[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 Friday links

• Bad Astronomer Phil Plait shares stunning photos of Jupiter and its moons taken from the Earth.
• The Broadside Blog’s Caitlin Kelly talks about the life lessons she has taken from her recent extended trip in Europe.
• Centauri Dreams notes the testing, by a European team, of the InflateSail intended to remove debris from Earth orbit.
• Crooked Timber takes a look at the historically messy interactions between democratic governance and economic policy.
• Dangerous Minds notes that Trump is making use of LGBT people as pawns. I wish the conclusion was less frighteningly convincing.
• The Dragon’s Gaze links to a paper on a recent search for exomoons, including the possible detection of Kepler 1625b I.
• The Frailest Thing’s Michael Sacasas considers what it means for a parent to look at their child in an era of technologically mediated vision.
• In Medias Res’ Russell Arben Fox notes, from his personal experience, how Donald Trump just does not get scouting.
• Language Log shares a report of how a Chinese man with synesthesia sees written language.
• The LRB Blog notes how Isaiah Berlin predicted the Saudi-American alliance back in 1945.
• Marginal Revolution notes a recent decline in regional income convergence in the United States. Causes?
• The Power and the Money’s Noel Maurer notes the politics that went into costly subway design changes in Mexico City. (Line 12 does look nice.)
• Strange Company notes the romance of the grave of the Mysterious Stranger in Alexandria, Virginia. Who was she?
• Unicorn Booty notes that Jinks Monsoon will be voicing a Steven Universe character and is out as non-gendered.
• Window on Eurasia notes growing controversy in Kyrgyzstan over a switch in Kyrgyz alphabets from Cyrillic to Latin.