Scientific American - USA (2021-03)

4 Scientific American, March 2021 Illustration by Nick Higgins

FROM

THE EDITOR Laura Helmuth is editor in chief of Scientific American.

Follow her on Twitter @laurahelmuth

BOARD OF ADVISERS

Robin E. Bell

Research Professor, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory,

Columbia University

Emery N. Brown

Edward Hood Taplin Professor of Medical Engineering

and of Computational Neuro science, M.I.T.,

and Warren M. Zapol Prof essor of Anesthesia, Harvard Medical School

Vinton G. Cerf

Chief Internet Evangelist, Google

Emmanuelle Charpentier

Scientific Director, Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology,

and Founding and Acting Director, Max Planck Unit for the

Science of Pathogens

Rita Colwell

Distinguished University Professor, University of Maryland College Park

and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Kate Crawford

Director of Research and Co-founder, AI Now Institute,

and Distinguished Research Professor, New York University,

and Principal Researcher, Microsoft Research New York City

Nita A. Farahany

Professor of Law and Philosophy, Director,

Duke Initiative for Science & Society, Duke University

Jonathan Foley

Executive Director, Project Drawdown

Jennifer A. Francis

Senior Scientist, Woods Hole Research Center

Carlos Gershenson

Research Professor, National Autonomous University of Mexico

Alison Gopnik

Professor of Psychology and Affiliate Professor

of Philosophy, University of California, Berkeley

Lene Vestergaard Hau

Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics and of Applied Physics,

Harvard University

Hopi E. Hoekstra

Alexander Agassiz Professor of Zoology, Harvard University

Ayana Elizabeth Johnson

Founder and CEO, Ocean Collectiv

Christof Koch

Chief Scientist, MindScope Program, Allen Institute for Brain Science

Meg Lowman

Director and Founder, TREE Foundation, Rachel Carson Fellow,

Ludwig Maximilian University Munich, and Research Professor,

University of Science Malaysia

John Maeda

Global Head, Computational Design + Inclusion, Automattic, Inc.

Satyajit Mayor

Senior Professor, National Center for Biological Sciences,

Tata Institute of Fundamental Research

John P. Moore

Professor of Microbiology and Immunology,

Weill Medical College of Cornell University

Priyamvada Natarajan

Professor of Astronomy and Physics, Yale University

Donna J. Nelson

Professor of Chemistry, University of Oklahoma

Lisa Randall

Professor of Physics, Harvard University

Martin Rees

Astronomer Royal and Professor of Cosmology and Astrophysics,

Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge

Daniela Rus

Andrew (1956) and Erna Viterbi Professor of Electrical Engineering

and Computer Science and Director, CSAIL, M.I.T.

Meg Urry

Israel Munson Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Yale University

Amie Wilkinson

Professor of Mathematics, University of Chicago

Power of Protest

What we’re learning about how solar

systems and civilizations developed

In our powerful cover story this month, sociologist Aldon
Morris explains how social justice movements succeed. When the
Civil Rights Movement began, some social scientists were dismis-
sive of activists and described protests as unthinking mobs. Mor-
ris and his colleagues conducted immersive interviews with lead-
ers of the Civil Rights Movement and similar struggles against
injustice around the world and found that meticulous planning,
cultural resources, discipline and creativity powered the move-
ments, along with emotions ranging from righteous indignation
to empathy and love. The Black Lives Matter movement has tak-
en the baton from the Civil Rights era, and as Morris points out,
“these struggles necessarily (and excitingly) continue to evolve fast-
er than social scientists can comprehend them.” Turn to page 24.
One of the first great cities of the world was established about
7000 b.c.e. and lasted for 2,000 years. Çatalhöyük wasn’t orga-
nized around marketplaces or monuments; people who lived
there were homebodies who conducted work and rituals within
their houses, which they entered through the ceiling. Beginning
on page 66, author Annalee Newitz (who also writes fantastic
science-fiction novels) shares what archaeologists have learned
about the metropolis, including what people there ate and how
they warmed their beds.
Astronomers are getting close to identifying the first exo-
moons—moons orbiting exoplanets in distant solar systems. They
have a few candidates already, and science writer Rebecca Boyle
explains, on page 38, how they are honing their instruments to

detect subtle signals of a moon’s influence on its host planet. Our

own moon stabilizes our climate and influenced how life evolved—

and exomoons could show us whether such a partnership is com-

mon throughout the galaxy.

Last December the Hayabusa2 spacecraft completed its com-

plex and ambitious mission to bring samples of an asteroid back

to Earth. The pieces of the asteroid Ryugu could answer stubborn

questions about the origins of our solar system, including how

chondrules were made. These seedlike “droplets of fiery rain”

are found in most meteorites, and astronomers have been specu-

lating for centuries about how they were created: by lightning,

or shock waves, or planet formation. On page 58, science writer

Jonathan O’Callaghan shares the theories and the excitement

about understanding these mysterious tiny drops.

Many of us at Scientific American are birders, some for decades

and some who have taken up the hobby during the pandemic. The

more you learn about birds, the more fascinating they are, and

much of what we know about their migrations, life spans, and

breeding and wintering ranges comes from a century of bird band-

ing. Senior editor and newly converted birder Kate Wong, with

graphic artist Jan Willem Tulp and illustrator Liz Wahid, high-

lights the discoveries that have come from this simple methodol-

ogy ( page 52 ). The research is ongoing—if you ever see a bird (alive

or dead) with bands on its legs or wings, please report the band’s

code to the U.S. Geological Survey.

We hope you’re faring as well as possible through the COVID

pandemic and are able to get access to a vaccine soon if you haven’t

already. As the catastrophe enters its second year, science writer

Melinda Wenner Moyer, on page 46, shares some evidence-based

advice for coping through long-term disasters. We’re really looking

forward to publishing future stories about how the world recovers

from all the challenges to physical, economic and mental health.