On Mars_: a new world by Sylvain Runberg and Grun

Got the book because I like the artwork and it's SF on Mars! I wasn't expecting much of the story apart from drones, robots, and fights, but I was greatly surprised as I found a bit more. Some nice characters and a fully fleshed protagonist with a past, values and ethics. The hard conditions of forced labour and colonisation of another planet. These issues are explored from political, philosophical, and religious perspectives. This was not an academic essay, but a good story that leaves you thinking afterwards.

Chasing the Sun: The New Science of Sunlight and how it shapes our bodies and minds by Linda Geddes.

Sunlight gives us life and health. It is important to keep our circadian rhythms synchronised and our body functions working properly. It is important for our mood and sleep. It helps segregate important hormones like melatonin, important for our sleep, recovery and repair. It helps to protect childhood short-sightedness, lowers blood pressure, and calms the immune system. 

A problem we have in our modern, western world is that we live indoors (some people fear the sun!) under artificial lighting which might be useful during the day (if you don’t get much sunlight during the day, like here!) but which is extremely harmful during the night. If we don’t see enough daylight, or we are exposed to too much artificial light at night, our bodies become confused and no longer work as efficiently. 

My main takeaways: 

• Regular exposure to sunlight particularly, first thing in the morning, will strengthen our daily rhythms. 
• Sunlight and darkness at night are the main mechanisms we use to synchronise our internal rhythms to the external time of day. 
• Artificial/LED lights can enable “some” (not all) of the effects of daylight indoors. 
• Light in the evening and night -> delays our clocks. We feel sleepy later. Light in the morning -> advances the clock and makes us want to sleep earlier the following evening. 
• The light we receive indoors, office lighting for example, would be the equivalent to twilight outdoors. Sunlight, even on a gloomiest winter day, is ten times brighter than artificial light. 
• Tools to deal with depression and SAD: bright light in the morning, sauna, and cold water. 
• Circadian lighting system – many different colour LEDs can be joined together to vary the shade of light they produce – adjusting colour and intensity according to outside time. 

Other interesting themes discussed: stages of sleep, shift work, jet lag, daylight-saving time and (laws about) access to sunlight in cities. Also, Photodynamic therapy and Heliotherapy.

Lone Sloane: Gail by Philippe Druillet

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Crazy, psychedelic, epic. This story is about Lone Sloane escaping from a planet prison. It was fun, but what I enjoyed the most was the art. Some panels are worth hours of contemplation.

The Player of Games by Iain M. Banks

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I thoroughly enjoyed this read. Compared with Consider Phlebas, which I read many years ago, this novel showcases many more aspects of the Culture than the other one. It starts in a Culture planet, with a culture protagonist and then it moves to a non culture planet far, far away. The main protagonist, a successful game player, travels to participate in an intricate game, in an alien empire, in which the winner becomes the Emperor. Loved the Culture world and Philosophy, and I actually liked the main character. The alien world is also so interesting, particularly with respect to their values and philosophy of life, some of which are horrendous and kept in secret. The process of discovery of their ideas and secrets gives this novel extra points. I confess a got a bit bored reading some (not all) of the gaming scenes. Recommend.

Ageing. The secrets to a long and healthy life. New Scientist Essential Guide No 18.

🙄🙄🙄 I would like to live a long, healthy life, and free, please. I wouldn't want to reach old age, incapacitated and dependent on pharmaceutical drugs. This is the New Scientist, obviously, and its thing is medical studies with very narrow focus, DNA, molecules, chemicals. There is very little on the big picture, I guess, how we can live better, healthy lives, apart from the obvious exercise and eat your veggies? There were a couple of things I couldn't digest very well, like the not recommending a high fat ketogenic diet to people with risk of weight gain. And I thought insulin was the problem (fats 0 IG?) 🤔. Anyways, I don't know what else to say.

The Wandering Earth by Cinxin Liu

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "This is a collection of Cixin Liu short fiction ,including 5 China Galaxy award winners, are a blazing original ode to planet Earth- its pasts and its futures." I borrowed this book from my local library with the intention of reading only the first story: The Wandering Earth. I saw the movie adaptation trailer, liked it, and decided to read the original story first. I read 3 stories instead. 

The Wandering Earth, in an attempt to save humanity from a dying sun, the authorities decide to move the planet to another star. This will take generations, but the story narrates the first few years when Earth stops turning and small changes to its orbit, across months and years will let humanity travel the stars. 

Mountain, a first contact story between strange aliens who, with their spaceships gravity, build a water mountain with the ocean water. Just one brave human is capable of climbing that mountain and meeting the aliens. Their conversation about the origins of this alien species, the way they discovered the world around them, and their cosmology is amazing!!! 

Sun of China, in order to improve Earth's weather, the Chinese government implements the Sun of China, a kind of gigantic mirror in orbit that will reflect sunlight to areas of the world who need rain. The story follows a poor window cleaner who gets a job to clean the Sun of China. 

I think this story is partly a tribute to the sun. Without it we wouldn't exist. When I read about recent efforts by the UK gov to DIM the SUN I thought this is horror rather than SciFi. 

I loved the three stories. They are original and very different between them. These are perfect for hard SF fans/readers. Liu is not the best for character development, but he is a master in coming up with new concepts and developing believable stories with them. I will get back to this collection later in the year to continue reading more stories.

Supervivir. Vuelve al origen y recupera tu salud (Super-living . Return to the origin and recover your health) by Carlos Stro and Ricardo Stro

This book is well written. It discusses the many ways we humans have disconnected with nature, our planet and with our own nature. This disconnection is the cause for our modern, super-advanced society major chronic illnesses. Every item discussed here is backed-up with science-supported information. It is an eye opener and I loved it. Supervivir, I think THRIVING would be a better translation, is written by two Spaniards and I have only found a Spanish version of the book. But I really hope it gets at least an English translation. 

As there is so much in the book, I’d recommend you to read it if you understand Spanish. Below I a summary of the highlights for my English-speaking fellows. 

There are 3 types of Foods/Nourishment. From least to most important: 

1. Ordinary food. 

2. Air 

3. Impressions of the outside world – these are portions of energy: light waves, sound waves and heat rays. 

We should pay attention to our Circadian Rhythms – our bodies have a biological clock, an endogenous clock. It lasts 25 hours approximately. We use “zeitgebers” cues or influences which synchronise our clocks every day – light, temperature, food, earthing. We have to expose our skins to the sun at all times of day and year so our bodies can receive the correct information for its functioning: 

During the day we are/should be exposed to red, infrared, ultraviolet and blue lights which help our bodies to secrete cortisol, insulin, serotonin, dopamine. 

During the sunset/night we are exposed to red and infrared lights which helps us to secrete melatonin, which in time activates autophagy and apoptosis processes which are extremely important for our health. Cold also helps with melatonin. 

Our mitochondrial health is particularly important. They provide us with energy. The book explains the evolution and functioning of the mitochondria in our cells and clarifies how we need to be nourished: not by calories but electrons from the sun, good foods and the earth. 

Mitophagy (autophagy of the mitochondria) is also extremely important as it helps with the elimination of mitochondria with mutated DNA. Lack of mitophagy can cause cancer and autism. 

Dangers we face in our modern societies: Artificial light, electromagnetic networks/grids, ultra-processed foods and the food pyramid. Use of mobile phones, tablets, TV, etc. Mobiles in particular harmful are to our health as their electromagnetic waves inhibit the synthesis of melatonin, inhibit the use of fatty acids, favours the use of sugars and dehydrates the cells. 

Harmful foods: Seed oils and margarine, vegetal proteins (high in antinutrients and low in proteins), non-seasonal, non-local carbohydrates, carbohydrates grown in artificial light. The microbiome depends on the sun and connection with nature. Antibiotics, sugars, flours and sterilised environments destroy the microbiome. Solution is called “reancestralisation”, reconnect with nature. A few suggestions: expose yourself to the sun: dawn, day and dusk. Grounding, touch the earth with your bare feet. Breath clean air. Natural foods: cholesterol and animal fats are excellent, fish, seafood, meats, viscera, eggs, diary products, butter and ghee, seasonal fruits. Most importantly: eat during the day. Fasting is good. Expose yourself to the weather: hot or cold. Exercise. At home replace artificial white lights (which are in reality blue) with red/orange lights. Wear blue-light blocking glasses. 

There is much more information in the book but I hope you find my summary useful.