August 2019

A refinement of the CRISPR-Cas genetic technique allows to work on many genes simultaneously

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An article published in the journal “Nature Methods” reports the results of the experimentation of a variant of the CRISPR-Cas genetic technique, in recent years used a lot in some variants for genetic manipulations of different types. A team of researchers at ETH Zurich, Switzerland, used the Cas12a enzyme to achieve a significant step forward in this type of technique because it enables to intervene on up to 25 genetic sites simultaneously.

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Alfred Joseph Hitchcock was born on August 13, 1899 in Leytonstone, Essex, England. The typical elements of Alfred Hitchcock’s work, from the creation of suspense to black humor, including his obsession with blondes and many other themes and mechanisms, have been the subject of in-depth analysis to understand the work process of a director who had a remarkable influence also beyond genre cinema.

Some Will Not Die by Algis Budrys

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The novel “Some Will Not Die” by Algis Budrys was published for the first time in 1961, an expanded version of “False Night” of 1954.

Matt Garvin is part of the 10% of the population that survived a pandemic that also resulted in the complete destruction of the civilization. In a situation where anyone can be a mortal enemy, the only way to move forward is to find someone you can trust. Slowly, starting with his neighbors, Matt starts forming a new society that expands through Manhattan.

Joe Custis was commissioned to find Ted Berendsten, a leader officially killed many years before but according to various rumors actually alive and well hidden. The authorities that gave him that task want Berendsten because the army he commanded had led to the formation of the first real North American state after the pandemic so they consider him useful for the government of a new Republic.

Heracles inexpectatus was a giant parrot that lived 19 million years ago

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An article published in the journal “Biology Letters” reports the discovery of a species of giant parrots that lived about 19 million years ago, in the Miocene period, in today’s New Zealand. A team of paleontologists named this species Heracles inexpectatus, the parrots’ Hercules with its meter (a little more than 3′) in height and a massive beak useful for getting food. It was about twice the size of the kakapo, the largest living parrot and for this reason it was nicknamed Squawkzilla.

SkyPoint by Phil Ford

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The novel “SkyPoint” by Phil Ford was published for the first time in 2008.

Gwen Cooper and Rhys Williams just got married and he set up a meeting with a real estate agent to visit SkyPoint, the brand new Cardiff apartment complex. Rhys knows he can’t afford it but hopes for a better future for him and Gwen. The visit, however, doesn’t start well because Gwen sees Besnik Lucca, well known to the police, who would love to find evidence of the many crimes he’s suspected of.

The visit to SkyPoint continues but the real estate agent suddenly vanishes into thin air. Gwen asks her Torchwood colleagues for a check up and there’s no Rift activity but that’s not the first mysterious disappearance at SkyPoint. To investigate, Owen Harper and Toshiko Sato go to live in the skyscraper pretending they just got married.