ABC Science

DINGOES RULE: Hybridising with dogs is unlikely to lead to dingoes changing their skull shape or losing their status as the top predator in the Australian ecology, researchers say.

INSECT VISION: An Australasian species of swallowtail butterfly holds the record for having the largest number of different vision cells in its eyes for any insect, scientists say.

EXTINCTION EVENT: Climate change sealed the fate of ichthyosaurs, marine reptiles that ruled the oceans for 157 million years, suggests an analysis of fossils.

GREAT MOMENTS IN SCIENCE: Gravitational waves distort the fabric of space-time. How? Gravity is geometry, explains Dr Karl.

FAR AWAY IN TIME: Astronomers have discovered a galaxy that formed just 400 million years after the Big Bang explosion - the most distant galaxy found to date.

SHAPE SHIFTER: A massive volcano on Mars spewed so much lava 3.5 billion years ago that the weight displaced the Red Planet's outer layers, according to a study that reconstructs the planet's geologic history.

EARLY ADOPTERS: The beautifully preserved filaments from a fungus that lived 440 million years ago are the oldest-known fossils of a land-dwelling organism yet found, according to a new study

CANCER MECHANISM: Stress acts as a "fertiliser" for cancer, helping it to spread through the body's lymphatic system, according to a study on mice.

GREAT MOMENTS IN SCIENCE: The recently discovered gravitational waves were created under mind-boggling circumstances. Dr Karl goes into the beautiful and awe-inspiring story of their creation.

OLD NERVES: A fossil of a 520-million-year-old animal is so well preserved that its individual nerve fibres are still visible, according to a new study on the crustacean-like creature that once lived in southern China.

CULTURAL CREATIVITY: Completely breaking down 'silos' could actually be the enemy of innovation, a study has found.

ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATION: Scientists have made an international call to change water quality standards, with the aim of protecting biodiversity from salt pollution of freshwater.

FOSSIL TEETH SECRETS: Teeth survive in the fossil record and are often found in isolation, providing a tantalising clue to their owner - now scientists have a method to help them extrapolate tooth and jaw size in incomplete fossil finds.

EMERGING DISEASES: Vaccinating wildlife with genetically-modified viruses could one day help stop diseases jumping to humans from their animal hosts, say researchers.

GREAT MOMENTS IN SCIENCE: Sometimes a major discovery - like finding evidence to support the theory of dark matter - just requires a bit of creative thinking over a curry, as Dr Karl explains.

HUMAN BEHAVIOUR: When we act under orders to do something bad, we perceive a greater delay between our action and its consequences than when we act of our own free will, a new study suggests.

BIOCONTROL: Scientists have created a new strain of mosquito they say could help in the fight against viruses such as dengue and perhaps even Zika.

HUMAN RELATIONS: The genes of a Neanderthal that lived 100,000 years ago contain DNA from modern humans, indicating that humans left Africa and mated with Neanderthals much earlier than previously thought.

CONSERVATION SCIENCE: Ecotourism will only help save the orangutans if it generates enough income to replace that coming from logging, new research suggests.

CLIMATE SENSITIVITY: The plant life of Australia's outback does not respond to sudden increases in rainfall because it has "learned" that drought will soon follow, according to satellite-based maps tracking the impact of changing climatic conditions.