Chewing out Invasives

Who doesn’t love a delicious Mimosa?  This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science, saying no, not the cocktail – the plant! It’s an invasive shrub, native to Africa. And water buffalo love it! But when Mozambique’s civil war wiped out large leaf-eaters in Gorongosa National Park,

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The Future is Fungus

How do you feel about… the fungus among us? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Heavy rains come, then ew, what are these? In the grass, in your flower beds, are those. . . mushrooms?!? Enter Shengen Liu and team from the Institute of Natural

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Mercury Madness

I’ll have the seafood platter – hold the mercury! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Coal power plants and paper mills spew pollution – including mercury — into the atmosphere and ocean. It can be nasty stuff, and dangerous, too! But double trouble happens when

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Dino Dominance

Did the dinosaur age begin with a bang? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Scientists believe dinosaurs met their end from through some kind of natural disaster. But their origins remain a mystery. It seems they were very rare at first, before suddenly ballooning in

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Panda-nomics

Pandas! Black, white…and loaded with green? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. As of 2016, giant pandas are no longer an endangered species! Conservation efforts are clearly paying off. But maintaining panda sanctuaries costs China two to three hundred million dollars a year. Is it

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Poopopotamus

Hippo poop stinks — in more ways than one! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. In Tanzania, Africa, hippos are big. And they leave a big mark. How big? These large mammals generate over fifty-two-thousand metric tons of dung each year! People originally thought that

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Pollination Revelation

Is your margarita. . . endangered? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Insects like bees and butterflies are known for their pollinating prowess. When they feed on the sweet nectar from flowers, pollen rubs off on their legs. This pollen transfers to other flowers so

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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

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