Lasers shed light on lost cities (Issue 31 Preview)

At 6 million square kilometres, the enormity of the Amazon Rainforest is difficult to comprehend. If you started at the eastern edge and walked 3000 kilometres westward, you still wouldn’t emerge from the dense canopy. In this vast ocean of trees, huge swathes remain unexplored by modern scientists and archaeologists. 

Today, the Amazon Rainforest is home to at least 100 uncontacted human tribes, an unimaginable reality in today’s hyperconnected world. Living in small groups, these indigenous people are generally nomadic, moving with the seasons through their territories and surviving by hunting and foraging the land. But has this always been the case? Recent evidence suggests that a vast network of ancient cities once thrived in this modern-day wilderness.

…To read the full article, head over to Issue 31: Science in the 22nd Century

Written by Anna Flemming (she/her), a graduate of medical sciences.