2017

Oxygen increase measured in the Shingle Pass Limestone Formation (Image courtesy Cole Edwards)

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An article published in the journal “Nature Geoscience” describes a research on the evolutionary radiation, in the sense of the quick diversification of new species, that happened in the Ordovician period, between 445-485 million years ago. Known as the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event (GOBE), it led to a huge growth in the number of species and according to a team of researchers it was caused also by an 80% increase in oxygen levels in the air.

Wetworld by Mark Michalowski

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The novel “Wetworld” by Mark Michalowski was published for the first time in 2007.

The Tenth Doctor wants to bring Martha Jones to a breakfast at Tiffany’s even though the two of them mean different Tiffanys. Something goes wrong and the Tardis materializes on the planet Sunday, in a swampy area where only the force field prevents the spacecraft from getting flooded.

The Doctor goes exploring and meets a girl from the human colony that settled on the planet, in the process of recovering after a tsunami caused by the fragment of a meteorite. Martha got ready for an elegant breakfast but when she leaves the Tardis she finds herself in the darkness and when she puts her hand out of the force field she gets grabbed by something that pulls her into the water.

Ebola virus (Image CDC)

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An article published in the magazine “Cell Host & Microbe” describes a study on blood samples taken from patients suffering from Ebola virus disease in Sierra Leone. A team of researchers coordinated by the University of Wisconsin-Madison thoroughly analyzed the samples and identified several Ebola virus signatures including 11 biomarkers distinguishing between fatal and non-fatal infections and 2 predicting accurately which patients are more likely to die.

Satan's Reach by Eric Brown

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The novel “Satan’s Reach” by Eric Brown was published for the first time in 2013. It’s the second book of the Weird Space series and follows “The Devil’s Nebula”.

Den Harper is a telepath who ran from the Expansion because he no longer wanted to be used to do the regime’s dirty work. He’s wanted, also because his starship is stolen, so he has to watch his back from bounty hunters willing to travel to the worlds beyond the frontier of the Expansion.

During one of his journeys on a planet for a business not exactly legal, Den Harper meets Zeela Antarivo, a girl who is likely to end up as a slave to members of the native species. He manages to save her but the two of them get chased even off the planet and as if that wasn’t enough, it seems that new bounty hunters are targeting him.

Jablonskipora kidwellae fossil (Photo courtesy Paul Taylor/London's Natural History Museum)

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An article published in the journal “Papers in Palaeontology” describes the discovery of a species of bryozoan called Jablonskipora kidwellae which constitutes an evolutionary missing link. These are the first modern bryozoans that grew in a structure and their study could help shed light on the evolution of these small invertebrates that live in colonies and are part of a phylum that emerged in the Cambrian period, about 500 million years ago.