Sid Perkins | Science News for Students

BIO

  • Contributing Writer

Sid Perkins

For 10 years, Sid Perkins was the Earth Sciences writer for Science News magazine. In 2010 he left to become a freelance science writer, now living on a farm in Crossville, Tenn. But he remains part of the extended Science News family, writing stories for that magazine and ours. He still specializes in writing about Earth sciences and paleontology (dinos!) but also tackles topics such as astronomy, planetary sciences, materials sciences and engineering.
 
Sid has won awards for his writing from the American Meteorological Society and the American Astronomical Society’s Solar Physics Division.
 
Before coming to Science News, Sid taught high school for two years (physics, chemistry, algebra II) and served in the U.S. Air Force for 13 years. There, among other things, he used computer programs to estimate how quickly cracks would grow in aircraft parts. He has college degrees in natural science (with a concentration in physics), aeronautical engineering and journalism.
 
Explains Sid: “I love to read, enjoy woodworking, and have recently discovered golf (and am gradually, very gradually, getting better at it!).”

Sid's Content

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blended polymer

Engineers used blue light to trigger the formation of two polymers in the same mixture. This created a new material that’s both strong and flexible.

A.U. Shete and C.J. Kloxin/Polymer Chemistry 2017

 Materials Science
Blue light flexes its chem-building muscle
Engineers used light to combine two polymers into one stronger, more flexible material
polymer model

Polymers, whether artificial (such as the plastic shown) or natural, are made of repeating chains of smaller chemical units. Here, carbon atoms are shown as black, oxygen as red and hydrogen as white.

Molekuul/iStockphoto

 Chemistry
Explainer: What are polymers?
These materials, many of them artificial, are built from repeating chains of smaller chemical units
running dinosaur

Contrary to popular notions, a new study suggests Tyrannosaurus rex probably could not run.

Orla/iStockphoto

 Fossils
T. rex may not have been able to run — but it was still pretty fast
The fearsome dino’s leg bones likely weren’t strong enough to stand the stress of running
pouring cement

Concrete, once hardened and then powdered, may be able to remove certain pollutants spewed by electric power plants.

tortoon/iStockphoto

 Pollution
Can concrete conquer air pollution?
In the lab, powdered concrete sops up sulfur dioxide
extract vials
 Microbes
Plant extract mutes germs to fight infections
An extract from leaves keeps bacteria from sensing how plentiful they are — and turning harmful
shade balls
 Technology
Maybe ‘shade balls’ should not be balls
Teen’s tests suggest a 12-sided shape would cut evaporation from reservoirs better, fight mosquitoes too