IFLScience - Break It Down

This month, on Break It Down: Artemis II heads to the Moon and back, taking astronauts farther from Earth than any human before, some seriously impressive muon research wins the Breakthrough Prize, and a skull thought to belong to a human-neanderthal hybrid turns out to be something else. Intrigued? There's so much more… Bruce the kea is the undisputed jousting champion despite missing half a beak.  Fancy imaging software allows all the nerves in the clitoris to be mapped for the first time. Prepare to fall in love with the Pablo gorilla group in David Attenborough’s latest documentary. Is it possible to learn to roll your Rs if it doesn’t come naturally? We go behind the scenes of Project Hail Mary to meet Rocky the Eridian and those who made him come alive.    Plus, everything you can find in this month’s issue of CURIOUS, including whether other animals can have pets. So, sit back, relax, and let’s Break It Down… VIDEO EMBED Also available on all your favorite podcast apps: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podbean, Amazon Music, and more.   Links:    Everything Artemis II  Mapping the nerves in the clitoris Human hybrid skull Bruce the kea Muon experiment Moving the experiment A Gorilla Story Can you learn to roll your Rs? CURIOUS Magazine Meeting Rocky at Creature Shop  

This month, on Break It Down: The world’s largest coral colony has been discovered at the Great Barrier Reef, we’re all a little bit disappointed that asteroid 2024 YR 4 will whizz past the Moon instead of smacking it in the face, two extinct marsupials join the Lazarus taxa after being presumed extinct for 6,000 years, and we explore the possibilities cryopreserved brains could offer in the future. Intrigued? There's so much more… Watch a clip from Monarch Legacy of Monsters and work out if you’d survive. Learn about Mistral the whale shark’s mighty migration. Discover why scientists reckon our origin story might have started in Bulgaria. Listen to Dr Steve Boyes explain how his search for “ghost elephants” in Angola nearly took a blood-boiling turn. Marvel at Hugo, the first baby to be born in the UK with the help of a womb transplant from a deceased donor. And find out how Project Hail Mary author Andy Weir created an entire alien species. Plus, everything you can find in this month’s issue of CURIOUS, and what some struggling AI-designed robots have to say about the threat of an uprising. So, sit back, relax, and let’s Break It Down… Links: World’s largest coral: https://www.iflscience.com/a-football-pitch-sized-coral-colony-is-the-great-barrier-reef-and-probab… Asteroid misses the moon: https://www.iflscience.com/dangerous-asteroid-2024-yr4-wont-smash-into-the-moon-in-2032-after-all-8… Whale shark migration: https://www.iflscience.com/mistral-the-whale-sharks-epic-1200-kilometer-international-swim-is-the-f… Human ancestors: https://www.iflscience.com/the-oldest-human-ancestor-may-have-just-been-found-somewhere-very-unexpe… Rediscovered marsupials: https://www.iflscience.com/two-tiny-marsupials-thought-extinct-for-6000-years-discovered-alive-and-… Ghost elephants:  https://www.iflscience.com/scientist-films-enormous-ghost-elephant-in-angolan-highlands-after-10-ye… Womb transplant baby: https://www.iflscience.com/miracle-baby-hugo-is-first-uk-baby-born-after-womb-transplant-from-decea… Andy Weir interview: https://www.iflscience.com/project-hail-mary-author-andy-weir-on-creating-erid-eridians-and-the-cur… We Have Questions Podcast: https://www.iflscience.com/iflscience-we-have-questions-could-a-human-brain-be-uploaded-after-death… Curious Magazine: https://www.iflscience.com/curious-magazine AI Robots: https://www.iflscience.com/these-robots-evolved-in-an-ai-simulation-then-scientists-built-them-in-t…  

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