Planet Earth, features and articles | Educational Science

Jun 30, 2009

Bugs: The Forgotten Victims of Climate Change

This Behind the Scenes article was provided to LiveScience in partnership with the National Science Foundation. If it were up to Jessica Hellmann, insects such as butterflies and beetles would wield just as much conservation clout as traditional conservation icons, such as polar bears, tigers and dolphins. Why? “Animals such...

Jun 30, 2009

Seeds Are Nature's Most Efficient Ratchet

The seeds of many grasses are remarkable little mechanical devices. Each seed's hull has one or more bristle-like projections called awns, covered with tiny barbs pointing away from the seed. When a seed is partly buried in the ground with its awn pointing up, the barbs form a simple ratchet....

Jun 30, 2009

Amazon River Dated to 11 Million Years Old

The Amazon River and its current lengthy and transcontinental bed is about 11 million years old, according to a new study. Previously, the river's exact age was unknown, researchers say. The Amazon, which starts in the Andes and flows easterly into the Atlantic Ocean, originated as a transcontinental river back...

Jun 30, 2009

Huge Fossilized Dung Reveals a Hidden Ancient Ecosystem

The world might be knee-deep in cow patties and other animal waste today were it not for dung beetles. Dung beetles roll the waste of large animals into tiny balls that they bury underground to snack on later. Burying the dung fertilizes the soil and reduces disease, but the benefits...

May 31, 2009

Powerful Ideas: Electronics Grown by Germs

Editor's Note: This occasional series looks at powerful ideas — some existing, some futuristic — for fueling and electrifying modern life. Ancient germs that hunt bacteria are now getting recruited to assemble the electronics of the future. Scientists are using viruses to build solar cells and other gadgets that are...

May 31, 2009

Reindeer & Caribou Populations Plunge

Reindeer and caribou numbers worldwide have plunged nearly 60 percent in the last three decades due to climate change and habitat disturbance caused by humans, a new study finds. Global warming and industrial development are driving the dramatic decline, said Liv Vors, a Ph.D. student at the University of Alberta...

May 31, 2009

Dads Are Key to Making Us Human

Some 95 percent of male mammals have little to no interaction with their children. Homo sapiens are one of the most notable exceptions, leading some scientists to think fatherhood is an important part of what makes us human. Most theories for the family involvement of fathers invoke the familiar Man...

May 31, 2009

Giant Glaciers Can Shrink Rapidly

Huge glaciers like those in Greenland and Antarctica can shrink or retreat rapidly, a new study of a prehistoric glacier suggests. An ancient glacier in the Canadian Arctic rapidly retreated in just a few hundred years, according to new findings by paleoclimatologists at the University at Buffalo. The results are...

Apr 30, 2009

Odd Volcano's Black Ooze Explained

The Ol Doinyo Lengai in Tanzania oozes black goo called carbonitite lava that flows more like water instead of the hotter red stuff of most volcanoes. Now scientists think they know why. The volcano sits in the Great Rift Valley, which is sinking and will eventually sit on the sea-floor...

Apr 30, 2009

'Ida' Fossil Hype Went Too Far

Science is supposed to be methodical, and usually it is, sometimes to the point of being dull. But there are times when a little hoopla is called for. Major discoveries that rewrite the textbooks deserve big headlines and ubiquitous media coverage and lots of scientific slaps on the back and...

Mar 31, 2009

New Clues to Sea's Green Glow

An eerie green glow that sometimes emanates from ocean waters was known to be produced by bioluminescent worms, but now scientists have uncovered some key clues as to just how the creatures produce their light show. The show isn't for us. Marine fireworms use bioluminescence to attract suitors in an...

Mar 31, 2009

White House Sees 'Radical' Climate Ideas as Last Resort

As a last resort, the White House would look at shooting particles into the atmosphere to cool the climate, Obama's new science adviser John Holdren told the Associated Press. Some media are playing up the radical aspect of the idea. Well, it's certainly out there, and there's no agreement among...

Mar 31, 2009

Students Venture into Hearts of Violent Storms

This Behind the Scenes article was provided to LiveScience in partnership with the National Science Foundation. Ever wondered what it's like being up close and personal with some of the most violent storms on Earth? That's often just a normal day for students and faculty at Texas Tech University, who...

Mar 31, 2009

Three Subgroups of Neanderthals Identified

We tend to think of Neanderthals as one species of cavemen-like creatures, but now scientists say there were actually at least three different subgroups of Neanderthals. Using computer simulations to analyze DNA sequence fragments from 12 Neanderthal fossils, researchers found that the species can be separated into three, or maybe...

Mar 31, 2009

Why Leaves Turn Red

Scientists have long wondered if the red color of fall leaves was more than just a sign of death. The process of turning leaves to brilliant colors requires energy, but doesn't seem to benefit the trees. Some have suggested that fall colors act as sunscreen and keep trees from freezing....