American Scientist - SeptemberOctober 2021
American Scientist - SeptemberOctober 2021
American Scientist - SeptemberOctober 2021
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Scientist
Departments Feature Articles
Volume 109 • Number 5 • September–October 2021
Beautiful Data
Scientist
www.americanscientist.org
Special Issue Feedback I hope the future issues will be more about science, not read rants about
scientific and less political or I will re- someone’s opinions about ethical issues.
To the Editors: gretfully cancel my membership.
Stephen Hepp
The special issue on Trustworthy Sci-
Maria Stacewicz-Sapuntzakis Montesano, WA
ence (July–August) was the best of
Sterling, VA
many outstanding editions of Ameri-
can Scientist. I was astounded at the To the Editors: Editors’ note: During the COVID-19 pan-
honesty, intelligence, insight, and deep Your July–August issue was very dis- demic, the hypotheses, conclusions, and
understanding of the complexity of appointing; very little science and a lot best practices for dealing with the disease
the relationship between science, sci- of fluff about ethics! were revised (and revised again) in light
entists, and society. Maybe your magazine just isn’t for of new data and circumstances. Some ma-
Every article brought clarity and fo- me. I want to learn something new licious groups jumped on these revisions
cus to issues of deep importance. It’s WHISTLEBLOWERS • ETHICAL AI • PUBLIC HEALTH
to cast doubt on mask wearing, vaccines,
as if subjects such as whistleblowers SPECIAL ISSUE ALIEN RIGHTS • INCLUSIVE STEM • GENOMICS
and science in general. Many researchers
and trust in science are examined and AMERICAN responded that this iterative process is how
American Scientist
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What can be said at this point about What forms of conventional wisdom we’re not just talking about food service
the effect of this pandemic on the na- have been provoked and pushed dur- jobs, we’re also talking about manufac-
tional economy? ing the pandemic? turing jobs and higher-paying jobs.
In some ways we’re surging back Early on, whenever a region or a nation
much faster than we would have shut down, there was this automatic How have you approached taking
expected, because nothing was per- reaction, “That’s going to kill the econ- complicated data sets and rendering
manently altered. But in other areas, omy.” A lot of economists, including them into something that a nonexpert
in particular labor, we’re seeing big myself, felt that wasn’t the case. Our can understand?
consequences. I don’t think it’s a coin- economy was hurting because of the My goal has been to create visualiza-
cidence that national headlines have pandemic. The way that you address tions that help people understand the
focused on labor—such as unemploy- that economic problem is by dealing data. One of the first visualizations I
ment insurance and extensions of with the pandemic. You need to lower made, which created lots of contro-
benefits—because that’s where I think the spread to the point where people versy, was comparing flu deaths in
we’ll see the most long-term changes feel comfortable again. Indiana by week with COVID deaths,
as a result of the pandemic. just putting them side by side. Objec-
How has the economy of Indiana, tions people raised online included: We
How do you think about the discourse where you work, been affected by the don’t test flu and COVID in the same
last year around the relief payments in pandemic? way. And: We don’t have a vaccine for
the United States? Northwest Indiana is an industrial COVID, but we do for flu, so you have
The relief payments were an equal- region: a lot of steel mills and manufac- to adjust for whether people are vacci-
izer, in the sense that there was a turing. The steel mills remained open as nated or not. So I refined my visualiza-
minimum amount of money that you much as possible. There were instances tion and said, “Okay, if you don’t like
could count on. There is pretty strong where there was an outbreak and sec- this part of the assumptions, we can
evidence that they had a significant ef- tions would have to be closed down. change them a bit and make it more
fect on people’s livelihoods. They kept Before COVID, we were in a trade compelling.” It’s an iterative process.
many people out of poverty and prob- war, which created challenges in North- The objections fit with what I was try-
ably saved lives as well. west Indiana, because we export a lot of ing to do perfectly fine, because I’m try-
I’m sure the payments will be the steel and soybeans [which were subject ing to distill the information. The first
focus of research in years to come. In a to international tariffs]. The trade war graph I made used last year’s flu data.
sense, we had a miniexperiment with is still going on. Certainly, in terms of Then, someone pointed out that last
universal basic income. And I think employment, we don’t see jobs coming year was an unusually light year. So I
that changed people’s perspectives on back rapidly here. We’re still well below said, “Let me go back and find the dead-
what income is and how the govern- the prepandemic level. I think that sur- liest flu season in the past 20 years in
ment could help people. prises a lot of people, especially because Indiana, and use that instead.” And then
For an overhand curveball, an extra just happens to be the thickness of the John Eric Goff is a professor of physics at the Uni-
400 revolutions per minute of topspin sweet spot of a baseball bat. In other versity of Lynchburg. This article is adapted from
can lead to more than 5 centimeters words, a Major League Baseball bat- The Conversation (www.theconversation.com).
of additional vertical drop—which ter familiar with a pitcher’s curveball Email: goff@lynchburg.edu
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www.americanscientist.org
www.americanscientist. 2021 September–October 271
Infographic | Corey S. Powell
1. Sagittarius A* is the
supermassive black hole at the
heart of our galaxy, 4 million
times as hefty as the Sun. It is
calm compared with the black
holes in many active galaxies,
but it may have been much
more active in the past.
6
should fade in a century or so,
leaving behind a long-lived
radio filament. This structure
is about 20 light-years long.
I
n this roundup, managing editor reproductively active, whereas the re-
Stacey Lutkoski summarizes Medical engineers have created a maining strap fronds and all nest fronds
notable recent developments nanoparticle that can help oncologists were reproductively inactive; this divi-
in scientific research, selected from detect cancer through a simple urine test; sion of reproductive labor is a hallmark
reports compiled in the free electronic the test can also identify the organs af- of eusociality. The outer nest fronds are
newsletter Sigma Xi SmartBrief: fected. The key to this development is a
www.smartbrief.com/sigmaxi/index.jsp nanosensor that is delivered to a patient
intravenously. As it passes through the
Tunnel Vision
In outer space and within living cells, quantum mechanics allows molecules to take
mind-bending journeys that would be impossible by the rules of classical physics.
Dean J. Tantillo
I
f you’re out for a stroll and reach peratures might be too cold. Alterna- equation connects wave functions to
a hill, the most obvious paths tive pathways can also be blocked or molecules’ internal energies, allow-
to the other side are over or might not exist. ing theoretical chemists to predict the
around. But under the right set of Chemists have done many elegant energy-versus-structure curves you
circumstances—such as when there’s a experiments to show that reactions oc- see in the diagram on page 276.
convenient tunnel—sauntering through cur through tunneling and to determine This is where our hill climber/
can be the simplest path forward. how frequently molecules use this re- molecule analogy begins to break
Chemical reactions must traverse action path compared with over-the- down. In the example on page 276,
hill-like barriers, too—in this case, en- barrier processes. Theoretical chemistry there is a very small but greater than
ergy penalties for reaching products. The has been indispensable in interpreting zero percent chance that a reactant
path over requires enough energy to the results of such laboratory experi- molecule has a product-like structure,
reach the hill’s peak or transition state. It ments, because understanding tunnel- because the tail of the wave function
takes a certain amount of energy, usual- ing requires quantum mechanics. resides in the product region. And
ly from heat, for a chemical reaction to Chemists map how reactions occur the narrower the hill, the greater that
happen. Normally, that allows the mol- using diagrams that show both the possibility is. When tunneling occurs,
ecule to wiggle enough to climb over heights of these hills (on the y-axis) no actual hole has opened in the hill,
the energy hill. But the counterintuitive and how much the molecule’s structure but rather the hill does not eradicate
rules of quantum mechanics sometimes changes (x-axis). To understand how re- the probability that the reactant is just
offer a tunnellike third option, so that actions happen, chemists mostly focus the product. By contrast, in the macro-
the reaction can happen even without on the pathway over the hill. But quan- scopic world, there is no chance that
the added energy. tum mechanics tells us that the width a human climber, when standing in
Tunneling reactions are forbidden by of the hill—the difference between the front of the hill, could be inside the
classical reactivity rules, but by study- reactant and the product—matters, too, hill or on its far side. That’s because
ing reaction rates, chemists can discov- for tunneling to occur. people don’t behave much like waves.
er instances in which these prohibited Quantum mechanics comes in be- Tunneling is always one possible
reactions occur. That insight allows us cause molecules are small enough to be reaction path, but it’s an unlikely
to understand the nature of some bio- influenced by both their particle-like one when temperatures are high and
chemical reactions, the complex chem- and wavelike properties. This charac- molecular hills are relatively easy to
istry in interstellar clouds, and the prac- teristic is captured in the Heisenberg climb. But at very low temperatures,
tical chemistry of molecule synthesis. uncertainty principle, which states that such as those close to absolute zero,
Because most reactions involve sur- one cannot accurately determine the any reactions that occur must result
mounting energy barriers the way hik- momentum and position of a particle from tunneling. Tunneling is also more
ers do when they climb over hills, re- simultaneously. likely under circumstances where a
actions with lower barriers have faster To account for quantum mechanical chemical reaction produces a small
rates than those with higher ones. But behavior, theoretical chemists express structural change, which means the
sometimes there isn’t enough energy a particle’s position as a probability, reaction has a narrow barrier—such as
available. For molecules, that means which is related to the square of a so- the movement of a single small atom
the barrier might be too high or tem- called wave function. The Schrödinger within a large, complex molecule.
QUICK TAKE
In tunneling reactions, molecules follow Molecules use heat energy to vibrate, which Tunneling probability increases for reac-
quantum mechanical rules rather than clas- allows them to travel over energy barriers. tions that involve small structural changes,
sical ones to travel through energy barriers Therefore, tunneling reactions are more likely such as moving a tiny hydrogen atom within
rather than climbing over them. to dominate under extremely cold conditions. a large complex molecule.
Most chemical reactions require a molecule to climb an energy hill to transform into a product. among the two hydrogen atoms and
But quantum mechanics provides another option, through a process called tunneling, which is a the carbon atom in a three-center, two-
bit like the tunneling done through actual hills that are difficult to scale, such as Gull Rock Tunnel electron bonding array. In addition, the
(pictured here) in Newport, Rhode Island. five hydrogen atoms of CH5+ constantly
scramble their bonding roles, intercon-
Outer Space observed a reaction rate that was much verting between two-center and three-
Outer space, where baseline tem- faster than expected for an over-the- center arrangements. This constant
peratures hover below −270 degrees barrier reaction in such extreme cold, shifting involves swapping equivalent
Celsius, is so cold that molecules can leaving tunneling as the only viable op- structures and uses tunneling, too.
barely vibrate. With almost no thermal tion. Radio telescopes have observed
energy available to propel chemical re- these molecules, offering evidence that Inner Space
actions over traditional barriers, most tunneling shapes astrochemistry. In the frigid depths of space with al-
reactions can’t occur under classical Interstellar chemistry is wonderfully most no thermal energy, it’s clear why
conditions. But despite frigid tempera- complex and produces complex organic reactions might predominantly occur
tures, many chemical reactions do oc- molecules that we associate with life. via tunneling: Often, there simply is no
cur in space. And laboratory experi- Another unusual interstellar organic other way over the energy barrier. But
ments suggest that tunneling plays a molecule is CH5+, which has challenged tunneling is also a significant factor in
key role in determining which chemi- the very notions of molecular structure much warmer environs, such as living
cal reactions predominate in giant in- because, unlike most molecules, its cells, where tunneling pathways facili-
terstellar clouds of gas and dust. geometry can’t be pinned down. This tate important biochemical reactions.
Dwayne Heard and his coworkers molecule seems to violate a cardinal In these situations, molecules are tak-
from the University of Leeds wanted rule of earthbound organic chemistry— ing advantage of the small change in
to understand more about which reac- that a carbon atom can only make up structure between the reactant and
tions occur and why within dense mo- to four bonds at a time. But the real product. In such situations, the width
lecular clouds, which are hydrogen-rich constraint is not four atoms bonded to of the reaction barrier is narrow, which
clouds, up to hundreds of light-years carbon but the total number of elec- makes passing through easier.
wide, where new stars can form. For trons involved: no more than eight. For decades, chemist Judith Klinman
example, hydroxyl radical (HO•) can CH5+ includes three two-electron co- of the University of California, Berkeley,
steal a hydrogen atom from methanol valent bonds within a CH3+ unit, but and her coworkers have used a range of
(HOCH3) to form water via tunneling. that group interacts with an H2 unit elegant experiments to show how tun-
Under space-like laboratory condi- that brings two more electrons to the neling pathways can contribute to the
tions (very low temperatures), the team party. Those two electrons are shared overall rates of some hydrogen transfer
energy lower
reactant barrier barrier
tail of reactant
wave wave wave
function function function
relative energy
relative energy
in product higher
region probability
of forming
product via
tunneling
reactant reactant
structure
product
product favored by product
structure over-the-barrier favored by
reaction tunneling
Chemists use these types of diagrams to map how reactions occur. Most In this more complex diagram, a chemical reaction can lead to two
often, a molecule follows the classical pathway (black line), taking different products depending on reaction conditions. Traditionally,
advantage of heat energy to vibrate over the energy barrier (red arrow). chemists have predicted which product is preferred based on the en-
Quantum mechanics provides an alternative, competitive route (green ergy barriers (red arrows) or the energy of the products (location of the
line). The bell-shaped curve shows the range of probable structures that black curve’s troughs). But tunneling (green line) can also help deter-
can exist. When the red barrier is high and the width of the barrier is mine which product forms. Chemists can change reaction conditions
thin, the range of probable structures can span from reactant to product. to favor or restrict tunneling and thus influence which reaction occurs.
reactions—frequent, important, and gen transfer, swapping in deuterium Many of Klinman’s studies of tun-
subtle reactions that shuttle these small- can slow reactions down far more than neling in enzymes have been done by
est atoms from one carbon atom to a that—by a factor of nearly 100 in some studying kinetic isotope effects in a
near neighbor—facilitated by enzymes. cases, based on Klinman’s work. Tunnel- common family of enzymes known as
These types of reactions are involved in ing can explain these extreme slowing lipoxygenases. These enzymes are found
metabolism, for example converting fats effects. Deuterium’s greater mass lowers in organisms ranging from protists and
into oxygenated molecules involved in the energy of its vibrational states com- fungi to animals, including humans, and
cell-to-cell signaling. Estimates of how pared with those of hydrogen. Reacting these enzymes can show very large ki-
often tunneling occurs in biology vary netic isotope effects. Lipoxygenases add
widely. Some chemists think enzymatic oxygen atoms to polyunsaturated fatty
tunneling is a rare phenomenon. But acids, opening up pathways for these
in a 2018 article in Chemistry World, Tunneling is always molecules to fragment into smaller ones.
Klinman estimated that up to a third These enzymes are important in cell sig-
of enzyme-promoted hydrogen trans- one possible reaction naling and are linked with some cancers,
fers occur via tunneling. After all these cardiovascular disease, inflammation,
years, we are still learning how much path, but it’s an and metabolic diseases. Some lipoxy-
of our own life processes depend on the genases are also used commercially, in
subtleties of quantum mechanics. unlikely one when fragrance production for instance.
A key tool for studying and under- Although tunneling has been docu-
standing these tunneling pathways is temperatures are mented most thoroughly in reactions
the kinetic isotope effect approach. (For a that involve making and breaking bonds
detailed dive into kinetic isotope effects, see high and molecular to hydrogens, thin-barrier reactions—
"Hacking Hydrogen," January–February those in which bonds are made to and
2020.) Chemists can replace a critical hills are relatively broken from heavier atoms—can also
atom in a molecule with a heavier iso- occur via tunneling. For example, mol-
tope, such as trading a hydrogen atom easy to climb. ecules with systems of alternating short
for its twice-as-heavy isotope, deuteri- and long carbon–carbon bonds can un-
um. If a reaction pathway involves tra- dergo a reaction that exchanges their
versing a traditional energy hill through via a lower vibrational state means fac- bonding patterns. Because the lengths
a transition state, the deuterium transfer ing a lower part of the barrier, and the of the short and long bonds are often
can be up to a factor of 10 slower than a barrier is always wider where it is lower. only 10 percent different, the barriers
hydrogen transfer because of its greater Consequently, tunneling with a deute- between reactants and products are thin,
mass. However, with some enzyme- rium atom is much more difficult than which makes tunneling viable. This area
catalyzed reactions that involve hydro- tunneling with a hydrogen atom. of research is ongoing, and chemists
shown that one can design reactions think about while out for a stroll.
in which particular products can be se-
lected for by tunneling. Bibliography
Up to this point, we haven’t consid- Castro, C., and W. L. Karney. 2020. Heavy-
ered situations in which a single reactant atom tunneling in organic reactions.
Angewandte Chemie International Edition
can travel two wildly different chemical
59:8355–8366.
pathways to distinct products (see facing
Klinman, J. P., and A. R. Offenbacher. 2018.
page, diagram on right). In some cases, the Understanding biological hydrogen trans-
barrier to one product is comparatively fer through the lens of temperature de-
Chemist Judith Klinman and her colleagues
have studied tunneling extensively in the
low but wide, whereas the barrier to the pendent kinetic isotope effects. Accounts of
other product is high but thin. In such a Chemical Research 51:1966–1974.
pictured enzyme, soybean lipoxygenase.
scenario, the preferred product will de- McMahon, R. J. 2003. Chemical reactions
Their studies of reaction rates show that involving quantum tunneling. Science
the enzyme takes advantage of tunneling to pend on whether tunneling dominates. 299:833–834.
transfer hydrogen atoms, and Klinman esti- At relatively high temperatures, energy Schreiner, P. R. 2020. Quantum mechanical
mates that this process occurs in many other barriers can be surmounted, so the reac- tunneling is essential to understanding
similar enzyme-catalyzed reactions. tion with the lower barrier will be pre- chemical reactivity. Trends in Chemistry
ferred. But when temperatures are too 2:980–989.
have described examples of so-called low to surmount the barriers, products Shannon, R. J., M. A. Blitz, A. Goddard, and D.
E. Heard. 2013. Accelerated chemistry in the
heavy-atom tunneling that involve oxy- will be formed by tunneling through
reaction between the hydroxyl radical and
gen, nitrogen, and fluorine atoms, too. barriers. Under those conditions, the methanol at interstellar temperatures facilitat-
pathway with the thinner barrier—a ed by tunnelling. Nature Chemistry 5:745–749.
Tuning In to Tunneling smaller structural difference between
The vast majority of chemical reactions reactant and product—will prevail. So,
have rates that are not dominated by by controlling the temperature, one can Dean J. Tantillo loves to study the complexity associ-
tunneling, but tunneling always con- select for either product. ated with his young children and with the mecha-
tributes, at least a little bit. But in the Schreiner and his colleagues have nisms of chemical reactions. He does both in Northern
past, most chemists only considered shown that when chemists understand California, as a professor of chemistry at the Universi-
the effects of tunneling when they en- both the relative “heights” and “widths” ty of California, Davis. Email: djtantillo@ucdavis.edu
Henry Petroski
T
he condominium complex stable and do further harm to any sur- 10 million Americans—1.5 million in
known as Champlain Tow- vivors buried within it. There was also Florida alone—live in such units. Gover-
ers is located in the town of concern that the part of the building that nance—including matters of local code
Surfside, Florida, just north of remained standing could fall at any time compliance, capital improvements, and
Miami Beach and about 10 miles north- and harm the rescuers. To minimize this repairs—is overseen mainly by owner
northeast of downtown Miami. Until risk, the remaining structure was moni- associations, whose representatives usu-
recently, it consisted of three 12-story tored carefully for any movement that ally have little or no experience in oper-
buildings containing collectively a total would signal imminent collapse. ating and maintaining a large structure.
of 342 apartments, ranging in size from In the meantime, Tropical Storm Elsa Champlain Towers South was built
one to four bedrooms. The building had developed in the Atlantic and was in 1981, and as such was subject to a
designated Champlain Towers South threatening to strike south Florida with Miami-Dade County requirement that it
occupied prime oceanfront real estate high winds, which could trigger anoth- had to be recertified when it reached 40
and contained 135 condo apartments. er collapse. To obviate further disaster, years of age. The rule was established in
In the very early hours of June 24, Surfside, Miami-Dade County, and oth- the wake of the collapse in 1974 of a fed-
2021, a wing of the Towers South build- er government officials, in consultation eral building in downtown Miami. An
ing, which contained 55 condos, col- with engineers, decided to demolish the investigation traced that spontaneous
lapsed suddenly into a pile of rubble. section of the building that loomed over failure to the presence of chemical salts
Virtually all of the occupants, most of the pile of rubble. Demolition experts in the concrete, which accelerated cor-
whom were presumably asleep at the assured the decision makers that care- rosion in the reinforcing steel known as
time, were crushed to death. Exactly ful placement and detonation of explo- rebar. The pervasive hot and humid sea-
how many victims there were remained sives could bring the building down in side environment in which Champlain
uncertain for weeks, because there ex- a controlled manner so that it would fall Towers South sat for decades was also
isted no accounting of which residents away from the area of active search-and- not favorable to the rebar that had been
had been at home or what guests might rescue operations. The demolition on used to tie its floor slabs to columns and
have been staying over at the time. The the evening of July 4th, 11 days after the form the building’s structural skeleton.
confirmed death toll rose slowly as bod- initial building collapse, went exactly As the recertification deadline was ap-
ies were recovered from the pancaked as planned, and the search for human proaching, the Champlain condo board
floors. For a while, it looked as though remains resumed within hours. engaged consulting engineer Frank
the death toll might surpass that in the Morabito, of Maryland-based family-
1981 collapse of elevated walkways in Condo Rules run Morabito Consultants, to evaluate
the Kansas City Hyatt Regency Hotel, Champlain Towers South was only one the building’s structure. According to
whose 114 victims had marked the most among a seemingly countless number a July 5 Washington Post article, profes-
lost in any American structural failure. of high-rise condominium buildings sionals familiar with Morabito’s work
But at the time of this writing, the Surf- in the area, almost all of which are no describe him as “careful and thorough.”
side death toll stands at 98. more than 40 or 50 years old. Individual In his 2018 report to the board, Morabito
The search-and-rescue operations that ownership of apartments in multiunit described finding, among other prob-
began within hours of the condo collapse buildings in the United States was en- lems, “major structural damage” in the
had to proceed slowly, lest the pile of bro- couraged by the National Housing Act concrete slab that formed the pool deck
ken and crushed concrete and exposed of 1961 and quickly endorsed by ev- and the columns that supported it. Fur-
and twisted reinforcing steel become un- ery U.S. state. This act led to a building thermore, because this slab was perfectly
boom during the 1970s and 1980s, when horizontal, water did not drain properly,
Henry Petroski is the Distinguished Professor condominium and co-op apartment thus affecting the waterproofing and fur-
Emeritus of Civil Engineering at Duke University. units were built (or converted) at a rate ther aggravating the corrosion problem.
Email: petroski@duke.edu of 100,000 per year. Today, more than Morabito’s estimate that it would cost
Champlain Towers South was one of the many high-rise apartment buildings that line the Newspapers such as the Miami Her-
coast of the Atlantic Ocean in Surfside, Florida. At about 1:30 a.m. on June 24, 2021, a large part ald and New York Times, with reputa-
of the condominium collapsed suddenly, burying 98 occupants beneath a pile of rubble. Many tions for doing in-depth investigative
theories have been proposed to explain the massive structural failure, but a final determina- reporting, can be counted on to dissem-
tion of the cause of the collapse will not be arrived at for some time. inate thoroughly and quickly as much
information about a tragedy as they
$9 million to correct the problems un- Answers in the Rubble can find. But a news story about a fail-
derstandably shocked the condo board. As is the case following any structural ure with implications for construction
Deciding what to do was complicated failure, there arose—in Surfside, seem- around the world conveys more cred-
by the fact that Morabito’s recommenda- ingly even before the concrete dust had ibility when it quotes authoritative ex-
tion that the repairs be done “in a timely settled—the question of what caused perts. A story about a building collapse
manner” was contradicted by a separate the tragedy. Everyone—condo owners, that quotes only unnamed experts can
assessment in November 2018 from Surf- victims’ families, government officials, be as suspect in its completeness and
side’s chief building official, who assured regulators, members of the news me- reliability as a political story that relies
Champlain Towers South owners their dia, lawyers—wondered exactly what solely on anonymous sources.
building was “in very good shape.” caused the condo wing to collapse and Although engineers in general have
During two years of haggling, prog- who was to blame. The rubble was a reputation for not seeking to aggran-
ress was made only in the deterioration expected to hold physical clues, and dize themselves, most are not shy about
of the structure, and the estimated cost paper documents—in the files of ar- opining about a topic that falls within
of repairs needed to deal with corrosion, chitects, engineers, contractors, inspec- their specialty. Structural engineers are
waterproofing, and drainage problems tors, and others who had a hand in the naturally the most obvious choices to
rose by several million dollars. Owners construction and maintenance of the interview for background on and inter-
of larger units in the building were facing building—promised to provide intel- pretation of any type of structural fail-
a six-figure special reassessment. When lectual clues to help interpret the phys- ure. However, codes of ethics caution
there finally was agreement that the ical ones. Such documents include con- engineers not to comment on projects
work had to be done, and done urgently, struction contracts, design calculations, with which they are not familiar. This
the condo association engaged Morabito blueprints, and related correspondence mandate keeps some engineers from
as supervising engineer to prepare the among the parties involved. Parties commenting altogether. But many
necessary documents relating to the re- whose culpability might be implicated whose expertise is so closely related to
pairs, to help select a contractor, and to in such papers are not always forth- the circumstances of a particular recent
monitor the work. Shortly before the col- coming with them, but pressure from failure do feel comfortable likening it to
lapse, repair work had begun on the roof; the news media can often force their historical examples and elaborating on
shortly after the collapse, lawsuits were release, if not voluntarily then by order their causes. They may also feel quali-
filed claiming that Morabito, the condo of the courts. The State of Florida has fied to hypothesize about what appears
association, and city building officials especially strong “sunshine laws” that to be an analogous failure. And these
should have warned owners that the require the release of many such docu- engineers attest to their confidence in
building was in danger of falling down. ments to the public. their speculations and interpretations by
Kim Moss
R
esiliency. If 2020 has tested noticed as they protect us around the In this piece, the panels show normal
anything, it is how well we clock. Sometimes, however, these “do esophageal cells, gastric acid, and ab-
can stand up to hard times. Of good” cells are also part of the compli- normal tissue. The piece can be viewed
course, as we look forward, we cations of disease. They have been tied both ways through the glass, showing
will continue to navigate how to bounce to issues of a hyperresponsive immune the layering from normal to abnormal
back from recent and new challenges. system. Additionally, pollutants such or the opposite. This design reflects the
Our health and well-being are enfolded as tobacco smoke, ozone, and aerosols reversibility of negative effects; abnor-
into the concept of resiliency, and I be- diminish the power of alveolar mac- mal cells can differentiate to normal
lieve that being resilient requires mental rophages to engulf and destroy un- again. Regular monitoring of the esoph-
fortitude in combination with a strong wanted elements. Understanding how agus and healthy lifestyle choices, such
physical base. This mind–body connec- these cells respond to infection and as a good diet and avoiding overeating
tion is something that informs my art the reversibility of their positive and and smoking, bolsters this tissue’s re-
practice and is the basis for my installa- negative responses can help viewers re- sponse to damage, and healthy tissue
tion, The Landscapes Within. Although I can be restored. It is my hope that view-
created the work before the pandemic, ers will look at these panels and con-
COVID-19 has given me reason to refo-
Visualizing microscopic sider how resilient these tissues are and
cus on this theme. I have been reminded processes points to the how it’s often not too late for people to
of how our actions and outlook, in con- engage in healthy lifestyle choices that
junction with quiet time for contempla- interconnected will make a difference in their lives.
tion, can help us face difficulties.
The work, comprising three stacked
systems at work, as The hippocampus, a critical structure
found within the human brain’s tem-
series of hand-etched glass panels (ap- though they are an poral lobe, is the topic of the third panel
proximately 0.5 meter by 1 meter each), series, Response to Stimulus (see page
addresses resilience and plasticity in ecosystem in the body. 285). This part of the brain is connect-
the body—a theme of damage and re- ed to learning, memory, and emotion.
pair. Frequently, we aren’t aware of the flect on their own ability to support this Prolonged stress, as in post-traumatic
agents that attack us because our de- defense system through actions such as stress disorder (PTSD), has been shown
fenses work well. With knowledge of mask wearing and promoting clean air. to damage the hippocampus and af-
these incredible internal defenses and The second panel series, Cells in Tran- fect memory retention. My work in-
repair processes, we can augment and sition, conveys the plasticity of the cells vites viewers to consider how their
connect their efficacy to our actions lining the esophagus (see facing page). own positive actions can support hip-
and lifestyle habits. We can bolster our Esophageal cells form one type of epi- pocampus function. Research suggests
own resiliency and empower positive thelial tissue, which lines the surfaces of that exercise and positive affirmation
change. Therefore, the three pieces in our bodies. These lining tissues include can counter damage to the hippocam-
The Landscapes Within highlight differ- layers that specialize in response and pus and improve memory. A positive
ent examples of how the body responds repair. Acid reflux is a common condi- outlook can enhance clear thinking
to health issues in positive ways when tion and presents as the well-known and promote curiosity and problem-
coupled with beneficial lifestyle choices. symptom of heartburn. Time and again, solving. The hippocampus is also an
The first panel series, The Innate Im- the esophagus recovers from damage area researchers are investigating for
mune Response, shows alveolar macro- caused by gastric acid that splashes up adult neurogenesis—the ability to
phages, or white blood cells of the lungs, above the diaphragm into the esoph-
fighting against inhaled infectious agus. If acid reflux becomes chronic, Layers of glass etchings set aglow with colored
agents (see page 286). These industri- however, normal cells can transition to lights celebrate the body’s resilience in Cells
ous cells, which are part of the defense abnormal metaplastic cells, which can in Transition, and in other works from the au-
system we are born with, often go un- be a precursor to esophageal cancer. thor’s art installation The Landscapes Within.
A
the park—how I could get a sense of the tied to how we engage in self-care,
many art forms. I am trained
as a medical illustrator, which
entails translating and communicating
medical content visually through me-
dia such as textbook illustrations, ani-
mations, interactive web content, aug-
mented and virtual reality, instructional
design, and more. I also work as a scien-
tific illustrator, depicting an array of bo-
T
here was a period in my life worldwide who depend on coral reefs The huge, sandy rings surrounding
when my job title might as for food and jobs. coral reefs, where small fishes have
well have been professional But one can only be a professional eaten away all the seaweed, are vis-
fish watcher. Every day, I fish watcher for so long. The time, ex- ible in satellite imagery. The rings are
(Madin) would wake up, head out to pense, and logistics of traveling to these created by interactions among pred-
a coral reef, and watch fish. Endless remote coral islands proved particular- ators and their prey and are indica-
numbers of fish. Traveling halfway ly difficult once my first child was born tive of healthy, well-functioning reef
across the world to the remote Line in 2009. Luckily, a chance conversation ecosystems. These rings are too big to
Islands archipelago in the middle of with fellow graduate student Thomas be observed in their entirety under-
the Pacific Ocean, I would spend days Adam (now an assistant research bi- water, so I had been—unknowingly—
and weeks floating in the clear waters ologist at the Marine Science Institute documenting them piecemeal.
above the reef, recording details such at the University of California, Santa A space-based view opened up new
as the exact number of bites a tiny fish opportunities to apply my research to
takes. Imagine counting how many the real-world question of how fish-
times a chicken pecks at the ground; it ing affects coral reefs. It also presented
was a bit like that. new possibilities for studying Earth’s
These close observations of fish ocean ecosystems more broadly, which
were a central part of my doctoral re- triggered a paradigm shift for my re-
search on marine ecosystems. My goal search. The broad perspective of satel-
was to understand whether humans, lite imagery allowed me to identify
by harvesting the large, predatory fish, larger trends by observing changes
led the smaller, normally timid fish to on a global scale and comparing eco-
become more daring in their nibbling systems over time and across space.
of seaweed and foraging on coral reefs.
The larger purpose was to understand View from Afar
a disturbing transition: Human activi- Remote sensing is the process of detect-
ties have been transforming coral reefs ing and measuring phenomena without
from pristine, predator-filled oases being physically present. Common re-
bursting with colorful marine life into mote sensing technologies include satel-
Courtesy of Elizabeth M. P. Madin
seemingly inert brown seascapes cov- lites and drones that observe the Earth
At the beginning of her career, ecologist
ered in seaweed and slime. from above, as well as radar, sonar, and
Elizabeth M. P. Madin (pictured in Palmyra
This pattern has been observed lidar, which measure characteristics of
Atoll, Line Islands) counted the nibbles of
on reefs throughout the world in re- individual fish to calculate their effect on far-away objects. Other forms of remote
cent decades, but the nuances of why coral reefs. Now, she uses satellite images to sensing include infrared camera traps
and how this happens are not always study changes on a larger scale. that monitor nighttime wildlife without
clear. It was my hope that by inves- human interference, and tags that al-
tigating the mechanisms of change, Barbara) led me to a dramatic shift in low researchers to track animals; those
my research would help guide wise perspective. I discovered that the collec- methods let researchers get up close
decision-making and conservation tive result of the fish behavior patterns and personal with their subjects, but the
policies, which in turn would help to that I had spent countless hours docu- monitoring occurs remotely.
ensure a sustainable supply of seafood menting underwater could also be seen Although one of us (Madin) discov-
for the hundreds of millions of people . . . from space. ered the possibilities of remote sensing
QUICK TAKE
Satellite images and other remote sensing These methods enable researchers to vir- During the COVID-19 pandemic, remote
technologies can provide information about tually visit regions that would otherwise be sensing and monitoring technologies allowed
global shifts and tiny phenomena—both the inaccessible, either because of the difficulty of researchers to continue their work while
proverbial forest and the trees. travel or because of potential danger. maintaining a safe social distance.
Drone video footage captured this turtle swimming above a coral patch reef in Kāneʻohe Bay, guin populations in near-real time from
Hawaiʻi. Overhead images give ecologists a wider perspective on changes to coral reef eco- anywhere in the world. Problem solved.
systems than can be obtained through close examination alone. Our (the authors’) paths up to that
point had set us on a trajectory to collab-
relatively late in her research career, I land, time is of the essence; spending orate. In 2020, one of us (Madin) realized
(Foley) relied on the technology from weeks observing penguin colonies is that she wanted to tap into the power of
the start. My doctoral research applied simply not an option due to tricky lo- remote sensing in a way that went be-
remote sensing technologies to the for- gistics and tight research budgets. yond her own skill set. She wrote an ad
midable problem of counting seals and To circumvent these limitations, re- to recruit a postdoc with remote sensing
penguins in the subantarctic. searchers use time-lapse camera traps chops who shared her interest in apply-
In the early 2010s, many research- to study changes in penguin colonies ing those skills toward conservation of
ers assumed that penguin and seal that occur over weeks or months. ocean wildlife; the other of us (Foley)
populations were recovering from the However, this approach does not an- replied. Today, we are combining our
extensive harvesting of the 18th and swer the question of how large the to- vastly different skill sets to tackle new
19th centuries, but nobody knew for tal penguin populations are, or how ecological questions that would be im-
sure (and the answer is still somewhat those populations change over time. possible to address separately.
unclear). There was a good reason for Although it was impossible for our re- Our projects range from using sat-
that uncertainty: Subantarctic travel is search team to live at these penguin col- ellites and drones to quantify how
no small undertaking. South Georgia onies for years at a time, we discovered seagrass meadows recovered from a
Island in the Southern Ocean, for ex- that we could “visit” them frequently reduction in recreational boat use dur-
ample, is accessible only by ship; there via satellite images and observe how ing the COVID-19 lockdown, to us-
are no permanent residents or airstrips, colonies were changing in size, shape, ing head cams mounted on Hawaiian
and the weather is extremely inhos- and composition over time. Because sat- monk seals to understand how the ac-
pitable. The obstacles to accessing the ellites have been continuously orbiting tivities of this threatened species affect
region make its animal populations in- the Earth for decades, we could even go the behavior of its prey. We are finding
credibly difficult to study. And if you back in time to start our observations that the more we look, the more our
do manage to get to South Georgia Is- and then continue to monitor these pen- eyes open to the seemingly limitless
Cameras mounted in Antarctica during the austral summer enable year-round monitoring breeding activity among subantarctic
of various penguin populations. Zoologist Tom Hart and his Penguin Watch team install seals. The Seal Watch team uses this
standard trail cameras on semipermanent stands (left, with a colony of gentoo penguins). The data to monitor the timing of breeding
images from these cameras are made available on the Zooniverse platform to citizen scientists,
events and establish relative estimates
who help track the location and movements of different groups of penguins. In the photo-
graph of chinstrap penguins (right), colored dots represent individual clicks from volunteers.
of breeding success across rookeries.
This information is critical to our un-
derstanding of population dynamics
The creative use of satellite imagery cess called photogrammetry to create 3D and recovery in species that were once
for tracking animal populations doesn’t reconstructions of the islands. Imag- hunted to the brink of extinction.
stop there. In 2014, Lynch and LaRue ine a mown lawn where each pass of The same tools and techniques used
teamed up to tackle a much smaller the lawn mower had about 90 percent to observe whales, polar bears, and
problem: Adélie penguins. Although overlap with the one before. The pho- penguins can also monitor some of the
individual Adélies are too small to tos that Lynch collected overlapped in smallest animals on Earth. Corals are
identify in satellite images, it turns out a similar manner, and variations in the marine invertebrates, each typically
that when they group together, they angle of the images brought out the fea- only a few millimeters long, which col-
produce a lot of guano. And Adélie tures in the landscape. Photogramme- lectively can form large, reef-building
excrement is particularly festive—it try uses matching points on multiple colonies. Currently facing the menac-
is bright pink, making it easily iden- images and applies the rules of geom- ing and synergistic effects of increases
tifiable in satellite imagery. Lynch etry to reconstruct a 3D surface. By us- in sea temperature, stronger and more
and LaRue conducted the first global ing this method, Lynch’s team was able frequent storms, and ocean acidifica-
census of Adélie penguins and based to recreate a 3D model of the Danger tion, corals have gained increased at-
their findings entirely on the presence Islands and identify them as critically tention and concern for their precari-
of guano stains in satellite imagery. In important habitat for seabirds. ous state on a rapidly changing planet.
their analysis, Lynch and LaRue discov- Aerial surveys are not the only tech- One of our current projects uses
ered 17 Adélie penguin colonies that nology on the leading edge of remote drones to create 3D maps of reefs dur-
were previously unknown to scientists, sensing in ecology research. Oxford ing and after coral bleaching events,
and 13 that appear to have disappeared University zoologist Tom Hart leads the when hotter-than-normal water tem-
from the Antarctic continent. Penguin Watch research project, using peratures cause corals to turn a ghostly
Penguin science has been a hotspot time-lapse cameras to monitor breeding white before either dying or, if lucky,
for innovation in the use of remote activity in hundreds of penguin colo- recovering. The maps allow us to vir-
sensing methods. While working in nies around Antarctica and the South- tually revisit and remeasure with great
the Lynch lab, one of us (Foley) ex- ern Ocean, all from the comfort of his precision the exact same coral colonies
tended the team’s area of interest to sofa. Hart uses trail cameras—similar year after year and track their demise
include king penguins on subantarc- to ones you might set up in your back- or recovery. (Even for most coral ex-
tic South Georgia Island. In 2018, the yard—mounted on semipermanent perts, trying to re-find an individual
lab began supplementing satellite data stands. Currently, Penguin Watch has coral colony on a reef is a bit like trying
with images collected by uncrewed 92 cameras mounted across the region, to relocate a particular tree in a rainfor-
aerial vehicles (also known as drones) with an additional 40 cameras installed est.) We’re in the process of developing
from a remote region of Antarctica and maintained by collaborators. an artificial intelligence algorithm to
called the Danger Islands. As implied With Hart’s help, several more automatically identify bleached corals
by their ominous name, these islands “Watch” projects have launched on the from drone imagery, which will enable
are difficult to reach and are therefore Zooniverse citizen science platform, in- faster, cheaper, and easier detection of
rarely visited by scientists. cluding my (Foley’s) own project, Seal coral bleaching in near-real time.
Lynch’s lab used highly overlapped Watch, which applies the methods Hart Our work dovetails with the Allen
photo transects from drones and a pro- developed to the task of identifying Coral Atlas, a collaborative project that
Aleppo Aleppo
Homs Homs
Damascus Damascus
Courtesy of Xi Li
Two satellite images showing nighttime light in Syria in March 2011 (left) and February 2014 sually stunning and demonstrate just
(right) indicate that the country’s population decreased sharply over that period. Despite how vast the cascading effects of the
widespread news coverage of the Syrian civil war, it can be difficult to understand the effect tiny SARS-CoV-2 pathogen really are.
of the drawn-out conflict. The dramatic reduction in nighttime light in Damascus, Homs, The myriad effects of this an-
and Aleppo provides a stark illustration of the drop in population in those cities during the
thropause on biodiversity are also
humanitarian crisis.
evident through the “eyes in the
sky” that satellites provide. For ex-
pledged £25 million to increase lighting peratures of large numbers of people ample, we can track the number
and CCTV coverage in public spaces. simultaneously—for example, in Wu- and movement of fishing vessels
On the other hand, CCTV cameras han, China, where thermal cameras over the global oceans via satellite-
and other remote monitoring systems were mounted on drones. At the popu- derived data from transponders origi-
could be used for surveillance and to lation level, monitoring of mobile phone nally designed to prevent at-sea colli-
combat democratic efforts. Since pro- networks in Turkey was used in the first sions. These transponders are installed
tests began in Hong Kong in the spring wave of the pandemic to gauge how on large, oceangoing vessels and regu-
of 2019, CCTV footage has helped the well physical distancing measures were larly broadcast the geographic location
government identify thousands of peo- working. Likewise, mobile phone apps, of each vessel to a satellite, resulting
ple, who were subsequently arrested such as the COVIDSafe app implement- in a publicly available database. By
under colonial-era public assembly laws ed by the Australian government, use continuously collecting the nearly half-
and may face up to 10 years in prison. Bluetooth to track people with whom million vessel tracks, data scientists are
In a country dominated by government a user may have had close contact and now able to create a map of global fish-
surveillance, protesters are facing an up- then alert the user if any of those people ing effort across the world’s oceans,
hill battle to maintain anonymity. tests positive for COVID-19. something that would have been im-
This deep divide will only be ex- Globally, a dramatic reduction in possible even 10 years ago.
acerbated as technologies advance. greenhouse gas and other emissions as Remote sensing has also offered so-
In 2020 the Moscow government de- a result of widespread human confine- lutions for scientists and others whose
ployed newly available facial recog- ment—the “COVID anthropause”— ability to do their job has been com-
nition software on the city’s 160,000 and their subsequent return to prepan- promised by the pandemic lockdowns.
CCTV cameras. But these facial recog- demic levels are clearly observable via Many ecologists, for example, cannot
nition algorithms are highly contested, satellite images. For example, when conduct field work while stay-at-home
and studies have demonstrated that nitrogen dioxide levels in various cit- orders and social distancing measures
they often have an alarming gender ies in China before, during, and af- are in place. This problem is particular-
and racial bias. (See “The Dark Past of ter COVID-19 lockdowns on human ly acute for marine scientists who trav-
Algorithms That Associate Appearance movement and factory work are com- el to their study sites on boats where
and Criminality,” January–February.) pared, a striking correlation emerg- social distancing is often impossible.
es: There is a dip in nitrogen dioxide Many scientists have had to get creative
Monitoring the Pandemic levels when the lockdowns occurred, and pivot to the use of remote sensing
During the COVID-19 pandemic, vari- and a rebound after they were eased. approaches to keep their work going.
ous remote sensing technologies have The dip gave a brief respite to hu- In our own experience, whereas pre-
been deployed to track the disease and man health and to the climate, both of viously we would have gone out on
its cascading effects. On the scale of which are negatively affected by ex- the water in boats to count the number
individual humans, thermal scanning cess levels of this and other trace gases of recreational fishing vessels visiting
has been used to monitor the body tem- in the atmosphere. These data are vi- our seagrass-recovery study sites in
20 µmol/m2 250
Kāneʻohe Bay, Hawaiʻi, we are now European Space Agency satellite images captured levels of tropospheric nitrogen dioxide
completing these tasks using frequent, (NO2, a gas that has been linked to asthma and other respiratory illnesses) over China in
very-high-resolution satellite imagery. February of 2019, 2020, and 2021. As governments issued stay-at-home orders during the
Planet, Inc.’s PlanetScope satellites COVID-19 pandemic, many people speculated about possible environmental benefits from
now provide on a daily basis high-res- reduced travel. These images demonstrate that there was a pandemic-related reduction in NO2
levels, but that the change was temporary.
olution images in which each pixel is
equivalent to 3 meters on Earth; these
images allow us to measure the extent mounted with a selection of sensors) monitor polar bear abundance and distri-
of changes in seagrass beds, which are exclusively for scientific endeavors bution. Wildlife Society Bulletin 39:772–779.
frequently damaged by recreational and disaster management in remote Li, X., and D. Li. 2014. Can night-time light
images play a role in evaluating the Syrian
boats and visitors. Similarly, most na- corners of the globe, allowing scien- Crisis? International Journal of Remote Sens-
tional Antarctic programs and univer- tists the ability to completely control ing 18:6648–6661.
sities did not participate in the most the timing and acquisition of data for Lynch, H. J., and M. A. LaRue. 2014. First
recent Antarctic field season. Whereas specific projects. global census of the Adélie Penguin. The
in a normal year, one of us (Foley) We will no doubt face future pan- Auk 131:457–466.
would have voyaged south to set up demics and episodes of massive social Madin, E. M. P., E. S. Darling, and M. J. Hardt.
experiments and to change cameras, unrest, while also continuing to confront 2019. Emerging technologies and coral reef
conservation: Opportunities, challenges,
this year the team watched the pen- issues related to climate change, the al- and moving forward. Frontiers in Marine
guins from space. Without remote teration of landscapes and seascapes, Science 6:727.
sensing technologies, we would have the dwindling of resources and space, Pericak, A. A., et al. 2018. Mapping the yearly ex-
lost an entire year’s worth of critical geopolitical tensions, and humanitar- tent of surface coal mining in Central Appala-
penguin population data. These neces- ian crises. Documenting the scale of the chia using Landsat and Google Earth Engine.
PLOS One doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0197758.
sary changes to the way research was many resulting problems will, in many
Prins, E. 2008. Use of low cost Landsat ETM+ to
conducted during the pandemic may cases, require a “macroscope” of the sort spot burnt villages in Darfur, Sudan. Interna-
have lasting effects on fieldwork, just that remote sensing can offer. tional Journal of Remote Sensing 29:1207–1214.
as some companies are adjusting their Salguero, J., J. Li, A. Farahmand, and J. T.
policies and procedures to allow re- Bibliography Reager. 2020. Wildfire trend analysis over
mote work for their employees over Borowicz, A., et al. 2019. Aerial-trained deep the contiguous United States using re-
the long term. learning networks for surveying ceta- mote sensing observations. Remote Sensing
ceans from satellite imagery. PLOS One doi:10.3390/rs12162565.
Our current ability to monitor
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0212532.
changes in biodiversity and land-
Burrell, A. L., J. P. Evans, and M. G. De Kauwe.
scapes, and to identify and respond
2020. Anthropogenic climate change has Elizabeth M. P. Madin is an assistant professor at
to humanitarian and geopolitical ten- driven over 5 million km2 of drylands to-
sions, is far-reaching. However, as new the Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology, University
wards desertification. Nature Communica-
of Hawaiʻi. She researches how the intersection of
technologies continue to develop, our tions 11:3853.
human activities and animal behaviors can lead
ability to use remotely sensed data will Dornelas, M., et al. 2019. Towards a macro-
to cascading effects through food webs. Catherine
likely be limited only by our imagi- scope: Leveraging technology to transform
the breadth, scale and resolution of macro- M. Foley is a postdoc at the Hawaiʻi Institute of
nations. Academics have already pro- ecological data. Global Ecology and Biogeog- Marine Biology. Her research is concerned with
posed the deployment of dedicated raphy 28:1937–1948. developing the use of emerging technologies for ma-
constellations of small, relatively in- LaRue, M. A., et al. 2015. Testing methods for rine conservation and management in a variety of
expensive CubeSats (which can be using high-resolution satellite imagery to ecosystems. Email for Madin: emadin@hawaii.edu
Kate Clancy
I
n 2017, a Korean media outlet de- strual pads, because certain phthalates intergenerational effects on the health
cided to investigate the chemicals (there are many of them) can help a of our children and grandchildren.
found in commercial menstrual substance dissolve or can make plas- Whenever I find myself discussing
pads, based on the advocacy and tics harder to break. Women, femme- this issue with others, I tend to encoun-
awareness-raising efforts of the Kore- identified gender minorities, and chil- ter two main reactions: Either people
an Women’s Environmental Network, dren are most vulnerable to exposure immediately want to know what they
who had pointed out that menstruat- because phthalates are so often found should throw out (and what they
ing people seemed to be developing in the products they are more likely should use as replacements), or people
rashes, discomfort, and even infertility to use: cleaning products, cosmetics, throw up their hands at the futility of
from the pads. This group sent sam- baby toys, and more. (To be clear, this avoiding endocrine disruptors. I un-
ples to reproductive toxicologists Jodi is a general statement based on how derstand and have harbored both of
Flaws and Jay Ko at the University of gender roles inform and even con- these viewpoints at times. However, I
Illinois, where I am also employed. strain choices.) Additionally, people think a third reaction is possible, one
Flaws and Ko found volatile organic who experience incontinence, from where we step back and recognize the
compounds and phthalates in every babies and toddlers to postpartum broader structural problems that have
single sample of sanitary pads and people to elders, are going to be ex- brought us here. We must consider our
disposable diapers they received, and posed to diapers, and menstruating varying responsibility and power with-
published their results in Reproductive people (including nonbinary people in those structures that have put all of
Toxicology. The products they sampled and transmen) to menstrual pads. us at risk, but some of us especially so
were made in 2017 and came from Ko- These put phthalates right up against based on sexism, racism, and ableism,
rea, the United States, Japan, Finland, our thin genital skin. and sometimes just based on physiol-
France, and Greece; the researchers Endocrine-disruptor exposure also ogy. This approach means sitting with
were kept ignorant as to the sources of comes from the food we eat: Foods this knowledge for a minute, rather
their samples as they were conducting that are encased in plastic (wrapped than immediately reacting. After all,
their analyses, to avoid bias. Although produce, plastic water bottles) are these endocrine disruptors are not go-
the quantities of volatile organic com- likely to have absorbed the chemicals ing anywhere soon; we have the time.
pounds were not too alarming—they used to give that plastic its structure
weren’t too different than what we are or softness. Some prescription and Periods on Phthalates
already exposed to, and you can re- over-the-counter medicines are even Krakow, Poland, is one of my favorite
duce them by letting these products coated in phthalates. When we re- cities on the planet. It is one of the first
air out a bit before using them—the ceive intravenous fluids in the hos- places I ever visited on my own, and is
phthalates were another story. pital, those fluids have been sitting the closest city to the rural mountain-
Phthalates, a class of endocrine- in plastic made with phthalates, and ous region where I have conducted
disrupting chemicals, are widely although these injections do not seem much of my fieldwork on menstrual
known to be harmful to human health. to have significant short-term effects, cycles. I remember being picked up
Phthalates are very common in plas- rodent studies suggest that those lit- at the airport on my first visit in 2002
tics, cosmetics, and apparently men- eral injections of phthalates can have by my mentor and collaborator, public
QUICK TAKE
Women, gender minorities, and children People are exposed to many different The solution is not as simple as deciding on
are most likely to be exposed to endocrine types of endocrine disruptors, from phthal- acceptable thresholds of chemicals or replac-
disruptors because of the products they are ates to lead. Many are known to be harmful ing ingredients. The key question is: How were
more likely to use. to human health. these materials permitted in the first place?
Portia Munson’s art installation Pink Project (1994–ongoing) displays the overwhelming num- together produce cumulative effects on
ber of pink plastic products marketed to girls. Women, gender minorities, and children are the menstrual cycle.
particularly vulnerable to exposure to endocrine disruptors, such as phthalates, because these The sampling period was 2001 to
chemicals are found in the products they are more likely to use, including plastics, cosmetics, 2003, right around the time of my first
menstrual pads, cleaning products, diapers, and baby toys.
visit to Poland. My colleagues looked at
the air pollution measures in Krakow at
health researcher and anthropologist booths of traditional souvenirs such that time, based on municipal ecologi-
Grazyna Jasienska of Jagiellonian Uni- as amber jewelry and embroidered cal monitoring data by the state, and
versity, in part because of where she blouses. Air pollutants are bad for the menstrual cycle characteristics from 133
had parked in the city. Jasienska lived buildings, bad for the inhabitants, and research participants living in the city.
in a lovely apartment in the Old Town, bad for tourism. In this study, there were no effects on
and as a resident, she had a special The air pollution from traffic, par- the menstrual cycle when considering
permit to drive and park in the cen- ticularly from higher-emission cars, any one pollutant on its own. How-
tral part of the city. Although some comes from particulate matter (bits of ever, the authors found that particulate
of the initial decisions to limit traffic dust, soot, and smoke of varying ori- matter and sulfur dioxide exposure to-
in Krakow were about tourism and gins), sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, gether were associated with a short-
support for local residents, one of the and nitrogen oxides. (See “Air Pollution ened luteal phase (the second half of
by-products of these driving and park- and Sunlight Q&A,” January–February the menstrual cycle, starting at ovula-
ing restrictions has been that it may 2016.) A 2017 paper in the International tion and ending at menses). These pol-
reduce some local pollution. Because Journal of Environmental Research and lutants derive mostly from fossil fuel
Krakow sits in a valley, air pollutants Public Health by Anna Merklinger- emissions—the kind that come from
can drift in from surrounding indus- Gruchala of Krakow University, Jasien- older heating units and factories. The
try and linger, and traffic emissions ska, and Maria Kapiszewska, also of effects on the menstrual cycle of the
can stagnate there as well. The Old Krakow University, looked at these dif- other pollutants studied—carbon mon-
Town area is gorgeously preserved, ferent types of air pollution together, oxide and nitrogen oxides—were not
with stone buildings that are many to try and understand whether fossil statistically significant in this sample.
hundreds of years old and a city cen- fuel combustion from industry and The authors mathematically esti-
ter with churches, flower sellers, and heating, traffic fuel emissions, or both mated that exposure to air pollution
In the late 1970s, artist Jay Critchley began finding tampon applicators on his
local beaches around Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and making art out of them. At
first, he didn’t know what the items were (locals called them “beach whistles”).
When he found out, he began to bring awareness to the issues surrounding men-
strual product waste by dressing up as Miss Tampon Liberty (right), as described
in a recent piece on the waste-focused research website Discard Studies. Men-
strual products made with plastic not only expose menstruators to endocrine dis-
ruptors, they also play a major role in the ubiquity of modern plastic pollution.
Jay Critchley
at the level found in this study led to more, the volatile organic compounds “First Person: Mona Hanna-Attisha,”
a shortening of the luteal phase by a emitted from salons are probably con- September–October 2019; and “Moving
third of a day. Given that nearly all tributing to volatile pollution more Forward After Flint,” May–June 2016.)
embryo implantations occur within a broadly, according to a 2019 paper in In many parts of the country, these
three-day window in the middle of the Indoor Air. Traffic police are exposed to exposures are considered to be under
luteal phase, a disruption by a third particulate matter and other airborne an acceptable threshold by, say, the
of a day could represent a significant pollutants; these subjects have been U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
biological event. A shorter luteal phase found to have lower estradiol concen- Prevention (CDC), but not necessar-
also means a shorter menstrual cycle, trations (a type of estrogen), and high- ily by the members of those commu-
which means in the long run more er follicle stimulating hormone con- nities. The CDC’s reference value for
ovulations and more periods. Some re- centrations (a hormone important to the acceptable quantity of lead in the
search has suggested that a higher fre- ovulation) than controls who are less blood, for instance, is 5 micrograms
quency of ovulation may be associated exposed. Another study, published in per deciliter and under. This is a recent
with an increased risk of reproductive, 2017 in Human Reproduction, looked shift from 10 micrograms per deciliter
particularly ovarian, cancer. at mostly middle class white women and under, and other experts recom-
A number of other papers have from Michigan and Texas, and even mend moving down this value even
looked at the effects of air pollution with their relatively low exposure to further to 2 micrograms per deciliter.
on fecundability (the probability of air pollution compared to other peo- Experts at the CDC and elsewhere are
conception in a given cycle), fertil- ple, the authors found some weak as- clear that there is no actual acceptable
ity (number of offspring), and fetal sociations between acute exposure to amount of lead or any other endocrine
and infant health, and they have all some pollutants and how many cycles disruptor in the body: The tightrope
reached similar conclusions. Several it took for couples to conceive. Similar they are walking is one of risk assess-
studies looked at people who are oc- research, published in 2018 in Human ment (more on that later).
cupationally exposed to certain pol- Reproduction, has shown reduced in I found examples in Korea, Mexico,
lutants. Nail salon workers experience vitro fertilization rates with increased Canada, and the United States where
occupational exposure to phthalates, exposure to certain air pollutants. lead exposure that led to a blood con-
phthalate alternatives, and volatile or- Then there are the endocrine dis- centration of less than 5 micrograms
ganic compounds; recent work pub- ruptors in our water. Many communi- per deciliter still had a negative effect
lished in Environmental Science and ties in the United States are exposed on children’s cognition, growth, and
Technology found the problem may lie to lead, cadmium, arsenic, and other development. And despite the known
not only in nail product formulations heavy metals in the water they drink. risks, much higher exposures are ex-
but also in nail salons not adhering to (See “Arsenic, the ‘King of Poisons,’ in perienced by kids in Nigeria whose
proper ventilation guidelines. What’s Food and Water,” January–February 2015; cough syrups are often contaminated
3
residual luteal phase length
–1
–2
–3
–4
–2 –1 0 1 2 3 4
residual PC2 (fossil fuel combustion-related) score
Panther Media GmbH / Alamy Stock Photo
In a study based in Krakow, Poland, exposure to particulate matter and sulfur dioxide, which prenatally exposed generation, but also
are mostly derived from fossil fuel combustion, was associated with a shortened luteal phase, in the unexposed offspring of the fol-
the second half of the menstrual cycle from ovulation to menses. A shortened luteal phase can lowing generation: the grandchildren
decrease the time during which egg fertilization can occur and, in the long run, can mean more of the originally exposed parents. Expo-
periods over a person’s lifetime. A higher frequency of ovulation may also be associated with
sure to endocrine disruptors, then, can
an increased risk of reproductive cancers. (Figure from A. Merklinger-Gruchala, G. Jasienska,
and M. Kapiszewska, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 14:816.)
affect generations of children who are
completely unexposed, which means
that even with tighter regulation today,
with lead, or by child laborers in Pak- in the body and therefore encourage some populations may continue to ex-
istan who work in battery recycling extra growth of uterine tissue. Phthal- perience disruptions of development,
plants, an occupation with significant ates, even at lower doses, influence puberty, menstrual cycle function, and
exposure to lead. These kinds of effects, adult reproduction in mice. Most of us reproduction for years to come.
from learning disabilities to shorter are exposed to many different types of Many of us in the United States, with
stature to delayed growth or menarche endocrine disruptors that may all ex- our individualistic culture, continue to
(age at first period), have downstream ert slightly different and even oppos- think of these problems as ones that af-
effects. Although lead is discussed ing effects, so it is hard to say for sure fect individuals, and therefore as hav-
most frequently in terms of the signifi- which ones cause the most harm, or, ing individual solutions. In addition
cant harm it causes to child develop- if you are a company relying on these to the fact that I now vent my dispos-
ment, this endocrine disruptor can also chemicals, whether they really cause able menstrual pads in my bathroom
influence the reproductive systems of any harm at all. to let them release volatile organic
adults. Lead exposure does not seem Endocrine disruptors even have ef- compounds before I place them against
to lower the concentrations of estro- fects across generations. In the case my body, I have switched my toddler
gens in the body; instead, it interferes of lead, much of it is stored in bone. to a combination of reusable and dis-
with estrogen receptors in a way that Because bone turnover increases in posable bamboo pullups, and my kids
can block ovarian follicle development
or embryo implantation, and suppress
hormone secretion during puberty.
From here, we could find ourselves Phthalates and bisphenols are implicated
going back to where we started: the
endless endocrine disruptors found in
plastics, cleaners, cosmetics, and food.
in endometriosis and endometrial cancer.
Bisphenols and phthalates, parabens,
polychlorinated biphenyls, heavy met-
als, and all sorts of other chemicals are pregnancy and because lead can pass now eat off stainless steel instead of us-
in our pesticides, packaging, and pore- through the placenta, fetuses can ex- ing plastic plates and utensils. But you
refining serums. (See “Plastics, Plastics perience significant lead exposure if might also have noticed that although
Everywhere,” September–October 2019.) their mothers were previously exposed. many of these exposures come from
Exposure to some endocrine disrup- Researchers have just started measur- household objects we are bringing into
tors seems to delay menarche, yet ex- ing the epigenetic effects of phthalates our homes, other exposures are not up
posure to others largely accelerates it. across the generations—that is, the ways to us. Air and water pollution get into
Phthalates and bisphenols in partic- in which the expression of genes can our homes and can be found not only
ular are implicated in endometriosis be modified, and those modifications in our food and water but also in the
and endometrial cancer because both, passed down, even without changes to dust under our beds. There are ways
as weak estrogens, can disrupt the the DNA itself. Epigenetic effects have our built environment, landscape, and
natural estrogen-to-progesterone ratio the potential to occur not only in, say, a neighborhoods can protect us, but even
• oxidative stress
• immune system molecules
oc
Phthalates and bisphenols, which are found in products and con- called cytokines
rin
the natural estrogen-to-progesterone ratio in the body and therefore pt • cell viability and proliferation
u
Because that’s just it, isn’t it? The (and supposedly out
temptation so often when dealing with of) our water more
pollutants is to imagine an “away” broadly. They de-
where they do no harm. But as Max veloped a threshold
Liboiron of Memorial University model, where there is a quantity of all people, places, and beings), under-
in Canada says in their recent book pollution you can pump into a river, girds the entire mitigation strategy of
Pollution Is Colonialism, there is no under which the river can still recover. the United States. In other words, the
“away.” (For more on Liboiron’s work, As Liboiron points out, both the eager disposable model from the plastics in-
see “How Climate Science Could Lead to corporate development of disposable dustry and the threshold model from
Action,” January–February 2020.) Peo- plastics and the well-meaning conser- conservationists are both permission-
ple live near landfills; people rely on vationists’ threshold model assume to-pollute models that never really
polluted waterways for food and in- one has access to Indigenous Land to asked permission.
come. Pollutants from landfills leach put pollutants. Here, Liboiron does Pollution, then, is an ongoing and
into groundwater. We are at the point not just mean current tribal lands and essential component of colonialism.
where we have polluted our planet, reservations, but rather the land that “Colonialism is more than the intent,
affecting not just our species but entire was originally occupied by Indigenous identities, heritages, and values of set-
ecosystems. peoples, and that settlers took from tlers and their ancestors,” Liboiron
In the early days of conservation ef- them. The assumption that this land writes. “It’s about genocide and ac-
forts by settler scientists in the United is available to take and use as settlers cess.” And although endocrine disrup-
States, researchers applied locational wish, and that they consider some tors are everywhere, they are unevenly
data on the Ohio River to our under- parts of the land acceptable for stor- distributed, causing additional vio-
standing of how pollution gets into ing pollutants (to protect some but not lence toward Indigenous communities.
Skylar Tibbits
M
ost products, just like destruction—in other words, designing most of this principle. The challenge is
pieces of infrastructure for robustness in the traditional sense. to figure out how to design for error cor-
and much of the human- The result is that systems tend to be rection in the products around us.
made world around us, overengineered, and intentionally so. We can start by looking for time-
have one thing in common: They are For example, various safety factors exist less design and material functional-
designed to be stable and static. They in buildings, bridges, cars, or planes to ities. Think of classic furniture, vintage
are engineered to fight against all the ensure that structures will withstand cameras, or classic cars: The designs
forces around them—gravity, vibra- more than the weight we anticipate they of these products have lasted through
tion, temperature, moisture, and so will bear. Of course, this principle is ex- time and often still look as radical yet
on. They are designed to be robust. tremely important for safety. But from a elegant today as they once did. Materi-
They are generally not designed to be materials perspective, it’s wasteful. als and functionality can last as well—
lean and adaptive, or flexible, or re- Perhaps it’s time that we rethink or and even get better. Concrete, counter-
configurable. Today’s products often expand what we mean by robust—and intuitively, is a material that can grow
don’t take advantage of their material redefine smart in the process, too. A stronger with age due to the hydration
properties and aren’t programmed to structure that is robust could also be process and interaction of the material
have any of the lifelike qualities that active, lean, adaptable, and error cor- elements. We can imagine designing
are possible with active matter. recting. A number of researchers have systems of all sorts—manufacturing,
We compensate for the lack of built morphing, self-adapting bridges products, or environments—where we
adaptability or lifelike qualities in our and slab structures that can change impart energy and just the right condi-
products by creating so-called smart dynamically as load is applied. These tions to promote error correction and
versions of them: smart thermostats, structures, although currently built elec- overall improvement over time.
smart clothing, smart shoes, smart tromechanically, demonstrate extremely Natural systems exhibit characteris-
cars, and even smart bassinets that lightweight and more materially effi- tics of robustness and resilience—they
sense babies’ sleep patterns and adapt cient structures that can span and can- are lean, soft, and agile, and can adapt
the sounds or motion accordingly. tilever significant distances. They are to changes in their environment. These
These smart products are often more one step closer to this dream of higher- systems resist failure very differently
expensive, heavier, and more compli- performing structures with minimal compared with the ways we typically
cated to build. They become easier to materials while adapting to complex engineer systems. For example, bone
break and more difficult to use, and dynamic situations—without more grows with variable density and stiff-
they consume more power. components, more material, or more ness depending on its location in the
Our goal should be to make active rigidity. In the end, less is smart: The body and the weight an individual car-
products, by which I mean products, more we can do with less, the smarter ries. An astronaut’s bones will adapt
objects, or materials that can move, re- our systems will become. and reduce their mass, and then regrow
configure, transform, assemble them- when they get back to Earth. Many nat-
selves, or adapt to their surroundings. Built-In Flexibility ural systems, including our bodies, can
To achieve active products, we need to The principle of error correction is criti- regrow, adapt, and correct errors when
reconsider the way we think and talk cal to creating active products and struc- needed. In other words, error correction
about our (statically designed) world. tures. It allows us to ensure that accurate itself is a form of robustness.
One of the fundamental principles of products are assembled in the factory, To understand how error correction
engineering has always been that any and it can also inspire us to design struc- can work in everyday objects, let’s look
product or system ought to be designed tures that improve over time. We can at the simple example of building a cir-
to resist the forces that may lead to its actively engage, enhance, and make the cle. One manufacturing approach is to
QUICK TAKE
Smart products don’t need to be high- Products made with active materials and Active textiles transform mass-produced
tech. Objects made with basic materials, such techniques can adjust to changing circum- clothes into custom garments that can adjust
as rocks and string, can be more robust and stances, giving them the potential to be more to different conditions to keep the wearer
adaptable than technology-heavy versions. reliable than their static counterparts. comfortable in various climates.
Granular jamming creates structures that are strong, flexible, and reversible. Two members tightened evenly and are well aligned.
of the MIT Self-Assembly Lab construct a wall by evenly distributing loose rocks and string Or when bolting a tire onto a car, it is
inside a wooden mold (above left). Structures made by this method are stable enough to be ro- recommended to follow a star pattern
tated flat, as demonstrated by the column-turned-beam (above right). Tightening the wooden of tightening to ensure that the tire sits
boards at either end compresses the beam into an arch strong enough to walk across (opposite
perfectly snug. If you overtighten one
page, left). When no longer needed, the structure can be “switched off,” and the materials will
side substantially more than the other,
fall back into their original forms: loose rock and string (opposite page, right).
then the initial side will be tightened
off-axis. These simple techniques allow
make the components with extreme pre- A second approach is to build each structures to have some flexibility and to
cision, with the exact angle needed for part so it can pivot or flex where it self-align, falling perfectly in place with-
the exact number of parts. If you start to meets the neighboring part—building out measurement or precise machines.
connect the parts with rigid and strong error correction into the system. With
connections, you will need to build in flexible connections, as the parts of the Fast, Strong, and Reversible
some error tolerance. If the weather circle come together, they adjust to one In my role as the founder and codirector
changes, or the moisture or tempera- another. As the last part goes into the of the Massachusetts Institute of Tech-
ture increases, the parts may become circle, all of the others can adjust their nology’s Self-Assembly Lab, I often
slightly larger or smaller than originally angles to create perfection. Adding strive for less material and less com-
designed. The machine that was used to simple flexibility in the connections plexity in our designs, but there is also a
case for material redundancy if we view
the term in a different light. If you have
more material than necessary, you can
The jammed rocks and string behaved like sometimes create a very simple system
that may be fast, inexpensive, and easy
a solid structure, but once we removed to build. Think of a bird’s nest—it can be
expediently assembled, often with a lack
the top and bottom plates, it instantly of precision. The geometric intricacy of
the nest can be robust and create breath-
dissolved, which meant that we could ability and flexibility—features that a
more rigid structure may not achieve.
switch the structure on or off at any time. So we can sometimes counteract a lack
of efficiency in material usage if we can
increase speed, improve material place-
ment, and decrease cost by using simple
fabricate them and the materials them- allows the circle to find its own equi- and imprecise components to create a
selves all have some amount of error librium. When the environment fluctu- robust and adaptable structure.
tolerance. If you have just a few compo- ates, these units will adapt and adjust, The Self-Assembly Lab in collabora-
nents, it might work. But as you increase always maintaining the perfect circle. tion with Gramazio Kohler Research
the number of parts, tolerance propa- Flexibility serves as a form of error at ETH Zurich developed a project that
gates, and it is likely that the last part correction that provides us with more highlights this principle of material re-
won’t fit perfectly. Even if the parts fit robust structures without adding more dundancy and adaptability: a system
or can be forced together, fluctuations in material or complexity to the design. of granular jamming that uses rocks and
the environment may create differential Similarly, when we are assembling string to create load-bearing columns or
expansion or contraction, causing the something with bolts, we are often told walls. Granular jamming is a material
circle to buckle or bulge. Every piece has not to overtighten the first bolt. Rather, phenomenon that allows disordered
only one place in the finished circle, and we hand-tighten all of the bolts and then particles to transition from a liquid-like
each one needs to be made with 100 per- go back around and tighten the rest. This state into a solid-like state and back
cent precision to create the perfect circle. process ensures that all of the bolts are again. Think of coffee in a vacuum-
Mass-Produced Tailoring
Recently, we looked at the adaptabil-
ity of our textiles to address changing
functionality or comfort requirements
while the product is in use. We wanted
to go beyond just the shape change of
a textile and create porosity change,
with new functionality built directly
into the textile from the filaments, fi-
bers, and yarns all the way up to the
garment. To accomplish this goal we
worked in collaboration with the cloth-
ing company Ministry of Supply and
other researchers on a project through Active textile tailoring can give mass-produced garments a bespoke look and feel. Clothes
an organization called Advanced made in factories come in standard sizes (such as small, medium, and large) that fit a range
Functional Fabrics of America. of people, but are not tailored to individual bodies. Active textiles use yarns with specific
The first development was focused material combinations knit into geometric structures that contract when exposed to heat or
on a single-direction transformation, moisture (bottom). Strategic application of heat transforms a loose sweater (top left) into a
where the textile could transform only custom-fit garment (top right).
once and never again. This type of
transformation was geared toward tai- even the same product and same size can go from a 3D body scan of the cus-
loring and creating customized prod- can be completely different depending tomer, and then directly manufacture a
ucts that fit an individual’s body. Typi- on what factory it came from. With our unique garment and ship it to the cus-
cally, tailoring is only possible either research, we showed that we could still tomer’s door. This process is extremely
by manufacturing a custom garment, mass-produce garments, taking advan- challenging logistically, however, be-
which is often logistically complicated, tage of the speed, scale, and efficiency cause the custom program to run the
expensive, and slow, or by manually of industrial knit textile manufacturing, knitting machine is not automated and
cutting and sewing in a traditional tai- yet we could activate garments to self- because of the lack of dimensional pre-
loring process, which is often labor in- transform around the customer. cision in textile manufacturing, which
tensive and expensive. For these two There are a number of examples makes this an unsolved problem.
reasons, mass-produced garments use where companies are trying to mass Our approach was to avoid the cus-
standard sizes—such as small, medi- customize textile products using indus- tom program and custom manufacturing
um, large, and extra-large—that don’t trial knitting, either flatbed knitting or challenges and focus on embedding the
fit any individual perfectly. Similarly, circular knitting. The dream is that you customization intelligence directly into
A few noteworthy women members include Getty Cori, 1947 Nobel Prize winner
in Medicine; Barbara McClintock, 1983 Nobel Prize winner in Medicine; Maria
Goeppert-Mayer, 1963 Nobel Prize in Physics; Sally Ride, physicist and
1st American woman astronaut; and Jennifer Doudna, 2020 Nobel Prize winner
in Chemistry.
Email: membership@sigmaxi.org
www.sigmaxi.org
Robert R. Morris. 2011. Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society 1886–2011. Marengo, Illinois: Walsworth Publishing Company.
A
s an environmental historian interesting one to my mind: “Why,
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE
with a deep interest in the his- at the pinnacle of our ecological suc-
tory of conservation, I greeted cess, did we begin to conserve some of
THE CONTAMINATION OF THE David Western’s new book, We Alone: the very species we had conquered?”
EARTH: A History of Pollu- How Humans Conquered the Planet and Western recognizes that this impulse is
tions in the Industrial Age. By Can Also Save It, with enthusiasm, hop- a product of a certain moment in his-
François Jarrige and Thomas Le ing to learn cutting-edge lessons from a tory, and of a certain privileged place
Roux. conservationist whose career has been in that moment, and he freely admits
page 313 marked by taking African peoples and that his Maasai friends and informants,
communities as seriously as the ani- though conservation-minded in their
DO NOT ERASE: Mathemati- mals with whom they share the land- own ways, do not share his modern
cians and Their Chalkboards. scape. Western is a renowned wildlife conservation sensibility. In this way,
By Jessica Wynne. scientist and a pioneer in community- he thoughtfully interrogates his own
page 315 based conservation who has worked for evolving conservation commitments,
more than half a century in East Africa, questioning the role they ought to play
ONLINE
with a particular focus on Amboseli in responding to human domination
National Park and the Maasai lands of of the planet, and he clearly recognizes
On our Science Culture blog: the Kenya-Tanzania border region. At that the Maasai have other interests
americanscientist.org/blogs its core, We Alone is a deeply personal and struggles.
/science-culture book that traces the arc of his intellectu- Part II, “The Human Age,” is the
Plastic Pollution and al evolution from a hunter to a wildlife shortest section and purports to chart
Land Relations ecologist and conservationist, and it ex- the more recent history of the epoch
Katie L. Burke reviews a new amines the lessons that he has learned that some now call the Anthropocene
book by Max Liboiron, Pollution from Maasai herders and other African and the forces of globalization that are
Is Colonialism, which urges peoples who have made a living from driving it. Western explains many of
that scientific practice take an the land while also conserving its re- the disturbing trends of this era, dur-
anticolonial approach in order sources. The book is at its best when it ing which humans are diverting huge
to become better aligned with springs from Western’s own experience amounts of biological productivity to
Indigenous concepts of land, and expertise, his thoughtful positions, their ends and fouling their own nest
water, and ethics. and his own learning across time. But (to use one of his favored metaphors).
grafted onto that story is another book, However, his discussion here is often
much more sweeping in its ambitions quite derivative (he is overly fond of
and less successfully realized—a book summarizing the many books he has
that hopes to explain, as its subtitle read), and a bit too selective and su-
suggests, how humans conquered the perficial. He is also surprisingly fa-
planet and can also save it. talistic about these trends and at the
T
sion, and they often ignore the politi- he value of this idiosyncratic
cal and economic channels of power book rests primarily on three
that have most profoundly contrib- things, the first two of which
uted to the problem. Capitalism, for are at odds with each other. First, it at-
instance, as a powerful historical force tempts to be synoptic and global in cov-
and the engine of globalization, is all ering its topic—an admirable ambition,
but ignored in this book. but one very imperfectly realized here.
In the end, We Alone tries to do Second, it contains a wealth of specific
David Western, who grew up in Tanzania, too much. It wants to be both a book information about French pollution
started out in life as a hunter, but at age 14 he about the history and prospects of history, most of which was previously
traded his gun for a camera, and as an adult ecological conservation in a radically unavailable to those who don’t read
he began studying and saving wildlife in the changing world, and one that grap- French. Third, it focuses particularly on
Amboseli game reserve on Kenya’s border ples with a set of sweeping histori- the role of chemical industries, which
with Tanzania. He is shown here holding
cal problems that have led us into the deserves more attention from historians
a cheetah orphan. Photo courtesy of David
Western. From We Alone.
Anthropocene and for which species than it has received.
conservation is only a small part of The Contamination of the Earth: A His-
the solution. I wish Western had stuck tory of Pollutions in the Industrial Age is
same time sanguine that they may with what he knows best, community- a translation of a French edition pub-
be our salvation. “Despite its level- based conservation and its future, for lished in 2017, authored by French his-
ing force,” he writes, “globalization those are the most insightful and satis- torians who specialize in the environ-
is both inevitable and our best hope fying parts of We Alone. mental and social history of industrial
for bettering our lives and sustaining Western is admirably aware that France. Although one might harp on
planetary health.” modern wildlife conservation makes the fact that the book does not live up
Part III, “Our Once and Future most sense to those in positions of mod- to its stated goal of providing a global
Planet,” turns to ostensible solutions— ern material affluence. However, his view of modern pollution, I think it
ways of managing the Human Age solution seems to consist in bringing more appropriate to appreciate the au-
for greater human and environmen- that level of material affluence to the thors’ attention to their home country.
tal well-being. As with the previous entirety of the world’s population; he Most of what the book has to say about
two sections, this one is most satisfy- is confident that people’s values will pollution history in Britain, Germany,
ing when Western is talking about his then pivot to his form of conservation. and the United States has already been
own rich experience and wisdom as He is to be applauded for linking con- said in publications familiar to anglo-
a practicing conservationist and the servation to development in this way, phone environmental historians. The
many challenges that we now face but in my estimation he has too much attention given here to Russia, Japan,
in conserving other species. Western faith that development can solve the South Africa, Mexico, and other lands
founded and chairs the African Con- problems of global inequality and ease with significant pollution history is
servation Centre in Nairobi, and his pressures on the global environment. thin. But Jarrige and Le Roux—with
other career milestones have included the help of their translators, Janice
heading the international programs of Egan and Michael Egan—illuminate
the Wildlife Conservation Society, es- Paul S. Sutter is a professor of history at the Uni- the history of French pollution more
tablishing Kenya’s Wildlife Planning versity of Colorado Boulder. His current book proj- fully, and more insightfully, than any-
ect is an environmental and public health history
Unit and directing Kenya’s Wildlife one has done before in English.
of the construction of the Panama Canal. His other
Service, and serving as founding presi- books include Let Us Now Praise Famous Gul-
The translation has rendered the
dent of the International Ecotourism lies: Providence Canyon and the Soils of the French text into smooth English. The
Society. His leadership in community- South (University of Georgia Press, 2015) and authors, and their translators, insist on
based conservation really shows in his Driven Wild: How the Fight Against Automo- using the awkward-sounding plural
complex understanding of the social biles Launched the Modern Wilderness Move- pollutions to emphasize the diversity
and cultural challenges to be met in ment (University of Washington Press, 2002). of substances and processes involved.
C
old days. In their view, the environ- halk is the fossil fuel of modern without the irresistible distraction of
mentalism of the past 50 years has met mathematics. It was formed in human presence.
with minimal success. They maintain the Cretaceous period, roughly Among the unseen mathematicians
that when environmental movements 100 million years ago, when the seas are many celebrities, including five re-
seeking to reduce pollution demand swarmed with foraminifera and other cipients of the Fields Medal, which is
that “economic decisions should be planktonic organisms whose calcium- typically described as the mathemati-
constrained by the planet’s ecological rich skeletons accumulated in thick beds cal equivalent of a Nobel Prize. But I
rhythms,” those movements are “in- of the soft, white stone. Now the chalk am delighted to report that there are
variably marginalized and ignored.” is quarried, refined, and pressed into also lots of grad students and post-
The root cause of enduring pollution, crayon-size sticks that mathematicians docs and junior faculty, whose black-
and the failure of efforts to check it is, delight in stroking across smooth slate. board scribblings are every bit as in-
in a word, capitalism. “Entrepreneurs A chalkboard is the preferred medium teresting as those of the illuminati.
insist on small individual gestures and of expression for many kinds of mathe- Wynne came to this subject not as an
good practices without ever calling matical discourse: solitary ruminations, adept or an aficionado of mathematics,
into question the global organization teaching, presenting work to colleagues, but through an accident of geography:
of the world and its productive and collaborative research sessions. Her summertime neighbors on Cape
consumerist model,” complain Jarrige Do Not Erase presents more than 100 Cod are Amie Wilkinson and Benson
and Le Roux. “While pollutions accen- specimens of the mathematical chalk- Farb, mathematicians at the University
tuate inequalities and global injustices, board, in color photographs made by of Chicago. One day she found it in-
their regulation requires a radical re- Jessica Wynne, who is on the faculty of triguing to watch Farb work for hours
shaping of power and expertise.” the Fashion Institute of Technology in in his notebook on a complex problem.
I, however, would like to believe that
replacing a fossil fuel–based energy
regime with something more benign,
and radically reducing industrial pol-
Are we now living through the last great
lution in the process, can be achieved
without the bloodshed and mayhem
days of chalkboard culture?
that the overthrow of capitalism might
entail. Capitalism has proved durable, New York. Each photograph occupies Later she visited Jaipur, India, where
and the most successful efforts at coun- a full page. The facing page holds a she photographed elementary school
tering it gave birth to the Soviet Union capsule biography of the mathemati- blackboards filled with lessons in the
and Mao Zedong’s China, neither of cian whose work is on exhibit, and Hindi language. Looking at the photos
which, as the authors recognize, did a few paragraphs of commentary or on her return, she was reminded of the
much of anything to check pollution. explanation. mathematical symbols in Farb’s note-
So if it is indeed true that large-scale Some of the chalkboards were clearly book. What the Hindi and the mathe-
reduction in industrial pollutions will produced specifically for the occasion matics had in common was their inscru-
require the abolition of capitalism, the of the photographer’s visit, but most tability to someone from outside the
odds appear sharply unfavorable— of them are candid records of recent or culture. She was excited by these pat-
both because capitalism is hard to abol- ongoing work. The photographs gen- terns that both drew her in and pushed
ish, and because abolishing it would erally show the entire board and little her away, and thus was launched a
not guarantee a better result. else—perhaps a chalk tray, an eraser, project. She set up her tripod in depart-
or the “Do Not Erase” placard that ments of mathematics at two dozen
gives the book its title. For each pho- American universities as well as a few
J. R. McNeill is an environmental historian and tograph, the camera has been placed institutions farther afield—in Paris and
University Professor at Georgetown University, squarely in front of the chalkboard, ac- its suburbs, and in Brazil.
and a former president of the American Historical
centuating its rectilinear geometry. As “Inscrutability” is a word that may
Association. He is the author of several books, the
most recent of which is The Webs of Humankind:
Wynne herself puts it, “I photograph well cross the reader’s mind when
A World History (W. W. Norton, 2020, 2 vol- in a literal, objective, straightforward looking at some of these images, where
umes), and is coauthor with Peter Engelke of The way—showing the chalkboards as real dense thickets of Greek and Roman let-
Great Acceleration: An Environmental History objects—capturing their texture, erasure ters sprout superscripts and subscripts.
of the Anthropocene since 1945 (The Belknap marks, layers of work, and all forms of Often, however, there’s at least a hint
Press of Harvard University Press, 2014). light reflecting off their surfaces.” of sense and substance, something for
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