IFLScience - Break It Down iflsciencebreakitdown

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

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

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/

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-73932Glowing 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-73951The 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

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

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