IFLScience - Break It Down

A New North Pole, Bubble-Butt Turtles, And Testing Ancient Hangover Cures

This week on Break It Down: Earth’s magnetic pole is in a new position, the second most cited paper to ever be withdrawn is finally retracted, Charlotte the bubble-butted turtle gets a special swimming harness, The Blob’s legacy marks the worst single-species mortality event in modern history, a Roman solution to Mars suggests blood makes for great cement, and we send one of our writers on a mission to test out ancient hangover cures. Anyone for cabbage?

Links:

Magnetic pole movements

Paper retracted

Turtle “bubble butt”

The Blob mortality event

Blood houses on Mars

Ancient hangover cures

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The Big Questions

Pacific sleeper shark

Deep-Sea Creep, Jupiter's New Ring, And Inter-Hominid Hook-Ups

This week on Break It Down: fishers discover a mysterious tablet bearing an unknown language, sequencing the oldest human genome reveals when we first bred with Neanderthals, Jupiter’s got a shiny new ring, a new predator captured in the darkest depths of the Atacama Trench, working out the rules to an ancient boardgame, and can donor organs transfer memories? Transplant patients report strange personality changes.

 

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

 

Links:

Mysterious tablet

Complaint tablet

Sequencing the oldest human genome

Jupiter’s new ring

Sharks older than Saturn’s rings

Deep-sea predator

Ancient boardgame

The Big Questions

Donor organs and memory

Piggyback heart transplant

Guitarfish

True crime

We Have Questions

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Cannibal Paddington, Glowing Wood, And A New Human Species?

This week on Break It Down: scientists may have discovered a new ancient relative of humans, collar cameras from Andean bears reveal Paddington may have a taste for cubs, we’ve been paying the salmon tax to dogs for 2,000 years more than thought, new biohybrid wood glows green in the dark, diamond batteries could last for thousands of years, and it turns out spaceports make for remarkably good wildlife sanctuaries.
So sit back, relax, and let’s Break It Down…

Links:

New human species

Cannibalistic Paddington

Ancient dog friends

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Glowing wood

Diamond battery

Spaceports and nature

The Big Questions

Genghis Khan

Frosty the orca

True Crime: Harold Shipman

Wisdom the albatross has laid an egg 

Killer Whale Fashion, Dinosaur Poop, And Pluto’s Birthday

This week on Break It Down: killer whales have been wearing salmon hats (again) and sucking out the livers of the world’s largest shark, 1.5-million-year-old footprints reveal Homo erectus co-existed with a now-extinct protohuman, fossil dinosaur poop and vomit indicate their rise to power began with plants, we have a date for when Pluto will complete its first orbit since we discovered the non-planet (don’t hold your breath), COVID-19 may hold the key to shrinking tumors, and we celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Lucy's discovery, a moment that changed our understanding of human evolution.

 

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

 

Links:

Killer whale fashion

Killer whales eating whale sharks

1.5-million-year-old footprints

Dinosaur poop and vomit

Pluto’s birthday

COVID-19 shrinking tumors

Lucy’s legacy

True crime: Colin Pitchfork

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CURIOUS magazine

World’s Thinnest Spaghetto, Earth’s Frozen Core, And A Shark-Hunting Dog?

This week on Break It Down, astronomers have taken the first-ever close-up photo of a star outside of the Milky Way, putting weight back on after losing it could be down to your fat cells' “memories”, the mystery surrounding the Earth’s inner core “freezing”, footage shows a “giant” virus infecting a cell for the first time, the world’s thinnest spaghetto is 200 times narrower than a hair, and meet Dadu, a shark-hunting dog who survived alone on a remote island for nearly a year, and then became beloved. 

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

Links:

Star outside the Milky Way
Fat cell “memories”
Earth’s inner core
Giant virus
Thinnest spaghetti
Shark-hunting dog

Dog shoving children in the Seine
Shipwreck whiskey
Largest coral
True Crime In Science
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Uranus Is Windy, Saber-Toothed Baby, And Is Animal Testing Necessary?

This week on Break It Down: turns out the one time we saw Uranus it was having an uncharacteristically windy moment, new meanings behind the Amazon’s most incredible rock art, the world’s largest coral found lurking off the Solomon Islands, a ~35,000-year-old saber-toothed baby comes complete with fur, whiskers, and toe beans, and amber found in Antarctica for the first time ever. Plus, can we phase out animal testing? Science is trying.

 

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

 

Links:

Uranus was having a bad day

Amazon rock art

World’s largest coral

Saber-toothed cub

Antarctic amber

Animal testing

Disco worm

Fire and ice

UAP hearing

We Have Questions

How Many Geese

A Murder Solved From The Grave, Chernobyl Frogs, and Cat Physics

This week in Break It Down: clues inside Pompeii victims' casts reveal they're not who we thought they were, the frogs of Chernobyl are doing just fine, cat physics and a crime of authorship, the North Atlantic is getting saltier and saltier, good news for double jabs, and a DNA scientist who picked up the research that would solve her own murder.

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

Links:

Pompeii Victims

Chernobyl Frogs

⁠Cat Physics

Salty Atlantic

Double Jab

1985 Murder

We Have Questions

How Many Geese

Bats On Treadmills

Oldest Text

Tsunami: Race Against Time

Quantum Cats, Drunk Monkeys, And Happy Birthday Godzilla

This week on Break It Down: a quantum cat experiment breaks a record for surviving over 23 minutes, Voyager 1 encountered a glitch but fixed itself with some old school tech, fossils from the Ordovician are a glittering new species, animals are getting drunk more than we thought, though we’re not quite sure why, kyawthuite is the rarest gemstone of them all, and we wish happy birthday to a giant, city-destroying lizard who has much more cultural impact than meets the eye.

Links:

Quantum Cat Experiment

Voyager Phoned Home

Fool’s Gold Fossils

Drunk Animals

Rarest Gemstone

Ruby Seed

Jade Toughest Natural Mineral

Godzilla At 70 

Annie Jacobson Curious Live Interview

Spooky Season Content

Polar Bear Week

How Is Climate Change Affecting Polar Bears?

Rats Wearing Vests