News

This week on Break It Down, white wine with a hint of human remains becomes the oldest ever discovered, Jupiter’s Red Spot may be younger than the United States, a disco dinosaur has been discovered with one hell of a hat, people volunteer to be infected with COVID-19 – for science, NASA uses its first […]

The US government has for the first time acknowledged the harms caused by the building of hydroelectric dams to Tribes in the Pacific Northwest. Advertisement A 73-page report from the Department for the Interior documents the “historic, ongoing and cumulative impacts of federal Columbia River dams” on Tribes living within the basin, focusing in on […]

In addition to its iconic collection of monumental moai, Easter Island is famed for having hosted one of the most disastrous population declines in history, as the ancient locals apparently ravaged their homeland’s resources, triggering an ecological catastrophe that doomed them all. At least, that’s how the story goes, although new research has flipped the […]

Boeing’s Starliner continues to raise concerns. The test mission to demonstrate the safety of this crew capsule began on June 5 and should have lasted about a week. “Should” is the operating word here. On June 9, NASA astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams found out that they were staying until June 18 to have […]

According to a popular and widespread belief, the mythical griffin – that eagle-faced, winged lion monster – was inspired by dinosaur fossils discovered by ancient peoples. But new analysis suggests this may not have been the case. Advertisement Griffins (sometimes spelled “griffon” or “gryphon”) are among the oldest known mythological creatures. They are a composite […]

Japan’s National Institute of Infectious Diseases is reporting an upsurge in cases of a serious bacterial infection called streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (STSS). This rare but potentially fatal condition is most often caused by the bacterium Streptococcus pyogenes, and while other countries have seen outbreaks in recent years, the unusual case numbers in Japan are […]

If your nightmares have been feeling a little bland and repetitive recently, don’t worry, we bring you something that’ll be sure to add a fresh smattering of terror – jumping leeches. Advertisement The existence of leaping leeches has been a matter of debate since Victorian-era naturalists were kicking about, with some providing field notes of […]

A heatwave is expected to grip most of the East Coast, with higher than seasonal temperatures from Florida to Massachusetts and into the interior of the Eastern United States. The heat index in Florida is looking concerning – but in 10 days, the State will enforce a ban on heat protection for workers. Advertisement The […]

The walls of Mount Vernon, American Founding Father George Washington’s former residence, were likely witness to all sorts of historical secrets we’ll never know about, but it turns out there’s plenty to be found under the floorboards too – nearly 30 glass bottles of “perfectly preserved” cherries and berries, in fact. Advertisement It all started […]

One of the rarest cats in the world, the Iberian lynx was once on the brink of extinction. Now, thanks to intense conservation efforts, they’ve clawed their way back from being classed as an endangered species to a vulnerable one. Advertisement The change in status was announced by the International Union for Conservation of Nature […]

From your computer to maglev trains, from power tools to MRI scanners, rare Earth permanent magnets are all around us. Modern life without them is difficult so their importance can’t be overstated. However, extracting the rare Earth elements that make them is often laborious and energy-consuming. Scientists have been looking for a better way – […]

A man who died 2,000 years ago in southern Spain had his ashes infused in white wine, probably as part of some sort of ritual to assist him in his journey through the afterlife. Amazingly, the urn containing his booze-drenched remains has managed to keep the ancient plonk from deteriorating, making it the oldest surviving […]

On the bottom of the seafloor near Colombia, surrounded by fish and three centuries of sediment, there sits a shipwreck loaded with millions, perhaps billions, of dollars worth of treasure.  Advertisement Attracted by the promise of glory and gold, the sunken remains of the San José have charmed the eyes of many contenders – countries, […]

Palaeontologists have struck giant new dinosaur gold with the discovery of Lokiceratops, an ornate beast that was approximately 22 feet (6.7 meters) long, weighed around 11,000 pounds (5 metric tonnes), and had a seriously fancy hat. It belonged to a group of vegetarian dinosaurs known as the “centrosaurines,” and dates back 78 million years. Advertisement […]

Who can resist a good news rescue story, and when it features a pair of the Earth’s most extraordinary-looking animals what more is there to ask for? Two beluga whales have been rescued from an aquarium in the region of Kharkiv in Ukraine and safely transported thousands of miles to a safe home in Valencia, […]

If we one day want to explore the galaxy (let alone the rest of the universe) we have a speed issue. In late 2023, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe achieved the highest speed ever achieved by a human-made object, clocking in at 635,266 kilometers (394,736 miles) per hour. Advertisement While impressive, that’s only 0.059 percent of […]

In 2019-20, at the height of Australia’s most devastating bushfires, a claim that wombats were herding other animals to safety in their burrows went viral on social media. Sadly, it was too good to be true. Nevertheless, evidence quickly emerged that while wombats were not displaying the altruism of the post, their burrows were used […]

The monkeys of Cayo Santiago were known for their aggression – until Hurricane Maria struck in 2017. Although the humans of nearby Puerto Rico were harder hit, with 3,000 deaths, the resource depletion the monkeys suffered changed them in ways that have continued to this day. Advertisement Cayo Santiago is a unique site, greatly valued […]

Saturn’s energy budget has been found to be severely unbalanced. The extent of the difference between energy in and energy out has surprised planetary scientists, even though the cause has been known since Kepler. An analysis of the imbalance has suggested it contributes to the planet’s giant storms, and raised questions about whether something similar […]