One person’s poop is another’s treasure! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Squash bugs are major pests for farmers, and resistant to many poisons. To survive, they have a symbiotic relationship with a healthy bacteria that lives in their gut. Other bugs get that
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Worm Scouts
Boy scouts can learn a thing or two about knots… from WORMS? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Have you ever tried to tie a knot so tight that you couldn’t undo it? Turns out there are OTHER organisms that have mastered the knotting technique!
Continue readingPee is for Propulsion
New insight on jet technology from… insect pee?! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Attention 11 year olds! What do ‘butt-flickers,’ ‘frass-shooters,’ and ‘turd-hurlers’ have in common? They’re all sharpshooter insects that shoot their pee! And they can do it super fast. But how? Elio
Continue readingBug Bites
Is the next foodie fad… crickets?! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science, saying, CRUNCHY! Protein is part of a healthy diet. However, meat can be expensive, and raising livestock uses lots of resources. Insects are more sustainable, BUT… are people willing to EAT BUGS?
Continue readingQueen Vaccine
Vaccinate your … BEES?!!!!!?! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Bees are essential to our food supply and planet. However, our buzzing little friends can get sick just like us. Some diseases can wipe out an entire hive! How can we save them? Fear not,
Continue readingPainless Proboscis
Mosquitos! What a pain! Or…are they? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Mosquitos are a familiar foe. They bite and leave behind itchy reminders of their presence. But how is it we never notice them sucking our blood until it’s too late? At the Ohio
Continue readingAnt-nihilate Traffic
What’s the ants-er to road-rage? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science, saying, perchance – it’s ANTS! Ugh, traffic. Right? We’re all just trying to get from point A to point B! What’s the hold-up? Audrey Dussutour at Toulouse University in France thinks ants are the
Continue readingGlobal Caterpillar Killers
Are pests destroying your garden? Maybe you should just. . . move! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Biologists know there are more species of everything near the lush equator. Which means lots of plants — and animals to eat them, like hungry caterpillars! So
Continue readingToxic Nest
Paper, plastic, and… cigarette butts? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Urban birds scrounge up people’s trash to build their nests. No butts about it! Just like cigarettes aren’t good for you or me, they aren’t good for baby birds! But mama birds prefer them
Continue readingBlackest Black
Ladies love a guy dressed in black…especially lady SPIDERS! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science, saying that’s right! Male peacock spiders use a slick dance and super black spots to woo the ladies. These areas aren’t just dark, they’re SUPER dark! Meaning, they absorb more
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