We’ve all heard of “farm to table”—But what if your table is on Mars? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. It’s hard to get fresh veggies in space. But future colonists will need them for long-term survival. Enter researchers from Wageningen University in The Netherlands.
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The dog! Man’s best friend …AND best diet buddy?! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Think your dog resembles you? Maybe it’s the curly fur, the glaring distrust of the FedEx guy — or is it your… metabolism? Peer Bork’s team at the European Molecular
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Animal grouping phrases: A parliament of owls! A murmuration of starlings! A murder of crows?!? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. University of Washington researchers Kaili Swift and John Marzluff observed, and wondered: Why do crows gather around their dead? To find out, first, the
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Overheard in the bat cave – conversation? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. That’s what Genevieve Wright at the University of Maryland wanted to know. In previous studies, Wright and colleagues found that brown bats seem to make six different types of social calls. Their
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Is your best friend…a volleyball named Wilson? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Existential isolation is the feeling that there’s an uncomfortable gap between you and other people. Turns out, men experience existential isolation more than women. But why? Alyssa Croft at the University of
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Can being less of a “free radical” keep us young at heart? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science, reminding us all that age is just a number! Arteries tend to shrink and harden with age, leading to heart disease. This is partly due to mitochondria,
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Is the key to eating healthier. . . Kenny G? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science The mealtime choices we make are influenced by our environment. Bright lights, colorful restaurants, sticky icky menus, … even how loud the music is! Courtney Szocs and colleagues studied
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In after-lunch meetings, when people drone on and you doze off, don’t blame bad Powerpoints. Blame food coma! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science, and on food coma—the unbearable sleepiness that sets in about a half an hour after you’ve finished a big meal. According
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Have you ever met a shark who’s a….vegetarian? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Okay, so maybe not a STRICT vegetarian. But there IS a shark who eats more seagrass than fish! It’s the bonnethead shark—a small relative of hammerheads. Samantha Leigh and her colleagues
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Polyglot your tongue? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Many people think they are too old to learn a new language. Supposedly, young kids pick up languages faster because their brains are still developing. But is any of that really true? Joshua Hartshorne, Joshua Tenenbaum
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