All Stories by Sid Perkins
- Paleontology
The warm jungles of ancient France
Chemical analyses of amber excavated near Paris suggest that France was covered with a dense tropical forest about 55 million years ago.
- Archaeology
La Brea del Sur
Excavations at tar pits in Venezuela suggest that the fossils found there may rival those of the famed Rancho La Brea tar pits in Southern California.
- Paleontology
Whales started small
The ancestors of whales, some of which are the largest creatures ever to evolve, probably were mammals no larger than a fox.
- Earth
Plowing the Ancient Seas: Iceberg scours found off South Carolina
Recent sonar surveys off the southeastern United States have detected dozens of broad furrows on the seafloor that were carved by icebergs during the last ice age.
- Earth
In 2007, Greenland set a melting record
The duration and extent of ice melt across high-altitude portions of the Greenland ice sheet last year were the highest they've been in recent decades, satellite observations indicate.
- Earth
No-drive experiment curbs air pollution in Beijing
Traffic-control measures can significantly reduce urban air pollution, a field study in Beijing this past summer indicates.
- Humans
An earlier thaw can trim winter logging
In New Hampshire, the trend toward earlier spring thaws has significantly lowered logging revenues.
- Paleontology
Struck from above
Evidence of an extraterrestrial object striking Earth at the height of the last ice age comes from micrometeorites embedded in the tusks of creatures that were grazing the Alaskan tundra when the object burst in the air above.
- Earth
Portrait of a Meltdown: Many factors led to 2007’s record low in Arctic sea ice
A variety of climatological factors converged in a perfect storm that melted the Arctic Ocean's ice cover to a record low in 2007. It could be a harbinger of ice-poor summers for decades to come.
- Earth
North by Northwest
The Earth's magnetic poles wander around quite a bit, a phenomenon that occasionally confounded ancient explorers but is proving useful for today's archaeologists.
- Earth
The Salt Flat That Isn’t Flat: World’s largest playa sports ridges, valleys
An innovative field survey of the world's largest salt flat, a New Jersey–size playa high in the Andes, reveals that the barren expanse actually has minuscule, centimeter-scale variations in topography.
- Humans
Divorce is not ecofriendly
Divorce often takes a devastating toll on families, but it has significant impacts on the environment as well.
