Massimo Luciani

The Book of Being by Ian Watson

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The novel “The Book of Being” by Ian Watson was published for the first time in 1985. It’s the third book in the Black Current trilogy and is the sequel to “The Book of the Stars”.

Yaleen was reborn on her home planet and has become a priestess who can testify to the wonders she has experienced over the course of several lives. That situation also allows her to live with her family again, but things are far from simple.

For Yaleen, returning home doesn’t represent the end of her journey or her tribulations. The Godmind continues to pursue its plans towards humanity on all planets and Yaleen knows she will have to fight it again. An ally like the Worm is precious but it’s difficult to understand its true motivations.

Hospital Station by James White

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The novel “Hospital Station” by James White was published for the first time in 1962. It’s a fix-up of five short stories published in the previous years. It’s the first book in the Sector General series.

When two workers are killed in a work accident during the construction of a section of the Hospital Station, O’Mara is suspected of negligence. An investigation must shed light on the events and in the meantime, the man is assigned the task of looking after the victims’ very young child.

For O’Mara, babysitting is a complex task because he knows nothing about what a child who belongs to that alien species needs. This is another problem considering that he will only be acquitted thanks to the testimony of another worker with whom he has a far-less-than-friendly relationship.

The areas where the fossils object of the study on the inner ear were found with the one called Almud 1 enlarged and a reconstruction of the inner ear's semicircular canals

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An article published in the journal “Nature Communications” reports the results of the study of the inner ear of Neanderthals that suggests that at a certain point in their history there was a genetic bottleneck that may have contributed to their extinction. A team of researchers examined the semicircular canals, structures whose development is strongly determined by genes, to assess the history of Neanderthals. According to the conclusions, the morphological diversity of these anatomical structures shows a decline about 110,000 years ago.

This is not the only recent research that suggests a genetic stagnation of Neanderthals because a few weeks ago, an article was published in the journal “Scientific Reports” that focuses on the blood groups of Homo sapiens, Denisovans, and Neanderthals. Genetic analysis shows that Neanderthals had a blood type that’s very rare in Homo sapiens with very limited variability over about 80,000 years. This may have made them vulnerable to various health problems.

Afterburn by R.K. Higgins

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The novel “Afterburn” by R.K. Higgins was published for the first time in 2018. It’s the first book in the Afterburn series.

Reme Reagan is not cut out for the farming life and dreams of participating in anti-gravity racing even though his father would like him to continue the family job. While trying to enter the competitions, he runs into Vick Dozz, who has just repossessed a racing pod and is looking for a pilot to earn some extra money before returning it to its owner.

For Reme, this is a unique opportunity to compete in a circuit that is not professional but is still very popular. He has to compete with other human pilots, Ternions, and cyborgs of both species but the greatest dangers could come from ruthless people outside the race tracks.

The Crawling Terror by Mike Tucker

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The novel “The Crawling Terror” by Mike Tucker was published for the first time in 2014.

The life of what used to be a quiet British village is turned upside down when some of its inhabitants come face to face with giant insects. Poor Alan Travers has it even worse on his way home because he ends up in a giant spider web and the spider that built it is nearby.

The Tardis has detected an anomalous signal resulting in the 12th Doctor and Clara Oswald arriving in what seems to be a normal British village. Very soon, the situation turns out to be very different with the discovery of a corpse trapped in a spider web of truly extraordinary size and strength. The Doctor must quickly investigate to understand what’s happening, and old tales dating back to World War II may offer a clue.