All Stories by Sid Perkins
- Chemistry
Long Live Plastics
With plastics in museums decomposing, a new effort seeks to halt the demise of materials commonly thought to be unalterable.
- Life
A more fearsome saber-toothed cat
Analyses of fossils reveal that a third, newly recognized type of saber-toothed cat — one that killed by biting large chunks of flesh from its victim instead of biting its neck and slashing the major blood vessels there —roamed the Americas about a million years ago.
- Paleontology
How pterosaurs took flight
Extinct flying reptiles known as pterosaurs may have taken to the air with a technique akin to leapfrogging, new research suggests.
- Life
Fossil find may document largest snake
Rocks beneath a coal mine in Colombia have yielded fossils of what could be the world's largest snake, a 12.8-meter–long behemoth that's a relative of today's boa constrictors.
- Climate
Cooling climate ‘consensus’ of 1970s never was
Myth often cited by global warming skeptics debunked.
- Earth
Salinity sensors
Trace elements in the carbonate shells of freshwater mussels could serve as an archive of road salt pollution.
- Earth
Lake Superior’s ups and downs
Analyses of trees and other organic material buried in a riverbank near Lake Superior’s northwestern shore shed new light on how much and when the lake level varied soon after the last ice age.
- Earth
Pterodactyls may soar once more
Paleontologists and aeronautical engineers are designing a reconnaissance drone that will mimic the flight of an ancient flying reptile.
- Humans
Origins of Maya pottery material remain mysterious
Scientists haven’t yet identified the source of volcanic ash used in Maya pottery, but they now have geochemical clues about the ash’s composition.
- Earth
World’s largest tsunami debris
Seven immense coral boulders — one of them a three-story-tall, 1,200-metric-ton monster — have been found far inland on a Tongan island and may be the world's largest tsunami debris.
- Earth
When trees grew in Antarctica
Fossils of trees that grew in Antarctica millions of years ago suggest a growth pattern much different than modern trees.
- Earth
Earthquake history recorded in stalagmites
Where stalagmites start and stop in caves could offer more precise clues about when major earthquakes have hit (and could again hit) the Midwest.
