Friendly Neigh-bears

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

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Relephant Evolution

Elephants are sensitive creatures. But when bullied, these giants have THICK skin!  This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Tusks help elephants dig, gather food and defend themselves. But, since tusks are made of precious ivory, they’ve long been used as currency! Increased poaching in Mozambique

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Shrinking Birds

“Honey, we’ve shrunk… the BIRDS?” This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Giraffes didn’t grow their long necks overnight — it took MILLIONS of years of adaptation! What if we could see animals adapting to environmental changes – within our own lifetime? Enter Vitek Jirinec and

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Rainbows and Unicorns

Is it a horse … or a fashion statement??    This is Sandra Tsing Loh with The Loh Down on Science.   Black, white, brown or pinto…our noble steeds proudly sport many different colors. But, their wild ancestors all tended to be some shade of brown! How did the color explosion come

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Trick or Treat

Everybody needs a wingman! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Bats use echolocation, a call that reflects back to them off of nearby objects. This helps them find dinner! What’s on the menu? Moths!  But some may have a TRICK to avoid being eaten. Enter

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Wolf to Woof

Puppies are fast learners! But imagine training a WOLF PUP to sit!  This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.  Dogs started out with a wild streak, as wolves. But for fourteen thousand years, they’ve been our faithful companions.  Hannah Salomons and colleagues at Duke University wondered

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Smart Swimmers

Are smarter people more so-fish-ticated? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Fish may be colorful, but they aren’t very bright! Can they smarten up? Giulia Rossi and Patricia Wright from the University of Guelph in Canada think so! They study the mangrove killifish, a fish

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Doggy Bags

Dog underneath table

Why do dogs WOLF down our leftovers? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Humans eat meat. Dogs’ ancestors – wolves — eat meat. So how did these competitors get friendly and… meet? Maria Lahtinen and colleagues at the Finnish Food Authority think the answer’s close

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Garden Party

Image of T-rex with skeleton showing.

Bye bye dinosaurs, hello . . . flowers? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. The asteroid that killed the dinosaurs ALWAYS gets a bad rap. But what if it led to — a landscape makeover? With international colleagues, Mónica Carvalho and Carlos Jaramillo from the

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Bees or Birds?

Bee flying to Foxglove flower.

“Make new friends, but keep the old” – but what if you move 10,000 miles away?? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Foxgloves are purple or white bell-shaped flowers native to Europe. They hang off the stem, like fruits, and have short tubes that store

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