Sid Perkins

Sid Perkins is a freelance science writer based in Crossville, Tenn.

All Stories by Sid Perkins

  1. Earth

    Groundwater use adds CO2 to the air

    Pumping out groundwater for crop irrigation or industrial purposes releases planet-warming carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

  2. Planetary Science

    Chilled Out? Ice could lurk beneath Martian equator

    An immense volume of ice-rich material may underlie a formation that extends about one-quarter of the way around Mars' equator.

  3. Paleontology

    Meet the old wolves, same as the new wolves

    The dire wolf, an extinct species preserved in abundance at the La Brea tar pits, seems to have had a social structure similar to that of its modern-day relatives.

  4. Paleontology

    Dinosaurs matured sexually while still growing

    Distinctive bone tissue in fossils of several dinosaur species suggests that the ancient reptiles became sexually mature long before they gained adult size.

  5. Paleontology

    Deinonychus’ claws were hookers, not rippers

    The meat-eating dinosaur Deinonychus probably used the large, sicklelike claw on its foot to grip and climb large prey, not disembowel it.

  6. Paleontology

    The first matrushka

    A newly found fossil preserves one creature inside another that lies nestled inside yet another, a Paleozoic version of the Russian nesting dolls known as matrushkas.

  7. Paleontology

    Digging the Scene: Dinos burrowed, built dens

    Dinosaurs remains fossilized within an ancient burrow are the first indisputable evidence that some dinosaurs maintained an underground lifestyle.

  8. Paleontology

    Fossil mystery solved?

    Experiments in a Florida swamp show how aquatic creatures can get trapped and preserved in amber, a form of hardened tree sap.

  9. Earth

    Invasive, Indeed

    Some people may live lightly on the land, but the demands of the world's population as a whole consume nearly a quarter of Earth's total biological productivity.

  10. Archaeology

    Lake-Bottom Bounty: Some Arctic sediments didn’t erode during recent ice ages

    Sediments in a few lakes in northeastern Canada were not scoured away during recent ice ages, a surprising find that could prove a boon to climate researchers.

  11. Paleontology

    Unexpected Archive: Mammoth hair yields ancient DNA

    Hair from ancient mammoths contains enough genetic material to permit reconstruction of parts of the animal's genome.

  12. Astronomy

    Out-of-focus find

    Blurry images yield estimates of the true width of glowing meteor vapor trails in Earth's upper atmosphere.