From soil and water contamination to the deadly effects on wildlife, there are many impacts that stem from our trash. But when Lillygol Sedaghat set off on a 9,000-mile journey to better understand the plastic supply chain, she discovered many of those impacts can be positive — especially when communities recognize the untapped value of their trash.

Hummingbirds are incredible animals. For Dr. Anusha Shankar, who has studied hummingbirds from the cloud forests of Ecuador to the deserts of Arizona, it was the hummingbirds’ ability to use a hibernation-like state called “torpor” to save energy at night that ignited her interest. In “Hummingbirds, Hibernation, and Human Medicine,” Shankar not only shares her fascination with the strategies hummingbirds use to survive, but also how her and other scientists’ research on torpor has implications that soar beyond the realm of birds. Such research illuminates possibilities for human medicine, from life-saving techniques to futuristic ambitions such as cryogenics and human hibernation.