We know that Earth is about 4.54 billion years old, but trying to piece together the very earliest stages of its evolution is easier said than done. Luckily, science has had some help from a super blue speck of zircon dated to around 4.4 billion years old, making it the oldest chunk of Earth to […]
What Is Lake-effect Snow?
Areas across the northeast US have recently been hit with yet another barrage of heavy snow and blizzard-like conditions, with communities buried and road closures galore. “Pffft”, we hear you say, “Lots of places in the northern hemisphere get snow this time of year.” But this isn’t just any type of snowstorm – this is […]
Astronaut Snaps Stunning View Of Dwarf Galaxies From The Window Of The ISS
It’s a common misconception that people on the International Space Station (ISS) or on the Moon can’t see stars. We have to blame space photos for that. The way we photograph things in space doesn’t usually give the stars a chance to appear in a pretty manner. In reality, in space, you can see a […]
Middle School Student Makes Important Biomedical Discovery In Goose Poop
Imagine knowing you’ve already made an important contribution to biomedical research before you’ve even started high school. This is a reality for a young Chicago student who recently found a bacterium that exhibits antibiotic activity and produces a novel compound that slows the growth of human melanoma and ovarian cancer cells in the lab. Where […]
Deep-Sea Creep, Jupiter’s New Ring, And Inter-Hominid Hook-Ups
This week on Break It Down: fishers discover a mysterious tablet bearing an unknown language, sequencing the oldest human genome reveals when we first bred with Neanderthals, Jupiter’s got a shiny new ring, a new predator captured in the darkest depths of the Atacama Trench, working out the rules to an ancient boardgame, and can […]
Asked For A DNA Genealogy Kit For Christmas? Here’s What They Actually Tell You
Spit in a tube and we’ll tell you where you come from: that’s the basic premise being offered up by DNA ancestry kits, which have soared in popularity for those who are curious – or who’ve run out of Christmas present ideas. We’ve all heard of the horror stories of people using the kits and […]
What Are “Mirror Bacteria” And Are They A Threat To Humanity?
A group of 38 leading experts in fields ranging from synthetic biology to the existence of life beyond Earth has come together to determine the risks posed by “mirror bacteria” – and what they’ve found has them “deeply concerned”. But what exactly are mirror bacteria, and what is it about them that the experts are […]
Does It Snow On Other Worlds?
As large parts of the Northern Hemisphere play the game of wondering if it will snow for Christmas, we thought it might be time to extend the question beyond the Earth, starting with locations closest to us and working out to planets orbiting other stars. The Moon and Mercury No. Advertisement Mercury and the Moon […]
New Sponge-Like Biomass Foam Found To Soak Up 99.9 Percent Of Microplastics
Microplastics are everywhere, which is why scientists have been dedicating a lot of time to trying to figure out a way to safely extract them. Now, it seems a super sponge-like foam that borrows the soaking skills of cotton and squid may be a promising candidate, as it was found to remove 98 to 99.9 […]
China Completes 3,046-Kilometer “Great Green Wall” Along Its Biggest Desert
Hailed as “another feat in human history”, China has announced the completion of a 3,046-kilometer (1,892-mile) sand-blocking green belt along the Taklimakan Desert, the nation’s largest desert. The project has involved the large-scale planting of red willows, sacsaoul, and other tree species in a strip along the southern fringe of the Taklimakan Desert in Northwest […]
Every 100 Years, Stars Like Our Sun Eject Superflares More Powerful Than A Trillion Nukes
Gigantic superflares burst out of Sun-like stars roughly once every 100 years, releasing as much energy as a trillion hydrogen bombs exploding. Could this mean our star, the Sun, is long overdue for an outburst? Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS) in Germany used data from NASA’s Kepler space telescope […]
Neanderthals May Have Had “Explosive Strength” Thanks To Their “Bell-Shaped” Ribcages
Being stocky can have its advantages, especially when it comes to hunting prehistoric game. According to a new reconstruction of the Neanderthal ribcage, our extinct relatives may have been considerably chunkier in this area than we are, with this extra bulk potentially providing the devastating power they needed to ambush and overcome their prey. Researchers […]
Why Do You See This Warning Light So Often In Winter?
If you own a car, you may have noticed that a little warning light, depicting a flat tire with an exclamation mark in the middle, tends to turn itself on much more often in the cold, winter months. First up, it’s a warning light that shouldn’t be ignored. It means one or more of your […]
The Heart Of The Solar System’s Most Volcanic World Is More Solid Than We Thought
NASA’s Juno flew by the little volcanic moon Io multiple times between December 2023 and February 2024. It was the closest approach in decades and provided scientists with the best understanding yet of what powers this moon. Io is one of the other few places in the Solar System with active volcanoes spewing lava – […]
The Ancients May Have Been Right About Pompeii’s Day Of Destruction In 79 CE
Academics and armchair archaeologists still can’t agree on the date when Pompeii was destroyed in a shower of volcanic hellfire. It was almost certainly sometime in late 79 CE, but was it August, October, or even November? A new study by the Archaeological Park of Pompeii gently backs up the theory that the town’s destruction […]
First Observation Of A Quasiparticle That Only Has Mass When Moving In One Direction
A collection of particles known as a quasiparticle has been detected behaving as if it has mass when it moves in one direction, but becomes massless when moving at right angle. Improbable as this sounds, the scientists who detected it are already contemplating applications in batteries and sensors. It sounds like a stretched joke about […]
Olkiluoto: The Island Where A Nuclear Tomb Will Remain Sealed For 100,000 Years
On Olkiluoto island in the west of Finland, a tomb will soon be opening. When it is sealed, the hope is that it will remain so for over 100,000 years. Nuclear fuel, though far cleaner and less polluting than the fossil fuels that have powered our economies for the past 150 years, comes with a […]
Eating More Ultra-Processed Foods Associated With Increased Biological Aging
A new study has warned that consuming more ultra-processed foods could potentially accelerate biological aging. Ultra-processed foods have been getting more media attention in recent years as they continue to be a staple of many people’s diets. These foods are tricky to categorize, even though the term has become increasingly popular. According to the authors […]
Moon Cycles Drive The Wild Sex Life Of A Slimy Sea Creature In The Pacific
Palolo worms must have one of the strangest life cycles in the animal kingdom, although there is plenty of competition. Driven by the cycles of the moon, the spindly worms split themselves into two separate parts. Their back ends, loaded with eggs and sperm, break off and swim to the ocean surface, while the rest […]
Why Doesn’t Frost Form Underneath Large Trees?
On a cold morning, if you can think anything beyond “I’m cold”, you may have noticed that frost doesn’t form very much in areas underneath large trees. Why is that? First, what is frost? Well, there are a few types, including frozen dew, but the most common is “hoar frost”. Advertisement “Depositional frost is also […]
