Planet Earth, features and articles | Educational Science

Jan 31, 2013

Best Earth Images of the Week Feb. 2, 2013

A new start (Image credit: Edinburgh Zoo)Each year after the breeding season ends, male reindeer shed their impressive, branching antlers that they grow. Lenni, the six-year-old European forest reindeer at Scotland's Highland Wildlife Park, shed quite a set of antlers this year. Lenni's antlers weighed in at a combined 23...

Jan 31, 2013

Salty Antarctic Pond May Hold Clues to Water on Mars

Antarctica's bizarre Don Juan Pond is the saltiest natural body of water on Earth — a distinction that keeps the little lake in a fluid state on an otherwise frozen continent. Now researchers have found new evidence about how the pond gets enough salt to stay wet in such a...

Jan 31, 2013

The 10 Worst Blizzards in US History

The country's harshest storms The Storm of the Century in 1993. (Image credit: NASA.)While weather reporters may use the words historic, epic, significant and record-breaking a little too often these days when they talk about winter storms, the United States has seen some truly monstrous blizzards. By definition, a blizzard...

Jan 31, 2013

Why Does a Guy Use a Wingman When Picking Up Chicks?

The front guy, aka “chick magnet,” always has a wingman at a bar or other night spot. This sidekick appears to offer his services in a selfless manner, helping his friend pick up a girl while he heads home empty handed. Males of other animals, such as one tropical bird,...

Jan 31, 2013

Epic Glacier Collapse Caught on Camera

Amateur photographer Christian Grosso got a surprise recently when he visited a glacier in Argentina's Patagonia region: an enormous ice bridge connected to the glacier ruptured and fell, causing a huge wave in the lake below. Luckily he had his camera to capture the event. And another visitor caught a...

Jan 31, 2013

Plankton Pumping Iron May Impact Climate

This Research in Action article was provided to LiveScience in partnership with the National Science Foundation. Like humans, phytoplankton (tiny plants that drift on ocean currents) need iron to survive. Normally, though, iron is in short supply in the ocean. But a recent study funded by the National Science Foundation...

Jan 31, 2013

New Source Found For Cold, Deep Antarctic Currents

With help from seals, scientists have discovered a new source for the coldest, deepest water in the ocean. Instruments glued to seals' heads tracked Antarctic Bottom Water flowing down deep canyons off Cape Darnley in East Antarctica. The spot was an unexpected font of the bottom water — cold, dense,...

Jan 31, 2013

'Sunglint' Silhouettes Northeast Coast in Astronaut Photo

The coast of the northeast United States is silhouetted against the shimmering water of Cape Cod Bay and Long Island Sound in a new photo captured by astronauts on the International Space Station. The phenomenon of light from a setting sun reflecting off water to create a shining, mirrorlike surface...

Dec 31, 2012

China's Extreme Cold Snaps Records

An unusually cold winter across China has some regions hitting their lowest average temperatures in more than 40 years, according to state media reports. The Chinese national meteorological agency said polar fronts caused by global warming are to blame for the frigid air. The freeze is the coldest winter in...

Dec 31, 2012

Lined-Up Sun, Moon Give Rise to 'King Tides'

High tides will be extra high everywhere around the world this week. These so-called king tides are occurring now because the sun and the moon are very near Earth, as meteorologist Dan Satterfield reports on his blog hosted by the American Geophysical Union. Tides are caused by the pull of...

Dec 31, 2012

Best Earth Images of the Week Jan. 11, 2013

Uncommon sight (Image credit: Jersusalem snow image via Shutterstock)An unusual storm brought snow and chaos to the Middle East yesterday (Jan. 10). The weather system dumped 4-6 inches (10-15 centimeters) of snow on Jerusalem Wednesday night (Jan. 9) and yesterday morning, according to Jason Samenow, chief meteorologist with the Washington...

Dec 31, 2012

Pacific Bluefin Tuna in Trouble, Scientists Say

Populations of bluefin tuna in the western Pacific Ocean are down by nearly 97 percent from pre-fishing levels, according to a stock assessment by researchers. We found the Pacific bluefin stock is being overfished, said Steve Teo, a fisheries biologist at the Southwest Fisheries Science Center in La Jolla, Calif.,...

Dec 31, 2012

Climate Change Threatens Spectacular Hawaiian Plant

One of Hawaii's iconic plants is again at risk. The striking and rare Haleakalā silversword, found only on the high volcanic slopes of Maui, is on the decline, scientists report today (Jan. 15) in the journal Global Change Biology. First, the plant was nearly killed off by cows and collectors...

Dec 31, 2012

Megadrought Took Long-Lasting Toll on Amazon

During the summer of 2005, a stretch of rainforest in the Amazon nearly double the size of California experienced a severe drought. In an area more than 270,000 square miles (700,000 square kilometers) across, dried-out trees toppled to the ground and leaves and branches withered away, especially among the forest's...

Dec 31, 2012

Energy-Guzzling Cities Changing Weather 1,000 Miles Away

The heat released by everyday activities in energy-guzzling cities is changing the weather in far-away places, scientists report today (Jan. 27). The released heat is changing temperatures in areas more than 1,000 miles away (1609 kilometers). It is warming parts of North America by about 1 degree Fahrenheit (0.6 degrees...