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clock-iconPUBLISHEDMarch 27, 2026

The Science Behind “Project Hail Mary”, Ghost Elephants, And Womb Transplants

Sit back, relax, and let’s Break It Down in episode 80…

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

IFLScience Break It Down presenters on either side, in the middle there are illustrations of coral, a baby in the womb, an angry asteroid, and a brain

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

Image credit: IFLScience/Look_studio/Maria_09/Vector_Leart/Shutterstock.com; modified by IFLScience

This month on Break It Down: The world’s largest coral colony has been discovered at the Great Barrier Reef, we’re all a little bit disappointed that asteroid 2024 YR4 will whizz past the Moon instead of smacking it in the face, two extinct marsupials join the Lazarus taxa after being presumed extinct for 6,000 years, and we explore the possibilities cryopreserved brains could offer in the future. Intrigued? There's so much more…

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  • Watch a clip from Monarch: Legacy of Monsters and work out if you’d survive.
  • Learn about Mistral the whale shark’s mighty migration.
  • Discover why scientists reckon our origin story might have started in Bulgaria.
  • Listen to Dr Steve Boyes explain how his search for “ghost elephants” in Angola nearly took a blood-boiling turn.
  • Marvel at Hugo, the first baby to be born in the UK with the help of a womb transplant from a deceased donor.
  • And find out how Project Hail Mary author Andy Weir created an entire alien species.

 

Plus, everything you can find in this month’s issue of CURIOUS, and what some struggling AI-designed robots have to say about the threat of an uprising.

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:

World’s largest coral 

Asteroid misses the Moon

Whale shark migration

Human ancestors

Rediscovered marsupials

Ghost elephants

Womb transplant baby

Andy Weir interview

We Have Questions podcast

CURIOUS magazine

AI robots


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