Sid Perkins

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

All Stories by Sid Perkins

  1. Earth

    Satellites could help track sea level

    Experiments that used signals from Global Positioning System satellites to precisely measure altitude above a lake's surface may pave the way for fleets of spaceborne sensors that can quickly and inexpensively monitor local and global changes in sea level.

  2. Earth

    Bolts from the blue can have long reach

    Current U.S. Air Force operating procedures recommend personnel stop working outdoors when lightning is spotted within 5 nautical miles, but a new analysis suggests that this distance may not be adequate to fully protect aircraft and ground crews.

  3. Earth

    Southeastern Alaska is on the rebound

    Scientists using the Global Positioning System to track ground movement along faults in southeastern Alaska have measured something entirely different—the rapid rise of parts of the region due to the recent melting of glaciers.

  4. Earth

    Global warming to boost cotton yields

    The increase of carbon dioxide expected in the coming decades may boost cotton yields up to 26 percent, new models predict.

  5. Earth

    Toxic metals taint ancient dust

    A new study of dust lofted to Antarctica suggests that excess amounts of trace metals coated dust grains long before human industrial activity began loading the atmosphere with pollutants.

  6. Earth

    Turbulence leads to early rain of ash

    A new aerodynamic analysis suggests that chaotic turbulence in a high-altitude cloud of volcanic ash can cause small particles of the ash to clump together and fall to the ground much closer to the volcano than expected.

  7. Earth

    It’s bottoms up for iron at sea’s surface

    Sediments drilled from the seafloor off Antarctica suggest that the dissolved iron in surface waters that fuels much of the region's biological productivity comes from upwelling deep water currents, not from dust blowing off the continents.

  8. Earth

    Forest-soil fungi emit gases that harm ozone layer

    Laboratory tests reveal for the first time that certain types of common fungi can produce ozone-destroying methyl halide gases.

  9. Earth

    Early last month, the iceberg cracked

    A huge crack across the floating portion of an Antarctic glacier has cleaved the ice shelf and spawned a new iceberg much more quickly than scientists had expected.

  10. Earth

    Charcoal warms the whole world

    The techniques used in developing nations to transform wood into charcoal are net emitters of greenhouse gases, even though the wood used to produce the fuel removed globe-warming carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as it was growing.

  11. Paleontology

    Turn Your Head and Roar

    The analysis of fossils that preserve evidence of diseases that appear to be similar or identical to afflictions that strike modern animals, including humans, could help scientists better grasp the causes and courses of today's ailments.

  12. Ecosystems

    Move over, Leo. Give me more elbow room

    The average size of the largest land animals on each of 25 oceanic islands and five continents strongly depends on the land area there.