All Stories by Sid Perkins
- Earth
Desert glass: Is it baked Australia?
A profusion of fused, glassy material found on the desert plain of southern Australia might be the result of the intense heat from an extraterrestrial impact.
- Earth
Sediments Sink River’s Flow into Sea
Deep-sea observations of occasional sediment-rich plumes of fresh water dumped into the ocean by rivers suggest that such underflows may be a prime conveyor of pesticides, organic carbon, and various nutrients to the seafloor.
- Earth
Farmers could help heal Gulf of Mexico
Farm-derived nutrients in the Mississippi River that create a huge dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico could probably be substantially reduced if farmers simply used a little less fertilizer.
- Earth
Uranium recorded in high-altitude ice
An international team of scientists has analyzed a lengthy core of ice and snow drilled from atop Europe's tallest mountain to produce the first century-long record of uranium concentrations in a high-altitude environment.
- Earth
Grape-harvest dates hold climate clues
The vintner's habit of picking no grapes before their time may give scientists a tool that could help verify reconstructions of European climate for the past 500 years.
- Paleontology
Fossils Indicate. . .Wow, What a Croc!
Newly discovered fossils of an ancient cousin of modern crocodiles suggest that adults of the species may have been dinosaur-munching behemoths that grew to the length of a school bus and weighed as much as 8 metric tons.
- Paleontology
Even flossing wouldn’t have helped
Small particles trapped in minuscule cracks or pits in the teeth of plant-eating dinosaurs could give scientists a way to identify the types of greenery the ancient herbivores were munching.
- Paleontology
CT scan unscrambles rare, ancient egg
A tangled heap of bones and bone fragments in the bottom of an unhatched elephant bird egg may soon be reassembled into a model of the long-dead embryo, thanks to high technology—and scientists won't even have to crack open the egg to do it.
- Paleontology
How did Triceratops grow its horns?
Newly discovered fossil skulls of juvenile Triceratops may help reveal how the dinosaurs grew their three trademark horns.
- Paleontology
Fossils found under tons of Kitty Litter
Excavations at North America's largest Kitter Litter mine have yielded fossils of ancient aquatic reptiles, as well as evidence of a tsunami generated by the extraterrestrial impact that killed off the dinosaurs about 65 million years ago.
- Earth
Lowland tree loss threatens cloud forests
Changes in regional climate brought about by large-scale deforestation in the eastern lowlands of Central America are affecting weather in the mountains downwind, imperiling ecosystems there.
- Paleontology
Large shadows fell on Cretaceous landscape
Paleontologists have unearthed the remains of what they believe could be the largest flying creature yet discovered—a 12-meter-wingspan pterosaur.
