All Stories by Sid Perkins
- Paleontology
Fossil birds sport a new kind of feather
Two fossil specimens of a primitive, starling-size bird that lived about 125 million years ago have tail feathers that may hold the clues to how feathers originated.
- Paleontology
Early Bird: Fossil features hint at go-get-’em hatchlings
A well-preserved, 121-million-year-old fossilized bird embryo has several features that suggest that the species' young could move about and feed themselves very soon after they hatched.
- Earth
Life Landed 2.6 Billion Years Ago
Unusually carbon-rich rocks found in eastern South Africa may push back the evidence of life on land to 2.6 billion years ago, more than twice the current age of indisputably terrestrial organisms.
- Earth
Change in the Weather? Wind farms might affect local climates
Large groups of power-generating windmills could increase wind speed, temperature, and ground-level evaporation, thereby influencing a region's climate.
- Earth
Extra rainfall may stem warming in Midwest
Increased precipitation in parts of the Midwest may reduce the temperature increases expected to occur in the next few decades as a result of global warming.
- Humans
What’s Wrong with This Picture?
Scientists and educators increasingly are using analyses of bad science in movies, as well as the good, to inform the public about scientific facts and principles.
- Humans
Nobel prizes: The sweet smell of success
Nobel prizes in the sciences went to research on olfactory genes, subatomic particles, and the molecular kiss of death.
- Tech
Dawn of the commercial space age
On Oct. 4, a privately funded, piloted craft called SpaceShipOne reached a height of 378,000 feet (115.1 kilometers), breaking a world altitude record for rocket-powered planes and claiming the $10 million Ansari X prize.
- Earth
Global warming won’t boost carbon storage in tundra
The notion that a warmer climate in arctic regions will lead to enhanced carbon sequestration in tundra ecosystems isn't supported by field data.
- Earth
Humming Along: Ocean waves may cause global seismic noise
The slow and nearly constant vibrations of Earth's crust stem from severe winter weather over some of the world's oceans.
- Paleontology
Big Gulp? Neck ribs may have given aquatic beast unique feeding style
The fossilized neck bones of a 230-million-year-old sea creature have features suggesting that the animal's snakelike throat could flare open and create suction to pull in prey.
- Earth
Cool Harvest: Frost on sea ice may boost atmosphere’s bromine
Frost flowers, the delicate crystals that sometimes grow atop fresh sea ice, can be a substantial source of ozone-destroying bromine in lower atmosphere near the poles.
