All Stories by Sid Perkins
- Earth
Sky High: Gamma-ray bursts are common in Earth’s upper atmosphere
Enigmatic bursts of high-energy gamma rays produced Earth's atmosphere are stronger and more frequent than previously thought.
- Paleontology
Groovy Bones: Mammalian ear structure evolved more than once
Fossils of an ancient egg-laying mammal indicate that the characteristic configuration of the bones in all living mammals' ears arose independently at least twice during the group's evolution.
- Earth
Ice age hit Missouri 2.4 million years ago
Analyses of a soil sample from central Missouri suggest the date of onset of North America's most recent spate of ice ages.
- Earth
When Mountains Fizz
Scientists are finding that the driving force behind a volcanic explosion is the same thing that propels spewing soda pop: bubbles.
- Earth
Early Warning: United States to deploy 32 more buoys for sensing tsunamis
On Jan. 14, the Bush administration announced a $37.5 million program to expand the nation's tsunami-warning capabilities.
- 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.
