Cancer cures don’t grow on trees! Or do they? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. To Celtic Druids, the yew tree symbolized death and resurrection. Today, it could mean… anti-cancer medication! Why? Yew tree needles contain the chemical Baccatin Three. If researchers could synthesize it,
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Turtle SHELL-FIE! WAVE hello! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Tracking sea creatures in the ocean can help us conserve endangered species. Enter Jessica Harvey-Carroll and team from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. They wanted to better understand sea turtle migration. Using time depth recorders,
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Is science cutting corners… with DNA!? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Gene therapy often hits a roadblock because inserting whole genes usually requires chopping DNA. This risks errors and unwanted mutations. How can we stop the chop? Isaac Witte and team from Harvard developed
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Is there really such a thing as a “guilt-free” drink? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. We’ve all seen the labels: “Sugar-free” “Zero calories”. But are those artificial sweeteners really harmless? Enter Charlotte Debras and team from Sorbonne Paris Nord University. They tracked over one
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Declutter … your brain?! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Our brains have tiny blood vessels that help drain out cellular waste. So do clogged brain vessels mean weaker learning and memory? Kyungdeok Kim and team at Washington University went down the brain drain. After blocking
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Click it or… raffle ticket?! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Less than half of motorists report using their seatbelt regularly. WTF! Do we need to PAY people to care about safety? Jeffrey Ebert and team from Penn State say… yeah. For ten weeks, eleven
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No sunlight and few snacks… sounds like paradise… for an anglerfish! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. For decades, scientists assumed harsh deep-sea conditions limited evolution. No sunlight and fewer resources could lead to fewer weird fish. But is that true? Elizabeth Miller and team
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No flash photography, and please, don’t feed the mold. This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Imagine priceless puppets slowly degrading over the years. Museum air TEEMS with sneaky microbes. How can we protect our historical artifacts? Enter Yuanyuan Wang and team from Beijing’s University of
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Tossing, turning… and gasping for air! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. We all hate hot nights — sweaty sheets, cranky mornings. But are we losing more than sleep? Enter Bastien Lechat and team from Flinders University in Australia. Using under-the-mattress sleep trackers, they studied a hundred
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Is your guardian angel… jaundice?? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Malaria is a deadly disease caused by parasites. But there might be an interesting way your body fights it. Bilirubin is a substance that forms when red blood cells degrade. Too much of it
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