Planet Earth, features and articles | Educational Science

Jul 31, 2008

Extreme Living: Scientists at the End of the Earth

Research Station (Image credit: Patrick Hovey / National Science Foundation)An elevated dorm at NSF's Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station is shown with a new elevated station in the background. The photo was taken on Sept. 9, 2005. The Pole is currently experiencing a period known as civil twilight; the sun will...

Jul 31, 2008

Oceans Running Low on Oxygen

Parts of the world's oceans are running low on oxygen, a new study finds. Fertilizers and other chemical pollutants in river runoff fuel blooms of algae that cause oxygen levels to dip precipitously when they die. A review of research into these so-called dead zones, detailed in the Aug. 15...

Jul 31, 2008

One-Third of U.S. Schools in 'Air Pollution Danger Zone'

As summer vacation ends and children head back to class, they might need a new school supply: face masks. About one third of American schools are within an “air pollution danger zone” near major highways and the pollutants that stream from cars and trucks, a new study finds. Previous research,...

Jul 31, 2008

Study: Large Earthquake Could Strike New York City

The New York City area is at substantially greater risk of earthquakes than previously thought, scientists said Thursday. Damage could range from minor to major, with a rare but potentially powerful event killing people and costing billions of dollars in damage. A pattern of subtle but active faults is known...

Jul 31, 2008

Hurricane Evacuations: A Better Way

Hurricane evacuations have long vexed emergency officials. Figuring out where a storm will hit is a sketchy bet 24 hours or more in advance, and many locations require at least that long to complete an evacuation. A new approach could save lives by getting certain groups of people, such as...

Jun 30, 2008

Antarctic Ice Shelf All But Lost

A vast shelf of ice in Antarctica is hanging on to the continent by a thread and is not expected to survive, scientists announced today. The Wilkins Ice Shelf is experiencing further disintegration that could collapse an ice bridge connecting the shelf to Charcot Island. Since the connection to the...

Jun 30, 2008

The U.S. Monsoon Gets New Respect

The monsoon is one of the least understood weather phenomena in the United States. Meteorologists have long argued over what to call this weeks-long outbreak of thunderstorms in the Southwest, often settling on the monsoon, which caused confusion because many people don't understand that a single summer thunderstorm is not...

Jun 30, 2008

Human Speech Traced to Talking Fish

From Don Knotts' portrayle of Mr. Limpet to the children's favorite Nemo and the tuna-pitching character in the Sorry, Charlie commercials, we all have seen fish that can talk. But that's just fiction, right? Well ... Researchers say real fish can communicate with sound, too. And they say (the researchers,...

Jun 30, 2008

How the Galapagos Islands Changed the World

Each Monday, this column turns a page in history to explore the discoveries, events and people that continue to affect the history being made today. Boobies and lava gulls and giant tortoises, oh my! The Galapagos Islands host a faunal freak show of rare animal species endemic only to those...

Jun 30, 2008

Fossil Suggests Antarctica Much Warmer in Past

A college student's new discovery of fossils collected in the East Antarctic suggests that the frozen polar cap was once a much balmier place. The well-preserved fossils of ostracods, a type of small crustaceans, came from the Dry Valleys region of Antarctica's Transantarctic Mountains and date from about 14 million...

Jun 30, 2008

Why You Will Eat Less in the Future

With food and fuel costs soaring and the financial costs of global warming becoming reality, a new cure-all prescription has emerged: The average American should eat less. And with a new University of Illinois report forecasting even higher food prices next year, the suggestion could become an inevitable way of...

Jun 30, 2008

San Andreas Fault Longer Than Thought

As if the San Andreas Fault weren't long and menacing enough, newly found mud pots and mud volcanoes now suggest it extends another 18 miles, going under the Salton Sea and beyond, in the desert southeast of Palm Springs. The extension is probably inactive. U.S. Geological Survey researchers David K....

Jun 30, 2008

Now What? Californians to Rehearse 'The Big One'

Some Southern Californians are said to have stampeded yesterday as they tried to evacuate a high-rise during the 5.4-magnitude quake outside Los Angeles. That is exactly what Margaret Vinci didn't want them to do, yesterday or during future earthquakes, especially The Big One that scientists predict will come any time...

Jun 30, 2008

Plants Talk, Even Eavesdrop

It's bad enough when a parasite latches on to your body to suck you dry. But when it starts eavesdropping on your communications, enough already. That's what the parasitic dodder vine does. It consumes water and nutrients from a host plant and, scientists have just discovered, it taps into the...

May 31, 2008

Life Endures 120,000 Years Under Ice

Being tiny has its advantages, and a newly discovered microbe in Greenland has exploited this fully. The bacterium survived more than 120,000 years beneath the ice where inhospitable conditions reach new lows. Most organisms constantly deal with trade-offs, such as some hot-desert residents that take advantage of sunshine yet must...