All Stories by Sid Perkins
- Earth
Earth knocked for a loop
Chile’s February 27 temblor, tectonically linked to another giant quake 50 years ago, sped up the Earth’s rotation and tipped the planet’s axis.
- Paleontology
Ancient DNA suggests polar bears evolved recently
A study of a rare Norwegian fossil narrows down when polar bears evolved and finds they are closely related to modern-day brown bears in Alaska.
- Life
Hydrothermal vents sometimes colonized from afar
Deep-sea currents can waft larvae hundreds of kilometers.
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The carbon footprint of industrial whaling
Blog: Over the past century, whale hunting released 128,000 Hummers’ worth of carbon into the atmosphere
- Ecosystems
Sea of plastics
Oceanographers are finding more patches of floating polymers, some up to 20 meters deep.
- Ecosystems
Sperm whales may team up to herd prey
Data recorders yield first hints of coordinated feeding behavior.
- Paleontology
Sail-backed dinos had semiaquatic lifestyle
Isotopic analyses of fossils suggest the carnivores had crocodile-like habits.
- Earth
Sea levels erratic during latest ice age
Mineral crusts deposited 81,000 years ago in a Mediterranean island’s caves suggest an abrupt jump in sea level.
- Earth
Oldest feathered dino shows its colors
Analysis of a fossil suggests plumage first evolved for display, not flight.
- Paleontology
Reverbs of bat echolocation studies
Ancient bat may well have used sound waves to sense the world, Sid Perkins reports in the latest Deleted Scenes blog.
- Climate
Water vapor slowed recent global warming trend
A decline in stratospheric water vapor has slowed Earth’s surface warming slightly in recent years.
- Earth
Dinosaurs, in living color
Researchers find microscopic structures in some fossils that may have held pigments.
