2025

Colony of Salpingoeca rosetta

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An article published in the journal “Science Advances” reports the results of a study on microbes of the species Salpingoeca rosetta that offers evidence that individuals exchange electrical signals they use to coordinate their behaviors. Jeffrey Colgren and Pawel Burkhardt of the Michael Sars Centre at the University of Bergen, Norway, used a newly developed genetic tool to examine the behaviors of colonies of these microbes that belong to the group of choanoflagellates (Choanoflagellata), the eukaryotes most closely related to animals.

Orbital Resonance by John Barnes

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The novel “Orbital Resonance” by John Barnes was published for the first time in 1991. It’s the first book in the Century Next Door series.

Melpomene Murray is given the task of writing an account of her last year of life in order to allow the Earthlings to get to know the life of a thirteen-year-old in the colony established on the asteroid that was named the Flying Dutchman. 2025 was an important year for her and for the colony in general for several reasons.

For people born in space like Melpomene, understanding the behaviors of the Earthlings that led to the catastrophic situation on their planet is almost impossible. This also complicates the relationships with their parents, who are trying to create a new generation that is more empathetic and ready to cooperate.

Tea plantations in the Baisha Li Autonomous County of Hainan (Photo STW932)

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An article published in the journal “Agrobiodiversity” reports the results of a genetic study of the tea plant of the Chinese island of Hainan that indicates that this type of the Camellia sinensis species has an origin that is independent from the other varieties. A team of researchers performed a complete DNA sequencing of the Hainan tea plant to compare it with the DNA of the other types. Knowing the origin of this type of tea offers, among other things, useful indications for its conservation and improvement of its cultivation.

To Live Forever by Jack Vance

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The novel “To Live Forever”, later reprinted as “Clarges”, by Jack Vance was published for the first time in 1956.

Gavin Waylock has been keeping a very low profile for years waiting to be able to assert what he believes to be his rights. In Carnevalle, the only place where the inhabitants of Clarges can relax and forget for a while the very tough competition to achieve immortality, Waylock meets an Amaranth woman, The Jacynth Martin, who could ruin his plans. An apparent accident causes her death, only temporaryly because a new body with which the woman had empathized is activated.

When the Amaranth known as The Grayven Warlock is officially declared dead, Gavin Waylock can come out and declare himself his relic, a clone who has become a separate person because the original didn’t establish the empathy with him necessary to make him a replacement. However, The Jacynth Martin is investigating her own death and believes that Waylock is the culprit, complicating the man’s plans.