Quantum Calculations

Even computers need help with math! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. As electronics get smaller, we have to understand smaller objects – down to atoms! Energy is constantly in flux at the molecular level. Calculating HOW and HOW MUCH takes million-dollar supercomputers. Enter Hossein

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You Sleep, Cells Clean

Even mitochondria – the powerhouse of the cell – needs a nap sometimes! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. We know sleep is important. But what does it actually DO for our bodies? Enter Raffaele Sarnataro and team from University of Oxford. They used fruit

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Photocopying Photosynthesis

We’ll harness the power of the sun! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Plants turn sunlight into energy – with incredible efficiency – using ELECTRONS. That’s photosynthesis. Now, scientists want to copy this process for better solar panels. Enter Leander Eernst and team from the

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Metabolic Bookkeeping

Your bank account balances on a strict budget…your body does too! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Did you know your fat follows a 24-hour cycle of energy use? But who oversees all this metabolic bookkeeping? Enter Aaron Douglas and team from Trinity College. They

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Fat Fighter

Could the cure for cancer be… your own fat?! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Cancer cells grow by stealing glucose and fatty acids from our bodies. What if we cut off their supply? Researchers at U-C San Francisco have developed a way to do

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Flower Power Devour

Saving energy? We’re talkin’ Little Shop of Horrors!  This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Consider the carnivorous pitcher plant. It’s a trash bag shaped plant that eats bugs to overcome nutrient deficient soil.  That gave Anne-Kristin Lenz and the University of Bristol an idea for

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Green with Energy

Hm—how truly green ARE those green LED’s? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Computers, phones, lamps – our world runs on LEDs! But so much electricity! And to make colors, red, blue, and green lights have to be combined, via an energy-sapping color filter. D.J.

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Shadow Show

There’s a new energy source … hiding in the shadows!  This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. A shady glade … ideal for cooling off! But when it comes to solar power, LESS sun means less energy!  As skyscrapers climb and open sunshine becomes less available,

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Flash Dance

It all happens in a flash! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Solar power is so cool — the sun comes out and on go your lights! HOW does that happen? It starts with chemicals like methyl viologen. They react with light to generate power.

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Window-O-Power

A conceptual picture of a house with the windows made of the material proposed in the study.

See windows in a whole new light! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Renewable energy – it’s the wave of the future! Solar is popular, but huge rooftop panels don’t grab everything. What about the light streaming through our windows? Could we capture and harness

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