IFLScience - Break It Down

Precious Penis Bone, North America’s Oldest Dino, And The Mystical Metal Of "Atlantis"

This week on Break It Down: unexpected and unexplained structures have been discovered hiding under the Pacific Ocean, the oldest equatorial dinosaur fossil in the world dates back a whopping 230 million years, a painted dog penis bone has been found in a ritual shaft in England (some puns write themselves), cave art from France could be the oldest 3D map in the world, Nobel Prize winners can go loopy (and start talking to raccoons) after winning, and what was Plato talking about when he described a metal "more precious than anything except gold?”

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

Links:

Unexplained structures
Oldest equatorial dinosaur 
Painted penis bone
Oldest 3D map
Nobel Disease
Orichalcum metal
Nobody’s looking for Atlantis
How do sunken cities end up underwater
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Wildfires in LA
Fish that mates a lot 
Face-planting frog

Saiga Mega Victory, 2025 Predictions, And A Coming Star Explosion

This week on Break It Down: one of the most significant mammal recoveries ever recorded (and four other wildlife wins), a once-in-a-lifetime event is about to kick off in space, spookily accurate predictions made by a “professor” 100 years ago, an undersea volcano is about to erupt, scientists achieve a world-first embryo milestone on the path to giraffe IVF, and 100 years since Hubble proved the universe is unimaginably vast, we explore how he did it.

 

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

 

Links:

Saiga antelope recovery

Coronae borealis nova event

Spooky 2025 predictions

Undersea volcano eruption

World-first giraffe embryo breakthrough

100 years since Hubble proved the Universe is massive

DNA phenotyping

How many ants are there in the world?

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This week on Break It Down: Earth’s magnetic pole is in a new position, the second most cited paper to ever be withdrawn is finally retracted, Charlotte the bubble-butted turtle gets a special swimming harness, The Blob’s legacy marks the worst single-species mortality event in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

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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

Sign up to CURIOUS

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