When carbon is subjected to extreme heat and pressure within the Earth, it can crystalize to form diamonds; the hardest (though not necessarily the toughest) natural mineral on the planet. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE But it turns out that there is more than one way to make a diamond. In 1891, examining a meteorite in […]
This US Flu Season Is Seeing The Most Doctor’s Visits For Respiratory Illness Since 2010
As the US enters what is usually the peak month of the flu season, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released its latest surveillance data on influenza activity – and the 2024-2025 season seems to be particularly intense. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE In the update, the organization stated that 7.8 percent of […]
Iron Age Sites In Spain Are Littered With Severed Heads. Who Was Decapitated And Why?
As political violence spread across the northeastern Iberian peninsula during the Iron Age, a gruesome practice that involved nailing decapitated heads to walls became increasingly fashionable. To find out why, a team of researchers has applied stable isotopic analysis to seven of these bodiless bonces, revealing new information about where the victims came from. ADVERTISEMENT […]
The Pale Blue Dot At 35: The Making Of An Iconic Photo
Thirty-five years ago, on February 14, 1990, the Voyager 1 probe took its last series of photographs. The mission has completed its goal of traveling across the Solar System to see Jupiter and Saturn. Launched in 1977, it encountered the king of the planets in January 1979, and 21 months later, it flew by the […]
Dolphin Pee Party, Inside Asteroid Response, And That Ancient Mummy Smell
This week on Break It Down: Amazon river dolphins are saying it with urine proudly sprayed directly into the air, an inside look at the planetary defense response to asteroid 2024 YR4 (and no, it isn’t too late), find out what mummies smell like thanks to a team of “sniffers”, whale song follows Zipf’s Law, […]
Why Do You Rub Your Skin When You’re Injured? There’s Actually A Very Good Reason
Imagine you’ve just walked into a table. As well as turning the air blue, you’d probably immediately bend down and start rubbing the affected shin – but does that actually do anything? Well according to one theory of how pain works, it turns out that weird little instinct of ours could genuinely be helping to […]
Ancient Megalodons May Have Dueled One Another With Their Teeth
Some fossilized teeth from giant ancient megalodon sharks have unique scratches on them. These scratches, researchers believe, were possibly caused by the serrated cutting edge of other megalodon teeth, suggesting that these prehistoric leviathans may have spared with one another. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE Many people have probably heard of megalodon (Otodus megalodon) by this […]
H5N1 Bird Flu Spreading Silently In US As CDC Data Reveals Unknown Infections In Vets
The current human case count of H5N1 influenza in the US could be an underestimate, according to a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). After testing 150 veterinarians, the researchers found three with antibodies to H5N1, suggesting they had been infected recently. However, none had reported any symptoms, and one […]
North America’s Farthest Inland Seaport Is 3,700 Kilometers Away From The Atlantic
If you thought oceangoing ships could only go so far as the coast, the Port of Duluth-Superior is about to prove you wrong. Situated a whopping 3,700 kilometers (2,342 miles) away from the Atlantic Ocean, it’s the farthest inland port in North America to serve oceangoing ships – and that’s not the only thing that’s […]
What Is “The Ick”, And Why Do We Feel It?
For Millie Bobby Brown, it’s men holding umbrellas; for Ed from the UK, it’s weird sandwiches. Small, objectively inoffensive things, but immediate dealbreakers for these two in particular – these habits, they say, give them “the ick”. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE But what is the ick? And why do we get it? Is it helpful […]
Most Things Soften When Heated, So Why Do Eggs Go Hard?
Heating is usually a way to soften things. Solids turn to liquids, liquids to gas – and when the process doesn’t go all the way, extra heat can lead to a softer solid or a more runny liquid. So why are eggs, normally liquid inside, an exception, turning hard when cooked appropriately? The answer turns […]
Going To The Moon Or Mars Next? NASA And Congress Are Not Seeing Eye-To-Eye
If everything goes according to plan, in just over two years we should see humans back on the Moon. That has been the goal of NASA over the last several years, a goal that seems now a lot more uncertain than previously thought. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE There is the problem of Starship – the […]
Do Any Animals Whistle? The “Whistling Dog” Dholes Do-hoo-hoo-hoo
You’re running through the forest, flashes of orange all around, when suddenly, it all goes quiet. Gone are the high-pitched vocalizations they chirped while in pursuit. Now, there’s only a faint whistling. You’re a deer in one of Asia’s forests, and you’re about to get chomped by a pack of dholes. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE […]
Underwater Mountains Are Teeming With 41 Times More Sharks Than The Open Ocean
Oh, you didn’t get an invite to the shark party? Shame, because on the underwater mountains off Ascension Island, it’s popping off. New research has revealed that there are 41 times more sharks found here than out in the open ocean, a trend that could indicate seamounts represent vital “hubs” where these animals can socialize, […]
Watch Turtles Boogie When Magnetic Fields Say Food Is Near
Loggerhead turtles can recognize the magnetic signatures that they associate with getting a nice meal – and do an adorable little dance when they do! That’s according to new research that suggests that these turtles use Earth’s magnetic field as a map and a compass in two different ways. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE “Our study […]
Mexico May Sue Google Over Renaming The Gulf Of Mexico
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has stated that her government is considering a possible civil lawsuit against Google for changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico on maps worldwide. The company changed the name to “Gulf of America” for users worldwide after declaring that it was not going to do so. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE […]
“Weird” Fog Hits Florida – And Its Smell Supposedly Defies Description
A dense fog has descended on the state of Florida, which, according to locals, is accompanied by a strange smell. In an array of social media posts, residents of the Sunshine State have decried its unusual odor, with several claiming it is unlike any fog they have seen, or smelt, before. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE […]
Kama Muta: The Powerful Emotion Everyone Has But No One Has Heard Of
The last time I experienced kama muta was – rather fittingly, as it turned out – while I was conducting an interview about kama muta. Alan Fiske, a psychological anthropologist at UCLA and researcher in the international institution-spanning Kama Muta Lab, was telling me a story about his grandson as a toddler, and I just […]
Students Break World Record By Levitating Soap Bubble For Over 80 Minutes
Students at the University of Exeter in the UK have broken a peculiar world record: levitating a soap bubble for 84 minutes, beating the previous record by over an hour. They created the bubble using an acoustic levitation device, a machine that can make small objects float in midair thanks to ultrasound. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD […]
When You Open A Band-Aid Or Unroll Tape, Why Does It Emit Light?
If you’ve ever opened a band-aid in a darkened room, you may have noticed something a little unexpected. If you have the right type of band-aid, it may emit visible blue light. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE The phenomenon can also be seen if you unfurl adhesive tape, crush a sugar cube in the dark, or […]
