February 2019

The Tides of God by Ted Reynolds (Italian edition)

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The novel “The Tides of God” by Ted Reynolds was published for the first time in 1989.

An expedition left from Earth on a starship obtained thanks to an agreement with the Kroceri, an alien species working with human beings. It was the Kroceri who warned the humans of the danger represented by an entity that is approaching the solar system and could have a negative influence on human minds, as it already happened in the past when it already got close, when some Earth’s peoples called it God.

The agreement with the Kroceri was precise: they provided a starship capable of interstellar traveling but humans must kill the entity. The crew members are ready to accomplish its mission to prevent a new dark age from striking the Earth because of the irrationality caused by the enemy in humans but when the starship starts getting close to it, its influence creeps into the minds of humans aboard.

Mnyamawamtuka moyowamkia was a titanosaur that lived in today's Tanzania 100 million years ago

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An article published in the journal “PLOS ONE” reports the discovery of a new species of titanosaur, part of the group of giant long-necked dinosaurs, that lived about 100 million years ago in today’s Tanzania. Dr. Eric Gorscak, a recent Ph.D. graduate of Ohio University, and Professor Patrick O’Connor examined fossils discovered between 2004 and 2008 in the western area of ​​the East African Rift. The researchers identified the new species naming it Mnyamawamtuka moyowamkia, a useful discovery to better understand the history of titanosaurs since this species dates back to a period when this group was still establishing in its species’ ecosystems.

Christopher Pike (Anson Mount), Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) and Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) in Saints of Imperfection (Image courtesy CBS / Netflix. All rights reserved)

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“Saints of Imperfection” is the 5th episode of the 2nd season of the TV show “Star Trek: Discovery” and follows “An Obol for Charon”.

While Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp) tries to figure out what happened to Ensign Sylvia Tilly (Mary Wiseman), the USS Discovery intercepts the shuttle taken by Spock but when they eventually block it the result is a very unexpected encounter.

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The short story “The Memcordist” by Lavie Tidhar was published for the first time in 2012.

Pym is a memcordist and that means that all his experiences are recorded and broadcast to his followers. The Narrative of Pym is followed by millions of followers with his trips to various places of the solar system, up to Pluto’s moons, first with his mother and then when he’s traveling on his own and in particular during his relationship with Joy.

Charles Darwin in 1869

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Charles Robert Darwin was born on February 12, 1809 in Shrewsbury, England. In 1831 Charles Darwin received a proposal to participate in an expedition of the ship Beagle as a naturalist. Initially he refused, partly because of his father’s perplexities concerning the long duration of the trip and the lack of retribution but, also due to the intervention of his maternal uncle Josiah, he ended up accepting and on December 27, 1831 he set off on the Beagle for a journey that lasted almost five years.

During the Beagle’s journey, Charles Darwin noticed that on each island of the Galápagos archipelago there were different species of turtles and birds that had various similarities and various specific characteristics. Those were among the key observations for what became the theory of evolution. During those years he also collected other observations not only on flora and fauna but also on the geology of the places he surveyed, which were the basis of various scientific essays that were published in the following years.