What’s big, scaly, and eats more than your Dad at a discount buffet? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science, saying… Ichthyosaurs! These ancient REPTILES swam in oceans but breathed air… Imagine something like a scaly dolphin, but the size of a whale! In fact, P.
Continue readingAuthor: Paula Gardner
Rainbows and Unicorns
Is it a horse … or a fashion statement?? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with The Loh Down on Science. Black, white, brown or pinto…our noble steeds proudly sport many different colors. But, their wild ancestors all tended to be some shade of brown! How did the color explosion come
Continue readingFor Your Eyes Only
Whispers, intrigue, secret love letters – oh my! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. I’m not describing the latest period rom-com! I’m talking HISTORY, and the famed queen of France, Marie Antoinette. She wrote letters to a rumored lover during the French revolution. But the
Continue readingPORE-t Hole Pals
Ahhhh-CHOO! Was that your neighbor, or your sponge?! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Kitchen sponges are modeled after sea sponges. These marine animals have no brains or muscles. They just sit and eat all day! Sounds nice. But, what about cleaning off?
Continue readingTiny Treatments
Creepy crawlies… to the rescue?? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science saying… LEECHES! Dark, slimy, and definitely gross. BUT, they’ve had their uses in medicine for hundreds of years. Are there any other types of worm that could help us? Researchers from
Continue readingCalamari-velous Creatures
Who do you think would win a chess game? You or … an octopus? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Humans and octopuses both possess exceptional intelligence when compared to other animals. But how similar are we really? Researchers from the Stazione
Continue readingSpotting Stripes
How do some tigers earn… EXTRA stripes? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Got the eye of the tiger… PRINT? Almost FORTY percent of the tigers in Similipal national preserve in India have “double” stripes. Some are more black than orange! BUT this unique pattern
Continue readingRare Recyclables
One man’s trash is another man’s… smart phone? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Electronics keep society wired, but how does Mother Nature like them? Electronics rely on rare earth elements–think cerium, neodymium, and dysprosium. Mining them is expensive AND damages the environment. Extracting them
Continue readingPopsi-cow
What boasts a bark-like coat…AND can float? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science, saying no, it’s not a kayak! It’s the Steller’s Sea Cow – named for explorer Georg Steller — which lived in the Bering Sea. That is, until the last ones were hunted
Continue readingRowing Robots
Do ROBOTS of a feather… flock together? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Wildebeest over the serengeti, sardines in the sea – many animals move seamlessly together in herds. But, we humans have a hard time not bumping into others at the grocery store! How
Continue reading