June 2020

Artist's concept of Borealopelta markmitchelli (Image courtesy Julius Csotonyi © Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology)

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An article published in the journal “Royal Society Open Science” reports a study on the last meal of the only known specimen of Borealopelta markmitchelli. The exceptional conservation of this armored dinosaur fossil, a nodosaurid ankylosaur, has also made it possible to find what is by far the best-preserved dinosaur stomach discovered so far. This allowed a team of researchers to examine this stomach and its contents, a mass the size of a soccer ball. The result is definitive evidence of the diet of these herbivorous animals and offers much more information on the interaction with their environment than just the skeleton.

BloodBusters by Francesco Verso

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The novel “BloodBusters” by Francesco Verso was published for the first time in Italy in 2015. It was translated to English by Sally McCorry.

BloodBusters are tax collectors who take care of collecting taxes in blood. The evaders are searched and the BloodBusters proceed with the withdrawals. Alan Costa works for the agency and when he and his colleagues go to carry out an investigation they’re interrupted by the Robin Blood anarchist group, who takes away Anissa Malesano, the woman object of the investigation.

In the short time he spent with Anissa, Alan fell in love with her, although he knew how dangerous it is to mix work and personal relationships. The situation becomes more complicated for him because his colleagues are not all reliable and faithful and there’s the risk of making enemies inside and outside the agency.

The Lost Fleet: Dauntless by Jack Campbell

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The novel “The Lost Fleet: Dauntless” by Jack Campbell was published for the first time in 2006. It’s the first in The Lost Fleet series.

John Geary was awakened from the cryogenic stasis he had entered a century earlier in hopes of escaping the enemy. He’s still trying to understand what kind of situation he ended up in and the only clear thing is that the war he was fighting is still going on and the Alliance fleet has suffered a heavy defeat. The Admiral goes to the enemy to negotiate the surrender leaving Geary in command as the senior officer, but is killed as a warning to the whole fleet.

Forced to decide which is the best choice to save the starships in the fleet that can still travel, John Geary realizes that his latest actions before going into stasis turned him into a legend. Military technology has progressed over a century, but some old tricks might have been forgotten by the enemy.