March 2020

Isolated chondrocytes of Hypacrosaurus stebingeri and emu

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An article published in the journal “National Science Review” reports evidence of the identification of proteins, chromosomes and DNA markers in the fossil cartilage of a Hypacrosaurus stebingeri nestling, a dinosaur belonging to the hadrosaur family dating back to around 75 million years ago, in the Cretaceous period. A team of researchers led by Alida Bailleul of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, China, used chemicals that bind to DNA in living cells on fossil bone fragments resulting in a fluorescence indicating that they bonded to the original molecules and not to external contaminants. Jurassic Park remains science fiction because the fragments found may have undergone various alterations but any trace of cell structures, proteins and chromosomes could offer new information on these dinosaurs.

James Doohan

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James Montgomery Doohan was born on March 3, 1920, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. After attending high school, he enlisted in the 102nd Royal Canadian Army Cadet Corps and joined the Canadian Royal Artillery at the beginning of World War II. After begin commissioned a Lieutenant, he was sent to England and took part to the D-Day operations after training. He got wounded and lost his right hand’s middle finger, but still served, even as an aviator.

James Doohan auditioned for the role of chief engineer of the Enterprise in the TV show “Star Trek” doing different accents, but said to the producer Gene Roddenberry that in his experience the best engineers are Scottish, and in the end the Scottish accent became one of Montgomery “Scotty” Scott’s trademarks. His character didn’t appear in all episodes but still had an impact on the audience which included inspiration to study engineering.

Throughout his life, James Doohan has been married three times and had a total of 7 children. In the last years of his life he had a series of health problems, and on July 20, 2005, he died following complications of pulmonary fibrosis. He got cremated and part of his ashes were sent into space on SpaceX’s Dragon space cargo ship on May 22, 2012. His son Chris played Scott in “Star Trek Continues”, a web series that pays homage to the original series. It’s another demonstration of how much that show influenced James Doohan’s life.

The Sunborn by Gregory Benford

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The novel “The Sunborn” by Gregory Benford was published for the first time in 2005. It’s the sequel to “The Martian Race”.

More than twenty years have passed since Viktor and Julia managed to reach Mars and there’s now a scientific research center on the red planet that is home to several people. The Consortium’s plans include a further expansion that brings profits but in the meantime another space mission is exploring Pluto led by Shanna Axelrod.

Meeting general disbelief, after studying the processes taking place on Pluto’s surface, Shanna Axelrod announced the existence of life forms adapted to that really freezing environment. Her father manages to convince Viktor and Julia to leave for Pluto to assist her mission and try to understand how life forms can exist so far from the Sun and what forces are at work.