Science Roundup: Sunlight barrier to curb warming; Dinosaurs with mammal

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

Scientists weigh up stratospheric sunlight barrier to curb warming

Spraying sun-dimming chemicals high above the Earth to slow global warming could be "remarkably inexpensive", costing about $2.25 billion a year over a 15-year period, according to a study by U.S. scientists. Some researchers say the geoengineering technique known as a stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI) could limit rising temperatures that are causing climate change.

Surprising elephant-sized mammal cousin lived alongside dinosaurs

A stoutly built mammal cousin the size of an elephant that munched on plants with its horny beak roamed the European landscape alongside dinosaurs during the Triassic Period about 205 million to 210 million years ago, scientists said on Thursday. Scientists announced the surprising discovery in Poland of fossils of a four-legged beast called Lisowicia bojani that demonstrated that dinosaurs were not the only behemoths on Earth at that time and that the group of mammal-like reptiles to which Lisowicia belonged, called dicynodonts, did not die out as long ago as previously believed.