All Stories by Sid Perkins
- Paleontology
Tusk analyses suggest weaning took years
Changes in the proportions of various chemical isotopes deposited in mammoth tusks as they grew have enabled scientists to estimate how long it took juvenile mammoths to become fully weaned.
- Paleontology
Mmmm, that’s crunchy
Isotopic analyses of the teeth of otters and mongooses from Africa have led one paleontologist to suggest that some of humanity's ancient kin shared those modern animals' preference for shelled prey such as freshwater crabs and snails.
- Earth
Runaway Heat?
A variety of changes in the Arctic is making the region darker and accelerating its warming climate.
- Earth
Volcanic Suppression: Major eruptions can reduce sea level
Although scientists have known for years that major volcanic eruptions can temporarily cool Earth's climate, a team now suggests that such outbursts can temporarily cause sea level to drop for a while as well.
- Paleontology
Caribbean Extinctions: Climate change probably wasn’t the culprit
Remains of extinct sloths unearthed in Cuba and Haiti indicate that the creatures persisted in Caribbean enclaves until about 4,200 years ago, a finding that almost absolves climate change following the last ice age as a cause for the die-offs.
- Paleontology
Some plesiosaurs went for clams
The fossils of plesiosaurs recently unearthed in Australia suggest that the long-necked, aquatic reptiles had a more varied diet than scientists had previously suspected.
- Paleontology
Raptor Line: Fossil finds push back dinosaur ancestry
Fossils of a newly discovered raptor dinosaur species suggest that the reptile's lineage is older and more widespread than previously suspected.
- Earth
The browning of Europe
The lengthy heat wave and drought that struck Europe in the summer of 2003 stifled the growth of vegetation and thereby reduced the amount of carbon dioxide that the continent's plants extracted from the atmosphere.
- Earth
Invisible Rivers
The fresh water that seeps from continents into coastal waters via submarine springs is a phenomenon that many scientists are just beginning to appreciate, model, and accurately measure.
- Animals
Looks Matter: If swallows aren’t spiffy, mates’ fidelity is iffy
If a male barn swallow's plumage is more attractive than that of other males, his mate is less likely to have furtive flings with other wooers.
- Paleontology
DNA pegs Irish elk’s nearest relatives
Analyses of DNA of the Irish elk, which died out after the last ice age, may settle a long-running debate about the creature's place on the deer family tree.
- Earth
Dim View: Darkening skies a regional phenomenon
The decline in the solar radiation reaching Earth's surface in the latter half of the 20th century turns out to have been mostly a regional phenomenon.
