Join the enzyme evolution revolution… today! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Enzymes are cellular machines that perform a wide variety of critical tasks for human health. What if we crank them up? Researchers have tried a technique called ‘continuous evolution’ that uses millions of
Continue reading
Got a rodent problem? Here’s some GNAW-ledge to sink your teeth into! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Doctors Anderson Feijó and Alyssa Stringer at the Field Museum of Natural History gave us a SQUEAK peek into urban evolution. Skulls of rodents living in Chicago
Continue reading
No sunlight and few snacks… sounds like paradise… for an anglerfish! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. For decades, scientists assumed harsh deep-sea conditions limited evolution. No sunlight and fewer resources could lead to fewer weird fish. But is that true? Elizabeth Miller and team
Continue reading
Help! It’s the attack of the zombie… leaves?! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Tree ferns were once dinosaur food, but guess which scaley beasts this flora outlasted. How? James Dalling and colleagues from the University of Illinois were collecting tree ferns. They saw rot
Continue reading
Does Jaws have taste buds? He did eat a helicopter… This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Many animals taste bitter—they secrete toxic chemicals to avoid getting eaten. But bitterness may not protect against sharks. These early predators evolved WAY BEFORE the first bony fish with
Continue reading
ACHOO! I’m feeling so Juras-SICK! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science, saying… What’s worse than a horse with hay fever? A dino-SAUR throat! Enter Cary Woodruff from The Great Plains Dinosaur Museum and some paleo-centric colleagues. Their test subject? A one hundred and fifty MILLION
Continue reading
Can you even imagine a time before … horses? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. In the early two-thousands, archeologists in modern-day Syria found bones of a horse-like creature. The bones were over forty-five hundred years old! But horses weren’t introduced to the area for
Continue reading
Hunter! Gatherer! Farmer! Who works the hardest – or smartest? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Humanity’s evolution from earlier species took a LOT of energy. Bigger brains, needier children, and longer lifespans meant we had a lot on our PLATES – literally! How did
Continue reading
Howdy, neigh-bear! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science, and the story of three bears… The Indigenous First Nations of modern British Columbia hold strong connections to wildlife. One venerated animal? The grizzly bear, which has shared their homeland for millennia. Recently, grizzlies appeared in new
Continue reading
Once upon a time, a tale as OLD as time was created. This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science, with a story about stories. What is the origin of our beloved fantastical folk tales? The nineteenth century Brothers Grimm got most of the credit and lived
Continue reading