All Stories by Sid Perkins
- Paleontology
Bird Brain? Cranial scan of fossil hints at flight capability
Detailed computerized tomography scans of the fossilized braincase of an Archaeopteryx show that several flight-related regions of the feathered creature's brain were highly developed.
- Earth
Twin satellites track water’s rise and fall
A pair of satellites launched in 2002 has detected small, regional changes in Earth's gravitational field that are caused by seasonal variations in rainfall and soil moisture.
- Paleontology
Early life forms had a modular structure
Fossils recently discovered in northeastern Newfoundland reveal that some of Earth's earliest large organisms had modular body plans whose main architectural element was a branching, frondlike structure.
- Earth
Parting Shots
Data collected during an 18-day barrage of major solar flares late last year—including a record-setting coronal mass ejection on Nov. 4—will help scientists refine models of flare formation and behavior.
- Earth
Quick Bite: Some gorges carved surprisingly fast
Analyses of rock samples from two river gorges along the Atlantic seaboard suggest that the largest parts of those chasms were carved during a geologically short period at the height of the last ice age.
- Paleontology
Chipmunks in Wisconsin toughed out ice age
Analyses of DNA from chipmunks in parts of the U.S. Midwest hint that some populations of the creatures stayed in northern refuges rather than migrating south at the beginning of the last ice age.
- Earth
Sea Change: Carbon dioxide imperils marine ecosystems
Almost half the carbon dioxide produced by human activity in the past 2 centuries is now dissolved in the oceans, resulting in chemical changes that, if unchecked, could threaten some marine ecosystems.
- Earth
City Heat: Urban areas’ warmth affects plant growth
Satellite observations of eastern North America show that plants in and around urban areas bud earlier in the spring and retain their foliage later in the fall than do plants in nearby rural settings.
- Archaeology
Mexican murals store magnetic data
Tiny magnetic particles in the pigments of some Mexican murals recorded the direction of Earth's magnetic field when the paint dried.
- Earth
Warmer climate, decreased rice yield
Agricultural data gathered over a dozen years at a Philippines rice paddy suggest that climate changes brought about by global warming could significantly diminish rice yields.
- Paleontology
Neck Bones on the Menu: Fossil vertebrae show species interaction
Three fossil neck bones from an ancient flying reptile—one of them with the broken tip of a tooth embedded in it—indicate that the winged creatures occasionally fell victim to meat eaters.
- Earth
New database describes all the marbles
Analyses of the isotope ratios of carbon and oxygen in hundreds of samples of Greek marble may help researchers identify the quarries that supplied the stone for some of Europe's most famous statues and architecture.
