All Stories by Sid Perkins
- Paleontology
Reptilian Repast: Ancient mammals preyed on young dinosaurs
Two nearly complete sets of fossilized remains from 130-million-year-old rocks are revealing fresh details about the size and dietary habits of ancient mammals, hinting that some of these creatures were large enough to feast on small dinosaurs.
- Earth
Landscaping stones may pose risks to the environment
Chemical analyses suggest that planting ornamental rock gardens in some cases may not be doing the environment any favors.
- Earth
Big quakes can free grounded icebergs
Data gathered by equipment installed on an immense iceberg off Antarctica suggest that the ground motions spawned by large, distant earthquakes can free such bergs to float again.
- Earth
Seismic vibes gauge Earth’s crust
New seismic observations are adding to scientists' knowledge of the thickness of Earth's crust, especially in the Southern Hemisphere.
- Earth
Tsunami Disaster: Scientists model the big quake and its consequences
Scientists are modeling the immediate and long-term effects of the magnitude 9.0 earthquake that struck west of Indonesia the morning of Dec. 26, 2004, and triggered tsunamis that killed tens of thousands of people.
- Earth
Ocean-sensor project reaches milestone
Oceanographers seeking to deploy an armada of 3,000 robotic probes to take the pulse of Earth's oceans have passed the halfway mark and hope to have the full array of sensors in place by 2007.
- Earth
Shake Down: Deep tremors observed at San Andreas fault
Patterns of activity for a type of tremor that occurs deep beneath California's San Andreas fault may offer scientists a way to foretell earthquake activity there.
- Earth
Alpine glaciers on a hasty retreat
Comparisons of satellite images, aerial photos, and old surveys of Alpine glaciers indicate that the ice masses are losing area at an accelerating rate.
- Earth
Hidden Canyons
Among Earth's unsung geological masterpieces are undersea canyons, some of which stretch hundreds of kilometers and can be deep enough to hold skyscrapers.
- Earth
Snow Blow: Image of Mount Everest from orbit captures enormous plume
A photograph from Earth orbit of an immense plume of snow wafting from Mount Everest could shed new light on how strong winds redistribute precipitation in the Himalayas and other mountain chains.
- Earth
Some temblors probably were triggered by tides
Detailed analyses of large earthquakes suggest that some of them may have been triggered by strong tides in Earth's crust.
- Earth
Damp sandcastles
What keeps the 500-meter-tall dunes of China's Badain Jaran desert immobile, despite arid, windy conditions, is a previously unknown source of groundwater.
