Sid Perkins

Sid Perkins is a freelance science writer based in Crossville, Tenn.

All Stories by Sid Perkins

  1. Earth

    Snow alga may be sizable carbon sink

    A common microorganism that adds a reddish tinge to some patches of snow may be a significant consumer of planet-warming carbon dioxide.

  2. Earth

    Northern Vents: Arctic shows surprising hydrothermal activity

    A recent survey along a midocean ridge beneath the Arctic icepack unveiled an unexpected abundance of hydrothermal activity.

  3. Humans

    Unfounded Fear: Scared to fly after 9/11? Don’t reach for the car keys

    A new analysis of transportation in the United States shows that flying remains a much safer way to travel than driving, even when airline fatalities resulting from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks are included.

  4. Earth

    Sulfur Studies: Early Earth’s air was oxygen-poor

    Analyses of ancient sulfide minerals and the modern organisms that create sulfides are giving scientists a better idea of what Earth's atmosphere and oceans may have been like billions of years ago.

  5. Earth

    Mapping with GRACE

    Global gravity maps compiled from data painstakingly gathered during the last 30 years have now been rendered obsolete by a pair of satellites that were launched just last March.

  6. Earth

    Toppling icebergs sped breakup of Larsen B ice shelf

    Scientists now think they know what accelerated the rapid disintegration of most of Antarctica's Larsen B ice shelf early this year after a strong summer storm pummeled the region.

  7. Earth

    Toppling icebergs sped breakup of Larsen B ice shelf

    Scientists now think they know what accelerated the rapid disintegration of most of Antarctica's Larsen B ice shelf early this year after a strong summer storm pummeled the region.

  8. Earth

    Contrails forecast on the horizon

    Studies of the contrails generated by jets flying high over Alaska may lead to improved techniques for predicting the formation of the artificial clouds, which some scientists suggest have a warming effect on Earth's climate.

  9. Earth

    Contrails forecast on the horizon

    Studies of the contrails generated by jets flying high over Alaska may lead to improved techniques for predicting the formation of the artificial clouds, which some scientists suggest have a warming effect on Earth's climate.

  10. Earth

    Warm arctic summer melted much ice

    Satellite observations of the Arctic Ocean show that the amount of sea ice there this year was the lowest it's been in more than 20 years.

  11. Earth

    Warm arctic summer melted much ice

    Satellite observations of the Arctic Ocean show that the amount of sea ice there this year was the lowest it's been in more than 20 years.

  12. Planetary Science

    Fresh crater found on lunar images

    Scientists analyzing images of the moon's surface taken from lunar orbit believe they've identified the crater that formed when a small asteroid slammed into the moon almost 5 decades ago.