October 2013

An object in titanium 3D printed using ESA AMAZE technology (Photo ESA-N. Vicente)

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3D printing technology is making tremendous steps forward and even space agencies are more and more interested. ESA and the European Commission have started the AMAZE (Additive Manufacturing Aiming Towards Zero Waste & Efficient Production of High-Tech Metal Products) project, which aims to produce metal components with a 3D printer. ESA aims to send the first 3D printer on the International Space Station to allow the crew to produce tools and metal structures according to their needs of the moment.

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The great mathematician and computer science pioneer Alan Turing received a posthumous award, the Icon Award for Outstanding Achievement, one of the Attitude Awards, accepted by two of his nieces. Recently the production of a biopic about the scientist started starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Turing and Keira Knightley as his friend and colleague Joan Clarke.

Walter Jon Williams in 2006

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Walter Jon Williams was born on October 15, 1953, in Duluth, Minnesota, USA. He wrote novels of several genres, mainly science fiction and fantasy. His most famous novel is “Aristoi”. Walter Jon Williams has widely proven he’s an eclectic writer capable of handling himself among different genres and mixing elements from different genres. We can therefore expect more surprises in the contents of its forthcoming works.

The Strain by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan

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The novel “The Strain” by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan was published for the first time in 2009. It’s the first novel of the Strain trilogy.

A Boeing 777 arrives at JFK Airport in New York but soon after landing communications are interrupted and no sign of life comes by passengers or crew. Dr. Ephraim “Eph” Goodweather, head of a team that deals with possible biological threats, is called to check whether it’s a case of bioterrorism and when he enters the aircraft its crew and passengers are almost all dead for no apparent reason.

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On October 16, 2013, the Euroleague 2013/2014 starts. Game 1 will start on Wednesday but in the following ones the games will be generally played on Thursday and Friday like in the last season.

Technically the Euroleague started at the end of Semptember with the qualifying rounds but only eight teams were involved for one berth in the regular season so inevitably the intererest was reduced.

The format was the same one introduced last year. The regular season is still a round-robin with 24 teams divided in 4 groups each playing 10 games. The best 4 teams of each group advance to the Top 16, where the best 16 teams are divided in 2 groups of 8 teams each and each team plays 14 games. The best 4 teams of each group advance to the quarter-finals which are played in best of 5 games series. The winners will play the Final Four.