The ASCO 2017, the annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), new data were presented regarding the experimentation of Watson for Oncology, the version of IBM’s cognitive computing system trained to recognize the symptoms of various forms of cancer and suggest a therapy. Developed within the Watson Health business unit, it showed a level of agreement with human doctors that reached 96% in cases of lung cancer.
The novel “Blue Mars” by Kim Stanley Robinson was published for the first time in 1996. It won the Hugo and Locus Awards. It’s the third novel in the Mars trilogy and follows “Green Mars”.
Over a century after the arrival of the first human expedition to Mars, terraforming operations caused enormous changes to what used to be the red planet. Water is in its liquid state on the surface forming seas and rivers. On Earth, however, water has become a major issue following climate changes.
The relationship between Earth and Mars remains tense and the treaty between the two planets marks a difficult peace. Immigration from the Earth keeps on growing and represents another reason for conflict among the Martian factions. There are still those who oppose terraforming and consider the Earthlings as invaders that must be stopped.
An article published in the journal “Nature Communications” describes a research showing a possible genetic mechanism that determined the evolution of birds from dinosaurs. A team of researchers from the Japanese Tohoku University that includes international collaborators provided what the scientists believe are evidence of the connection of certain genetic sequences to the evolution of bird traits such as feathers.
The novel “Master of the House of Darts” by Aliette de Bodard was published for the first time in 2011. It’s the third in the “Obsidian And Blood” series and follows “Harbinger of the Storm”.
Emperor Tizoc’s coronation war turned out to be a failure with the capture of just a few prisoners to be sacrificed during the great ceremonies to be held to celebrate that event. As if that wasn’t enough, one of the prisoners died suddenly and the cause seems to be of magic origin.
The High Priest of the Dead Acatl already carried out a number of investigations into crimes connected to magic and the intervention of a deity but the situation is really delicate. Tizoc became emperor in unique circumstances and if he can’t secure the favor of the gods the prospects for the future are of grave instability.
