2017

The Aroeira cranium (Photo courtesy Javier Trueba)

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An article published in the journal “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences’ describes the study of the oldest fossil cranium discovered in Portugal, in the Aroeira cave. A team led by archaeologist João Zilhão which includes anthropologist Rolf Quam of Binghamton University found that incomplete cranium which has an age estimated at about 400,000 years along with animal remains and various artifacts including stone tools among which several handaxes.

Diagram of the skeletal anatomy of Ichthyosaur communis from 1824

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An article published in the “Journal of Systematic Palaeontology” describes a research that proposes a taxonomic revision among ichthyosaurs, marine reptiles that lived in the Triassic and Cretaceous periods. Dean Lomax, a paleontologist at the University of Manchester, and Professor Judy Massare of Brockport College studied fossils of the species Ichthyosaurus communis and Ichthyosaurus intermedius concluding that they are actually the same species.

Caliban's War by James S.A. Corey

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The novel “Caliban’s War” by James S.A. Corey was published for the first time in 2012. It’s the second book in the Expanse series and follows “Leviathan Wakes”.

On Ganymede there’s a tense truce between the United Nations and Mars but a battle breaks out when a monstrous creature kills Marines of both armies in service on Jupiter’s moon. Martian Marine gunnery sergeant Roberta “Bobbie” Draper is the only survivor and must testify about what happened but ends up embroiled in political games which lead her to work for the United Nations Assistant Undersecretary of Executive Administration Chrisjen Avasarala.

Jim Holden and the crew of the former Martian fleet spaceship Rocinante are patrolling a space area on behalf of the Outer Planets Alliance (OPA). When they are alerted that something’s going on Ganymede they go to investigate and find that the situation is plummeting. They meet the botanist Praxidike “Prax” Meng, whose daughter has been kidnapped in strange circumstances and with him they discover that someone conducted experiments with the alien protomolecule.

John Barrowman in 2014

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John Barrowman was born on March 11, 1967 in Glasgow, Scotland.

In 2005 John Barrowman started playing what is still his most famous role, that of Captain Jack Harkness, in the new “Doctor Who” series. After being the Ninth Doctor’s companion for a few episodes, the character became one of the protagonists of the spinoff “Torchwood”.

In 2012 John Barrowman started playing the role for which he’s most famous in recent years, that of Malcolm Merlyn, originally appeared in the TV show “Arrow.” In later years his character appeared on several occasions also in the two sisters shows “The Flash” and “Legends of Tomorrow”.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 1 DVD boxset

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On March 10, 1997 the TV show “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” made its debut.

Buffy’s story actually began with a 1992 movie of which Joss Whedon wrote the original screenplay, very different from the final one because the movie’s producers preferred a horror comedy with vampires. Years later, Joss Whedon had the chance to create a TV show and reworked the idea of Buffy, finally in his own way.

The main character is stille a teenager who overturns the horror movie cliché of the helpless blonde but the TV show is much more sophisticated. Thanks also to the longer available time available in a TV show, Joss Whedon developed feminist overtones in a horror story with influences from various genres and subgenres.