All Stories by Sid Perkins
- Animals
Mimicking mussels’ muscle
People who seek to get a grip on something — especially in wet environments — might want to take a lesson from some common shellfish. Among those who might benefit most: surgeons.
- Environment
Broadcom MASTERS: Meet the winners!
Young teens show off the research that won them a place in the national spotlight.
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Tortoise-studying teen takes top Broadcom prize
Florida 8th-grader River Grace took top honors in a STEM competition, with original research on the “dancing” Madagascar tortoises. What did he find out about the tortoise’s strange swaying ritual?
- Planets
Seeing the moon’s water
Rocky details of our moon can be gleaned without the aid of visiting astronauts. The latest example: An orbiting spacecraft may have just spotted water locked within surface rocks.
- Chemistry
Cool Jobs: Repellent chemistry
Chemistry is just one way to repel water in nature. Structure, or the shape of things, is another. To excel at water repellency, the lotus leaf relies on both.
- Earth
Quakes cause faraway sloshing
Right after a magnitude-9 quake in Japan, scientists knew that its tremors had set distant waters in northern Europe sloshing. Now they know how.
- Fossils
Tar pit bones yield climate clues
During the last ice age, more than 12,000 years ago, many unusual creatures wandered Southern California. Some got trapped in tar pits there. Now, their preserved remains are providing scientists with clues about summer weather during that bygone era.
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‘Cool’ research for the president
Easton James LaChappelle was one of 14 White House Science Fair participants who presented his research to the president.
- Chemistry
A penny for your health?
Copper is best known as the reddish metal used to make pennies, electrical wiring and weather vanes. But two teen scientists think copper should find its way into medical settings as well. Their data suggest the metal — in bandages or on surfaces — could play a major role in killing some types of bacteria responsible for serious infections.
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- Chemistry
A warming life jacket
New liner contains a substance that helps fight heat loss in chilly water.
- Physics
Smile! Dimples boost your mileage
Trucks covered with tiny indentations, like those on golf balls, experience less friction.
