Dinosaurs

New spray-on explosives detector; Next-gen insect repellents; Salty water on Mars; and more...

First dino footprints found in the region shed light on sauropod herding behavior

Fossil data presented at an evolution conference at The Rockefeller University indicate that pterodactyls got steadily larger, possibly because smaller ones couldn't compete with birds. Which could mean that the dinos were in trouble even before the meteor hit. Steve Mirsky reports.

Simulations point to an asteroid collision that sealed the dinosaurs' fate before their reign was half over

It may or may not have had feathers but it certainly had a toothless beak—and stood more than 16 feet tall

A birdlike dinosaur may have flown by tucking its hindlimbs under its body and producing a biplane configuration.

Proposed posture for a feathered dinosaur stirs controversy

In this episode, Scientific American staff editor Christine Soares talks about avian flu; Bruce Mirken discusses marijuana policy in the U.S. and England; and paleontologist Gregory Erickson describes the newfound long-lost cousin of T. rex. Also: test your science smarts with our quiz and hear how yesterday's comics might have handled today's news.