Loh Down Staff – Page 17 – The Loh Down On Science

Going Green

November 24, 2017 Loh Down Staff

It isn’t easy eating green! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Eastern coastal waters are home to pretty green sea slugs, called eastern emerald elysia. They look like leaves! What’s more, these marine animals eat algae, a plant. Then somehow they use the algae to

Popcorn Science

November 21, 2017 Loh Down Staff

Have you ever wondered why popcorn pops? French scientists have. This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Meet Emmanuel Virot and Alexandre Ponomarenko. They study extreme forces. Things like: how wind breaks trees. Their experiments require special equipment, including cameras that record thousands of images per

The Tooth About Beavers

November 17, 2017 Loh Down Staff

Finally! Incisive research on beaver teeth! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Beavers are amazing. They’re not only master carpenters, but they fell timber with their teeth! Don’t try that at home! And like many rodents, beavers’ incisors continually grow. What’s more, they don’t get

Tonal Talk

November 15, 2017 Loh Down Staff

Climate influences language. True or false? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science, saying: True, suggests a new study. Think about trying to talk when your throat is dry. It’s harder, right? Well, researchers in Germany and the Netherlands say: That’s exactly why certain languages arose

Greasy Grimy Guts!

November 13, 2017 Loh Down Staff

Ah, the vulture! It’s not just another pretty face. This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Let’s face it. Vultures like their meat a little older and rottener than the rest of us do. It’s unorthodox, but it works for them. Still, it seems strange that

Immunity Assault

November 8, 2017 Loh Down Staff

Is pouring salt in someone’s wounds a good idea? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science, saying yes! But wait. Scientists have long known that some of the salt we eat gets stored in our skin. But they’ve thought that was a byproduct of salt intake,

Foreign Imports

November 7, 2017 Loh Down Staff

Do you have imported genes? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science, talking about DNA, not denim. Researchers from the University of Cambridge say humans certainly have genetic imports. The reason? “Horizontal gene transfer.” That’s when genes jump from one species to another. Like from viruses

Four-Letter Words

November 3, 2017 Loh Down Staff

How many four-letter words do you know? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Let’s take “drat.” Rearrange the letters, and you can also make dart, and that’s about it. My point? There’s a limit to how many words you can make with those four letters.

Head Shake

November 2, 2017 Loh Down Staff

And now, some mind-blowing news about . . . concussions? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Concussions happen when someone’s brain literally gets shaken inside their skull. Ow! When athletes get knocked on the noggin, coaches may check for concussion on the sidelines. How? By

Global Language

October 31, 2017 Loh Down Staff

The Loh Down On Science Hey English speakers, want to learn a second language? Maybe not Chinese. This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Meet bilingual Hebrew-English speaker Shahar Ronen. When he was a graduate student at MIT, he got curious about how well different modern languages