Sid Perkins

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

All Stories by Sid Perkins

  1. Climate

    Zapping sand to create rock could help curb coastal erosion

    Low voltages generated minerals that help bind the sand into erosion-resistant rock, offering hope for shorelines ravaged by waves.

  2. Space

    Scientists are getting serious about UFOs. Here’s why

    UFOs have been rebranded as UAPs (unidentified anomalous phenomena). Probably not aliens, they might impact national security and aircraft safety.

  3. Oceans

    In a seafloor surprise, metal-rich chunks may generate deep-sea oxygen

    Instead of sinking from the surface, some deep-sea oxygen may be created by battery-like nodules that split water into hydrogen and oxygen.

  4. Earth

    An ancient earthquake changed the course of the Ganges River

    Flooding from a similar earthquake today could threaten about 170 million people in India and Bangladesh who live in low-lying regions nearby.

  5. Rock from the impact that formed the moon may linger in Earth’s mantle

    When the young Earth and a Mars-sized body collided 4.5 billion years ago, it left behind dense mantle rock that survives to today, a study finds.

  6. Planetary Science

    Here’s another strike against Venus having copious lightning

    Past data and the Parker Solar Probe’s new discovery of weird whistler waves overturn the idea that Venus’ hellish atmosphere has a lot of lightning.

  7. Paleontology

    A one-of-a-kind trilobite fossil hints at what and how these creatures ate

    The preserved contents suggest the trilobite fed almost continuously and had a gut environment with an alkaline or neutral pH, researchers say.

  8. Planetary Science

    Flashes in Venus’ atmosphere might be meteors, not lightning

    With upcoming missions planned for Venus, scientists are eager to figure out the origin of the mysterious flashes.

  9. Planetary Science

    NASA’s DART mission lofted a swarm of boulders into space

    Hubble telescope images of the asteroid Dimorphos reveal a halo of 37 dim, newfound objects — most likely boulders shaken loose from the surface.

  10. Science & Society

    Humans exploit about one-third of wild vertebrate species

    An analysis of nearly 47,000 vertebrate animal species reveals that using them for food, medicine or the pet trade is helping push some toward extinction.

  11. Earth

    Irrigation may be shifting Earth’s rotational axis

    Computer simulations suggest that from 1993 to 2010 irrigation alone could have nudged the North Pole by about 78 centimeters.

  12. Climate

    Why is the North Atlantic breaking heat records?

    Record-breaking sea-surface temperatures off the coast of Africa may affect the 2023 hurricane season. What’s fueling the unusual heat is unclear.