An article published in the journal “npj Computational Materials” reports the results of the use of a machine learning algorithm in the search for new materials. A team of researchers used an algorithm specialized in molecular design trained to recognize candidates with certain properties. In this way they designed polymers with high thermal conductivity, very useful to use for example in mobile technologies connected to 5G.
An article published in the journal “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences” reports a genetic analysis of the remains of two Neanderthals discovered in Gibraltar in 1848 and 1926. A team of researchers coordinated by the National Museum of History in London and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (MPI-EVA) in Leipzig carried out the extraction of DNA from the remains of those two individuals, succeeding in establishing that the skull discovered in 1848 in the Forbes’ Quarry site belonged to a female while the one discovered in 1926 and nicknamed Devil’s Tower Child was a male. The female was more closely related to the Neanderthals who lived in Europe between 60,000 and 120,000 years ago than to those who lived in Spain 49,000 years ago.
In a presentation held yesterday, Elon Musk explained the progress made by Neuralink in the creation of an interface between the human brain and computer. When he started talking about projects of this type he called it “neural lace”, an idea taken from science fiction. Now, however, the first implant prototypes have been built and the company seems ready to start tests on human beings since it’s taking the necessary steps to obtain the approval required to perform them.
The novel “The Stars Are Legion” by Kameron Hurley was published for the first time in 2017.
Zan wakes up without any memory and has to trust what she’s told by the women of the Katazyrna family, who claim to be her sisters. One of them in particular, Jayd, explains what’s supposed to be her destiny, how she faced the Mokshi, unique among the various worlds of the Legion. Her journey will be long and full of dangers but to accomplish it she must first of all avoid getting recycled.
Jayd wants to help Zan but gets involved in power struggles within the Katazyrna family and in clashes with their rivals, the Bhavaja family. An arranged marriage for strategic reasons makes her switch one danger for another, especially when personal relationships intertwine in twisted ways with loyalties with her family of origin.
An article published in the journal “Current Biology” reports the study of a specimen of a small feathered dinosaur belonging to the species Microraptor zhaoianus which is not only almost complete but still contained in its stomach the remains of a lizard belonging to a species that was still unknown and was named Indrasaurus wangi. A team of paleontologists led by Professor Jingmai O’Connor of the Chinese Academy of Sciences examined the remains of the two animals that lived about 120 million years ago in today’s China and, also based on three previous discoveries of Microraptor with a preserved prey in their stomach, confirmed the theory that this type of dinosaur was an opportunistic predator.
