IFLScience - Break It Down

Woolly Mice, 3D-Printed Penises, And The World’s Worst Sting

This week on Break It Down: Colossal Biosciences creates the “woolly mouse” in their mission to de-extinct the mammoth, scientists 3D-print functional penises (and have the babies to prove their efficacy), that gaping hole in the ozone layer really is repairing, IFLScience asks why so few international organizations have responded to Trump and Musk’s attack on US science, humans have been making bone tools 1 million years longer than we realized, and what’s the most painful bug sting? One brave scientist penned poetic descriptions of their experiences.

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

Links:

Woolly mouse

Elephant pluripotent stem cells

Vaccine for baby elephants

3D-printed penis

Ozone hole recovering

Attack on science response

Bone tool use

4 worst insect stings

Blob-headed fish

CURIOUS magazine

Rat Sommeliers, Glass Brain, And Internet On Mars

This week on Break It Down: the curious tale of a lump of glass that turned out to be a human brain, the US sees its first measles death in 10 years, rats make great sommeliers, the evolutionary origins of feathers in dinosaurs, AI bots start speaking a secret language to each other, and could we get internet on Mars? Quite possible.

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

Links:

Brain glass

Brain in a bucket

Measles death

Rat sommeliers

Hamsters quaffing wine

Dinosaur feathers

AI language

Twin telepathy

Mars internet

CURIOUS

Polar bear dens

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Bobbly giraffe

Most Dangerous Animal, Tomb Discovery, And How To Break Habits

This week on Break It Down: the first ancient Egyptian royal tomb has been discovered since Tutankhamun over 100 years ago, a brand new ‘dangerous animal’ scale reveals the realistic threat of different creatures, architects are operating on land and at the deepest parts of the ocean (they just don’t look how you imagine), a Paralympian becomes the first astronaut with a disability to be cleared for a space mission, the Moon is getting 4G for the first time ever, and how do you break a habit? We find out.

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

 

Links:

Ancient Egyptian tomb

Crespo scale

Animal architects

Termite mounds

Paralympian astronaut

Moon internet

Breaking habits

Intelligent snake

We Have Questions

Murderous turtles

Chia egg

Dolphin Pee Party, Inside Asteroid Response, And That Ancient Mummy Smell

This week on Break It Down: Amazon river dolphins are saying it with urine proudly sprayed directly into the air, an inside look at the planetary defense response to asteroid 2024 YR4 (and no, it isn’t too late), find out what mummies smell like thanks to a team of “sniffers”, whale song follows Zipf’s Law, red light therapy – does it actually work? And say hello to kama muta, the emotion we've all felt but probably don’t know the name for.

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

Links:

Dolphin pee

Asteroid 2024 YR4

Ancient mummy smell

Whale song

Blue whale whispers

Red light therapy

Kama muta

We Have Questions

Vengeful Valentine’s

Science Under Attack, Dino-Era Ducks, And Do We Own Our Bodies?

This week on Break It Down: the world's oldest runestone might have been carved by a woman in a language that predates the Vikings, asteroid 2024 YR4 has a 2.3 percent chance of hitting Earth in 2032 (but we’re not panicking yet), an ancient jawbone might reveal a new branch of the hominid family tree, science in the US is under attack after a slew of executive orders from the Trump administration, a fossil from Antarctica suggests ducks have been swimming around for a lot longer than we thought and we explore whether we actually own our bodies.

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

Links:

Oldest runestone
Asteroid
New human relative
Why are we the only surviving human species?
Science under attack
Dino-era ducks
Do we own our bodies?
Wound Man
CURIOUS Magazine
Worst diving accident
Rescued frogs

Covid Lab Leak, Mouse With Two Dads, And Are We Living In A Simulation?

This week on Break It Down: A CIA report says the origins of COVID being a lab leak is “likely” but what does that really mean? The Doomsday Clock ticks closer to humanity's destruction, asteroid Bennu’s sample contains the building blocks of life (but not aliens), the oldest poison arrow dates back 7,000 years, a mouse with two male parents survives to adulthood in a world first, “boomerasking” might be the social snub of 2025, and we enter The Vault to explore why people believe in the Simulation Hypothesis. 

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

Links:

COVID lab leak
Doomsday Clock
Bennu samples
Bennu lid is stuck
Oldest poisoned arrow
Mouse with two dads
Boomerasking
Phubbing
Simulation Hypothesis
CURIOUS Magazine
Science Hoaxes
Salamander Toes

Pompeii’s Worst Day, Peeing Together, And The GOAT Dinosaur Movie?

This week on Break It Down: a new timeline shows exactly when and how the eruption of Vesuvius spread, chimps have been observed going to the bathroom together all at the same time, trust in science remains high worldwide despite recent global events, sex differences between male and female brains are present as early as newborn babies, and did COVID lockdowns actually affect the temperature on the Moon? Finally, what’s the best dino movie of all time? We asked the experts to find out.

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

Links

Pompeii
Trust in science
Covid and the Moon
Sex differences in brains
Chimps pee together
Just in case pee
Yawning is contagious 
Best dino movie
Fire melanism
Rare black king penguin
Corals on the move
Curious magazine
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Thylacine De-Extinction, Tattooed Mummies, And A Meteorite World-First

This week on Break It Down: lasers revealed 1,200-year-old mummies’ sweet tats, the mission to de-extinct the thylacine takes a leap forward, video footage of a meteorite hitting someone’s garden might be a world first, China announces plans to build the solar power station equivalent of “Three Gorges Dam” in space, researchers discover an Iron Age society ruled by women, and how did dinosaurs have sex? We find out from palaeontologist Riley Black what we do (and don’t) know so far.

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

Links:

Tattooed mummies

Thylacine de-extinction

Meteorite strike

Can you keep meteorites you find?

Solar power in space

Iron Age women

Dinosaur sex

How did dinosaurs have sex? Podcast

Alligators’ penile jack-in-a-box

How did the chicken lose its penis?

We Have Questions

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Skrunkly crab

Sunfish popcorn larva