• Will Dunham

Scientists believe a tiny marine creature from China that wriggled in the seabed mud about 540 million years ago may be the earliest-known animal in the lengthy evolutionary path that eventually led to humans.

• Andrew Masterson

People who are dogmatic and stubborn about whether Firefox or Chrome works best for them might be closet climate change sceptics, according to new research.

• Bridie Smith

Sharks have hogged the spotlight this summer. But what about the smaller creatures that inhabit our waters. Fish that can go from being female to male or sea cucumbers that can reorganise the position of their vital organs before splitting in two. They all live in Australian waters: in our bays, harbours and deep oceans.

• Marcus Strom

Scientists hope this research will pave the way to grow fully-functioning human transplant organs inside hybrid animals.

• Natalie Angier

The world's first transgenic ants offer scientists the chance to explore the evolution of animal societies - and, perhaps, our own.

• Marcus Strom

'When we reduce the quality of education that anyone receives we reduce the expectations we have of them.'

• Steven Trask

The inspiration for the latest breakthrough by these ANU physicists came in a desperate message from Princess Leia.

• Rhett Jones

Scientists have finally filmed what's known as a 'sonic boom' being created by light. But the breakthrough with the most immediate potential may be the camera itself.

• Kim Arlington

A specimen that has preserved for 110 years is the subject of an "exciting innovation".

• Amy Mitchell-Whittington

Ever wanted to be in two places at once? A Cairns woman has created a robot that allows you to do just that.

• Bridie Smith

Stargazer access to the best view of the heavens in central Melbourne under threat from Royal Botanic Gardens expansion.

• Bridie Smith

It was a tough call as to who had the more enviable job. The answer depended which end of a large and potentially dangerous predator you would rather be working on: the head (read canine teeth) or the tail (read anal gland).

• Sarah Kaplan

For years, astronomy has been in an uproar over the origin of Earth's only natural satellite, grappling to make sense of a model that seems increasingly unsatisfactory.

• Marcus Strom

About one-third of Australians only have a mobile - and the number is rising.

• Bridie Smith

He was quite the catch: young, good looking and fit. Spotted lounging in a tree not far from the edge of a road, this koala was a welcome addition to a study which hopes to shed light on why the Somers koala population is in decline.

• Marcus Strom

Genome mapping in Wollemi pines gives scientists hope in fighting extinction.

• Ben Guarino

An Irish professor has identified a part of the digestive system as an organ, overturning centuries of teachings to the contrary.

• Sarah Kaplan

For the first time, scientists have nailed down a source of fast radio bursts, one of astronomy's most enigmatic phenomena.

• Bridie Smith

To the uninitiated they don't look like much to get excited about. Perhaps the only intriguing thing is that their bulbous bodies are a milky-white, rather than dark brown or black. But these tadpoles are special.