Uncategorized

  1. Earth

    Pompeii debris yields calamity clues

    The magnetic characteristics of rocks and debris excavated from Pompeii reveal the changing temperatures of the volcanic ash cloud that smothered the Italian city in A.D. 79.

    By Sid Perkins
  2. Anthropology

    Extinct ancestor wasn’t so finicky

    Contrary to much anthropological thought, the genus Paranthropus showed as much dietary and behavioral flexibility as ancient Homo species did between 3 million and 1 million years ago.

    By Bruce Bower
  3. Earth

    Deep Pacific waters warmed in recent years

    Oceanographic data gathered across the North Pacific in 1985 and again in 1999 indicate that the deepest waters there have been heating up.

    By Sid Perkins
  4. Chemistry

    New champions among corrosive microbes

    Newly discovered strains of bacteria have developed a metabolic shortcut for eating away iron with great efficiency.