How Do You Spell Zika?

One, two, three! It’s easy as… A, G, C? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Who doesn’t love a spelling bee? Cute middle-schoolers lisping out words like Xanthosis and Logorrhea! But spelling is vital inside living organisms too! Why? See, cells need proteins to work

Continue reading

50 Shades of Yellow

A rose is a rose is a rose, right? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science, saying: Except when it’s yellow! Roses aside, University of York researchers have discovered something very strange about that color. People’s perception of it changes from winter to summer! As part

Continue reading

Love in a Bottle

Will you marry me… AND my love for Pepsi? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Before popping the question, consider how compatible you are with that special someone. Think: similar backgrounds, values, or religion. But Coke over Pepsi – deal-breaker? Researchers from Duke University examined

Continue reading

Diaper Check

Can a new tool for cancer diagnoses be found in…baby diapers? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Detecting cancer early can help doctors to better treat it. One common way to find tumors is using X-ray computed tomography, or C-T scan. Scientists are always trying

Continue reading

Virtually Sexist

Are sexist men less evolved? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Meet biologist Michael Kasumovic. He studies evolution in various contexts. Like online. For example, when male gamers, hiding behind Internet anonymity, harass female gamers. Kasumovic’s team participated anonymously in the multiplayer shoot-em-up game, Halo-Three.

Continue reading

Salad Daze

Want to get the most out of your daily vegetables? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science… with good news! Veggies and greens may be good for you, but they can sure taste boring! Some oily salad dressing would spice things up, but that can’t be

Continue reading

Quantum Sounds

The chips are alive…with the sound of qubits! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Computers are powered by billions of bits of information – essentially, electrical signals that are either on or off. But tomorrow’s devices need to be way more powerful than traditional bits

Continue reading

Starfish Wars

Where’s the Terminator when you really need him? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science, and an ecosystem under attack. Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is truly a wonder of the natural world. But it faces a dangerous interloper: The Crown of Thorns starfish, or “COT” for

Continue reading

Bacteria on the Rocks

Waiter, I’ll have water….ice? Not so much! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. When a waiter brings us water with ice, we can assume the water is safe to drink. But what about the ice? Enter Raimondo Gaglio and colleagues from Universitá di Palermo in

Continue reading

Super-Ants

Look, up in the sky! It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a… SUPER…ANT? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. To bugs, trees spell one thing: FOOD! Caterpillars and grasshoppers are connoisseurs of the leafy species. But is there a bright side to trees having

Continue reading