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

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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.

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Prehistoric Virus

Scientists are bringing back a 30,000-year-old virus. What could possibly go wrong? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science, saying: Sure, call it a comeback! French researchers call it Mollivirus sibericum, and it’s long been frozen in Siberian soil. Thanks to climate change, that once chilly

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Synch Into Sleep

Is lack of sleep throwing your body off beat? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Think of your body as an orchestra. The maestro is a master clock that lives in your brain. It keeps time by syncing with light and dark. The instruments are

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How Do You Goo?

Want a glue that sticks? Just scare a slug! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. When you cut your skin open, stitches and staples have you covered. But what keeps you together when the incision is INSIDE your body? Jianyu Li [JEEAHN-you LEE] and colleagues

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Drilling for Cancer

We’re taking aim at cancer – literally! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Cancer may be hard to defeat, but it’s not invincible. Most cancer fighting drugs can kill cancer, but healthy cells often become collateral damage. Could there be a solution with more precise

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Egg Shape Mystery

How do you like your eggs – over easy? Sunny-side up? Pointy??! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Some birds lay eggs shaped like teardrops. Others look like a ball. And there’s everything in between! Why so MANY different shapes? Enter Mary Caswell Stoddard, a

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Unbreak My Heart

What becomes of the broken hearted? Ask your doctor! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science, asking… Is a broken heart just a metaphor? Or. .. Could emotional stress actually cause PHYSICAL damage? Well, doctors have begun to recognize that it does. “Broken heart syndrome” –

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Foreign Imports

Do you have imported genes? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science, talking about DNA, not denim. Researchers from the University of Cambridge say humans certainly have genetic imports. The reason? “Horizontal gene transfer.” That’s when genes jump from one species to another. Like from viruses

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Four-Letter Words

How many four-letter words do you know? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Let’s take “drat.” Rearrange the letters, and you can also make dart, and that’s about it. My point? There’s a limit to how many words you can make with those four letters.

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