Sid Perkins

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

All Stories by Sid Perkins

  1. Earth

    Satellites discover new Arctic islands

    Danish researchers analyzing satellite observations of remote Tobias Island, discovered in 1993 off the northeastern coast of Greenland, have stumbled upon a new group of small islands nearby.

  2. Earth

    All Cracked Up from the Heat? Major hunk of an Antarctic ice shelf shatters and drifts away

    A Rhode Island-size section of an Antarctic ice shelf splintered into thousands of icebergs in a mere 5-week period during the area's warmest summer on record.

  3. Earth

    Rocks in Earth’s mantle could hold five oceans

    Analysis of minerals created in the laboratory under conditions that simulate those deep within the planet suggests that the zone of rocks just outside Earth's core could hold enough water to fill the oceans five times.

  4. Animals

    Lemonade from Broken Amber

    The fossilized microbes found inside termites that have been encased in amber for 20 million years are remarkably similar to those found within the ancient insects' modern cousins.

  5. Paleontology

    Old Frilly Face: Triceratops’ relative fills fossil-record gap

    Fossils of a creature the size of a Texas jackrabbit cast new light on the early evolution of a group of horned dinosaurs that include the 8-meter-long Triceratops.

  6. Humans

    Science Smarts: Talent search honors top student projects in math, science, and engineering

    Forty students reaped rewards for their excellence this week when the Intel Science Talent Search handed out the top awards in its 2002 competition for high school seniors.

  7. Earth

    Space Rocks’ Demo Job: Asteroids, not comets, pummeled early Earth

    An analysis of trace elements found in a variety of meteorites suggests that most of the heavenly objects that rained hell on the inner solar system about 3.9 billion years ago were asteroids, not comets.

  8. Paleontology

    Duck-faced croc had a gap-toothed grin

    Paleontologists have unearthed fossils of a tiny crocodile that boasted a smile like no other: The animal had no teeth across the entire front of its mouth.

  9. Earth

    Avalanche!

    Laboratory studies of how snow crystals change shape under fluctuating environmental conditions and computer analyses that match the patterns of past avalanches with detailed meteorological data are helping scientists uncover the secrets of avalanches.

  10. Paleontology

    No Olympian: Analysis hints T. rex ran slowly, if at all

    Tyrannosaurus rex, a bipedal meat eater considered by many to be the most fearsome dinosaur of its day, may not have been the swift Jeep-chaser portrayed by Hollywood.

  11. Earth

    El Niño’s coming! Is that so bad?

    Although El Niño is often blamed for ill effects that total billions of dollars, a broader analysis suggests that the United States garners substantial benefits during this weather pattern.

  12. Humans

    And Counting . . . : Latest census resets U.S. population clock

    The 2000 census missed a little more than 1 percent of the nation’s population, due in part to a surge of undocumented immigrants to the United States in the late 1990s.