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. Tortoise-studying teen takes top Broadcom prize

    Florida 8th-grader River Grace took top honors in a STEM competition, with original research on the “dancing” Madagascar tortoises. What did he find out about the tortoise’s strange swaying ritual?

  2. Big Bang Theory – what the TV show leaves out

    Broadcom MASTERS competitors learn the value of collaborating.

  3. Planets

    Seeing the moon’s water

    Rocky details of our moon can be gleaned without the aid of visiting astronauts. The latest example: An orbiting spacecraft may have just spotted water locked within surface rocks.

  4. Chemistry

    Cool Jobs: Repellent chemistry

    Chemistry is just one way to repel water in nature. Structure, or the shape of things, is another. To excel at water repellency, the lotus leaf relies on both.

  5. Earth

    Quakes cause faraway sloshing

    Right after a magnitude-9 quake in Japan, scientists knew that its tremors had set distant waters in northern Europe sloshing. Now they know how.

  6. Fossils

    Tar pit bones yield climate clues

    During the last ice age, more than 12,000 years ago, many unusual creatures wandered Southern California. Some got trapped in tar pits there. Now, their preserved remains are providing scientists with clues about summer weather during that bygone era.

  7. ‘Cool’ research for the president

    Easton James LaChappelle was one of 14 White House Science Fair participants who presented his research to the president.

  8. Chemistry

    A penny for your health?

    Copper is best known as the reddish metal used to make pennies, electrical wiring and weather vanes. But two teen scientists think copper should find its way into medical settings as well. Their data suggest the metal — in bandages or on surfaces — could play a major role in killing some types of bacteria responsible for serious infections.

  9. Chemistry

    New bag keeps food fresh longer

    Invention harnesses oxygen-trapping power of iron.

  10. Chemistry

    A warming life jacket

    New liner contains a substance that helps fight heat loss in chilly water.

  11. Physics

    Smile! Dimples boost your mileage

    Trucks covered with tiny indentations, like those on golf balls, experience less friction.

  12. Tech

    Better chow yields more milk

    A more nutritious form of corn for dairy cows boosts farm profits, teen investigator finds.