October 2025

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

0

The novel “Project Hail Mary” by Andy Weir was published for the first time in 2021. It won the Dragon Award at the 2021 Dragon Con and the Japanese Seiun Award.

Ryland Grace wakes up in a bed, with a series of life-support systems connected to his body. He doesn’t even remember his identity, and his first thought is that he was in a coma. Two bodies in beds in the same room indicate that this isn’t a hospital, and his perceptions of gravity suggest he’s aboard an accelerating spaceship.

Slowly, Ryland Grace starts recovering his memories, albeit fragmentarily. He remembers being a teacher, a profession he chose after a negative experience as a biology researcher. He also recalls being involved in a project aimed at finding a way to save humanity after the discovery that the Sun is emitting less energy, a phenomenon caused by strange microorganisms.

Views of the reproduction of the original shape of the Yunxian 2 skull

0

An article published in the journal “Science” reports the results of a study of the fossil skull cataloged as Yunxian 2, which attributes it to the species Homo longi. A team of researchers examined a reproduction of this skull made after performing a CT scan, an operation that was needed to try to restore it to its original shape because the fossil is crushed.

The result was compared with 100 other hominin specimens, revealing a combination of traits, some close to those of Homo erectus and others much more similar to those of Homo sapiens and the species called Homo longi. In the end, the researchers concluded that this skull belongs to an early Homo longi.