A Bit More Detail

Assorted Personal Notations, Essays, and Other Jottings

Posts Tagged ‘language

[BLOG] Five JSTOR Daily links (@jstor_daily)

  • JSTOR Daily provides advice for users of Zotero and Scrivener, here.
  • JSTOR Daily looks at instances where product placement in pop culture went badly, here.
  • JSTOR Daily considers the import of a pioneering study of vulgar language in the context of popular culture studies, here.
  • JSTOR Daily looks at the–frankly terrible–policies of managing rival heirs in the Ottoman dynasty, here.
  • JSTOR Daily looks at generational divides on religion in the England of the early Protestant Reformation, here.

[BLOG] Some Monday links

  • Architectuul looks back at some highlights from 2019.
  • Bad Astronomy looks at the gas cloud, red and green, of RCW 120.
  • Crooked Timber looks at the dynamics of identity politics, here.
  • Bruce Dorminey notes a NASA statement about the importance of understanding dust dynamics in other solar systems to find Earth analogues.
  • Far Outliers looks at the problems pacifying the Chesapeake Bay area in 1813, here.
  • Gizmodo looks at the most popular Wikipedia articles for the year 2019.
  • io9 shares a video of images from a 1995 Akira cyberpunk computer game that never got finished.
  • JSTOR Daily looks at how the United States tried to “civilize” the Inupiat of Alaska by giving them reindeer herds.
  • Language Hat links to an online atlas of Scots dialects.
  • Language Log reports on a 12th century Sanskrit inscription that testifies to the presence of Muslims in Bengal at that point.
  • Marginal Revolution notes how much Tuvalu depends on revenue from its .tv Internet domain.
  • Drew Rowsome looks at the Duncan Ralston horror novel Salvage, set in small-town Canada.
  • The Russian Demographics Blog looks at the strong relationship between wealth and life expectancy in France.
  • Starts With A Bang’s Ethan Siegel notes that, in a hypothetical supernova, all life on an Earth-like planet would be boiled alive by neutrinos.
  • Strange Maps links to a graphic interface that translates a word into all the languages of Europe.
  • Understanding Society looks at the structures of high-reliability organizations.
  • Window on Eurasia shares a suggestion that Homer Simpson is actually the US’ version of Russia’s Ivan the Fool.

[BLOG] Some Monday links

  • Anthropology.net notes a remarkably thorough genetic analysis of a piece of chewing gum 5700 years old that reveals volumes of data about the girl who chew it.
  • ‘Nathan Burgoine at Apostrophen writes an amazing review of Cats that actually does make me want to see it.
  • Bad Astronomy reports on galaxy NGC 6240, a galaxy produced by a collision with three supermassive black holes.
  • Caitlin Kelly at the Broadside Blog writes about the mechanics of journalism.
  • Centauri Dreams argues that the question of whether humans will walk on exoplanets is ultimately distracting to the study of these worlds.
  • Crooked Timber shares a Sunday morning photo of Bristol.
  • The Dragon’s Tales notes that India has a launch date of December 2021 for its first mission in its Gaganyaan crewed space program.
  • Andrew LePage at Drew Ex Machina looks at the Saturn C-1 rocket.
  • Karen Sternheimer at the Everyday Sociology Blog considers if the vogue for minimalism meets the criteria to be considered a social movement.
  • Far Outliers ?notes how, in the War of 1812, some in New England considered the possibility of seceding from the Union.
  • Gizmodo looks at evidence of the last populations known of Homo erectus, on Java just over a hundred thousand years ago.
  • Mark Graham links to a new paper co-authored by him looking at how African workers deal with the gig economy.
  • io9 announces that the Michael Chabon novel, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, is set to become a television series.
  • Joe. My. God. shares a report that Putin gave Trump anti-Ukrainian conspiracy theories.
  • JSTOR Daily considers what a world with an economy no longer structured around oil could look like.
  • Language Hat takes issue with the latest talk of the Icelandic language facing extinction.
  • Language Log shares a multilingual sign photographed in Philadelphia’s Chinatown.
  • Paul Campos at Lawyers, Guns and Money notes the document release revealing the futility of the war in Afghanistan.
  • The LRB Blog looks at class identity and mass movements and social democracy.
  • Tyler Cowen at Marginal Revolution suggests that, even if the economy of China is larger than the United States, Chinese per capita poverty means China does not have the leading economy.
  • Diane Duane at Out of Ambit writes about how she is writing a gay sex scene.
  • Jim Belshaw at Personal Reflections reflects on “OK Boomer”.
  • Roads and Kingdoms interviews Mexican chef Ruffo Ibarra.
  • Peter Rukavina shares his list of levees for New Year’s Day 2020 on PEI.
  • The Russian Demographics Blog shares a map indicating fertility rates in the different regions of the European Union.
  • Starts With A Bang’s Ethan Siegel explains how quantum physics are responsible for vast cosmic structures.
  • Charles Soule at Whatever explains his reasoning behind his new body-swap novel.
  • Window on Eurasia notes how the negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in Paris show the lack of meaningful pro-Russian sentiment there.
  • Yorkshire Ranter Alex Harrowell talks about his lessons from working in the recent British election.
  • Arnold Zwicky looks at a syncretic, Jewish-Jedi, holiday poster.

[BLOG] Five Window on Eurasia links

  • Window on Eurasia notes the post-Soviet collapse of the numbers of learners of the Russian language, here.
  • Window on Eurasia reports the claim of a Russian politician that in 1991, securing the nuclear arsenal of Ukraine was a bigger priority than trying for borders changes, here.
  • Window on Eurasia notes how Belarus cannot protect itself from Russia, here.
  • Window on Eurasia explains why the Soviet Union let the Armenians and Georgians keep their alphabets, here.
  • Window on Eurasia explains how Russia’s naval and marine power is not doing well, here.

[BLOG] Some Monday links

  • Architectuul looks at the winners of an architecture prize based in Piran, here.
  • Bad Astronomy’s Phil Plait notes the wind emitted from one distant galaxy’s supermassive black hole is intense enough to trigger star formation in other galaxies.
  • Maria Farrell at Crooked Timber pays tribute to Jack Merritt, a young victim of the London Bridge attack who was committed to the cause of prisoner rehabilitation.
  • Dangerous Minds looks at the history of French pop group Les Rita Mitsouko.
  • Bruce Dorminey reports on the European Space Agency’s belief Earth-observing spacecraft are needed to track ocean acidification.
  • The Dragon’s Tales reports on the consensus of the Russian scientific community against human genetic engineering.
  • Far Outliers reports on the first ambassador sent from the Barbary States to the United States.
  • JSTOR Daily reports on the life of pioneering anthropologist Franz Boas.
  • Language Log shares images of a bottle of Tibetan water, bought in Hong Kong, labeled in Tibetan script.
  • Lawyers, Guns and Money rightly assigns responsibility for the terrible measles outbreak in Samoa to anti-vaxxers.
  • The LRB Blog notes how tree planting is not apolitical, might even not be a good thing to do sometimes.
  • Marginal Revolution reports on a paper suggesting that food tends to be better in restaurants located on streets in Manhattan, better than in restaurants located on avenues.
  • Justin Petrone at north! shares an account of a trip across Estonia.
  • The NYR Daily looks at the photography of Michael Jang.
  • Personal Reflections’ Jim Belshaw continues to report from Armidale, in Australia, shrouded in smoke from wildfires.
  • The Planetary Society Blog reports on the early days of the Planetary Society, four decades ago.
  • The Russian Demographics Blog looks at how centenarians in Sweden and in Denmark experience different trends in longevity.
  • Starts With A Bang’s Ethan Siegel reports on the accidental discovery of the microwave background left by the Big Bang in 1964.
  • Understanding Society’s Daniel Little looks at the increasingly poor treatment of workers by employers such as Amazon through the lens of primitive accumulation.
  • Window on Eurasia looks at the small differences separating the Kazakhs from the Kyrgyz.
  • Arnold Zwicky shares a dance routine, shown on television in France, against homophobia.

[BLOG] Some Thursday links

  • Bad Astronomy notes the very odd structure of galaxy NGC 2775.
  • Dangerous Minds reports on the 1987 riot by punks that wrecked a Seattle ferry.
  • Bruce Dorminey reports on a new suggestion from NASA that the massive dust towers of Mars have helped dry out that world over eons.
  • The Everyday Sociology Blog looks at how changing technologies have led to younger people spending more social capital on maintaining relationships with friends over family.
  • This forum hosted at Gizmodo considers the likely future causes of death of people in coming decades.
  • In Media Res’ Russell Arben Fox reports on the debate in Wichita on what to do with the Century II performance space.
  • Joe. My. God. reports on the decision of Hungary to drop out of Eurovision, apparently because of its leaders’ homophobia.
  • JSTOR Daily reports on the debunking of the odd theory that the animals and people of the Americas were degenerate dwarfs.
  • Language Hat reports on how the classics can be served by different sorts of translation.
  • Robert Farley at Lawyers, Guns and Money considers how Trump’s liberation of war criminals relates to folk theories about just wars.
  • The LRB Blog reports from the ground in the Scotland riding of East Dunbartonshire.
  • Marginal Revolution shares a paper suggesting that, contrary to much opinion, social media might actually hinder the spread of right-wing populism.
  • The NYR Daily looks at the nature of the proxy fighters in Syria of Turkey. Who are they?
  • Drew Rowsome interviews Sensational Sugarbum, star of–among other things–the latest Ross Petty holiday farce.
  • Starts With A Bang’s Ethan Siegel explains why we still need to be able to conduct astronomy from the Earth.
  • Strange Maps explains the odd division of Europe between east and west, as defined by different subspecies of mice.
  • Window on Eurasia notes how Chinese apparently group Uighurs in together with other Central Asians of similar language and religion.
  • Arnold Zwicky explores the concept of onomatomania.

[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 Tuesday links

  • Bad Astronomy’s Phil Plait shares a stunning photo taken by a friend of the Pleiades star cluster.
  • The Buzz, at the Toronto Public Library, shares a collection of books suitable for World Vegan Month, here.
  • Henry Farrell at Crooked Timber considers, with an eye towards China and the Uighurs, how panopticon attempts can stray badly on account of–among other things–false assumptions.
  • Gizmodo considers how antimatter could end up providing interesting information about the unseen universe.
  • Joe. My. God. reports from New York City, where new HIV cases are dropping sharply on account of PrEP.
  • JSTOR Daily shares a vintage early review of Darwin’s Origin of Species.
  • Language Hat examines the origins of the semicolon, in Venice in 1494.
  • Erik Loomis at Lawyers, Guns and Money shares a critical report of the new Jill Lepore book These Truths.
  • The LRB Blog reports from the Museum of Corruption in Kyiv, devoted to the corruption of the ancient regime in Ukraine.
  • Marginal Revolution shares a new history of the Lakota.
  • The NYR Daily looks at the photography of Duane Michals.
  • The Russian Demographics Blog looks at population trends in Russia, still below 1991 totals in current frontiers.
  • Starts With A Bang’s Ethan Siegel explains why some of the lightest elements, like lithium, are so rare.
  • Window on Eurasia shares the opinion of a Russian historian that Eastern Europe is back as a geopolitical zone.
  • Arnold Zwicky considers Jacques Transue in the light of other pop culture figures and trends.

[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.

[NEWS] Four Language Log links: Chinese, mare, Ukrainian, Yorkshire

  • Victor Mair at Language Log takes a look at the many and varied colloquialisms in the different varieties of Chinese.
  • Robert Hymes writes a guest post at Language Log examining the word “mare” and its relatives across language families.
  • Mark Liberman at Language Log considers how the name of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, is to be pronounced.
  • Victor Mair at Language Log takes a look at the English dialect of Yorkshire.

Written by Randy McDonald

November 23, 2019 at 11:59 pm