Episodes
8 hours ago
8 hours ago
This week in Break It Down, the debate on T. rex intelligence rages on, a world-first video shows an orangutan applying leaves as medicine, the most complete Neanderthal gets a face, why alpaca sex is so weird that no other mammal does it like them (that we know of), the mystery of a giant hole in Antarctic ice solved, and could Earth ever get its own rings?
Sit back, relax, and let's Break It Down...
Links:
Brainy T. rex: https://www.iflscience.com/t-rex-was-a-smart-giant-crocodile-not-a-massive-brainy-baboon-73991
Dr Orangutan: https://www.iflscience.com/orangutan-seen-treating-a-wound-with-a-medicinal-plant-in-world-first-observation-74034
Neanderthal face: https://www.iflscience.com/best-preserved-neanderthal-skeleton-in-over-25-years-found-in-flower-funeral-cave-74024
Alpaca sex: https://www.iflscience.com/alpaca-sex-is-so-weird-its-never-been-seen-in-another-mammal-73994
Antarctic ice hole: https://www.iflscience.com/eight-years-ago-a-huge-opening-appeared-in-antarctic-sea-ice-now-we-know-why-74029
Earth’s rings: https://www.iflscience.com/what-would-the-earth-be-like-with-rings-74015
Register for CURIOUS Live: https://webapp.spotme.com/login/eventspace/c-u-r-i-o-u-s-live-may-2024?utm_source=iflscience-podcast-shownotes&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=curious-live-may-2024
Megaliths: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9GauXgPanI
Shamrock the green puppy: https://www.instagram.com/p/C6eYbE6JGaO/
Friday Apr 26, 2024
Gassy Uranus, Giant Megaraptors, And The Pharaoh's Curse
Friday Apr 26, 2024
Friday Apr 26, 2024
This week in Break It Down, we explore why Uranus might contain more methane than we thought, just what is happening to bacteria on the ISS, quite how long animals have been making their own light for, why carvings on a bear bone are culturally important, giant megaraptor footprints in China, and whether anything spooky might happen if you dare to enter the Pharaoh's tomb.
Sit back, relax, and let's Break It Down...
Links:
Methane on Uranus: https://www.iflscience.com/uranus-may-be-filled-with-a-lot-more-methane-than-we-thought-73921
Space bacteria: https://www.iflscience.com/bacteria-on-the-iss-have-mutated-into-something-not-seen-on-earth-before-73932
Glowing animals: https://www.iflscience.com/bioluminescent-animals-have-been-glowing-for-at-least-540-million-years-73948
Bear bone culture: https://www.iflscience.com/engraved-bone-of-prehistoric-bear-is-the-oldest-example-of-neanderthal-culture-73884
Megaraptor: https://www.iflscience.com/meet-a-megaraptor-new-dinosaur-footprints-reveal-raptors-grew-scarily-big-73951
The Pharaoh's Curse: https://www.iflscience.com/the-pharaohs-curse-does-opening-a-tomb-really-lead-to-an-untimely-death-73959
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Why is the Dead Sea so salty? https://youtu.be/MYE1d_3-ZB8
Friday Apr 19, 2024
Tiny Titanosaurs, Giant Snakes, And Transatlantic Heart Transplants
Friday Apr 19, 2024
Friday Apr 19, 2024
This week in Break It Down, a new species of tiny titanosaur is compared to a cow, a 47-million-year-old snake becomes the largest ever, an RNA breakthrough brings us closer to "universal vaccines", a heart flies 7,000 kilometers to its recipient, we question Stonehenge's relationship to the Moon, and why the philosophy of science matters in the modern day.
Sit back, relax, and let's Break It Down...
Links:
Tiny titanosaur: https://www.iflscience.com/anyone-for-a-mini-titanosaur-new-species-is-one-of-the-smallest-ever-found-73817
Giant snake: https://www.iflscience.com/new-species-may-be-the-largest-snake-to-have-ever-lived-73871
Vaccine breakthrough: https://www.iflscience.com/vaccine-breakthrough-could-mean-future-proof-shots-with-no-need-for-boosters-73825
Stonehenge and the Moon: https://www.iflscience.com/stonehenge-may-be-aligned-to-this-rare-lunar-event-73831
Transatlantic heart: https://www.iflscience.com/world-first-as-donor-heart-travels-nearly-7000-kilometers-across-atlantic-for-successful-transplant-73827
Philosophy of science: https://www.iflscience.com/why-the-philosophy-of-science-matters-73821
The largest marine reptile: https://www.iflscience.com/202-million-year-old-ichthyosaur-may-be-the-worlds-largest-marine-reptile-73855
Avocado testicles: https://www.iflscience.com/does-the-word-avocado-have-a-double-meaning-73854
Friday Apr 12, 2024
More Whale Sex, Pet Foxes, And The B.O.A.T
Friday Apr 12, 2024
Friday Apr 12, 2024
This week in Break It Down, 12-million-year-old snails reveal the oldest preserved fossil pigments, the violent mating dance of blue whales is caught on camera, scientists investigate the source of space’s brightest-ever explosion, foxes may have been the OG domestic canid, when is the North Star not the North Star, and what the hell even is a “henge”?
Sit back, relax, and let's Break It Down...
Links:
The BOAT: https://www.iflscience.com/we-now-know-what-caused-the-brightest-explosion-ever-seen-in-space-73782
Fox friends: https://www.iflscience.com/foxes-may-have-been-humans-best-friend-long-before-dogs-73754
Not the North Star: https://www.iflscience.com/so-long-polaris-the-earth-will-get-a-new-north-star-73745
A “henge” or not a henge: https://www.iflscience.com/what-is-a-henge-and-why-were-they-built-73755
Golden mole: https://www.iflscience.com/extremely-rare-gorgeous-marsupial-mole-with-blond-hair-spotted-in-western-australia-73776
Etna’s smoke rings: https://youtu.be/fdZGRsA3TI8?si=iVgWl2ol-K-w0yRn
Friday Apr 05, 2024
Space Rainbows, Ancient Animal Art, And Heart-Eyed Toads
Friday Apr 05, 2024
Friday Apr 05, 2024
This week in Break It Down, a rainbow-like glory is detected beyond our Solar System, a sand-slab stingray may be the oldest animal art, ancient etchings in Peru may depict psychedelic music, scientists complete the world’s largest digital camera, and a toad with heart-shaped pupils. Plus, how far can a bird fly without flapping? Turns out, pretty damn far.
Sit back, relax, and let's Break It Down...
Links:
Glory in space: https://www.iflscience.com/we-may-have-just-seen-the-first-rainbow-like-glory-on-a-world-outside-our-solar-system-73681
Sand-slab stingray: https://www.iflscience.com/a-130000-year-old-stingray-sand-sculpture-may-be-worlds-oldest-animal-art-73649
Psychedelic rock art: https://www.iflscience.com/this-2000-year-old-peruvian-rock-art-may-depict-psychedelic-music-73677
Largest digital camera: https://www.iflscience.com/worlds-largest-ever-digital-camera-is-completed-73667
Heart-shaped pupils: https://www.iflscience.com/yes-this-adorable-toad-really-has-heart-shaped-pupils-73624
Fly without flapping: https://www.iflscience.com/whats-the-longest-a-bird-can-fly-without-flapping-its-wings-73664
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Ligers V Tigons: https://youtu.be/Aq5Fm4VXIG0?si=keu3BpIBOOaIj4Xb
Thursday Mar 28, 2024
Black Holes, Barbie Pigs, And The Apocaclipse
Thursday Mar 28, 2024
Thursday Mar 28, 2024
This week in Break It Down, why the solar eclipse can be fatal, Barbie pigs 5,000 meters below the sea, world-first cooperative mimicry in two spiders pretending to be a flower, the first image of magnetic fields around black hole Sagittarius A*, why climate change might be about to change the time, and are men really more likely to be psychopaths than women? The science appears to suggest otherwise.
So sit back, relax, and let's Break It Down...
Links:
Apocaclipse: https://www.iflscience.com/potentially-fatal-consequence-linked-to-upcoming-us-total-solar-eclipse-73564
Flower spiders: https://www.iflscience.com/male-and-female-spider-perfectly-resemble-flower-in-potential-cooperative-mimicry-world-first-73530
Black hole’s magnetic fields: https://www.iflscience.com/incredible-first-view-of-the-magnetic-fields-around-our-galaxys-supermassive-black-hole-73563
Earth’s shape-changing time: https://www.iflscience.com/earths-changing-shape-may-cause-a-global-timekeeping-crisis-73567
Female psychopaths: https://www.iflscience.com/are-women-really-less-likely-to-be-psychopaths-than-men-73418
Reptile house: https://www.iflscience.com/mountain-chicken-frogs-giant-salamanders-and-scrotum-frogs-get-a-new-home-at-zsl-73573
Childbirth VS kick to the balls: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRZTcCATAWs
Friday Mar 22, 2024
Scandalous Pyramids, Quantum Tornadoes, And The Longest Eclipse
Friday Mar 22, 2024
Friday Mar 22, 2024
This week in Break It Down, a hill becomes a pyramid and then a hill again, quantum tornadoes teach us about black holes, a living human gets a pig kidney for the first time, Homer’s Iliad helps us find shipwrecks, the world’s rarest fish makes a comeback – one ridiculous baby at a time – and we find out about the longest eclipses on, and off, record.
Sit back, relax, and let’s Break It Down…
Links:
It’s a pyramid: https://www.iflscience.com/worlds-oldest-pyramid-was-built-25000-years-ago-inside-this-indonesian-mountain-71414
It might not be a pyramid: https://www.iflscience.com/the-25000-year-old-pyramid-in-indonesia-was-likely-not-made-by-humans-71767
It isn’t a pyramid: https://www.iflscience.com/study-claiming-humans-built-a-25000-year-old-pyramid-in-indonesia-removed-by-journal-73465
Getting it wrong is a part of science: https://youtu.be/6cBV1fnp7E4?si=OkLQT0bxZFj5a68l
Quantum tornadoes: https://www.iflscience.com/first-ever-quantum-tornado-lets-scientists-simulate-black-holes-in-the-lab-73470
Pig kidney xenotransplant: https://www.iflscience.com/a-crispr-edited-pig-kidney-has-been-transplanted-into-a-living-person-for-the-first-time-73499
Homer’s Iliad shipwrecks: https://www.iflscience.com/archaeologists-find-shipwrecks-using-clues-from-homers-iliad-73448
World’s rarest fish: https://www.iflscience.com/the-worlds-rarest-fish-is-making-a-comeback-one-ridiculous-baby-at-a-time-73476
Longest eclipses: https://www.iflscience.com/when-was-the-longest-recorded-solar-eclipse-in-history-73412
Equinox VS solstice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IK9jmLA_Qf0
Friday Mar 15, 2024
Superb Nova, Space Crime, And Eclipse Tortoises
Friday Mar 15, 2024
Friday Mar 15, 2024
This week in Break It Down, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see a nova, astroforensic science, why everybody thinks male mammals are so big, the world’s oldest body piercings, 70 years in an iron lung, and the strange things animals do during a total solar eclipse. We’re looking at you, Galápagos tortoises.
Sit back, relax, and let’s Break It Down…
Links:
Nova: https://www.iflscience.com/this-year-could-be-a-once-in-a-lifetime-opportunity-to-see-a-nova-73379
Space crime: https://www.iflscience.com/csi-space-station-scientists-are-investigating-blood-splatter-in-microgravity-73357
Mammalian bodies: https://www.iflscience.com/males-are-larger-than-females-or-are-they-new-data-challenges-100-years-of-bias-73347
Oldest piercings: https://www.iflscience.com/11000-year-old-earrings-and-lip-studs-are-worlds-oldest-piercings-73321
Iron lung: https://www.iflscience.com/paul-alexander-the-man-in-the-iron-lung-has-died-73363
Animals in a solar eclipse: https://www.iflscience.com/why-do-animals-act-strangely-during-a-solar-eclipse-73346
Mammals trailer: https://youtu.be/fRSEMsutVdI?si=Jcyn-WUQuEm9Vl5s
Unexplained anomalous phenomena: https://youtu.be/QKZl5wIySO8?si=IxwL5O539XbT4TKS
IFLScience - Break It Down
Your bite-size guide to this week in science. Join hosts Eleanor Higgs and Rachael Funnell as they discuss the biggest news stories of the week with guests from the IFLScience team and maybe even a surprise expert or two. So, let’s Break It Down