American Scientist

Chilis have been laid out to dry along the walkway in front of a modern Maya house in Quintana Roo, Mexico, in this 1988 photograph. In “The Enduring Forest Gardens of the Ancient Maya,” archaeologist Anabel Ford looks back on her 50-plus years of studying the ancient Maya, through which she came to know their descendants as field team members, collaborators, and friends. Through these relationships, she saw the ways that their contemporary lifeways connected to the archaeological questions she had about ancient Maya settlements and farming practices. Her work overturned assumptions in her field about how the ancient Maya lived and why their society collapsed. Collaborating with local Maya to document their unique approaches to forest gardening became key to these breakthroughs and has led to new ways of presenting Maya monuments and temples to the public. (Photograph by Macduff Everton.) Discover more: https://lnkd.in/e_hgYcus

The new year is upon us, and the editors have compiled the top 10 blog posts you, our readers, have enjoyed the most. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eVgkGhUi

The results are in! We've rounded up the most popular articles of 2024. Here's what you, our readers, loved the most. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eAvaWPtQ

The holiday season has arrived, and the editors of American Scientist have compiled a wonderful selection of STEM-related books for anyone on your shopping list, from young children to adults. If you got your holiday shopping done early, don’t worry—these books are perfect gifts any time of the year! (Don’t forget to treat yourself, too!) Discover more: https://lnkd.in/eX-7JTPN

John G. Beerends has helped develop precise standards for quantifying the perceived quality of spoken words, but no such standards exist for music because people vary so much in their individual responses. There is also the challenge of sonic immersion: Stereo systems produce too little, whereas home theater setups produce too much. John G. Beerends and Richard Van Everdingen have collaborated on a novel loudspeaker that addresses both issues, producing immersive sound that mimics the qualities of a concert hall, while allowing listeners to adjust that sound to their own preferences. (Cover illustration by Michael Morgenstern.) Read more: https://lnkd.in/eWtmm45d or click the link in our bio.

Animals have solutions to darkness that include spherical lenses that focus light at different distances by having a continuum of different densities, mirrored eyes that bounce light around to increase the odds of detection, or simply having bigger eyes that catch more light. But every solution comes with trade-offs. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gzKjFNWm

Experimental evidence shows a species of orb spider (Araneus ventricosus) can manipulate the light flashes of captured male fireflies (Abscondita terminalis) to appear female in origin, thereby attracting more males into its web. Discover more: https://lnkd.in/emEueamj

In September 2022, NASA conducted the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission. It was the first-ever mission to focus on purposely crashing a spacecraft into an asteroid—in this case, Dimorphos—in order to change its flight path. The mission was a success, and the new book by award-winning science journalist Robin George Andrews, "How to Kill an Asteroid: The Real Science of Planetary Defense," takes readers behind the scenes of DART and the larger planetary defense movement. Read more: https://lnkd.in/epfz5new

Scientists have long puzzled over two continent-sized masses just above Earth’s core. They are seismically different from the surrounding mantle, which suggests that they are composed of different and denser material—perhaps material not of this world. Discover more: https://lnkd.in/eqWJ6wQw

How much energy people use depends on the weather. Fuel usage increases to heat buildings in winter, and electricity demand spikes when we use air conditioning to keep our workplaces and homes comfortable in the hot summer months. Large day-to-day fluctuations in temperature, sunshine, wind speed, and other factors also affect heat gain and loss in buildings. A whole industry has grown up to provide specialized weather forecasts to energy providers to help them anticipate demand and determine the most cost-effective ways of delivering energy to their customers. But the way weather affects energy is becoming more complicated than ever before. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/einK_kWM