Palaeontologists on Wednesday said they had found the fossilised remains of a tiny tree-dwelling creature that lived around 55 million years ago, making it the oldest primate ever found.

The discovery will help chart the evolution of primates, a family that includes humans, and should strengthen a once-contested theory that primates originated in Asia, they said.

U.S. agriculture giant Monsanto, in the spotlight over unauthorized genetically modified wheat, said it has a new GM strain under development after an eight-year freeze.

The company is developing a new form of wheat impervious to its Roundup herbicide in a bid to improve yield, Monsanto chief technology officer Robb Fraley said in a conference call with reporters.

A record 6.6 tonnes of cargo were hurtling towards the International Space Station after being blasted into orbit by a European rocket from French Guiana.

The space freighter with food, water, oxygen, science experiments and special treats for the ISS astronauts was launched on an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe's spaceport in Kourou as planned at 6:52:11 pm (21:52:11 GMT).

Japanese whalers hunting the mammals in the northwestern Pacific caught a record-low 34 minke whales this Spring, the fisheries agency said Thursday, blaming bad weather.

The whaling, conducted in the name of "scientific research", took place from April 18 to June 3 and netted 17 male and 17 female minke. The catch is the lowest since Tokyo started the program in 2003, the agency said.

Less than three months after being battered by snow and ice, central Europe now finds itself fighting floods -- and some scientists are pointing the finger at human interference with the climate system.

Leading the charge is the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) near Berlin, which says a low-pressure system that dumped the rain was locked into place by a disturbance with a global wind pattern.

Leading marine scientists warned the Australian government on Wednesday of the growing threat to the Great Barrier Reef from unchecked industrial development.

More than 150 scientists from 33 institutions signed a statement saying that the mining and gas boom along the Queensland state coast was hastening the decline of the World Heritage area.

NASA is preparing to launch its latest sun-monitoring satellite on a mission to improve space weather prediction.

The Iris satellite will observe a little-studied region of the sun that emits ultraviolet light. Scientists hope examining the sun's lower atmosphere would help them learn more about how this region drives solar wind and powers the corona, the sun's outer atmosphere seen during eclipses.

A U.N. representative in Costa Rica sent condolences Monday to the family of a slain environmentalist who volunteered for a turtle protection group and had reported threats by criminal groups.

The body of Jairo Mora Sandoval, 26, was found face-down and handcuffed Friday next to the car he was driving in Limon, on the Caribbean coast, police told Agence France Presse.

The Solar Impulse, a single-person solar-powered aircraft piloted by a Swiss adventurer, landed in St. Louis, Missouri early Tuesday on the third leg of a transcontinental flight after over 21 hours in the air.

The organizer's ground crew rushed out on the tarmac of the Lambert-St. Louis International Airport when the aircraft, which has four electric engines and an enormous wingspan, landed at 0627 GMT.

For decades, health officials have battled malaria with insecticides, bed nets and drugs. Now, scientists say there might be a potent new tool to fight the deadly mosquito-borne disease: the stench of human feet.

In a laboratory study, researchers found that mosquitoes infected with the tropical disease were more attracted to human odors from a dirty sock than those that didn't carry malaria. Insects carrying malaria parasites were three times more likely to be drawn to the stinky stockings.