2025

The Star 1 bone fragment

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An article published in the journal “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)” reports the results of the analysis of a bone fragment from which enough DNA was obtained to attribute it to a Neanderthal. A team of researchers led by Emily Pigott of the University of Vienna, Austria, examined this bone fragment discovered at the Starosele archaeological site in Crimea. It’s the one of 150 bone fragments that yielded the best results. Dated between 45,340 and 45,910 years ago, this fragment, cataloged as Star 1, revealed that a Neanderthal who lived in Crimea was related to five other hominins who lived at three sites in the Altai Mountains of Siberia, approximately 3,000 kilometers away.

Enhancement by Anthony J. Melchiorri

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The novel “Enhancement” by Anthony J. Melchiorri was published for the first time in 2014. It’s the first book in the Black Market DNA series.

When Chris Morgan is stabbed during a prison riot, he thinks it’s the end for him. Instead, another inmate protects him until the guards intervene and stop the riot. Chris is even more surprised when he’s told he’ll be released early.

As soon as Chris Morgan is released from prison, a stranger offers him a job in genetic engineering, the same field that got him into trouble when he started selling illegal modifications. Suspicious, he tries to stall, but only one biotech company is willing to hire him. Chris tries to approach the new job honestly and even begins a relationship with his colleague Tracy, but when his boss is killed, he realizes that things are still complicated for him.

Timewyrm: Revelation by Paul Cornell

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The novel “Timewyrm: Revelation” by Paul Cornell was published for the first time in 1991. It’s No. 4 in the “New Adventures” range by Virgin Publishing.

The Seventh Doctor has lost track of the Timewyrm and heads the TARDIS to the village of Cheldon Bonniface, in the late 19th century, where an old acquaintance lives. While the Doctor is playing chess, Ace is attacked by a small astronaut and, fleeing, soon realizes she has ended up on the surface of the Moon, where she suffocates.

Reality also shifts for the Doctor, who realizes that what looked like his friend is actually Hemmings, whom he met in the timeline where the Nazis won World War II. Returning to the TARDIS, he discovers he’s on the Moon in 1992. What’s real?

The Man in the Maze by Robert Silverberg

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The novel “The Man in the Maze” by Robert Silverberg was published for the first time in 1968.

Charles Boardman leads an expedition to the planet Lemnos, where Richard Muller, a diplomat who nine years earlier had established his home in the middle of an ancient, huge labyrinth, exiled himself. Boardman’s goal is to reach Muller, but the labyrinth is full of deadly traps.

To limit the risks, Charles Boardman uses a series of drones built directly on his spaceship. They enable finding many traps, yet some men die trying to reach the labyrinth’s center. Ultimately, young Ned Rawlins is the one who encounters Richard Muller, an event not by chance but planned by Boardman to exploit the boy’s innocent appearance to gain Muller’s trust.

Hunters of Dune by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson

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The novel “Hunters of Dune” by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson was published for the first time in 2006. It’s the seventh book in the Dune saga and follows “Chapterhouse Dune”.

The crew of the enormous no-ship named Ithaca continues its efforts to outrun the mysterious Enemy who seems determined to capture it. Scytale, the Tleilaxu master held prisoner on the Ithaca, has one last trick up his sleeve to improve his situation.

Murbella continues the complex work of creating a united sisterhood that includes the Bene Gesserit and the Honored Matres who have agreed to follow her. There’s a lot of internal friction and external enemies that make the situation tense on Chapterhouse. Murbella seeks to understand the nature of the Enemy and at the same time strike at the Honored Matres who are still independent, starting with those on Tleilax.