IFLScience - Break It Down

Hot Dinosaurs, Alien Megastructures, And Reaching Point Nemo

This week on Break It Down, COVID’s new FLiRT variants, when and which dinosaurs went warm-blooded, could a lost river explain the pyramids, the search for alien megastructures, the shrinking Y chromosome, and what’s it like sailing to Point Nemo? Really hard, apparently.

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

Links:

FLiRT: https://www.iflscience.com/whats-going-on-with-the-new-covid-flirt-variants-74245

Hot dinosaurs: https://www.iflscience.com/the-first-warm-blooded-dinosaurs-probably-evolved-180-million-years-ago-74237

Lost river: https://www.iflscience.com/this-lost-river-could-explain-how-the-pyramids-were-built-74246

Alien megastructures: https://www.iflscience.com/two-new-searches-find-60-potential-alien-megastructures-in-our-galaxy-74222

Shrinking Y chromosome: https://www.iflscience.com/whats-happening-with-the-y-chromosome-74217

Point Nemo: https://www.iflscience.com/point-nemo-what-its-like-sailing-to-the-most-remote-place-on-earth-74242

Point Nemo video: https://youtu.be/POApwucft2c?si=9SfKuJg9OqX17JQw

CURIOUS Live register: https://ifls.online/3y4rMoS

CURIOUS, May issue: https://curious.iflscience.com/issue-22/full-view.html

Poles of Inaccessibility: https://inaccessibility.net/

Fox in a sink-hole: https://www.iflscience.com/curious-fox-cub-rescued-after-getting-head-stuck-in-a-sink-drain-74238

Talking Whales, Dinosauroids, and Psychedelic Milk Toads?

This week in Break It Down, scientists discover the “sperm whale phonetic alphabet”, AstraZeneca pull their COVID vaccine from the shelves, why a weak magnetic field might be a good thing for life on Earth, rock art reveals that the Sahara looked a little different 4,000 years ago, toads might be helping treat depression, and what on Earth is a dinosauroid?!

Sit back, relax, and let's Break It Down...

Links:

Whale alphabet: https://www.iflscience.com/sperm-whale-phonetic-alphabet-surprisingly-similar-in-structure-to-human-language-74097

[Whale Audio Credit: Project CETI]

AstraZeneca pull their COVID vaccine: https://www.iflscience.com/why-has-astrazeneca-taken-its-covid-19-vaccine-off-the-market-74136

Magnetic fields and complex life: https://www.iflscience.com/earths-magnetic-fields-near-collapse-590-million-years-ago-may-have-helped-complex-life-74049

Rock art: https://www.iflscience.com/rock-art-shows-the-sahara-was-a-radically-different-place-4000-years-ago-74114

Toads as antidepressants: https://www.iflscience.com/could-this-toads-psychedelic-venom-be-the-next-big-thing-in-antidepressants-74122

Dinosauroids: https://www.iflscience.com/if-dinosaurs-werent-extinct-would-the-dinosauroid-walk-among-us-74131

Virtual event: https://ifls.online/3y4rMoS

What is “virgin birth”: https://youtu.be/W31JiNsN3mg

Alpaca Sex, Brainy T. Rex, And Could Earth Have Rings?

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/

Gassy Uranus, Giant Megaraptors, And The Pharaoh's Curse

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

Tiny Titanosaurs, Giant Snakes, And Transatlantic Heart Transplants

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

More Whale Sex, Pet Foxes, And The B.O.A.T

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:

Old snails: https://www.iflscience.com/oldest-known-intact-polyene-pigments-found-in-12-million-year-old-snail-shells-73735

Whale sex: https://www.iflscience.com/rare-photos-show-blue-whales-performing-the-largest-mating-dance-on-earth-73777

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

Space Rainbows, Ancient Animal Art, And Heart-Eyed Toads

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

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