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clock-iconPUBLISHEDFebruary 27, 2026

AI Assassins, Inside A De-Extinction Lab, And Life On Mars?

Sit back, relax, and let’s Break It Down in episode 79…

Rachael Funnell headshot

Rachael Funnell

Rachael has a degree in Zoology from the University of Southampton, and specializes in animal behavior, evolution, palaeontology, and the environment.

Senior Science Writer

Rachael has a degree in Zoology from the University of Southampton, and specializes in animal behavior, evolution, palaeontology, and the environment.View full profile

Rachael has a degree in Zoology from the University of Southampton, and specializes in animal behavior, evolution, palaeontology, and the environment.

View full profile

Written by Rachael Funnell & Eleanor Higgs

Episode 79 of IFLScience Break It Down

Join hosts Eleanor and Rachael as they dive into the biggest science stories of the month.

Image credit: Mantella Aurantiaca/Erfinda dwirk/Maccow/SkillUp/Shutterstock.com; modified by IFLScience

This month on Break It Down: Why are there over 8 million pickled fish in some WWII-era bunkers in Louisiana? How one chatbot encouraged the assassination of the Queen of England, and scientists explain why building an enormous underwater wall could be the best plan to save the “Doomsday Glacier”. Intrigued? There's so much more...

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  • The discovery of the world’s oldest clothes predates the previous record holder by 9,000 years
  • A cave coral from Japan shows off its flashy burglar alarm
  • The mystery of why some people experienced blood clots following a specific kind of COVID vaccine has finally been solved
  • Curiosity finds the second most compelling evidence of life on Mars yet
  • Why scientists created a 228-meter popsicle that delves 23 million years into the past by digging deep beneath Antarctica
  • Conservation success as it’s announced we’ve successfully saved the Bermuda snail from extinction
  • And meet the people taking bold new approaches to the biodiversity crisis in creating a “de-extinction toolkit” that can benefit some of Earth’s most threatened species.

Plus, everything you can find in this month’s issue of CURIOUS, a teaser of a fascinating chat about games vs. metrics with Professor C Thi Nguyen, and what do other worlds smell like? We sent our Space and Physics Editor to find out.

So, sit back, relax, and let’s Break It Down

Also available on all your favorite podcast apps: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podbean, Amazon Music, and more.

Links:

Pickled fish

Oldest clothes

Prof Hannah Fry on AI

Flashy cave coral

Doomsday glacier’s underwater wall

COVID blood clots

Life on Mars

Drilling beneath Antarctica

Snail saved from extinction

The world’s first de-extinction lab 

CURIOUS magazine 

What do other worlds smell like?


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