Planet Earth, features and articles | Educational Science

Sep 30, 2008

Hawaiian Cave Reveals Ancient Secrets

From the moment we saw it, we knew the place held many great secrets. We had been looking for new fossil sites on the south side of the Hawaiian island of Kauai in 1992 with our colleagues, Helen F. James and Storrs L. Olson of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington,...

Aug 31, 2008

Strongest Hurricanes Getting Stronger

This story was updated Sept. 7, 2008. Strong hurricanes are getting stronger, likely thanks to global warming, a new study finds. Scientists have previously predicted that as global warming further heats up the ocean, hurricanes could become more frequent, more intense or both. The new work is in line with...

Aug 31, 2008

Why Dewdrops Stay on the Rose

Ah, roses. Their heady fragrance and delicate petals glistening with dew could soften the hardest heart. But take a sharper look at the dewdrops. They bead, rather than spread—and that's because the material composing the petal surface doesn't bond well with water. Yet the droplets don't roll off. What binds...

Aug 31, 2008

Neanderthal Brains Grew Like Ours

Score one more for Neanderthals. A new study has found that Neanderthal brains grew at much the same rate as modern human brains do, knocking down the idea that they grew faster in a style considered more primitive. The recent discoveries of two very young Neanderthal skeletons, as well analysis...

Aug 31, 2008

How an Eggbeater Could Power the Future

Editor's Note: Each Wednesday LiveScience examines the viability of emerging energy technologies — the power of the future. From Holland, the country famous for its windmills, comes a new design for home wind power. Looking like an eggbeater, it spins quieter and at lower wind speeds than a lot of...

Aug 31, 2008

Ike Underscores Foolishness of Building on Barrier Islands

Update: The Latest News of Ike's ImpactImage Gallery: Ike's FuryAs Hurricane Ike pummels the Texas coast, the only thing standing in the way is a thin stretch of land called Galveston. Galveston is a barrier island, a narrow landmass made mostly of sand that extends along a coastline parallel to...

Aug 31, 2008

Biggest Melt Comes From Smallest Glaciers

The big glaciers of Greenland get most of the attention in terms of global warming's impact on melting and rising sea levels, but it's actually the little glaciers that count the most, a new study finds. Satellite observations of the Greenland Ice Sheet indicate that nearly 75 percent of the...

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,...