IFLScience - Break It Down

This month on Break It Down:  Why are there over 8 million pickled fish in some WWII-era bunkers in Louisiana? We ask Tulane University Biodiversity Research Institute director Brian Sidlauskas to spill the tea. The discovery of the world’s oldest clothes predates the previous record holder by 9,000 years. We speak to Professor Hannah Fry about all things AI, including why one chatbot encouraged the assassination of the Queen of England. Some cave coral shows off its flashy burglar alarm. Scientists explain why building an enormous underwater wall could be the best plan to save the “Doomsday Glacier”. The mystery of why some people experienced blood clots following a specific kind of COVID vaccine has finally been solved. Curiosity finds the second most compelling evidence of life on Mars yet. Why scientists created a 228-meter popsicle that delves 23 million years into the past by digging deep beneath Antarctica. Conservation success as it’s announced we’ve successfully saved the Bermuda snail from extinction. Meet the people taking bold new approaches to the biodiversity crisis in creating a “de-extinction toolkit” that can benefit some of Earth’s most threatened species. Plus, everything you can find in this month’s issue of CURIOUS, a teaser of a fascinating chat about games VS metrics with Professor C Thi Nguyen, and what do other worlds smell like? We sent our space editor to find out.   So, sit back, relax, and let’s Break It Down… Links: Pickled fish: https://www.iflscience.com/where-can-you-find-a-one-of-a-kind-pocket-shark-among-8-million-pickled-… Oldest clothes: https://www.iflscience.com/these-tiny-unremarkable-looking-scraps-of-elk-hide-may-be-oldest-sewn-cl… Prof Hannah Fry on AI: https://www.iflscience.com/in-2021-a-teenager-started-a-relationship-with-artificial-intelligence-t… Flashy cave coral: https://www.iflscience.com/funky-green-glowing-coral-is-the-first-report-of-bioluminescence-within-… Doomsday glacier’s underwater wall: https://www.iflscience.com/the-radical-plan-to-build-an-80-kilometer-wall-around-the-doomsday-glaci… COVID blood clots: https://www.iflscience.com/mystery-of-rare-blood-clots-after-covid-vaccines-finally-solved-after-ye… Life on Mars: https://www.iflscience.com/mudstone-molecules-might-be-second-best-proof-weve-found-that-mars-once-… Drilling beneath Antarctica: https://www.iflscience.com/scientists-drilled-into-antarctic-ice-until-they-met-bedrock-then-got-a-… Snail saved from extinction: https://www.iflscience.com/we-can-prevent-extinction-snail-officially-saved-from-extinction-proving… The world’s first de-extinction lab: https://youtu.be/1kEeZRacCds?si=p1tsE4p66cbrKvLi CURIOUS magazine: https://www.iflscience.com/curious-magazine What do other worlds smell like? https://www.iflscience.com/podcasts/we-have-questions 

This week on Break It Down: How a transplant patient lived for two days without lungs, the Artemis II Orion Capsule is probably smaller than you’re thinking (but it does have a toilet), the world’s only venomous primate is also super adorable, why a pair of giant legs has scientists questioning everything we thought we knew about stegosaurus, a cosmic miracle has been confirmed, and why do humans love fire? We asked the experts. So, sit back, relax, and let’s Break It Down… Links: Lung transplant Artemis II The Apollo 10 toilet debacle Venomous primates Mega-stegosaurus How did dinosaurs have sex? Cosmic miracle Why do humans love fire? CURIOUS magazine We Have Questions IFLScience YouTube – The future (additional) home of Break It Down

This week on Break It Down: a potential environmental trigger for autism has been identified, interstellar object 3I/ATLAS is doing weird things with its tail, 90 percent of people are at risk of a newly recognized syndrome, why we know the Denisovans didn’t hook up with the Jomon, as Iceland falls, mosquitos have just one place left on Earth they’ve yet to conquer, and why are people talking to “wind phones”? It’s all to do with “after-death communications”. So, sit back, relax, and let’s Break It Down… Links: Environmental trigger for autism Trump and Tylenol 3I/ATLAS tail changed direction CKM syndrome Extinct humans no Denisovan DNA Mosquitos’ final frontier Wind phones CURIOUS The Vault YouTube The Big Questions - Why do people believe in the paranormal? Sign up with code NESSIE50 for 50% off*   *Terms and Conditions: 50% OFF PROMO CODE: NESSIE50 offer for 1 billing period of an All Access Subscription: Annual paid subscription only on iflscience.com. Offer starts September 30, 2025, and ends November 30, 2025, 12:00 am EST. To apply the promo code, you must enter it prior to completing checkout. Your credit card will be automatically charged upon checkout completion, and your subscription will continue until you cancel auto-renew. You can cancel at any time. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the billing period, and you will not be charged upon renewal. If you choose to renew, no action is required, and the full amount will be billed at the start of the renewed term. Taxes may apply. Promo codes are not transferable/redeemable for cash or credit. Membership paid subscriptions are only available in Canada, the United States (excluding Puerto Rico and US territories), the United Kingdom, and Australia. Our standard terms & conditions apply.

This week on Break It Down: 3I/ATLAS is a 10 billion-year-old time capsule, a world-first fossil captures the moment a rock hyrax dragged its butt 126,000 years ago, a living person received a pig liver transplant for the first time, the “oldest human habit” might not be what it seems, a rare gynandromorph spider is a 50/50 wonder, and what is this prehistoric creature with two heads? We asked a dinosaur expert. So, sit back, relax, and let’s Break It Down… Links: 3I/ATLAS Butt drag fossil Trackways of fish leaving the ocean Pig liver transplant Oldest human habit 50/50 spider Two-headed fossil Sword Dragon of Dorset CURIOUS magazine What lives in Loch Ness? The Big Questions What’s all the fossa-bout?

This week on Break It Down: the second oldest use of the color blue ever has been discovered in Europe dating back 13,000 years, “chemical fossils” suggest the oldest life on Earth may have been sponges 541 million years ago, skin cells have been turned into fertilizable egg cells thanks to some pretty nifty genetics research, the world’s first naturally mummified big cats have been found in a cave in Saudi Arabia, complex chemistry coming from Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus could be a big clue to eventually finding life in the Solar System, and we remember the pioneering scientist Jane Goodall and her incredible life. So, sit back, relax, and let’s Break It Down… Links: Blue pigment Oldest animals Skin cells Babies born with genes from three people Mitochondrial disease Mummified cheetahs Enceladus Goodbye Jane Goodall CURIOUS Spooky Season at the Vault

This week on Break It Down: Homo habilis might not have been the apex predator we thought it was, the oldest and most complete pachycephalosaur reveals why they were so weirdly dome-headed, we’ve been able to track an asteroid’s full life story for the first time, nobody knows what these mysterious larvae grow up to be, humans are in the middle of an evolutionary transition, and what did Neanderthals sound like? Probably not what you think. So, sit back, relax, and let’s Break It Down… Links: Homo habilis Pachycephalosaur Asteroid Mystery larvae Human evolution Neanderthal noises We Have Questions The Big Questions Ned the snail

This week on Break It Down: Queen ants are throwing the rules of reproduction out of the window by producing offspring of two different species, for the first time ever we have a complete map of brain activity and boy is it pretty, a new lineage of tropical mammoths have been discovered in Mexico, 150 million-year-old baby pterosaurs have been perfectly preserved thanks to some stormy weather, the controversy surrounding whether Homo naledi might have buried their dead is back, and we explore just how big the biggest egg on Earth really was. So, sit back, relax, and let’s Break It Down... Links: Ants Brain map Upload your brain Tropical mammoths Bacteria on mammoth teeth Perfect baby pterosaurs Cougar submerged Homo naledi Biggest Egg The Big Questions Podcast

This week on Break It Down: Think you know Earth? Think again; a new campaign is trying to overturn the highly erroneous map we were all taught in school. A new injection can make succulents glow pretty much any color you like, and better yet, they’re rechargeable. An intriguing new theory to explain the legendary Wow! Signal makes a convincing case. Turns out the oldest known ankylosaur was also ridiculously spiky with a trait we’ve never seen in any vertebrate – living or extinct – before. See the first 3D digital analysis of the only person known to have a proton beam go through their head, and why does frozen seafood glow? Why indeed. So, sit back, relax, and let’s Break It Down… Links: Silly map Pacific Ocean antipodes Glowing plants Wow! Signal Punky ankylosaur Proton beam to the head Glowing seafood The Big Questions – What Will The Fossils Of The Future Look Like? CURIOUS Magazine

This week on Break It Down: Tracks left in ancient rock suggest fish crawled out of the seas 10 million years earlier than we thought, a 140,000-year-old child’s skull is the earliest evidence Neanderthals and Homo sapiens got it on yet, a bright orange nurse shark makes history as the first example of xanthism in this species and in the Caribbean Sea, JWST spots a new moon around Uranus, bringing its total up to 29, cave paintings from the French Pyrenees suggest a dangerous “shaman training cave”, and what did ancient people think when they discovered fossils? Griffins, cyclops, or something else entirely?  So, sit back, relax, and let’s Break It Down… Fossil trackways Neanderthals and Homo sapiens Only surviving human species Bright orange shark Orange crocs Uranus’ new moon Shaman Training Cave Finding fossils We Have Questions Podcast Northern white rhinos Giraffes are now four species

This week on Break It Down: The discovery of some fossilized human teeth reveals the oldest known members of our genus weren’t alone; their neighbors were a species we’ve never found before. A world-first study reveals that sex reversal is surprisingly common in wild Australian birds. A law of abbreviation that mysteriously fits all human languages also applies to bird song from several species. Orange crocodiles lurking deep within caves in Central Africa have the potential to become a new dwarf species. The lack of a standardized definition is holding back long COVID research. And has anybody ever died by getting hit by a meteorite? The records show: just one.   So, sit back, relax, and let’s Break It Down…   Links: New human species HUMAN with Ella Al-Shamahi Tunnel of bones Sex reversal in wild birds Zipf’s law applies to birds Orange crocodiles Defining long COVID Death by meteorite Why do we feel pain? Interview with Chris Hemsworth and Dr BJ Miller The Big Questions – Will We Ever Get A Universal Flu Vaccine? We Have Questions

This week on Break It Down: cockatoos have added 17 new dance moves to their official tally, we may finally know where the ancient “hobbit” humans came from, four new species of tarantulas have been discovered with one key difference to other species, science has the answer as to whether you're more likely to be killed by an asteroid or an elephant, RFK Jr uses misinformation to pull millions of dollars from mRNA vaccine research, and we discuss how science fiction is helping scientists explore possible futures.    So, sit back, relax, and let’s Break It Down…   Links: Dancing cockatoos Hobbit humans Why Are We The Only Surviving Human Species Four new tarantulas Asteroid risk RFK Jr pulls funding COVID vaccines saved 2.5 millions lives mRNA vaccine research wins Nobel Prize Science fiction helps science Why Are Yawns Contagious? How Has The Internet Changed The Way We Use Language? How Do Black Holes Shape The Universe? Curious Magazine

This week on Break It Down: just a week after the discovery of our third-ever interstellar visitor we may know where it came from, ancient enamel provides a snapshot into the lives of prehistoric rhinos, the moa becomes the fifth species targeted for de-extinction, a robot performs gallbladder surgery – no human required, chimps start a new fashion trend with grass in their ears (and rears), and 100 years since The Scopes (Monkey) Trial, how much has changed?   So, sit back, relax, and let’s Break It Down…   Links: Interstellar visitor Prof Chris Lintott interview Ancient enamel Moa de-extinction Moa foot Robot surgery Fashionable chimps The Scopes (Monkey) Trial The Big Questions We Have Questions Human origins Malayan tigers

This week on Break It Down: We’ve just seen our third-ever interstellar object whizzing though the Solar System, eating cheese really might give you nightmares (but so might dessert), cavers are rewarded with a treasure trove of blind, mummified invertebrates including the only known cave-adapted wasp, the Neanderthal fat factory is just a delicious as it sounds, orcas caught kissing out in the wild, and if the Moon gets slapped by an asteroid as NASA predicts there’s a 4.1 percent chance it might, it would be a 1-in-5,000-years spectacle for Earth to enjoy (from a safe distance).   So, sit back, relax, and let’s Break It Down…   Links: Interstellar object Cheesy nightmares Cave of mummified insects Neanderthal fat factory Collagen Smooching orcas Orcas Giving Humans Food Asteroid about to slap the Moon Project Hail Memory We Have Questions CURIOUS magazine The Big Questions

This week on Break It Down: feast your eyes on the stunning first images from the world’s largest digital camera, capturing millions of galaxies and thousands of new asteroids. Why killer whales are rubbing each other luxuriously with seaweed, the world’s oldest rocks aren’t that much younger than the planet, mice born from two dads prove they’re fertile, a French woman becomes the only known person in the world with a new kind of blood type, and we celebrate 50 years of the European Space Agency with a special interview with astronaut Luca Parmitano. So, sit back, relax, and let’s Break It Down… Links: World’s largest digital camera Vera C Rubin images of space Be the first to spot a galaxy Orcas allokelping World’s oldest rocks Mice with two dads Brand new blood type Can we make blood? 50 years of ESA Brain uploads Bonus episode of We Have Questions Dolphins help a lost whale

This week on Break It Down: Two spacecraft just created the first ever artificial solar eclipse, thanks to some impressive drone photos we know now dancing dinosaurs might have been leaping around to impress females in Colorado, a child from the world's oldest burial site appears to be a Neanderthal-Homo sapiens hybrid, for the first time we know what a Denisovan face looks like, a medical breakthrough means we could have a vaccine against HIV (if only anyone could buy it), and 50 years after JAWS was released, we take a look at the lasting impact on shark conservation the blockbuster movie made. So, sit back, relax, and let’s Break It Down… Links: Artificial solar eclipse Dancing dinos Hybrid child Denisovan skull HIV vaccine JAWS 50 Years On  Papahānaumokuākea marine conservation Ghost Elephant The Big Questions is back!

This week on Break It Down: Seeing the Sun’s south pole for the first time ever, Ice Age puppies frozen in permafrost turn out to be wolves, a world-first fossil discovery reveals a sauropod’s final meal, “razor blade throat” and a traveling nimbus reveal what to expect from the new COVID variant, the deepest map of the universe now reaches 13.5 billion years into the past, and is giving nature a personhood a good way to get it better legal protections? Maybe. So, sit back, relax, and let’s Break It Down… Links: Sun’s butt Permafrost puppies Sauropod stomach contents Her name is ANNE Tyrannosaur stomach contents COVID variant Deepest map of the Universe Should nature have personhood? UNDERDOGS Ed the Zebra The Big Questions returns

This week on Break It Down: A great big explosion in space is the most energetic since the Big Bang, AI reveals the Dead Sea Scrolls could share the same authors as the Bible, it looks like the Milky Way and Andromeda will not collide in 5 billion years after all, pregnant female mice with low iron levels can lead to the development of male embryos with ovaries, two smiling porpoises are released back into the wild for the first time in a win for conservation, and we take a deep dive into why it's so hard to sex a dinosaur. Second biggest explosion Dead sea scrolls Milky Way and Andromeda Yangtze finless porpoises Mice embryos  Hard to sex a dino Spinosaurus Daddy Undersea Explosions  Nine-Limbed Octopus

This week on Break It Down: The oldest fingerprint in the world might be left by a Neanderthal hoping to complete a face, scientists propose seeding life on Enceladus to see what would happen, we’re starting to understand more about the Incas’ mysterious string writing system, bioacoustics research could pave the way for us to chat to wolves in Yellowstone, prions prove they are just as scary as we always thought when they take over a woman's brain after 50 years, and we explore just how much memory humans really have in these big old noggins of ours.     Links: Neanderthal fingerprints Injecting life Inca string writing system Language of wolves Prions Memory capacity of the brain Papahānaumokuākea Trawling impact Kilauea CURIOUS Magazine

This week on Break It Down: the Solar System just got a new member, capuchins have started stealing howler monkey babies on a remote island, the US ran a solar storm emergency drill and it didn’t go so well, stunning new fossil evidence reveals never-before-seen feathers that indicate Archaeopteryx could fly, a deep dive into Leonardo da Vinci’s DNA turns up six alleged relatives, and what Walking With Dinosaurs has to say about Spinosaurus’s parenting skills and T. rex’s nocturnal hunting. So, sit back, relax, and let’s Break It Down… Links: CURIOUS Live: Subscription 30% off with code VE30* New member of the solar system Capuchin kidnappers US solar emergency drill The Big Questions Archaeopteryx could fly Leo’s long lost “relatives” Walking With Dinosaurs Spinosaurus: great dad? Where is life most likely to be in the Solar System? Antarctic ozone hole We Have Questions CURIOUS Live – The uncanny valley – First human-to-human transplant   *Terms and Conditions: 30% OFF PROMO CODE: VE30 offer for 1 billing period of an All Access Subscription: Annual, 2-Year, or Monthly paid subscriptions only on iflscience.com. Valid from May 1, 2025, until May 24, 2025, 12:00 am EST. To apply the promo code, you must enter it prior to completing checkout. Your credit card will be automatically charged upon checkout completion, and your subscription will continue until you cancel auto-renew. You can cancel at any time. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the billing period, and you will not be charged upon renewal. If you choose to renew, no action is required, and the full amount will be billed at the start of the renewed term. Taxes may apply. Promo codes are not transferable/redeemable for cash or credit. Membership paid subscriptions are only available in Canada, USA, United Kingdom, and Australia. Our standard terms & conditions apply.

This week on Break It Down: a new kind of leather is borrowing its foundations from fossil T. rex collagen, we’ve just discovered an enormous glow-in-the-dark gas cloud surprisingly close to Earth, a musical sea lion has shown it can keep beat better than some humans, a new-to-science embalming technique has been discovered in Austria, man who let himself be envenomated by all the snakes inspires an antivenom not thought possible, and do scientists have a responsibility to fight misinformation about their subjects? We asked them. So, sit back, relax, and let’s Break It Down… Links: T. rex leather Glow-in-the-dark gas cloud Get 30% off with code VE30* Ronan the rhythmic sea lion New embalming tekkers What happens to eyes during the mummification process? Novel route to snake antivenom Scientists VS misinformation 5 kinds of headaches Ballymacombs More Woman   *Terms and Conditions: 30% OFF PROMO CODE: VE30 offer for 1 billing period of an All Access Subscription: Annual, 2-Year, or Monthly paid subscriptions only on iflscience.com. Valid from May 1, 2025, until May 24, 2025, 12:00 am EST. To apply the promo code, you must enter it prior to completing checkout. Your credit card will be automatically charged upon checkout completion, and your subscription will continue until you cancel auto-renew. You can cancel at any time. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the billing period, and you will not be charged upon renewal. If you choose to renew, no action is required, and the full amount will be billed at the start of the renewed term. Taxes may apply. Promo codes are not transferable/redeemable for cash or credit. Membership paid subscriptions are only available in Canada, USA, United Kingdom, and Australia. Our standard terms & conditions apply.