Mason Inman - science journalist

19 August 2008, for National Geographic News

Grazing musk-oxen and caribou may help protect the fragile Arctic ecosystem from the effects of global warming, according to a new study.

Large grazers could help the region by feasting on woody shrubs and plants that would otherwise take over as temperatures rise and change the way the Arctic looks and functions.

18 August 2008, for Technology Review

Pakistani scientists have a way to boost download speeds.

Internet access is growing steadily in developing nations, but limited infrastructure means that at times connections can still be painfully slow. A major bottleneck for these countries is the need to force a lot of traffic through international links, which typically have relatively low bandwidth.

7 August 2008, for National Geographic News

Global warming could make extreme rains stronger and more frequent than previously forecast, a new study suggests.

Such a scenario could make floods fiercer, damage more crops, and worsen the spread of diseases such as malaria, scientists say.

17 July 2008, for National Geographic News

People should help species threatened by climate change move to new habitats, researchers argue in a new paper.

Warming temperatures have already sent animals and plants inching toward the poles or climbing up mountains to seek out tolerable habitats.

26 June 2008, for National Geographic News

Like people vacationing in the mountains to escape summer heat, plants are "climbing" to higher elevations to cope with global warming, a new study shows.

Previous research has suggested that many plant and animal species have been shifting their ranges toward the Poles as the planet warms.

19 June 2008, for National Geographic News

Violent swings in weather patterns occurred after Earth's climate crossed "tipping points" thousands of years ago, a new study argues.

In as little as three years, patterns in the atmosphere have suddenly shifted and flipped into a new state, apparently contributing to rapid warming of the Northern Hemisphere, according to the new analysis of an ice core from northern Greenland.

18 June 2008, for New Scientist

Nice guys knew it, now two studies have confirmed it: bad boys get the most girls.

The finding may help explain why a nasty suite of antisocial personality traits known as the "dark triad" persists in the human population, despite their potentially grave cultural costs.

17 June 2008, for National Geographic News

Earth's early atmosphere may have been highly corrosive to rocks, gradually dissolving away all but the toughest of minerals, a new study suggests.

The findings could explain a gap in Earth's geologic record that has puzzled scientists.

11 June 2008, for New Scientist

Seals in the open ocean may be able to navigate by the stars.

Whales, sea lions and seals exhibit a behaviour called spyhopping, where they stick their heads out of the water, apparently surveying their surroundings. This led some biologists to suspect that these mammals might use the stars for navigation.

11 June 2008, for New Scientist

Having a friend at your side can turn a mountain into a molehill.

Simone Schnall at the University of Plymouth, UK, and her colleagues asked students to estimate the steepness of a hill by tilting a board to match its slope.