Are you really gonna eat those nanoparticles? At least heat them up… This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Carbon nanoparticles are tiny materials used in sensors, imaging, and environmental monitoring. But making them is often expensive and chemically intensive. Enter Parul Singh and team from
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Who needs a compass? Get thee a pigeon! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Pigeons use the Earth’s magnetic field to navigate. So where do they keep the magnets? Ask Clivia Lisowski and team at the University of Bonn. They checked pigeons’ organs, for cells
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Does menstrual blood have healing powers?! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Special cells in period blood help rebuild uterine lining every month. Could those cells repair other tissues, too? Enter Gabija Kugaudaite and team at Kaunas University in Lithuania. To test this hypothesis, they
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Does soil hold memories? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. More specifically, we’re wondering whether soil remembers droughts. Ask Nichole Ginnan and team at the University of Kansas. They collected soil from across Kansas and exposed the microbes to wet or dry conditions. Months later,
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Wouldn’t it be nice if… our implants weren’t toxic?! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Unfortunately, some implanted medical devices can release toxic byproducts over time. They’re leached from the piezoelectric materials commonly used to make them. But fear not! Fanqi Dai, Haofeng Cheng, and
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Two things happen when you get old: one… your memory goes, two… can’t remember This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Imagine your aging brain as a vintage sports car: engine’s fine, but not very fast. Why? The protein HDAC3 is an emergency brake pruning memory
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Can you teach a bee to play soccer? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Bees are known to be well organized. They’re expert team players! But can they solve problems on the fly? Enter Akshaye Bhambore and team at the University of Oulu. They built
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I know it’s hot, but don’t wipe your sweat away! It’s valuable information! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Wearable sensors, like smartwatches and skin patches, already track heart rate, sleep, and mood. They can also measure stress and glucose! But most are single-use. And
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Jackets keep you warm. And stylish! Now they can quench your thirst? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Clean water is essential. Yet two-thirds of the world experiences water scarcity. Enter Chuxin Lei and team at UT Austin. They developed a porous fiber that pulls
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It’s thymus time, baby! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. The thymus is an organ that produces immune cells during childhood. But it is largely unimportant in adulthood. Or so we thought! Enter Simon Bernatz and team from Mass General Brigham. They wanted to see
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