November 2019

Danuvius guggenmosi fossil bones offer clues to the evolution of bipedal posture

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An article published in the journal “Nature” reports a study on fossils of an ape species that was named Danuvius guggenmosi that lived about 11.6 million years ago, during the Miocene period, in today’s Bavaria. A team of researchers led by Professor Madelaine Böhme of the Eberhard-Karls-Universität of Tübingen examined bones belonging to at least four individuals that combine adaptations of bipeds and apes that hang from tree. This suggests that the ancestors of today’s humans and apes had that kind of characteristics and bipedal locomotion evolved in species that still lived at least partially on trees.

Dawn by Octavia Butler (Italian edition)

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The novel “Dawn” by Octavia Butler was published for the first time in 1987. It’s the first book in the Xenogenesis trilogy, also known as Lilith’s Brood.

When Lilith awakens in what appears to be a prison cell, she thinks that little time has passed since the atomic war that devastated the Earth. A voice asks her questions that sometimes seem meaningless to her and that goes on for a time she can’t evaluate. Her confusion turns into panic when she’s visited in person by a clearly non-human being.

Lilith is explained that the atomic war brought humanity to the brink of extinction but the Oankali, as the aliens call themselves, managed to save a small amount of humans by taking them to the large alien spaceship, where Lilith remained for 250 years in suspended animation. The humans deemed suitable will be trained and returned to Earth to revive it but their children will be partly aliens.

Hydrothermal vent in the Urashima site (Photo courtesy Submarine Ring of Fire 2014 - Ironman, NSF/NOAA, Jason, Copyright WHOI)

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An article published in the journal “Nature Ecology & Evolution” reports the creation of protocells in warm and alkaline salt water that replicate the conditions of the hydrothermal vents existing in deep seas. A team of researchers led by University College London (UCL) took a step forward in research into the origin of life on Earth by bringing new clues that hydrothermal vents are the place where the first life forms emerged. In fact, they proved the possible formation of protocells starting from compounds existing in that environment and in those environmental conditions.

Doctor Who - Paradise Towers

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“Paradise Towers” is an adventure of the twentyfourth season of “Doctor Who” classic series, which aired in 1987. It follows “Time and the Rani” and it’s a four parts adventure written by Stephen Wyatt and directed by Nicholas Mallett.

The Seventh Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) and Melanie Bush (Bonnie Langford) are looking for a pool and land in the Paradise Towers, which are supposed to be a luxury high-rise building. However, they immediately realize that the place is deteriorated.

The two travelers meet a gang of girls and realize that the Paradise Towers are still inhabited but have turned into a sort of urban jungle. There’s the Caretaker Corps but their strict observance of the rules doesn’t really help the situation.

The Martian Race by Gregory Benford

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The novel “The Martian Race” by Gregory Benford was published for the first time in 1999.

The rocket that’s supposed to carry the first astronauts to Mars explodes at launch and the immediate consequence is the decision by the USA President to give up such attempts to focus on missions in the vicinity of the Earth. However, the goal of sending humans to Mars is kept alive by the announcement of a $30 billion prize for whoever can accomplish that feat and bring astronauts back to Earth.

Billionaire John Axelrod intends to win the prize and earn more money thanks to the Mars mission and its results. The Consortium he put together to finance the feat is the first to send four people to the red planet, but to win the prize they must be the first to return. Another team sent by a European-Asian collaboration follows them and all the humans arrived on Mars encounter various problems they need to solve in order to return to Earth.