July 2017
Mysterious lenticular organisms lived over 3 billion years ago
An article published in the journal “Precambrian Research” describes the comparative study of lenticular microfossils dating back to 3.4 billion years ago. Dorothy Z. Oehler and Maud M. Walsh started working on these microfossils and together with other researchers concluded that the ones found in the Kaapvaal Craton, South Africa, are related to those found in the Pilbara Craton, Australia. Probably they were autotrophic organisms that for some phases of their life cycle lived like plankton.
The Mind Thing by Fredric Brown
The novel “The Mind Thing” by Fredric Brown was published for the first time in 1961.
The Mind Thing was exiled from his world and sent to Earth. He – but it hasn’t a gender – has a physical body with a parasitic nature and seeks to understand which among Earth’s creatures is more suitable as a host. When he wants to change a host, he must kill his former one but to force a human to suicide attracts unwanted attention.
Professor Staunton works on satellite design and goes to Bartlesville just to spend a few days off in the countryside. On the way, however, a dog runs right in front of his car and for him it’s impossible to brake before hitting it. Staunton is puzzled by the dog’s behavior and this helps him think of a connection with a suicide and other strange deaths but what could be the cause?
Razanandrongobe sakalavae was a Jurassic predator similar to a giant crocodile
An article published in the journal “PeerJ” describes the study of fossils with an estimated age between 167 and 164 million years, dating to the Middle Jurassic, of Razanandrongobe sakalavae. It’s the oldest discovered among those belonging to the group of notosuchians, which lived until the Cretaceous period. A team led by Dr. Cristiano Dal Sasso of the Museum of Natural History in Milan studied the skull of this reptile discovering the power of its jaws and teeth comparable to those of T.rex.
Future Glitter or Tyranopolis by A.E. van Vogt
The novel “Future Glitter”, also known as “Tyranopolis”, by A.E. van Vogt was published for the first time in 1973.
The whole world is under the dominion of dictator Lilgin and after some generations the total population control is complete thanks to a sophisticated mass surveillance system. When Professor Dun Higenroth invents the Pervasive System, which allows anyone to communicate remotely without the need for tools and to watch the watchers, the regime is in danger.
Dun Higenroth knows that the regime will do everything to take the secrets of the Pervasive System from him, even by extracting them directly from his brain. The only hope for a different future is to hide those secrets so that one day they can be used to overthrow the dictatorship.
