Sid Perkins

Freelance Writer

Sid is a freelance science journalist. He lives in Crossville, Tenn., with his wife, two dogs and three cats. He specializes in earth sciences and paleontology but often tackles topics such as astronomy, planetary science, materials science and engineering. 

 

In 2009, Sid won the Award for Distinguished Science Journalism in the Atmospheric and Related Sciences from the American Meteorological Society. And in 2002, he shared the American Astronomical Society’s Solar Physics Division’s Award for Popular Writing on Solar Physics. Sid’s writing also appears in Science, Nature, Scientific American, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and Science News.

All Stories by Sid Perkins

  1. Health & Medicine

    Injured leg? Here’s a built-in footstool

    Sometimes doctors advise people to keep a leg elevated, but there’s no footstool to rest it on. A teen designed a brace with a built-in kickstand.

  2. Tech

    New device identifies money by its color

    Two teens have invented a gadget that can help the blind identify the value of a banknote based on its color.

  3. Brain

    Eyes offer new window into Alzheimer’s disease

    The eye’s retina is distinctly different in people with Alzheimer’s disease compared to those with no signs of the malady, two teens now report finding. It could lead to earlier diagnosis of the brain disease.

  4. Tech

    How to make window ‘glass’ from wood

    Scientists have come up with a way to make wood transparent. The new material could be used in everything from windows to packaging.

  5. Tech

    Goo-oozing deicer protects surfaces

    New, slime-oozing coating might someday help reduce ice and snow buildups on road signs and aircraft wings. The inspiration? The goo produced by slugs.

  6. Tech

    New devices coming to assist the disabled

    New technologies, including motorized prosthetics and stair-climbing wheelchairs, could someday help people overcome a range of disabilities.

  7. Animals

    Picking a better porch light

    Lights can vary in brightness and ‘color’ — even those that are sold as white. A new study tested which lights attracted the most bugs.

  8. Agriculture

    A shock to the food system

    Droughts and other weather extremes caused by climate change are dramatically increasing the risk of short-term interruptions in the supplies of food.

  9. Materials Science

    Wet suits with hair?

    The dense hair that keeps sea otters warm in frigid waters may inspire development of “furry” wet suits for scuba divers.

  10. Brain

    Bubbles may underlie trauma’s brain injury

    Many soldiers and accident victims sustain traumatic brain injury that can affect memory, thinking and body movements. New research now studies whether tiny bubbles caused by pressure waves may trigger that damage.

  11. Environment

    Water: Getting the salt out

    A new water-cleansing technology passes electricity through a flow of salty water. This will generate a zone of fresh water that can then be collected.

  12. Fossils

    Predatory dinos were truly big-mouths

    Large meat-eating dinosaurs could open their mouths wide to grab big prey. Vegetarians would have had a more limited gape, a new study suggests.