[BLOG] Five Starts With A Bang links (@startswithabang)

• Starts With A Bang’s Ethan Siegel looks at the question of Betelgeuse going supernova, here.
• Starts With A Bang’s Ethan Siegel considers how black holes might, or might not, spit matter back out, here.
• Starts With A Bang’s Ethan Siegel notes a report suggesting the local excess of positrons is product not of dark matter but of nearby pulsar Geminga, here.
• Starts With A Bang’s Ethan Siegel lists some of the most distant astronomical objects so far charted in our universe, here.
• The question of whether or not a god did create the universe, Ethan Siegel at Starts With A Bang suggests, remains open.

[BLOG] Five Starts With A Bang links (@startswithabang)

• Starts With A Bang’s Ethan Siegel explains how the images of galaxies grow with the universe, here.
• Starts With A Bang’s Ethan Siegel explains how we can know the age of the universe, here.
• Starts With A Bang’s Ethan Siegel explains what an octonion is and what it might show about the universe, here.
• Starts With A Bang’s Ethan Siegel explains the surprise created by a detailed map of neutron star J0030+0451, here.
• Starts With A Bang’s Ethan Siegel suggests the mysterious near-supernova that Eta Carinae barely survived in the 19th century was actually a stellar collision, here.

[BLOG] Some Monday links

• Bad Astronomer Phil Plait observes that a team may have discovered the elusive neutron star produced by Supernova 1987A, hidden behind a cloud of dust.
• Chris Bertram at Crooked Timber shares a photo he made via the time-consuming 19th century wet-plate collodion method.
• Drew Ex Machina’s Andrew LePage looks at the Apollo 12 visit to the Surveyor 3 site to, among other things, see what it might suggest about future space archeology.
• Karen Sternheimer at the Everyday Sociology Blog looks at the story of rural poverty facing a family in Waverly, Ohio, observing how it is a systemic issue.
• George Dvorsky at Gizmodo looks at how Mars’ Jezero crater seems to have had a past relatively friendly to life, good for the next NASA rover.
• Joe. My. God. reports on the latest ignorance displayed by Donald Trump Jr. on Twitter, this time regarding HIV.
• JSTOR Daily looks at how Climategate was used to undermine popular opinion on climate change.
• Language Hat links to an article explaining why so many works of classical literature were lost, among other things not making it onto school curricula.
• Language Log shares a photo of a Muji eraser with an odd English label.
• Scott Lemieux at Lawyers, Guns and Money suggests Pete Buttigieg faces a campaign-limiting ceiling to his support among Democrats.
• The LRB Blog argues that Macron’s blocking of EU membership possibilities for the western Balkans is a terrible mistake.
• The Map Room Blog shares a map depicting regional variations in Canada towards anthropogenic climate change. Despite data issues, the overall trend of oil-producing regions being skeptical is clear.
• Marginal Revolution links to a paper examining the slowing pace of labour mobility in the US, suggesting that home attachment is a key factor.
• Frederic Wehrey at the NYR Daily tells the story of Knud Holmboe, a Danish journalist who came to learn about the Arab world working against Italy in Libya.
• Starts With A Bang’s Ethan Siegel explains why thermodynamics does not explain our perception of time.
• Understanding Society’s Dan Little looks at Electronic Health Records and how they can lead to medical mistakes.
• Whatever’s John Scalzi shares a remarkable photo of the night sky he took using the astrophotography mode on his Pixel 4 phone.
• Window on Eurasia shares an opinion that the Intermarium countries, between Germany and Russia, can no longer count on the US and need to organize in their self-defense.
• Arnold Zwicky shares a photo of his handsome late partner Jacques Transue, taken as a college student.

[NEWS] Seven space links: Moon and Mercury, black holes and neutron stars, probes

• Universe Today notes that shadowed areas on the Moon and Mercury might have thick deposits of ice, here.
• Science Alert notes a study suggesting that a large number of black holes might be careening throughout the galaxy, here.
• Sagittarius A*, the black hole at the heart of the Milky Way Galaxy, recently flared for an unknown reason. Science Alert has it.
• Astronomers have found the most massive neutron star yet known, J0740+6620 at 2.17 solar masses 4600 light-years away. Phys.org reports.
• The environment surrounding a supermassive black hole like Sagittarius A* might actually be a good place to live, if you have the needed technology. Scientific American considers.
• Universe Today notes that the Hubble has been looking at the fading 2017 kilonova GRB 170817A, mapping the fading glow.
• A new study suggests that space is not filled with civilizations of self-replicating probes competing with each other. Cosmos Magazine reports.

[NEWS] Five sci-tech links: NASA climate, Starlink, CO2 on the seabed, moving Earth, neutrino beams

• Evan Gough at Universe Today notes that the long-term climate predictions of NASA have so far proven accurate to within tenths of a degree Celsius.
• Matt Williams at Universe Today notes how the launching of satellites for the Starlink constellation, providing Internet access worldwide, could be a game-changer.
• Eric Niiler at WIRED suggests that Texas–and other world regions–could easily sequester carbon dioxide in the seabed, in the case of Texas using the Gulf of Mexico.

Matteo Ceriotti explains at The Conversation how, as in The Wandering Earth, the Earth might be physically moved. https://theconversation.com/wandering-earth-rocket-scientist-explains-how-we-could-move-our-planet-116365ti

• Matt Williams at Universe Today shares a remarkable proposal, suggesting Type II civilizations might use dense bodies like black holes to create neutrino beam beacons.

[NEWS] Five space science links: ocean worlds, M75, wormholes, neutron stars, black holes, LIGO

• Gizmodo notes the remarkable depth of the oceans of water worlds, going hundreds of kilometres down (or more!).
• Motherboard reports on the latest Hubble images of Messier 75, a star cluster that is the vestige of a galaxy absorbed into the Milky Way.
• Matt Williams at Universe Today notes a new study suggesting that, while traversable wormholes might be physically possible without exotic matter, they would not allow for FTL travel.
• Paul Sutter at Universe Today notes that a closer study of kilonovas might allow for a better understanding of the interior structures of neutron stars.
• Ars Technica notes that LIGO may have detected a collision between a black hole and a neutron star.

[BLOG] Some Wednesday links

• Bad Astronomy reports on the possibility of a relatively nearby kilonova that seeded the solar nebula with heavy elements, including gold, as does Centauri Dreams.
• The Buzz at the Toronto Public Library takes a look at books which later received video game adaptations.
• D-Brief notes the happy news that, despite having relatively little genetic diversity, narwhals are doing well enough.
• Imageo notes a recent shift in the centuries-long patterns of El Nino that might hint at some climate change disturbance.
• Joe. My. God. notes that the New York Times has retrieved Trump’s tax records for 1985-1994, and notes that he lost more than a billion dollars in that time frame.
• JSTOR considers the question of why holography and holograms have not become accepted as high art.
• Language Log shares, from Hong Kong, an advertisement with phonetic annotation of Cantonese.
• Daniel Nexon at Lawyers, Guns and Money considers if, as a Charlie Stross novel from 2008 imagined, we are now in a “post-attribution” era in which motives are effectively unfindable.
• James Butler at the LRB Blog considers the sheer scale of the defeat of not just the Conservatives but Labour in British local government elections.
• Marginal Revolution notes a paper suggesting that cooperativeness is more closely linked to intelligence than to conscientiousness.
• The NYR Daily looks at the particular plight of women in the American prison system.
• Personal Reflections’ Jim Belshaw takes a look at egging as an act of political protest.
• The Planetary Society Blog considers the mysteries surrounding the early atmosphere of Mars. What was it made of that it retained enough heat to keep water liquid during the faint young Sun period?
• Starts With A Bang’s Ethan Siegel notes the strength of the models of contemporary cosmology, despite occasional challenges.
• Window on Eurasia considers the extent to which pan-Turkic sentiment is relevant to the Turkic nations of Russia.
• Arnold Zwicky considers arches, in his life and in language.

[BLOG] Some Tuesday links

• Bad Astronomy notes the detection of the birth of a neutron star binary system in the distant galaxy of IV ZW 155.
• Centauri Dreams examines the potential for M-class red dwarfs to support planets with life.
• Crooked Timber notes the death of the science fiction master Gene Wolfe.
• D-Brief notes that the TESS spacecraft has confirmed its discovery of its first exoplanet, HD 21749 c 52 light-years away.
• Language Hat considers a fascinating question: Who wrote Aladdin?
• Lawyers, Guns and Money notes the shameless foolishness of Donald Trump with regards to the Notre-Dame tragedy.
• Marginal Revolution links to a paper noting the significant cost, in medieval Europe, of the construction of cathedrals even in rich areas like Ile-de-France.
• Towleroad notes that the Pete Buttigieg campaign has released its design toolkit to the public for downloading.
• Window on Eurasia notes the impediments put in place in Russia to limit the presence of immigrants on labour markets.

[BLOG] Some Saturday links

• Bad Astronomer Phil Plait looks at planetary nebulas, beautiful byproducts of the ends of stars.
• Centauri Dreams shares an essay by Mark Millis looking at how NASA evaluates proposed new propulsion methods.
• Bruce Dorminey takes a look at some interesting facts about the development of the Boeing 747.
• L.M. Sacasas at The Frailest Thing considers the ways in which deepfakes, allowing for alternate personalities online, evoke the Bunburying of Oscar Wilde.
• Gizmodo notes that neutron star collisions might well reveal mysterious quark matter, if only they occurred within sight of us.
• JSTOR Daily considers the sensuous nature of the Jane Austen novel Persuasion.
• Language Log considers a potential case for Sinitic origins in the Balto-Slavic word for “iron”.
• Scott Lemieux at Lawyers, Guns and Money considers the weakness of the centre as a major pull for American voters.
• Marginal Revolution links to a paper concluding that Chinese workers are not being exploited by the manufacturing companies that may employ them.
• Starts With A Bang’s Ethan Siegel considers how the curvature of space-time under gravity can be measured.
• Window on Eurasia considers two Kazakhstan observers who argue the country should switch from Kazakh-Russian bilingualism to Kazakh-English bilingualism.
• Arnold Zwicky considers, after the Gay & Lesbian Review, the representation of different communities in the LGBT+ acronym, the utility of simple symbols, like “&” or “+”.

[NEWS] Five science links: desalination brine, Venezuela glacier, Venus, red dwarf plants, AT2018cow

• Wired asks what is to be done with the toxic brine produced by desalination plants.
• This article from The Atlantic tells the story of the last glacier in Venezuela, disappearing as the climate warns and as the county falls apart.
• Universe Today notes the discovery of a mysterious streak in the upper atmosphere of Venus.
• A new study via Universe Today suggests potentially Earth-like exoplanets orbiting red dwarfs stars might not receive enough high-energy photons to support plant life.
• Universe Today suggests that the mysterious AT2018cow event saw the formation of either a black hole or a neutron star.