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Rechargeable batteries power much of our electronic age. But while they are reusable, they have a finite lifespan. A new study has identified why.  Advertisement Our laptops, tablets, and cell phones are reliant on recharging batteries. Inside a lithium-ion battery, two electrodes store lithium ions; a positively charged anode and negatively charged cathode. An electrolyte […]

Head to the Pinnacles desert in Western Australia, and you might just think you’ve stumbled onto a Star Wars set, with a vast field of towering spikes of rock sticking out from the dark yellow sands. But while they definitely aren’t the remnants of moviemaking, exactly how and when these strange structures formed has long […]

Neanderthals have had a tough time of it. Early humans played a role in their extinction, but the story didn’t end there. Later humans doubled down by using their name as the dictionary definition of dumb.  Advertisement Were Neanderthals really unintelligent, club-slinging bozos, outcompeted by far more attractive, intelligent, and dashing Homo sapiens? Or could this […]

As the nights get longer and the leaves turn brown, lawn owners everywhere reach for their rakes. This year, experts say that the fall ritual of raking leaves might make you miss an opportunity to give your lawn a health boost. Advertisement Instead, letting a thin layer of leaves sit and then decompose on your […]

Picture this: you’re checking in on your parents’ house while they’re on holiday. The perfect time to raid their freezer for delicious goods, of course, but when you open the door in search of ice cream, you find something unusual – a frozen cup of water with a coin on top. Why on Earth is […]

Starting college is supposed to be one of the most exciting times of your life, full of new friends, parties, and the freedom to eat pasta for all three meals a day. And for a while, it can certainly feel like that – then, one day, you wake up with a slightly sore throat. The […]

Washington’s Mount Adams has seen some pretty unusual activity as of late, the US Geological Survey (USGS) has announced. Rather than the usual one earthquake every two to three years, six occurred in the area in September alone. Advertisement According to a statement from the USGS, “this represents the most earthquakes located at Mount Adams […]

Regions of Antarctica are being rapidly “greened” by growing vegetation as our planet warms, suggests a new study. In the last 40 years, the area of the northern Antarctic Peninsula covered by greenery – mostly mosses – has increased by more than 1000%.  Advertisement Global warming affects our whole planet, but polar regions are heating […]

This week, the first “Google Maps” of an entire brain is here and you can zoom inside, mysterious “skyquakes” have been heard around the world but we’re not sure what’s causing them, and a retrofitted Cold War spy plane has shown that most tropical storms are radioactive. Finally, as it’s spooky season, we question if […]

This week on Break It Down: resurrecting Cold War spy planes to explore radioactive storms, the most detailed brain wiring diagram we’ve ever seen, mystery “skyquake” sounds have the world perplexed, plus grinning dolphins, glow-in-the-dark gemstones, and can you really feel when you’re being watched? Available on all your favorite podcast apps: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podbean, Amazon Music, and […]

Undersea investigators have located the wreck of a century-old US Navy destroyer, USS Stewart, that was lost for nearly 80 years. The wreck, once known as “The ghost ship of the Pacific”, was found off the coast of northern California 1,067 meters (3,500 feet) below the water’s surface. Advertisement USS Stewart was found within the […]

As days go, January 23 1556 was a proper stinker. According to most accounts, this fateful date saw more human lives extinguished than any other day in history, with the vast majority of these deaths occurring in the Shaanxi province of northwest China. Advertisement The culprit on this occasion was an enormous earthquake caused by […]

Beach cleaners on the Danish island of Bornholm got a shock recently, when they picked up what they initially thought could be the remains of a sea snake. That alone would have been enough to mark the day as unusual for the group, who typically pick up plastic trash and sometimes ship parts – but […]

The Psyche mission is on its way to study the metallic asteroid of the same name, and on its journey, continues to test the communication system of the future. Laser light was sent from Earth to Psyche on July 29, when the spacecraft was located 460 million kilometers (290 million miles) from our planet. Advertisement […]

If you live at the equator the Sun passes overhead twice in the year, at the equinoxes. In late June the tilt of the Earth means the Sun doesn’t get higher than 67 degrees above the horizon – which is still pretty high – and around Christmas it is the same height, but to the […]

Two male lesser flamingos have become parents for the first time, after the San Diego Zoo Safari Park same-sex duo successfully hatched a chick. The pair were well prepared for fatherhood, having been given a dummy egg to look after earlier this year. Once staff at the zoo were satisfied that they were up to […]

The idea of a pterosaur even the size of those in Jurassic Park III is terrifying enough, but now imagine one that’s 3.5 meters (11.5 feet) tall and with a wingspan longer than a London bus. We’re sorry to tell you, but that creature was real – and it may well be the largest animal ever […]

A 2-billion-year-old rock has been unearthed in South Africa – and if its advanced age wasn’t enough to knock your socks off, it’s also home to pockets of microbes that are still alive and thriving. Having been around for eons, these are the oldest examples of living microbes ever found within ancient rock. Advertisement “We […]

Welcome to the solar maximum. We do not know exactly when the peak of solar activity will be during this cycle, but we are near it and the Sun is showing it. Yesterday, we reported the release of the second most powerful flare for this cycle, and our star decided to one-up itself and release […]

Long thought to be a single species, a new study has revealed that the Chinese giant salamander might actually be up to nine different species, bringing fresh calls to ramp up protections for this critically endangered group. Advertisement This isn’t the Chinese giant salamander’s first identity crisis; back in 2019, scientists confirmed that there were […]