November 2017

Ebola virus (Image CDC)

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An article published in the magazine “Cell Host & Microbe” describes a study on blood samples taken from patients suffering from Ebola virus disease in Sierra Leone. A team of researchers coordinated by the University of Wisconsin-Madison thoroughly analyzed the samples and identified several Ebola virus signatures including 11 biomarkers distinguishing between fatal and non-fatal infections and 2 predicting accurately which patients are more likely to die.

Satan's Reach by Eric Brown

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The novel “Satan’s Reach” by Eric Brown was published for the first time in 2013. It’s the second book of the Weird Space series and follows “The Devil’s Nebula”.

Den Harper is a telepath who ran from the Expansion because he no longer wanted to be used to do the regime’s dirty work. He’s wanted, also because his starship is stolen, so he has to watch his back from bounty hunters willing to travel to the worlds beyond the frontier of the Expansion.

During one of his journeys on a planet for a business not exactly legal, Den Harper meets Zeela Antarivo, a girl who is likely to end up as a slave to members of the native species. He manages to save her but the two of them get chased even off the planet and as if that wasn’t enough, it seems that new bounty hunters are targeting him.

Jablonskipora kidwellae fossil (Photo courtesy Paul Taylor/London's Natural History Museum)

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An article published in the journal “Papers in Palaeontology” describes the discovery of a species of bryozoan called Jablonskipora kidwellae which constitutes an evolutionary missing link. These are the first modern bryozoans that grew in a structure and their study could help shed light on the evolution of these small invertebrates that live in colonies and are part of a phylum that emerged in the Cambrian period, about 500 million years ago.

Tasmania Stromatolites (Photo courtesy Proemse et al)

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An article published in the journal “Scientific Reports” describes the discovery of modern organisms that create stromatolites, among the most ancient organisms on Earth, in Tasmania, in an area of ​​the so-called Tasmanian Wilderness, considered by UNESCO a World Heritage Site. During the exploration of karst wetlands, a group of researchers came across these rare organisms, the first discovered in Tasmania and thus useful in understanding the evolution and the almost disappearance of organisms that in ancient times were very common.

A Quantum Murder by Peter F. Hamilton

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The novel “A Quantum Murder” by Peter F. Hamilton was published for the first time in 1994. It’s the second of the Greg Mandel trilogy and follows “Mindstar Rising”.

Professor Edward Kitchener is a a double Nobel laureate and is one of the world’s most famous scientists but continues his career as a university teacher as well. In particular, he’s a kind of mentor for students with the highest skills. He’s also known to provide “special lessons” to female students.

When Edward Kitchener is killed in a particularly brutal manner that resembled the modus operandi of a serial killer who’s been locked in a criminal asylum for years, for the English police the case is very hot. Kitchener was also working on a project for Event Horizon and to check the case the company’s owner Julia Evans asks Greg Mandel for his help.