2023

A reconstruction of a Homo naledi skeleton in the position in which it was found (Image courtesy Berger et al., 2023)

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Three articles under peer review ahead of a publication in the journal “eLife” report different aspects of a study of what were defined as intentional burials of individuals belonging to the species Homo naledi. Various researchers including Dr. Lee Berger, who led the team that discovered these hominins, examined the cave called Rising Star, about 50 km northwest of Johannesburg, South Africa, in which their fossils were discovered and what were interpreted as engravings of symbols accompanying those burials. This would mean that Homo naledi buried their dead between 241,000 and 335,000 years ago, 100,000 years before Homo sapiens.

The Asutra by Jack Vance

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The novel “The Asutra” by Jack Vance was published for the first time in 1973 serialized in “The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction” and in 1974 as a book. It’s the third book in the Durdane trilogy and follows “The Brave Free Men”.

Gastel Etzwane left the government of Durdane to devote himself to music but it seems that the problem of the Roguskhoi, the creatures that brought terror in many areas of Durdane, hasn’t been completely solved. Rumors suggest that the Roguskhoi appeared on the continent of Caraz and it’s necessary to verify their connection with the mysterious Asutra.

A new encounter with the earthling Ifness offers new information to Gastel Etzwane and the two men decide to go on a journey to solve all the mysteries. Rumors of sightings of alien spaceships above Caraz could be linked to the Asutra and Etzwane is determined to go all the way to find the truth while Ifness intends to act only through his official channels.

A schematic of the various evolutionary patterns of Homo sapiens including also an interbreeding with Neanderthals

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An article published in the journal “Nature” reports a study that relaunches the idea that the Homo sapiens species emerged not from a single population that had e linear evolution but from different groups of genetically similar hominins that diversified and then interbred again. A team of researchers led by Brenna Henn of the University of California-Davis, USA, and Simon Gravel of McGill University in Montreal, Canada, conducted a genetic analysis and a comparison with early Homo sapiens fossils to try and locate the origin of modern humans. The researchers tested different evolutionary and migratory models and the one that best matches the data points to ramifications of African populations that subsequently interbred again until they merged.

Wanderers by Chuck Wendig

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The novel “Wanderers” by Chuck Wendig was published for the first time in 2019. It’s the first book in the Wanderers series.

When Shana can’t find her sister Nessie at home, she fears that she has run away as she did in the past and as their mother had done some time before. She goes out looking for her and finds her looking like she’s sleepwalking, showing no signs of noticing Shana’s presence. Other people in the same state start arriving and walking side by side with Nessie and when someone physically tries to stop them, they react by flailing violently and in extreme cases literally explode.

Benjamin Ray is a doctor who fell out of favor at the CDC after falsifying data to try to avoid the risk of an epidemic. However, an artificial intelligence called Black Swan picked his name while it was being used to gain useful intelligence in the new crisis. While medical authorities try to understand the origin of the strange new form of sleepwalking, extremist fringes linked to the American religious right and white supremacism start mounting a campaign against “the Flock” accused of being linked to evil forces.

Photos of Rotadiscus grandis fossils and their interpretive drawings

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An article published in the journal “Current Biology” reports a study on exceptionally preserved Rotadiscus grandis fossils. A team of researchers led by Dr Imran Rahman of the Natural History Museum in London offered many new insights into these animals dating back to the Lower Cambrian period, about 518 million years ago. Previous studies had left a number of questions about their classification and lifestyle. The new study assigns them to the large Ambulacraria group, which includes the Echinoderms and Hemicordata phyla and is part of the superphylum Deuterostomia together with the phylum of Chordates. If this classification is correct, it indicates that certain characteristics of later animal species emerged independently several times.