Serenading Ribbits

They say love is a…mixtape of frog songs?! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down On Science. Ryan Calsbeek, from Dartmouth University, and colleagues recorded male frog choruses in the wild during mating season. Different recordings were overlaid—think fake froggie boy bands—to see which mating call combinations attracted

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Bacteria’s Microplastic Power-up

Are MICROplastics making BIG impacts? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Microplastics are tiny plastic particles that have infiltrated our ecosystem from waste. And you know what’s even worse? They’re teaming up with bacteria! How? Enter Neila Gross and team at Boston University. They exposed

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Lidocaine Brain Pain

Can lidocaine… mess up your brain?! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Lidocaine is a commonly used local anesthetic. BUT elderly patients who typically undergo more surgeries have long lasting memory issues after. Coincidence? Xiaohui Chen and colleagues from Fujian Medical University investigated! The team

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Vacation on Mars?

Sun, sand, and…sedimentary rock?! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Imagine going to the beach and… dude where’s my ocean?! That’s what Jianhui Li and an international team just discovered on Mars! We’ve long suspected parts of Mars were once underwater, but lacked evidence. Enter

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Bald No More

Sweet chrome dome, Ratman! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Your hair interacts a lot with the skin and blood vessels around its roots. Sometimes these interactions don’t go according to plan, leading to balding. Could the future of hair loss treatment be fixing blood

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Ctrl Z Medicine

Ctrl+Z for Meds? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Imagine flipping a switch to turn blood thinners on or off, like a computer command. Enter Millicent Dockerill from the University of Geneva. Inspired by findings in leeches, they set out to design a better blood-thinner.

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A Loud Whisper

Finally, we can talk smack—WITHOUT it coming back! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Imagine talking to someone across a crowded room—without anyone else hearing! Jia-Xin Zhong and team from Penn State have discovered a way to create “audible enclaves.” They bent sound waves by

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Paw-sitively Brilliant

Get ready for a tail-wagging discovery! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Ever wonder if your dog actually understands you? Well, Marianna Boros and researchers in Budapest, Hungary do too!  They put twenty-seven pups to the test using a wearable E-E-G brain wave sensor. Researchers

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Photocopying Photosynthesis

We’ll harness the power of the sun! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Plants turn sunlight into energy – with incredible efficiency – using ELECTRONS. That’s photosynthesis. Now, scientists want to copy this process for better solar panels. Enter Leander Eernst and team from the

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Green Driving

Beep, beep! That guy ahead’s not just a bad driver, he’s destroying the planet! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Stop-and-go traffic is maddening, AND it increases fuel use and emissions! Vindula Jayawardana and Cathy Wu from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology wondered: can self-driving

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