IFLScience - Break It Down

Black Holes, Barbie Pigs, And The Apocaclipse

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

Barbie pigs: https://www.iflscience.com/barbie-pigs-among-strange-and-possibly-new-to-science-species-discovered-in-the-pacific-73539

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

Scandalous Pyramids, Quantum Tornadoes, And The Longest Eclipse

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

Superb Nova, Space Crime, And Eclipse Tortoises

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

Coral joy: https://www.iflscience.com/watch-corals-release-clouds-of-eggs-and-sperm-in-cambodias-first-observed-spawning-event-73387

De-Extincting Mammoths, The Oldest Fossil Forest, And Elephant Burials

This week in Break It Down, we talk de-extincting the mammoth, the world’s oldest fossil forest, elephant burials, hypervaccination (and by hyper, we mean 217 COVID vaccinations in 29 months), a small Pacific nation that spans all four hemispheres, and a contentious question on geologists’ lips: are we in the Anthropocene?

Sit back, relax, and let’s Break It Down…

Links:

From elephants to mammoths: https://www.iflscience.com/we-just-got-one-step-closer-to-seeing-a-live-mammoth-by-2028-73258

De-extincting a dinosaur: https://youtu.be/jpcvqFMZFmA?si=wcMj-waAHqEGXpmF

Fossil forest: https://www.iflscience.com/at-390-million-years-old-england-just-usurped-the-us-for-oldest-forest-on-earth-73247

Anthropocene: https://www.iflscience.com/geologists-conclude-we-are-not-living-in-the-anthropocene-for-now-73251

Elephant burials: https://www.iflscience.com/asian-elephants-bury-and-mourn-for-their-dead-calves-73219

Hypervaccination: https://www.iflscience.com/man-takes-217-covid-19-vaccines-in-29-months-for-private-reasons-is-fine-73253

All four hemispheres: https://www.iflscience.com/people-are-only-just-learning-that-earth-has-four-hemispheres-73288

Lost continents: https://youtu.be/hElndPVxGfA?si=jsm5gC5DzfpLuge9

Toki Pona: https://youtu.be/3dGZ2I4aVuY?si=bXx0rRQ--S7-n86U

Living fossils: https://www.iflscience.com/what-is-a-living-fossil-first-evidence-of-a-biological-mechanism-reveals-all-73272

Whale Sex, Smashing Asteroids, And More (Giant) Whales

This week in Break It Down, the first-ever photographs of humpbacks humping involves two males, NASA changes the shape of an asteroid, a tiny fish makes a big din, some very old megaliths in Peru, the heaviest animal on the planet, and the bizarre story of one of the biggest astrophysical discoveries in recent times.

Sit back, relax, and let’s break it down...

Links:

Queer nature: https://youtu.be/RXE11Ia70GQ

Male whales: https://www.iflscience.com/first-ever-photos-of-humpback-whale-sex-involve-two-males-73150

Megaliths: https://www.iflscience.com/ancient-4750-year-old-megalith-discovered-on-peruvian-mountain-73114

Tiny noisy fish: https://www.iflscience.com/12-millimeter-long-small-brained-fish-can-make-sound-as-loud-as-a-jet-plane-73153

Heaviest animal: https://www.iflscience.com/blue-whale-back-on-top-as-heaviest-animal-ever-to-live-on-planet-earth-73175

Smashing asteroids: https://www.iflscience.com/nasa-hit-an-asteroid-so-hard-it-completely-changed-its-shape-73125

Gravitational waves: https://www.iflscience.com/the-bizarre-behind-the-scenes-story-of-the-first-ever-detection-of-gravitational-waves-73164

Earth Core Video : https://youtu.be/zDd_375k4jo

Perpetual Stew Video: https://youtu.be/9G45eXJMWHk

Space Spiders And Adam Sandler: https://www.iflscience.com/space-spiders-and-adam-sandler-welcome-to-the-love-story-that-is-netflixs-spaceman-73184

Giant Anacondas, Small Stars, And Lab-Grown Testicles

This week in Break It Down, we discuss how a Will Smith series led to the discovery of a new species of giant anaconda, plus the smallest star ever discovered, lab-grown testicles, an electric vehicle breakthrough, sophisticated Neanderthal glue, and how to destroy a dinner party by dropping the question: is math discovered or invented?

Sit back, relax, and let’s break it down…

Links:

New species of giant anaconda: https://www.iflscience.com/new-giant-anaconda-species-discovered-while-filming-with-will-smith-in-amazon-73027

Smallest star ever discovered: https://www.iflscience.com/smallest-star-ever-discovered-and-its-only-a-tiny-bit-bigger-than-earth-73035

Lab-grown testicles: https://www.iflscience.com/first-ever-lab-grown-testicles-may-be-capable-of-producing-sperm-73038

Electric vehicle breakthrough: https://www.iflscience.com/breakthrough-could-make-electric-cars-go-1000-kilometers-on-one-charge-73059

Neanderthal glue: https://www.iflscience.com/40000-year-old-multi-compound-glue-suggests-neanderthals-were-smarter-than-we-thought-73056

Math: https://www.iflscience.com/is-math-discovered-or-invented-73005

Shingrays, Space Lasers, And Pink Fairy Armadillos

This week in Break It Down, we discuss whether or not an aquarium in the US is about to become home to the world’s first “shingray,” how scientists are sending messages and power from space, a groundbreaking cancer breakthrough, fossil forgeries, and what on Earth a pink fairy armadillo is.

Sit back, relax, and let’s break it down…

Links:

Shingray: https://www.iflscience.com/shark-ray-hybrid-aquarium-suggests-shark-may-have-impregnated-their-lone-stingray-72919

Space lasers and radio messages: https://www.iflscience.com/nasa-just-received-laser-and-radio-messages-together-from-even-deeper-space-72873

Cancer breakthrough: https://www.iflscience.com/13-year-old-boy-cured-of-terminal-brain-tumor-in-world-first-72950

Fossil forgeries: https://www.iflscience.com/280-million-year-old-mystery-solved-as-forged-fossils-skin-identified-as-paint-72976

Power from space: https://www.iflscience.com/earth-has-received-power-beamed-from-a-satellite-in-space-for-the-first-time-72957

Pink fairy armadillos: https://www.iflscience.com/pink-fairies-the-worlds-smallest-armadillo-has-a-unique-double-skin-72954

The oral microbiome: https://www.iflscience.com/what-is-the-oral-microbiome-how-microbes-in-our-mouths-affect-our-health-72948

Bias In Science with Subhadra Das: https://youtu.be/N5n2efjSeg4?si=rtid8eAUuQRjrCnD

CURIOUS Feb issue: https://curious.iflscience.com/issue-19/full-view.html

Break It Down Trailer

A little teaser for our upcoming podcast, Break It Down.