December 2022

Use of Weapons by Iain M. Banks

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The novel “Use of Weapons” by Iain M. Banks was published for the first time in 1990. It’s part of the Culture series.

Cheradenine Zakalwe was one of the best agents of Special Circumstances, the Culture agency that intervenes in other less advanced civilizations. Agent Diziet Sma, assisted by the drone Skaffen-Amtiskaw, looks for him to entrust him with a new mission in a star cluster in which the situation is unstable.

In the course of his life, Zakalwe has seen too much but his inner torments also prevent him from living in tranquility in the Culture. He accepts the mission that was proposed to him and as payment asks to find a woman.

(a) taxonomic profiles of some species whose DNA was discovered in some of the samples taken in the Kap København Formation and (b) the phylogenetic placement of mitochondrial DNA belonging to or close to the Elephantidae family

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An article published in the journal “Nature” reports the identification of environmental DNA dating back to two million years ago discovered in sediments taken in the Kap København Formation in Greenland. A team of researchers led by Professors Eske Willerslev and Kurt H. Kjær used state-of-the-art technologies available for this type of exam.

Microscopic fragments of DNA were found for a total of 41 usable samples stored in clay and quartz within sediments that remained in the ice for two million years. The analysis of the samples revealed the presence of various species of plants and animals, not all identifiable with precision but nonetheless useful to get an idea of that ancient ecosystem.

Beggars in Spain by Nancy Kress

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The novel “Beggars in Spain” by Nancy Kress was published for the first time in 1993. It’s an expanded version of a novella with the same title published in 1991. It’s the first novel in the Sleepless, or Beggars, series.

Roger Camden is rich enough to pay for genetic modifications that allow creating what he thinks is his perfect daughter. He discovers an experiment that aims to create people who need no sleep and also obtains that genetic modification for his daughter Leisha. However, his wife Elizabeth also conceived another daughter whose genetic makeup is 100% natural.

As she grows up, Leisha becomes involved in the growing Sleepless community, who have a significant advantage over the Sleepers and are achieving success in all fields. The Sleepless are the perfect champions of yagaism, which theorizes a society based on contracts of mutual usefulness. In their view, the people they call beggars don’t enjoy consideration but among them there are those who hate the Sleepless for their advantages and are even willing to use violence against them.

Painten's pterodactyl specimen

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An article published in the journal “Fossil Record” reports a study on the oldest pterodactyl fossils discovered so far. A team of researchers examined a sub-adult specimen of Pterodactylus antiquus (Photo courtesy Augustin et al., all rights reserved) discovered in central Bavaria, Germany, which dates back to the sage known as the Kimmeridgian, part of the Upper Jurassic period. So far, the specimens dating from the Tithonian age, the next and last of the Jurassic period. This specimen is one of the best-preserved pterodactyl specimens, which is another reason why this discovery is important.