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Indigenous societies are known to have occupied the Amazon basin for more than 12,000 years, but the scale of their influence on Amazonian forests remains uncertain. We report the discovery, using LIDAR (light detection and ranging) information from across the basin, of 24 previously undetected pre-Columbian earthworks beneath the forest canopy. Modeled distribution and abundance of large-scale archaeological sites across Amazonia suggest that between 10,272 and 23,648 sites remain to be discovered and that most will be found in the southwest. We also identified 53 domesticated tree species significantly associated with earthwork occurrence probability, likely suggesting past management practices. Closed-canopy forests across Amazonia are likely to contain thousands of undiscovered archaeological sites around which pre-Columbian societies actively modified forests, a discovery that opens opportunities for better understanding the magnitude of ancient human influence on Amazonia and its current state. Indigenous societies have lived in the Amazon for at least 12,000 years. Finding evidence of these societies, however, has been greatly hampered by the density of the forest in Amazonia. Peripato et al. used LIDAR (light detection and ranging) surveys to identify more than 20 previously unidentified developments and then modeled the occurrence of others across the Amazon. The authors predict that between 10,000 and 24,000 ancient earthworks are waiting to be discovered. Sampling of some of the LIDAR transects revealed a consistent set of domesticated tree species associated with the developments, suggesting active forestry practices among these societies. —Sacha Vignieri Amazon-wide LIDAR surveys and predictive models suggest thousands of undocumented archaeological sites across the basin. Archaeological discoveries beneath the canopy Modeling basin-wide distribution of earthworks Relationships with domesticated species Social-ecological implications

BACKGROUND: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is common in heart failure (HF), is associated with worse outcomes compared with sinus rhythm, and may modify the effects of therapy. OBJECTIVES: This study examined the effects of dapagliflozin according to the presence or not of AF in the DELIVER (Dapagliflozin Evaluation to Improve the LIVEs of Patients With PReserved Ejection Fraction Heart Failure) trial. METHODS: A total of 6,263 patients with HF with New York Heart Association functional class II-IV, left ventricular ejection fraction >40%, evidence of structural heart disease, and elevated N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide levels were randomized to dapagliflozin or placebo. Clinical outcomes and the effect of dapagliflozin, according to AF status, were examined. The primary outcome was a composite of cardiovascular death or worsening HF. RESULTS: Of the 6,261 patients with data on baseline AF, 43.3% had no AF, 18.0% had paroxysmal AF, and 38.7% had persistent/permanent AF. The risk of the primary endpoint was higher in patients with AF, especially paroxysmal AF, driven by a higher rate of HF hospitalization: no AF, HF hospitalization rate per 100 person-years (4.5 [95% CI: 4.0-5.1]), paroxysmal AF (7.5 [95% CI: 6.4-8.7]), and persistent/permanent AF (6.4 [95% CI: 5.7-7.1]) (P < 0.001). The benefit of dapagliflozin on the primary outcome was consistent across AF types: no AF, HR: 0.89 (95% CI: 0.74-1.08); paroxysmal AF, HR: 0.75 (95% CI: 0.58-0.97); persistent/permanent AF, HR: 0.79 (95% CI: 0.66-0.95) (Pinteraction = 0.49). Consistent effects were observed for HF hospitalization, cardiovascular death, all-cause mortality, and improvement in the KCCQ-TSS. CONCLUSIONS: In DELIVER, the beneficial effects of dapagliflozin compared with placebo on clinical events and symptoms were consistent, irrespective of type of AF at baseline. (Dapagliflozin Evaluation to Improve the LIVEs of Patients With PReserved Ejection Fraction Heart Failure. [DELIVER]; NCT03619213). ispartof: JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF CARDIOLOGY vol:80 issue:18 pages:1705-1717 ispartof: location:United States status: published

The study of ancient cultures is hindered by the incomplete survival of material artifacts, so we commonly underestimate the diversity of cultural production in historic societies. To correct this survivorship bias, we applied unseen species models from ecology to gauge the loss of narratives from medieval Europe, such as the romances about King Arthur. The estimates obtained are compatible with the scant historic evidence. In addition to events such as library fires, we identified the original evenness of cultural populations as an overlooked factor in these assemblages’ stability in the face of immaterial loss. We link the elevated evenness in island literatures to analogous accounts of ecological and cultural diversity in insular communities. These analyses call for a wider application of these methods across the heritage sciences.

Sounds of the past can be easily forgotten, especially when soundscapes change gradually over long periods of time. This past spring, many people got a chance to experience how the outside world sounded in the 1950s. Global transport came to a halt as human activities decreased abruptly (either voluntarily or under direct order for lockdown) to stem the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). With fewer people driving cars and hardly any airplanes traversing the skies, the amount of background noise across whole continents dropped substantially. On page 575 of this issue, Derryberry et al. (1) report the impact of the COVID-19 shutdown on animal behavior—namely, the songs of white-crowned sparrows. The findings suggest that mitigation measures against noise pollution could yield immediate beneficial effects on urban wildlife.

Paleontological art, or paleoart, is experiencing a veritable renaissance. What sets this new practice apart is its embrace of the "known unknowns" and its ability to recognize that more than one possibility may be worthy of consideration. The resulting art is simultaneously more fantastic and more scientifically probable than anything we have seen before.

It is ironic to be reviewing Sonia Shah9s latest book, a thoughtful and thought-provoking defense of migration, under coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) lockdown. One irony is that this is the perfect time to be reading her excellent earlier book, Pandemic: Tracking Contagions, from Cholera to Ebola and Beyond. Another is that migration—at least by people and across borders—has virtually come to a standstill. But this is no reason to shelve The Next Great Migration: The Beauty and Terror of Life on the Move. International migration will rebound.