2021

Metropolitan by Walter Jon Williams

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The novel “Metropolitan” by Walter Jon Williams was published for the first time in 1995.

Aiah is a low-ranking employee of the Plasma Authority who works in the metropolis of Jaspeer. During an emergency intervention following the appearance of a mysterious burning woman who causes damage to several city blocks, Aiah discovers a large source of plasma and realizes that the mysterious woman tapped it directly and ended up killing herself after damaging the area. She’s supposed to report the source location but she decides to keep the information to herself.

In secret, Aiah turns to Metropolitan Constantine, a politician in exile after his political enemies managed to oust him from positions of power in their metropolis. Aiah aims to get a hefty sum in exchange for the secret of the plasma source but the woman ends up entangled in Constantine’s political intrigues.

Gregory Benford in 2008

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Gregory Albert Benford was born on January 30, 1941 in Mobile, Alabama, USA. In 1965, Gregory Benford started the science fiction fanzine “Void” with his twin brother Jim. In the same year he published his first short story, “Stand-In” in the “Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction”. In 1969 he began writing a science column for “Amazing Stories”. This combined his work as a science fiction writer with the one as a scientist as Benford worked as a researcher in the fields of astrophysics and plasma physics and was among the authors of over 200 scientific articles.

Because of his education, he has always tried to develop scientifically plausible stories that are interesting at the same time. For this reason, he wrote works in which the technical-scientific side is strongly developed using it to create stories in which, for example, there are intriguing aliens. In recent years his activity as a writer is limited, but he has written works of such value as to place him among the great science fiction writers.

Reconstruction of Pederpes finneyae with the bones of its forelimb

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An article published in the journal “Science Advances” reports a study on the evolution of the forelimbs’ skeleton and muscles in the transition from fish to tetrapods. A team of researchers led by Julie Molnar of the New York Institute of Technology and Stephanie Pierce of Harvard examined three-dimensional models of the bones, joints, and muscles of the fins and limbs of two now-extinct early tetrapods and a fish closely related to them. The conclusion is that those early tetrapods had anatomical features more suited to propulsion than to support their weight.

The Stand by Stephen King (Italian edition)

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The novel “The Stand” by Stephen King was published for the first time in 1978 e republished in the so-called Complete and Uncut Edition in 1990.

Charles Campion is on duty when in a secret laboratory on the military base a chain of errors causes a virus created as a bacteriological weapon do get dispersed in the air. When Campion sees the alarm, he realizes that it’s something very serious and manages to escape before being locked up at the base. He leaves with his family trying to get away as far as possible, but has already been infected and just spreads the infection faster.

The army attempts to create quarantine areas, initially with roadblocks disguised as men at work and later with weapons, to try to stop the infection, but without success. In less than a month, almost all of the inhabitants of the USA died. The few survivors, scattered here and there in the territory, try to make do. Their conditions are diverse, but among the things in common are the strange dreams, which include Mother Abigail and Randall Flagg.

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The actress Mira Furlan passed away on Wednesday, January 20, 2021. The causes of her death have not been disclosed, but the commemorations that started arriving indicate that she had been ill for some time. She was famous in particular for her roles in the TV shows “Babylon 5” and “Lost”.