All Stories by Sid Perkins
- Paleontology
Rare English bits are oldest known charcoal
Analyses of small black chunks of material extracted from 420-million-year-old rocks found along the England-Wales border suggest that they're remnants of the earliest known wildfire.
- Earth
Underwater Pavement: Asphalt deposits cover parts of Gulf of Mexico
Explorations of the seafloor in the southern Gulf of Mexico have revealed lavalike flows of asphalt that are home to a thriving ecosystem of microbes, mussels, tubeworms, and crabs.
- Paleontology
Fossil confirms that early arthropods molted
A 505-million-year-old fossil provides hard proof of that ancient arthropods shed their exoskeletons during growth, just as their modern relatives do.
- Paleontology
Ancient Buzzing: German site yields early hummingbird fossils
Excavations in Germany have yielded the only known fossils of hummingbirds from the Old World and by far the oldest such fossils unearthed anywhere.
- Earth
Tracks of dust devils spotted from space
Scientists scanning satellite images of the southern Sahara have detected trails left on the landscape by the whirlwinds commonly known as dust devils.
- Earth
It’s a Gas: Trees emit unknown volatile substances
The chemical reactions taking place just above a northern Michigan forest hint that trees there and elsewhere may be emitting highly reactive gaseous substances that scientists haven't yet identified or directly detected.
- Earth
Hurricanes churn up life-nurturing brews
Images of the North Atlantic taken from orbit suggest that hurricanes churn the ocean's surface enough to bring cool, nutrient-rich waters to the surface, thereby stimulating algal blooms that can last for weeks.
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- Paleontology
Early Biped Fossil Pops Up in Europe
A newly described, nearly complete 290-million-year-old fossil of an ancient reptile pushes back the evidence for terrestrial bipedalism by 60 million years.
- Earth
Lava Life: Hints of microbes in ancient ocean rocks
Microscopic, carbon-lined tubes in lava that erupted onto the ocean floor about 3.5 billion years ago were etched by microbes, a number of signs suggest.
- Animals
Hooking the Gullible
Research into fish behavior often reveals ways that bait designers can trick a fish into biting odd-looking lures, but angler appeal can also be an important marketing consideration.
- Earth
A slump or a slide? Density decides
Using a full-scale simulator, researchers showed that just a small difference in soil density determines whether a landslide becomes a fast-moving killer or merely one that slowly slumps downhill.
