looks at some penguin socks.