Deep Divers

SPLASH! Take the plunge — and meet the world’s best divers! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Who are the smallest mammal scuba-divers in the world? WATER SHREWS! They live on shore, waiting to pounce on tasty insects underwater. While hunting, they can hold their

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Dragon Man

How ancient is the slumbering Dragon … Man? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Neanderthals, our genetic cousins, lived in Europe and West Asia thousands of years ago. But what do we know about human relatives who lived in EAST Asia?  Dragon Man is a

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Amazing Sight

Up-close black and white image of an adult man

Amazing Grace, how sweet the…sight?!  This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. When light enters the eyes, the light-sensitive cells send signals to the brain. Let there be sight! But the disease Retinitis Pigmentosa, or RP, can cause loss of vision. José-Alain Sahel at Sorbonne University,

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Forest Farts

Image of dying wetland forest. NC Wetlands via Wikicommons under (CC BY 2.0

Peee-yooh! Are you blaming the dog – again? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. When humans break wind they release greenhouse gases, which are bad for the climate. However, your “whodunnit?” might not compare to a dying wetland forest. As a forest dies, greenhouse gases

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Bees or Birds?

Bee flying to Foxglove flower.

“Make new friends, but keep the old” – but what if you move 10,000 miles away?? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Foxgloves are purple or white bell-shaped flowers native to Europe. They hang off the stem, like fruits, and have short tubes that store

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“Likes”

Bird with its head upside.

Looking for “likes”? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. I admit it, I LOVE looking at photos on Instagram. Look at this colorful seashell! This fantastical flower! But wait… Why did my GORGEOUS photo ONLY get three “likes”? You’d think the prettier the picture, the

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Global Glow

Biofluorescent Springhares

Pop quiz: What hops. . . and glows?  This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. We’ve told you about glowing platypuses in Australia. And there are possums in the Americas that glow too! This glow-in-the-dark feature is called biofluorescence. Where else in the world can we

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Unfolding Secrets

Historic sealed letters

Somebody’s reading my mail! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Three hundred years ago, letters had no envelopes. Instead, people folded them to make sure they could be delivered safely. Historians have found over five hundred unopened letters from Renaissance Europe. Is there a way

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Eel Team Six

Eel looking at the camera

Teamwork makes the dream work! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. What’s your favorite team sport? Whatever it is, team sports involve not just great players, but great teamwork. Fish, on the other hand, are not known for their teamwork. No one’s heard of a

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Nothing But Tooth

Tooth from three different views (from the referenced paper)

Do you swear to pull the tooth, the whole tooth, and nothing but the tooth? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. A century ago, thirteen teeth were found on the European island of Jersey inside Saint Brelade cave. Scientists assumed the teeth belonged to Neanderthals.

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