All Stories by Sid Perkins
- Earth
Dust devils produce magnetic fields
Scientists who chase dust devils report that the tiny twisters can produce a small magnetic field that changes magnitude between 3 and 30 times per second.
- Earth
Enjoy the beach. . .while it’s still there
Up to a quarter of the structures within 500 feet of America's coastlines may be lost to erosion in the next 60 years, according to a report issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency last week.
- Earth
Kilauea: 20 years on, it’s still erupting
As of Jan. 3, Kilauea—Hawaii’s Energizer Bunny of volcanic activity—has been erupting continuously for two decades.
- Earth
Electronic Jetsam
Oceanographers are developing and deploying a variety of seafaring probes—including drifters, gliders, and scientific torpedoes—that will enable them to explore and monitor the ocean remotely.
- Astronomy
In the Beginning: Dark matter builds galaxies, feeds quasars
Cosmologists say they have found compelling evidence that massive galaxies were already in place when the universe was less than a billion years old.
- Paleontology
Wings Aplenty: Dinosaur species had feathered hind limbs
A team of Chinese paleontologists has discovered fossils of a small, feathered dinosaur that they say had four wings.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
