July 2019

Tooth socket for a three-rooted molar (Image courtesy Christine Lee. All rights reserved)

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An article published in the journal “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences” reports the results of the analysis of a tooth belonging to a Denisovan that is part of a mandible discovered on the Tibetan plateau, dating back 160,000 years ago. It’s a three-rooted mandibular molar, a characteristic that today exists in a part of Asian modern humans and only rarely in Caucasian populations. That characteristic was considered the result of a mutation occurred in modern humans after the first migrations out of Africa but this discovery suggests that it’s instead the result of an interbreeding with the Denisovans.

Sapphire & Steel DVDs

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On July 10, 1979 the TV show “Sapphire & Steel” made its debut in the UK.

“All irregularities will be handled by the forces controlling each dimension. Transuranic heavy elements may not be used where there is life. Medium atomic weights are available: Gold, Lead, Copper, Jet, Diamond, Radium, Sapphire, Silver and Steel. Sapphire and Steel have been assigned.”. These words accompanied episode’s opening theme and offered a good part of the limited explanations about the show’s protagonists.

Ecce and Old Earth by Jack Vance (Italian edition)

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The novel “Ecce and Old Earth” by Jack Vance was published for the first time in 1991. It’s the second book of the Cadwal Chronicles and follows “Araminta Station”.

The information obtained by Glawen Clattuc lead him to begin a rescue expedition to the continent of the planet Cadwal known as Ecce. It’s a particularly dangerous place because it’s the wildest with its jungles and swamps inhabited by animals, however they’re not the most deadly predators ready to kill those who come unprepared.

After discovering the danger hanging over the Conservation created by the Naturalist Society of Earth to preserve the resources of Cadwal, Wayness Tamm went to the Old Earth to try to save it. She has to rely on all her wit and resourcefulness to find the lead and at the same time avoid the dangers coming from the intrigue that have as their stakes the control of Cadwal’s Conservation.

Jon Pertwee in 1996

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John Devon Roland Pertwee – this is his birth name – was born on July 7, 1919 in London, England. His first acting experiences were in radio programs but World War II broke out and Pertwee served in the British Navy and in 1941 he was assigned to the Naval Intelligence Division (NID).

In 1969 Jon Pertwee was cast to play the Third Doctor in the TV show “Doctor Who”. It was a period of great changes in the show’s production as it which moved from black & white to color TV concentrating it on a lower number of episodes per series. That era reached a new peak in popularity but in 1974 the actor announced that he’d leave the show.

Jon Pertwee died on May 20, 1996 following a heart attack, leaving his wife Ingeborg Rhoesa, their son Sean and their daughter Dariel, who followed in his footsteps. Jon Pertwee is known all over the world above all for playing the Third Doctor but he was an eclectic actor and throughout his career he’s been famous in his country for many quirky characters played using funny voices.

Artist's concept of a nanoprobe connecting to a neuron (Image courtesy Lieber Group, Harvard University. All rights reserved)

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An article published in the journal “Nature Nanotechnology” riporta the creation of arrays of nanoprobes small enough to be able to record the internal work of cardiac cells and primary neurons. A team of researchers from the Universities of Surrey and Harvard produced U-shaped nanowire field-effect transistor probes. The possibility of measuring intracellular signals offers new possibilities in the medical field but also technological developments related to human-machine interfaces.