Quick link roundup: 15 August 2012

--- Curiosity scientists will be doing an AMA on Reddit tomorrow. AMA = ask me anything, so an AMA is a huge question and answer session. Given the volume of comments (always a few thousand) that usually means your question will probably only get answered if you ask near the beginning, or if it happens to be particularly interesting.

--- The ESA's proposed Venus Entry Probe. Not my preferred mission to Venus (a solar flyer would be more or less indefinite while this one would be about two weeks) but the tiny ballast probes the balloon drops during the mission is an interesting touch: it both allows it to survey the lower atmosphere as well as lighten the balloon itself, giving it a longer mission time.

--- The Economist on toilets without water that have been developed for a contest created by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

--- The PLQ wants a new Loi 101 within a few months if they win the upcoming election in Quebec. Un article écrit en français, bien sûr.

--- The first school in New York to offer Portuguese as a language of study. Other languages: Spanish, French, Italian, and Latin.

--- The New York Times on the other Siberian railroad.