Mark Mancini is a freelance writer currently based in Texas. Over the years, he’s covered every subject from classic horror movies to Abe Lincoln’s favorite jokes. He is particularly fond of paleontology and has been reporting on new developments in this field since 2013. When Mark’s not at his writing desk, you can usually find him on stage somewhere because he loves to get involved with community theatre. And if you ever feel like trading puns for a few hours, he’s your guy.
RECENT CONTRIBUTIONS
Caves are full of incredible geological formations, including stalagmites and stalactites. But you've probably never seen anything like cave popcorn before.
Every April, the Lyrid meteor shower fills the sky with 'shooting stars.' Here's how to see them.
"Will draw dinosaurs for food" is what they like to think they do. But it's actually way more complicated.
Solar wind is a continuous stream of mostly hydrogen and helium that flows outward from the sun in all directions. It does everything from disrupt GPS signals to create the aurora borealis.
We know space is awash in ultraviolet radiation. So how are astronauts protected from all those UV rays?
The spring, or vernal, equinox traditionally marks the first day of spring — but climate scientists use a different date altogether. Find out more about this and other facts about the spring equniox.
Scientists set up two stations to capture this strange seismic activity.
Massive gypsum crystals were discovered beneath Mexico's Sierra de Naica Mountain in very inhospitable environs — to humans anyway.
The simple explanation is you have to be in just the right spot and the conditions have to be perfect for you to see the entire 360 degrees.
Many scientists believe that humans influence Earth at a rate so massive that a change to the geologic time scale is in order.
Hundreds of explorers tried to locate the Northwest Passage. Many of those attempts ended badly.
These super-frightening entelodonts (aka hell pigs) once patrolled throughout Eurasia, North America and Africa.
The Apollo 14 mission landed on the moon in January 1971, but what the astronauts brought back could be making history now.
What makes these spongy, waterlogged areas of decaying plant matter so perfect at preservation? In a word: science.
Prior to the mid-1990s, the magnetic north pole traveled at speeds of around 9 miles per year. Now, it's 34 miles annually. What accounts for the acceleration?
Researchers hypothesize that missing rocks from the geologic record, known as the Great Unconformity, were sheared away by glaciers at a time when most — or all — of the world's surface was coated with ice.
Mid-Jurassic England was teeming with flighted creatures. Now we know it included one pterosaur called Klobiodon rochei.
The China National Space Administration makes history — and shows the world the dark side of the moon.
You may never see it happen live, but if you do, consider yourself lucky. Because this meteorological phenomenon doesn't happen very often.
Autopsies have been around since ancient times, but they seem so shrouded in secrecy. What goes on when a corpse goes under the knife?
