Scientific American 2021 06.pdf

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JUNE 2021
SCIENTIFICAMERICAN.COM
Defending Earth
against Asteroids
Upheaval in
the Arctic
100-Million-Year-Old
Microbes Resurrected
THE NEXT
DEADLY
PLAGUE
The growing worldwide threat
of fungal disease
June 2021
VO LU M E 3 2 4 , N U M B E R 6
00
44
INFEC TIOUS DISE A SE
26 Deadly Kingdom
Killers of 1.6 million people every
year, fungi are emerging as some
of the most lethal microbes on the
planet—and we don’t really know
how to stop them.
By Maryn McKenna
P L A N E TA RY S C I E N C E
Great Eastern Brood of periodical
cicadas is emerging.
By Kate Wong and Cherie Sinnen
S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y
60 A Tapestry
of Alternatives
Making peace with the biosphere
will require building communities
and relationships that are focused
on sustaining life—human and
nonhuman.
By Ashish Kothari
NEUROSCIENCE
36 The Broken Shield
Scientists just lost one of their
best tools for defending Earth
against potentially dangerous
asteroids. What comes next?
By Sarah Scoles
C L I M AT E C H A N G E
70 The Brain Electric
Electrodes that stimulate brain
tissue reveal the topography
of conscious experience.
By Christof Koch
MICROBIAL SCIENCE
44 The Polar Crucible
A warming climate brings
sweeping changes to the
world’s northernmost town.
By Gloria Dickie
B I O LO G Y
76 Real Living Fossils
After 100 million years trapped
in ocean sediment, microbes
woke up and multiplied.
By Jennifer Frazer
On THe C OVe R
Computer illustration depicts the fungus
Aspergillus fumigatus,
which can cause serious
disorders in people with compromised immune
function or other lung diseases. The fungus can
also spread to the brain, kidneys, liver and skin.
Illustration by Katernyna Kon, Science Source.
MARZENA SKUBATZ
54 Brood X Rising
After 17 years underground, the
June 2021, ScientificAmerican.com
1
4 From the Editor
6 Letters
8 Science Agenda
Our social behavior is almost certainly destined
to change permanently in the aftermath of the pandemic.
By the Editors
10 Forum
Targeting Asian-American scientists for espionage
prosecution is unfair and counterproductive.
By Alicia Lai
10
12 Advances
Puzzling through dinosaur boneyards. Deep-sea bacteria
that avoid immune detection. A slime mold’s memory
for food. How to pull methane fuel from freshwater.
24 Meter
A poetic look at the enigma of Alan Turing.
By Michael L. Johnson
25 The Science of Health
Fixing race and gender bias in medical devices
is imperative.
By Claudia Wallis
80 Recommended
12
Memoir of a young naturalist. A comic novel of love and
science. A journalistic tour of post-human landscapes.
Examining AI as an extractive industry.
By Amy Brady
81 Observatory
Why do many Republicans mistrust science?
Because their leaders keep telling them to.
By Naomi Oreskes
82 50, 100 & 150 Years Ago
By Mark Fischetti
84 Graphic Science
80
The diverse new players in human spaceflight.
By Katie Peek
Scientific American (ISSN 0036-8733), Volume 324, Number 6, June 2021, published monthly by Scientific American, a division of Springer Nature America, Inc., 1 New York Plaza, Suite 4600, New York, N.Y. 10004-1562. Periodicals
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Printed in U.S.A. Copyright © 2021 by Scientific American, a division of Springer Nature America, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Scientific American, June 2021

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