Odd shapes hidden in dense Amazon rainforest reveal sprawling ancient civilization - Science | AAAS

6 min readImage of the Day for October 15, 2026During El Niño, a cascade of fires across the tropics begins in equatorial Asia and continues in the central and eastern Amazon. NASA Earth ObservatoryOct 15, 2026 Article Unlike a tornado or thunderstorm that can deliver destruction in minutes, El Niño exerts its influence over many months. This year, a drought accompanying El Niño has left the Amazon rainforest primed to burn, and scientists say the region has entered the early stages of what they think will be a long and severe fire season.

Good Chinese works more likely to be seen amid growing world interest Liu Cixin speaks to journalists on September 18, 2025 in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan Province, ahead of the Galaxy Science Fiction Convention. Photo: Lu Wenao/Global TimesChinese science fiction writer Liu Cixin said artificial intelligence (AI) may carry Earth's civilization beyond humanity, even if that future does not belong to humans, as he marked 20 years since The Three-Body Problem began serialization. Liu, speaking to the People's Daily on the sidelines of the 37th Galaxy Awards in Zigong, Southwest China's Sichuan Province, said humans have ceilings in intelligence and strength, and that evolution prepared them for the Earth, not the universe. "AI points to the future of Earth's civilization. That future may not belong to humans, but it is still meaningful," he said. The interview also reignited discussions on Chinese social media about when China's next The Three-Body Problem will appear, a question about how a Chinese literary creation can grow from a text into broad influence and how Chinese imagination can reach global audiences.