Planet Earth, features and articles | Educational Science

Jun 30, 2005

Zonkeys, Wolphins and Ligers: Nature Loves a Hybrid

Although they capture the imagination, the liger (lion/tiger), the wholphin (whale/dolphin), and the zonkey (zebra/donkey) are all hybrids that are unlikely to be found in the wild. But new research into a certain fruit fly may be evidence that hybrids are more common in nature than thought. Like the mule...

May 31, 2005

125 Large Northern Lakes Disappear

A new study finds 125 large lakes in the Arctic have vanished as temperatures rose over the past two decades. Many other lakes have shrunk. The lakes once sat atop permanently frozen soil called permafrost. Other studies have shown permafrost is melting around the world, causing low-lying ground to slump...

May 31, 2005

Surprise New Technique Improves Hurricane Tracking

Hurricanes are like giant mixers. The colossal storms suck air and moisture inward at the surface and, when they really get going, pump it out a natural chimney several miles high. Scientists struggle to see exactly what's going on inside a developing storm, and that imperfect view is partly to...

May 31, 2005

Tornado Deaths on Decline

The number of tornado deaths has decreased by nearly half since a network of Doppler weather radars were installed nationwide a decade ago, according to a new study. The radar array has improved forecasts and warning times. The Weather Surveillance Radar-1988 Doppler (WSR-88D), also known as NEXRAD, was installed in...

May 31, 2005

Space Ring Could Shade Earth and Stop Global Warming

A wild idea to combat global warming suggests creating an artificial ring of small particles or spacecrafts around Earth to shade the tropics and moderate climate extremes. There would be side effects, proponents admit. An effective sunlight-scattering particle ring would illuminate our night sky as much as the full Moon,...

May 31, 2005

Bush: Kyoto Treaty would have 'Wrecked Our Economy'

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) -- President Bush said in a Danish TV interview aired Thursday that adhering to the Kyoto treaty on climate change would have wrecked'' the U.S. economy. Kyoto would have wrecked our economy. I couldn't in good faith have signed Kyoto,'' Bush told the Danish Broadcasting Corp., noting...

Apr 30, 2005

Only in California: Daily Earthquake Forecasts

Geologists have constructed a model that calculates the probability of an earthquake for a given day and location in California, much like a meteorologist announces today's chance of rain. A color-coded probability map is available on the Internet. When an earthquake strikes, follow-up temblors, or aftershocks, are quite possible. Matthew...

Apr 30, 2005

Study Reveals Natural Air Cleaners

New! Improved! 20 percent more cleaning power! That could be the label on new smog-reducing product found in Earth's atmosphere. Natural chemicals in the air scrub away pollution more effectively than previously thought, according to new research. Chemicals in the air produce natural air cleaners called hydroxyl radicals, which gobble...

Apr 30, 2005

H2O or H1.5O? Water Mystery Solved

No matter how long you look at it, a water molecule is still just two hydrogens latched onto one oxygen. So says a new experiment, which contradicts a previous claim that water lost at least half of a hydrogen - effectively becoming H1.5O - when looked at with an extremely...

Apr 30, 2005

Hurricane Guide: 2008 Season Gets Busy

Hurricane season in the Atlantic Basin, which includes the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico, runs from June 1 to Nov. 30. ON THIS PAGE Saffir-Simpson Scale | Deadliest | Costliest Vulnerable States | Busiest Months | 2008 Names THE 2008 SEASON Ike Underscores Foolishness of Building on Barrier IslandsWhy...

Apr 30, 2005

Here We Go Again: Like Wolves, Hurricanes Come in Packs

It doesn't matter what the numbers are. It only takes one hurricane to ruin your year, a whole lot. -- Frank Lepore, National Hurricane Center Like holiday travelers or wolves, hurricanes travel in packs, and this summer is expected to generate more monsters from the same deadly pack that rattled...

Mar 31, 2005

Climates North and South of Equator Said Linked

Earth's equator is sometimes viewed as a bit of a virtual wall that separates the climates of the northern and southern hemispheres. Ocean currents, the main driver of climate, tend to confine themselves to one side or the other. When waters from North and South meet at the equator, they...

Mar 31, 2005

TV Turns Kids into Bullies

Turn off the TV and hang out with your kids. That seems to be the message of a new study on what makes playground bullies. Children who watch a lot of television are more prone to push other kids around, according to the research. Conversely, four-year-olds whose parents tend to...

Mar 31, 2005

Slime-mold Beetles Named for Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld

Namesakes of the U.S. President and two of his key people might be crawling around your back yard as you read this. Three new beetles of the genus Agathidium have been named after members of the current administration: A. bushi, A. cheneyi and A. rumsfeldi. Two former Cornell University entomologists,...

Mar 31, 2005

Finally, a Solid Look at Earth's Core

Scientists have long thought Earth's core is solid. Now they have some solid evidence. The core is thought to be a two-part construction. The inner core is solid iron, and that's surrounding by a molten core, theory holds. Around the core is the mantle, and near the planet's surface is...