A species of dinosaurs known as the biggest land animals that ever lived, had some miniature cousins, a study has found. According to researchers, the little reptiles weighed about one fiftieth as much as their closest relatives, the well-known brachiosaurs—long-necked, massive plant-eaters.

It’s not the first scientific sensation surrounding the discovery of a miniature version of a familiar animal. And the last time such a sensation arose, it didn’t turn out very well.

Researchers in...

For the first time, scientists say they have traced the origin of an “altruism gene,” possibly shedding light on the nagging mystery of how generosity and cooperation evolved.

The findings, they add, suggest that at least some altruism genes evolved from genes that originally served to suppress some biological activities in lean times.

The scientists traced an “altruism gene” in Volvox carterii, a primitive multi-cellular creature, to its one-celled ancestor.

Volvox, thanks...

From Harry Potter to Star Trek, science fiction is rife with invisibility cloaks. But can they really exist? Two new studies suggest they could, at least in theory.

The researchers offered hypothetical explanations for how they could work.

The devices could have a wide range of uses, from high-tech spying to far more innocent purposes, the scientists suggested.

For example: “You may wish to put a cloak over the refinery that is blocking your view of the bay,” said David Schurig of...

When researchers found 18,000-year-old bones of a small, humanlike creature on an Indonesian island in 2003, they concluded that the bones represented a new species in the human family tree.

This view was widely accepted among scientists and trumpeted by the press. Because of its size, the creature was nicknamed the “Hobbit.”

But a growing number of scientists have raised questions about the claim.

In a new paper, some researchers say the bones are probably just from an ordinary...

Probably the most shocking aspect of Darwin’s theory of evolution has always been its implication that we descend from ape-like ancestors. But that idea may be easy to stomach compared with new findings.

A study has concluded that human and chimp ancestors may have interbred for a long time after their two lineages began to split apart evolutionarily.

The research also found the final separation was more recent than previous research suggested.

“The study gave unexpected results about...

Three physicists say they have done calculations showing that before the birth of our universe, which is expanding, there was an earlier universe that was shrinking.

The results stem from a...

New evidence has come to light in one of prehistory’s greatest “whodunnit” stories—a spate of animal extinctions more than 10,000 years ago.

Overhunting by humans in North America has been...

Space shuttle Discovery was moved Friday from its hangar to an assembly building. This is an important milestone in preparing the spacecraft for launch in July.

The prone, 122-foot-long shuttle...

Some dolphin whistles appear to convey the caller’s individual “name” information, researchers report in a new study. The scientists found that these whistles are recognizable to other dolphins even...

A newly discovered fish species that lived more than 400 million years ago may represent a bridge between modern fish and land animals, scientists say.

Found in Yunnan, China, the creature...