This week in Break It Down, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see a nova, astroforensic science, why everybody thinks male mammals are so big, the world’s oldest body piercings, 70 years in an iron lung, and the strange things animals do during a total solar eclipse. We’re looking at you, Galápagos tortoises.

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

Links:

Nova: https://www.iflscience.com/this-year-could-be-a-once-in-a-lifetime-opportunity-to-see-a-nova-73379

Space crime: https://www.iflscience.com/csi-space-station-scientists-are-investigating-blood-splatter-in-microgravity-73357

Mammalian bodies: https://www.iflscience.com/males-are-larger-than-females-or-are-they-new-data-challenges-100-years-of-bias-73347

Oldest piercings: https://www.iflscience.com/11000-year-old-earrings-and-lip-studs-are-worlds-oldest-piercings-73321

Iron lung: https://www.iflscience.com/paul-alexander-the-man-in-the-iron-lung-has-died-73363

Animals in a solar eclipse: https://www.iflscience.com/why-do-animals-act-strangely-during-a-solar-eclipse-73346

Mammals trailer: https://youtu.be/fRSEMsutVdI?si=Jcyn-WUQuEm9Vl5s

Unexplained anomalous phenomena: https://youtu.be/QKZl5wIySO8?si=IxwL5O539XbT4TKS

Coral joy: https://www.iflscience.com/watch-corals-release-clouds-of-eggs-and-sperm-in-cambodias-first-observed-spawning-event-73387