Planet Earth, features and articles | Educational Science

May 31, 2014

Strange Stone Spheres Top List of New World Heritage Spots

Enigmatic archaeological sites in Costa Rica dotted with mysterious stone spheres are among six new spots newly designated as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The stone sphere sites, on the Diquis Delta in southern Costa Rica, join places like the Great Wall of China and Yellowstone National Park on the list...

Apr 30, 2014

Belly-Flopping Icebergs Could Help Track Glaciers

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Icebergs that tumble into the ocean are the source of unusual earthquakes recorded at Alaskan glaciers, researchers said yesterday (May 1) here at the annual meeting of the Seismological Society of America. Though no one regularly follows these funky seismic signals, analyzing them could give researchers a...

Apr 30, 2014

Massive Citizen-Powered Climate Simulation Links Winter Floods to Global Warming (Op-Ed)

This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Britain’s warm, wet winter brought floods and misery to many living across southern England, with large parts of Somerset lying underwater for months. When in January rainfall was double...

Apr 30, 2014

How Corkscrew Vaginas and Female Penises Evolved

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — A male ruddy duck with a sky-blue beak coasted across a pond here at the Prospect Park Zoo, brightening a rudely cold spring day. There's a very nice sexually selected bill color, Dutch biologist Menno Schilthuizen said, poking his head over the wooden-post fence. At some point...

Apr 30, 2014

Photos: Hawaii's New Underwater Volcano

A rocky resting place (Image credit: University of Hawaii at Manoa)A newly-discovered volcano, named Ka'ena, erupted 5 million years ago in the deep waters south of Kauai. It was the first of three volcanoes that would form the island of Oahu. Researchers recently showed that Ka'ena was a separate volcano,...

Apr 30, 2014

Huge Swath of Amazon Preserved in Record-Setting Deal (Op-Ed)

Meg Symington is managing director for WWF's Amazon program. She contributed this article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. On May 21, the Brazilian government, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and partners announced the creation of a $215 million fund to ensure long-term protection of the world's largest network...

Feb 28, 2014

Momentum Builds for Deforestation-Free Palm Oil (Op-Ed)

Seth Shulman is a senior staff writer at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), a veteran science journalist and author of six books. This Op-Ed, and other of Shulman's Got Science? columns can be found on the UCS website. Shulman contributed this article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed &...

Feb 28, 2014

Hurricane Sandy's Rainfall Decoded Via CrowdSourcing

The storm smash-up that morphed Hurricane Sandy into a hybrid weather monster left a chemical trail that scientists have decoded with the help of crowdsourced water samples. After a long run up the East Coast from its Caribbean birthplace, Superstorm Sandy was no longer considered a hurricane when it came...

Feb 28, 2014

The Gorgeous, Dangerous World Below Antarctic Ice (Op-Ed)

This article was originally published at Slate. The publication contributed the article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Rob Robbins and Steve Rupp have been diving under the Antarctic sea ice for a combined 60 years. Hang around their dive headquarters at McMurdo Station and you’ll see rows...

Feb 28, 2014

Greenland Ice Sheet Loses Its Last Grip

Greenland is losing the battle against rising air and ocean temperatures, a new study finds. The last bulwark to fall is the northeast corner of the Greenland Ice Sheet, which started shrinking rapidly in 2003, according to a new study. My guess is this is a new record for Greenland,...

Feb 28, 2014

What Happened to Malaysia Flight MH370? 5 Likeliest Possibilities

Updated on Tuesday, March 18, at 7:59 a.m. ET. Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has been missing since Saturday, March 8, and every new piece of information seems to shroud the flight's disappearance in more mystery. Malaysian investigators now say deliberate action was taken to turn off communications systems and steer...

Feb 28, 2014

Ride the Rapids on Google's New Colorado River View

Anyone with an Internet connection can now raft through rivers traversing the Grand Canyon, without getting wet: Google Maps and the nonprofit group American Rivers have launched a Street View of the Colorado River. Colorado River View, as it is called, takes users through 286 miles (460 kilometers) of river....

Dec 31, 2013

'No Pants Subway Ride': Sure It's Fun, But Is It Healthy?

Some daring New Yorkers will be pantless in public this Sunday (Jan. 12) as part of the annual No Pants Subway Ride organized by the performance art group Improv Everywhere. Given the stereotype of public transportation as teeming with germs, could showing some extra skin on the subway increase a...

Dec 31, 2013

Saying Goodbye to Inefficient 60-Watt Incandescent Bulbs (Op-Ed)

Noah Horowitz is a senior scientist and director of the Center for Energy Efficiency at the NRDC. This Op-Ed is adapted from a post to the NRDC blog Switchboard. He contributed this article to LiveScience's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Six years ago, U.S. President George W. Bush signed a...

Dec 31, 2013

Humanity's Journey, from the Big Bang to the Present (Op-Ed)

Roger Briggs is the author of Journey to Civilization: The Science of How We Got Here (Collins Foundation Press, 2013). In his book, he presents a new creation story of the universe, the Earth, life and humanity based on the evidence and skepticism of science. This Op-Ed is adapted from...