Hm—how truly green ARE those green LED’s? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Computers, phones, lamps – our world runs on LEDs! But so much electricity! And to make colors, red, blue, and green lights have to be combined, via an energy-sapping color filter. D.J.
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It’s tough being the new bird on the block. This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Migration is sometimes necessary for survival. But animals with social structures might need to re-learn how to be….social! Enter the Cirl Bunting: a brown sparrow-sized bird. They’ve been studied in
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Help! It’s the attack of the zombie… leaves?! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Tree ferns were once dinosaur food, but guess which scaley beasts this flora outlasted. How? James Dalling and colleagues from the University of Illinois were collecting tree ferns. They saw rot
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Someday they’ll find it–the Rainbow Connection! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Animals are kinda color-blind. Only some can tell between MEDIUM green wavelengths and LONG red wavelengths. And the different cells that sense color are tough to distinguish! Sarah Hadyniak and Johns Hopkins University
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Freaky Fractals! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Ever trip out on ink fractals? You make ‘em by putting ink onto wet paint. Then it spreads out symmetrically, like tree roots. How does it happen? San To Chan and the Okinawa Institute of Science and
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Vitamins… for veggies?! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science… You are what you eat, and some health conditions can be improved with vitamins and minerals. Less potassium for kidney issues, more iodine for thyroids. So, what if we tailored how much is in our food?
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Aww… you have your mother’s… poison?! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Ever wish you could “turn off” something you don’t like about yourself? Our genes get turned on and off by D-N-A switches when we’re conceived. But sometimes even that can work against you!
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SOS! Invasion of the… yellow… star… thistles?! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Ever had an unwanted guest in your garden? I’m up to my neck in Pampas Grass! Invasive species can disrupt habitats, push out native species, and be agricultural pests. So how long
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Shock the system! In a good way? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. All vertebrates use electricity to move our muscles. But fish and eels can actually emit that electricity! How? Enter Sarah LaPotin and team from the University of Texas, Austin. The electric impulse
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Bears on the move? It’s paw-sible! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Polar bears live in the FREEZING arctic. And brown bears prefer warmer forests. But sometimes they overlap, and have cubs together! What the—? Tianying Lan from the University of Buffalo and team investigated.
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