MonSFFA’s Executive was saddened to hear of the sudden and unexpected death of Jennifer Bulman on 19 March 2023. Jennifer was a long-time fan who hailed originally from Montreal. Some of our members might recall that Jennifer, and her husband Henry Troup, joined us in February for the monthly MonSFFA meeting, during which we discussed book collections and how we accumulate — and dispose of — same. Their input was insightful, interesting and of value to the discussion. The Executive joins all MonSFFA members in offering condolences to Henry, and to extended family, at this time. Information on the memorial service, which will be live-streamed on 22 April 2023, is in the obituaries that have been published (links below).
Join us next Saturday, April 15, at 1:00PM, right here at www.MonSFFA.ca for our April 2023 e-Meeting!
Take part by contributing your top ten list of sci-fi books, authors, heroes or villains, cool spaceships, epic movies, TV shows, actors or actresses, comic books, artists… whatever you choose to highlight, just as long as it has to do with sci-fi or fantasy!
Simply list your favourites in ascending order, tenth to first, maybe share a few illustrative images, and in a few sentences for each entry, tell us about of your choices!
You are welcome to e-mail your top ten lists and images (JPEGS, please, as e-mail attachments) to us in advance for inclusion on the site, or present them live on ZOOM during the e-meeting next Saturday!
Send your lists, in advance of the e-meeting, to: veep@monsffa.ca
Did dinosaurs have lips? Canadian scientists say they have cracked the mystery
As with many details about dinosaur physiology, an absence of living specimens has left a lot to the artistic imagination. Perhaps because humans are smaller than many dinosaur species, and also edible, popular representations of the ancient creatures are often strongly focused on their teeth.
Scientists and artists have developed two principal models of predatory dinosaur facial appearance: crocodylian-like lipless jaws, or a lizard-like lipped mouth. New data suggests that the latter model, lizard-like lips, applies to most or all predatory dinosaur species. This finding challenges many popular depictions of carnivorous species like Tyrannosaurus rex.Mark Witton
This tradition is evident in the Hollywood version of dinosaurs as depicted the 1993 film Jurassic Park. Many of the movie’s most memorable scenes feature a tyrannosaur with jaws agape. But even when the giant reptile’s mouth is shut its teeth remain plainly visible, like a row of murderous icicles.
What fossil eggs found in Alberta reveal about how dinosaurs became birds
Emily Chung · CBC News ·
A troodon looks over a nest full of eggs in this illustration. Troodons were bird-like, emu-sized, meat-eating dinosaurs that lived during the Late Cretaceous about 75 million years ago. (Masato Hattori)
Seventy-five million years ago in southern Alberta, a river flooded, burying the eggs of bird-like dinosaurs nesting on the nearby plain. Now, tiny pieces of those fossil egg shells offer new evidence about how dinosaurs lived, bred and evolved into birds.
A new study shows emu-sized, meat-eating troodons were as warm-blooded as birds, with body temperatures of more than 40 C. But unlike modern birds such as chickens that can produce one egg a day, troodons used a very slow egg-forming process similar to the one used by reptiles like crocodiles.
That supports a previous hypothesis that nests found containing up to two dozen eggs were shared by multiple troodons, similar to the way ostriches share communal nests today.
And note our new feature in the N3F Review of Books. On the second page, these authors have agreed to send you one of their ebooks, for free, in exchange for your promising to write a review of the book and posting it on Amazon, Goodreads, or social media sites, and sending The N3F Review a copy.
From Nic Farey who send us news of the FAAn Awards:
Other news from the awards given at Corflu Craic in Belfast, NI earlier today:
fwa (fanzine writers’ association) Past President election:
2022 Past Presidents: Nigel Rowe, John D. Berry
1959 Past President: Keith Freeman
Corflu Lifetime Achievement Award: Rob Hansen
Corfu 41 awarded to Las Vegas, NV and will take place at the Gold Coast hotel and Casion, February 29 – March 3 2024.
FAAn winners summary: FANZINE CATEGORIES Best Genzine: Portable Storage (ed. William Breiding)
Best Perzine: This Here… (ed. Nic Farey)
Best Special Publication: 1957: The First British Worldcon (ed. Rob Hansen)
INDIVIDUAL CATEGORIES Best Letterhack (Harry Warner Jr. Memorial Award): Jerry Kaufman
Best Fanartist: Ulrika O’Brien
Best Fanwriter: (TIE) Justin E.A. Busch, Nic Farey
Best Fanzine Cover: BEAM 17 (Alan White)
Spartacus: Opinions & bloviation by Guy Lillian III is one of my favourite perzines: Spartacus 64
TNFF202303 is from the N3F, I usually look for the Sercon articles by Jon D. Swartz, Ph.D. ” N3F Historian”. In this issue he reviews Two Thousand Plus, a radio show which aired from 1950 – 1952.
You don’t usually see the Northern Lights in southern Ontario, but Londoners got a treat from Mother Nature on Thursday, when the spectacular Aurora Borealis could be seen in the night sky.
Here are some pictures shared by Londoners.
Northern lights at around 11 p.m. on the outskirts of north London. (Supplied by Michelle Dzialakiewicz)
Space Weather News for March 23, 2023 https://spaceweather.com https://www.spaceweatheralerts.comSTRONG GEOMAGNETIC STORM: A strong geomagnetic storm is in progress on March 23rd as solar wind flows through a crack in Earth’s magnetosphere. If the crack remains open long enough, sky watchers in northern-tier US states could see auroras tonight. Also, an amateur radio astronomer in Florida has observed a solar radio burst *at midnight.* Weird! Read all about it on today’s edition of Spaceweather.com.Geomagnetic Storm Alerts: Subscribe to our Space Weather Alert Service and you’ll receive instant text messages when geomagnetic storms are underway. Above: Bright auroras at sunrise over Kalispell, Montana, on March 23, 2023. Credit: Philip Granrud
STRONG GEOMAGNETIC STORM: A strong geomagnetic storm is in progress on March 23rd as solar wind flows through a crack in Earth’s magnetosphere. If the crack remains open long enough, sky watchers in northern-tier US states could see auroras tonight. Also, an amateur radio astronomer in Florida has observed a solar radio burst *at midnight.* Weird! Read all about it on today’s edition of Spaceweather.com.
Geomagnetic Storm Alerts: Subscribe to our Space Weather Alert Service and you’ll receive instant text messages when geomagnetic storms are underway.
Above: Bright auroras at sunrise over Kalispell, Montana, on March 23, 2023. Credit: Philip Granrud
Join us next Saturday, April 15, at 1:00PM, right here at www.MonSFFA.ca for our April 2023 e-Meeting!
:format(jpeg)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tgam/HB3VBCLFYBBMRFRU2COSSNV57A.jpg)
· CBC News · 
Northern lights at around 11 p.m. on the outskirts of north London. (Supplied by Michelle Dzialakiewicz)
![[]](https://mcusercontent.com/0c5fce34d5ca05f64a13d085d/images/7f41c701-81ae-527c-f2e9-13a5226520f6.jpg)