https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-movie-of-the-evolving-universe-is-potentially-scary/

After the COVID-19 rules about social distancing went into effect, I developed a morning routine of jogging through the woods near my home. During the first months, I focused on the green branches that stretch upward towards the sky, but recently I started to notice the debris of tree trunks lying on the ground. There are many such remnants, eaten by termites, rotting and ultimately dispersing into the underlying soil. A glimpse at the forest reveals a sequence of evolutionary phases in the history of trees that lived or died at different times.


The phenomenon happens in other contexts. For example, I recently completed a nine-year term as chair of the Astronomy Department at Harvard. And only now have I begun to notice the former chairs scattered around me, just like those tree trunks in the woods.