Shellfish are tasty. But can they illuminate the past? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Professor Pupa Gilbert at the University of Wisconsin-Madison studies pen shells. That’s a large, clam-like shellfish commonly found in Florida. Specifically, she studies their nacre, or mother-of-pearl. It’s that iridescent
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Business dispute? Break bread, not heads! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. When you have a disagreement with someone, it can help to hash it out over a meal. But does WHAT you’re eating make a difference? Kaitlin Woolley from University of Chicago set up
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Plants with bugs? And not the creepy crawly kind! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Plants use sunlight and carbon dioxide to make their food through a process called photosynthesis. But the process is buggy! Plants can accidentally grab oxygen INSTEAD of carbon dioxide. And
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It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s… an ion-plane? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Aircraft fly using thrust from a power source to generate lift with their wings. Usually, that power source is a gas guzzling engine, or a noisy propeller. City dwellers pay
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If you can’t believe your eyes and ears – ask your fingers! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. As toddlers, we learn about our world through seeing, hearing, and touching. And we learn fast! Hot stove? OUCH! But can our sense of touch step up
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Did you hear the one about the guy who lost his left arm? He’s all RIGHT now! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science, and on, yes, puns. Researchers Seana Coulson and Els Severens wondered, which side of the brain enjoys a good pun? They recorded
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Want to drive the chicks wild? Shake a tail feather! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Nature is filled with mating dances. Peacocks shake their tails, spiders shimmy, and flamingos Flamenco. They all boogie to their own beat, but is the timing of their two-step
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Have no fear! Nanoscavengers are here! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. You won’t find nanoscavengers in the latest superhero comic, but they could protect you against dangerous nerve agents. Nerve agents are a deadly class of chemicals commonly used as weapons in wartorn areas.
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Don’t erupt — but is that a fake I.D.?! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Taupo is an active volcano in New Zealand. But scientists can’t pin down its age! The usual method is to carbon date nearby trees that perished during the eruption. All
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I spy with my little eye….A-I? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Human intelligence can easily tell elbows from oboes. But ARTIFICIAL intelligence networks are TAUGHT using thousands of pictures. This deep learning technique has achieved extraordinary success at teaching A-I to see and identify
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