IFLScience - Break It Down

Mummified Cheetahs, Skin Cells Turn Into Eggs, And Almost Life On Enceladus

This week on Break It Down: the second oldest use of the color blue ever has been discovered in Europe dating back 13,000 years, “chemical fossils” suggest the oldest life on Earth may have been sponges 541 million years ago, skin cells have been turned into fertilizable egg cells thanks to some pretty nifty genetics research, the world’s first naturally mummified big cats have been found in a cave in Saudi Arabia, complex chemistry coming from Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus could be a big clue to eventually finding life in the Solar System, and we remember the pioneering scientist Jane Goodall and her incredible life.

So, sit back, relax, and let’s Break It Down…

Links:

Blue pigment
Oldest animals
Skin cells
Babies born with genes from three people
Mitochondrial disease
Mummified cheetahs
Enceladus
Goodbye Jane Goodall
CURIOUS
Spooky Season at the Vault

Neanderthal Noises, Dome-Headed Dinosaurs, And Mystery Larvae

This week on Break It Down: Homo habilis might not have been the apex predator we thought it was, the oldest and most complete pachycephalosaur reveals why they were so weirdly dome-headed, we’ve been able to track an asteroid’s full life story for the first time, nobody knows what these mysterious larvae grow up to be, humans are in the middle of an evolutionary transition, and what did Neanderthals sound like? Probably not what you think.

So, sit back, relax, and let’s Break It Down…

Links:

Homo habilis

Pachycephalosaur

Asteroid

Mystery larvae

Human evolution

Neanderthal noises

We Have Questions

The Big Questions

Ned the snail

Tropical Mammoths, Dazzling Brain Map, And Perfectly Preserved Pterosaurs

This week on Break It Down: Queen ants are throwing the rules of reproduction out of the window by producing offspring of two different species, for the first time ever we have a complete map of brain activity and boy is it pretty, a new lineage of tropical mammoths have been discovered in Mexico, 150 million-year-old baby pterosaurs have been perfectly preserved thanks to some stormy weather, the controversy surrounding whether Homo naledi might have buried their dead is back, and we explore just how big the biggest egg on Earth really was.

So, sit back, relax, and let’s Break It Down...

Links:

Ants
Brain map
Upload your brain
Tropical mammoths
Bacteria on mammoth teeth
Perfect baby pterosaurs
Cougar submerged
Homo naledi
Biggest Egg
The Big Questions Podcast

Glowing Plants, Punk Ankylosaur, And Has The Wow! Signal Been Solved?

This week on Break It Down: Think you know Earth? Think again; a new campaign is trying to overturn the highly erroneous map we were all taught in school. A new injection can make succulents glow pretty much any color you like, and better yet, they’re rechargeable. An intriguing new theory to explain the legendary Wow! Signal makes a convincing case. Turns out the oldest known ankylosaur was also ridiculously spiky with a trait we’ve never seen in any vertebrate – living or extinct – before. See the first 3D digital analysis of the only person known to have a proton beam go through their head, and why does frozen seafood glow? Why indeed.

So, sit back, relax, and let’s Break It Down…

Links:

Silly map
Pacific Ocean antipodes
Glowing plants
Wow! Signal
Punky ankylosaur
Proton beam to the head
Glowing seafood
The Big Questions – What Will The Fossils Of The Future Look Like?
CURIOUS Magazine

Shaman Training Cave, Uranus's New Moon, And A Bright Orange Shark

This week on Break It Down: Tracks left in ancient rock suggest fish crawled out of the seas 10 million years earlier than we thought, a 140,000-year-old child’s skull is the earliest evidence Neanderthals and Homo sapiens got it on yet, a bright orange nurse shark makes history as the first example of xanthism in this species and in the Caribbean Sea, JWST spots a new moon around Uranus, bringing its total up to 29, cave paintings from the French Pyrenees suggest a dangerous “shaman training cave”, and what did ancient people think when they discovered fossils? Griffins, cyclops, or something else entirely? 

So, sit back, relax, and let’s Break It Down…

Fossil trackways

Neanderthals and Homo sapiens

Only surviving human species

Bright orange shark

Orange crocs

Uranus’ new moon

Shaman Training Cave

Finding fossils

We Have Questions Podcast

Northern white rhinos

Giraffes are now four species

Orange Crocodiles, New Human Species, And Death By Meteorite

This week on Break It Down: The discovery of some fossilized human teeth reveals the oldest known members of our genus weren’t alone; their neighbors were a species we’ve never found before. A world-first study reveals that sex reversal is surprisingly common in wild Australian birds. A law of abbreviation that mysteriously fits all human languages also applies to bird song from several species. Orange crocodiles lurking deep within caves in Central Africa have the potential to become a new dwarf species. The lack of a standardized definition is holding back long COVID research. And has anybody ever died by getting hit by a meteorite? The records show: just one.

 

So, sit back, relax, and let’s Break It Down…

 

Links:

New human species

HUMAN with Ella Al-Shamahi

Tunnel of bones

Sex reversal in wild birds

Zipf’s law applies to birds

Orange crocodiles

Defining long COVID

Death by meteorite

Why do we feel pain? Interview with Chris Hemsworth and Dr BJ Miller

The Big Questions – Will We Ever Get A Universal Flu Vaccine?

We Have Questions

Dancing Cockatoos, Spider Schlongs, And Will I Be Hit By An Asteroid?

This week on Break It Down: cockatoos have added 17 new dance moves to their official tally, we may finally know where the ancient “hobbit” humans came from, four new species of tarantulas have been discovered with one key difference to other species, science has the answer as to whether you're more likely to be killed by an asteroid or an elephant, RFK Jr uses misinformation to pull millions of dollars from mRNA vaccine research, and we discuss how science fiction is helping scientists explore possible futures. 

 

So, sit back, relax, and let’s Break It Down…

 

Links:

Dancing cockatoos

Hobbit humans

Why Are We The Only Surviving Human Species

Four new tarantulas

Asteroid risk

RFK Jr pulls funding

COVID vaccines saved 2.5 millions lives

mRNA vaccine research wins Nobel Prize

Science fiction helps science

Why Are Yawns Contagious?

How Has The Internet Changed The Way We Use Language?

How Do Black Holes Shape The Universe?

Curious Magazine

Moa De-Extinction, Fashionable Chimps, And Robot Surgery – No Human Required

This week on Break It Down: just a week after the discovery of our third-ever interstellar visitor we may know where it came from, ancient enamel provides a snapshot into the lives of prehistoric rhinos, the moa becomes the fifth species targeted for de-extinction, a robot performs gallbladder surgery – no human required, chimps start a new fashion trend with grass in their ears (and rears), and 100 years since The Scopes (Monkey) Trial, how much has changed?

 

So, sit back, relax, and let’s Break It Down…

 

Links:

Interstellar visitor

Prof Chris Lintott interview

Ancient enamel

Moa de-extinction

Moa foot

Robot surgery

Fashionable chimps

The Scopes (Monkey) Trial

The Big Questions

We Have Questions

Human origins

Malayan tigers