Planet Earth, features and articles | Educational Science

Mar 31, 2013

How a Fake Island Landed on Google Earth

Last year, a group of Australian researchers undiscovered an island the size of Manhattan in the South Pacific. A mysterious place called Sandy Island had popped up on maps, northwest of New Caledonia. It even showed up as a black polygon on Google Earth. But when scientists sailed there last...

Feb 28, 2013

Ocean Acidification Affects Northeastern US Coasts More

Coastal regions around the United States respond differently to ocean acidification, a large-scale study finds. In the new study, scientists from 11 U.S. institutions measured levels of carbon dioxide and other forms of carbon in waters off the East Coast and the Gulf of Mexico. If the same amount of...

Feb 28, 2013

10 Sinkhole Facts That Could Save Your Life

Sinkholes are a common feature in Florida's limestone-rich bedrock as groundwater easily dissolves the calcium carbonate into solution turning the ground into a slushy mix that washes out under the structures built on top of it. But rarely do they kill. On Thursday night, a sinkhole in Tampa opened up...

Feb 28, 2013

Wilderness 'Paparazzi' Flock to Yosemite's 'Firefall'

Last year, Yosemite National Park's famed firefall was more of a firedrizzle due to lack of snow. But this year, the firefall is burning bright. Yosemite's Horsetail Fall flows like lava under a clear sky and favorable lighting. It's a small waterfall that makes big news whenever it glows orange...

Feb 28, 2013

'Dino Idol': Vote For Fossil to Be Unveiled

Canada's next rock star may be between 71 million and 75 million years old — and it won't be music that propels him or her to fame. The Canadian Museum of Nature has launched a contest called Dino Idol, in which the public can vote on which of five dinosaur...

Feb 28, 2013

New Type of Bacteria Reportedly Found in Buried Antarctic Lake

A new type of microbe has been found at a lake buried under Antarctica's thick ice, according to news reports. The find may unveil clues of the surrounding environment in the lake, according to scientists. The bacteria, said to be only 86 percent similar to other types known to exist...

Feb 28, 2013

Best Earth Images of the Week March 8, 2013

Before the ice came (Image credit: Stuart N. Thomson/UA department of geosciences) Like Alaska's mighty Yukon, a broad river once flowed across Antarctica, following a gentle valley shaped by tectonic forces at a time before the continent became encased in ice. Understanding what happened when rivers of ice later filled...

Feb 28, 2013

Hundreds of Dinosaur Egg Fossils Found

Researchers in northeastern Spain say they've uncovered hundreds of dinosaur egg fossils, including four kinds that had never been found before in the region. The eggs likely were left behind by sauropods millions of years ago. Eggs, eggshell fragments and dozens of clutches were nestled in the stratigraphic layers of...

Feb 28, 2013

Microbes Thrive in Deepest Spot on Earth

The deepest oceanic trench on Earth is home to a surprisingly active community of bacteria, suggesting other trenches may be hotspots of microbial life, researchers say. Life in the deep ocean often relies on organic matter snowing down from above. As these particles waft down, their nutrients get degraded by...

Feb 28, 2013

'Lost' Tectonic Plate Found Beneath California

A tectonic plate that disappeared under North America millions of years ago still peeks out in central California and Mexico, new research finds. The Farallon oceanic plate was once nestled between the Pacific and North American plates, which were converging around 200 million years ago at what would become the...

Feb 28, 2013

Best Earth Images of the Week - March 22, 2013

The road less travelled (Image credit: World Land Trust) A camera trap has captured photos of two healthy tigers using a protected corridor in the Kerala province of southwest India this year, evidence that the pathway could help populations of the endangered animals. The first photo shows an adult male...

Feb 28, 2013

Possible Japanese Shrine Fragment Washes Up in Oregon

A curved piece of wood, painted red, removed from a beach in Oregon may be a piece of a shrine set to sea by the 2011 Japanese tsunami. The debris has not yet been confirmed as originating from the tsunami, but the chief public relations officer of the Association of...

Feb 28, 2013

Surprising Depth to Global Warming's Effects

Sarah Purkey is a Ph.D. student in the University of Washington's School of Oceanography. Gregory Johnson is an oceanographer with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory. They contributed this article to LiveScience's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. The oceans are the flywheel of the climate...

Feb 28, 2013

Best Earth Images of the Month - March 2013

Strange catch (Image credit: Journal of Fish Biology / C. M. Wagner et al) When a fisherman caught a bull shark recently off the Florida Keys, he came across an unlikely surprise: One of the shark's live fetuses had two heads. The fisherman kept the odd specimen, and shared it...

Jan 31, 2013

Hundreds of Slime-Covered Seabirds Wash Ashore, Puzzle Scientists

A mysterious greasy substance has been found on hundreds of seabirds — some dead, others injured — that have been washing up along England's south coast. The birds, mostly guillemots, have been discovered along beaches from Weymouth to Torquay covered in the waxy film; many have very sore legs, according...