All Stories by Sid Perkins
- Earth
Seafloor chronicles
Survey of ocean floor reveals long history, from a geological fault to the wreckage of the Lusitania.
- Oceans
Death by magma
Widespread extinctions in the world’s oceans millions of years ago may have been triggered by massive underwater volcanic eruptions that created much of the Caribbean seafloor.
- Climate
Another climate ailment
Global warming may turn out to be more than just a pain in the neck: Rising average temperatures could trigger an increased prevalence of kidney stones.
- Earth
Howdy, neighbor!
About 800 million years ago, East Antarctica, now one of the coldest regions on Earth, abutted what is now Death Valley, Calif., one of the hottest.
- Earth
Precious little gems
Ancient microdiamonds embedded inside ancient zircons found in western Australia suggest that life may have existed on Earth up to 4.25 billion years ago.
- Physics
Layers in a Stradivarius
Slight differences in the wood from which violins are made might be what distinguishes a mellow-toned Stradivarius from an ordinary instrument.
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- Life
Fossil helps document shift from sea to land
New fossils of an ancient, four-limbed creature help fill in the blanks of the evolutionary transition between fish and the first land-adapted vertebrates.
- Earth
Unintended consequences
A full recovery of the ozone hole over Antarctica in the coming years could significantly boost warming of the atmosphere over and around the icy continent.
- Earth
A rapid rise for the Andes
New evidence suggests that the South American mountain chain shot up 2.5 kilometers in a geological blink of an eye.
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- Earth
Slip, Slide, Shake
Analyses of GPS and seismic data about one of Antarctica’s largest and most dynamic glaciers provide new insights into the ice stream’s lurching march to the sea.
