Taking a Dive

There’s nothing like seabirds to. . . take a dive! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. It’s a beautiful sight: seabirds diving head first into the water to catch unsuspecting prey. A perfect ten! But the northern gannet (GA-nit) takes gold with its flawless, high-speed

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Slim-Fast Mice

Oh look! A piece of yummy cheese! But…could this be a trap? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Everyone wants to lose weight, scientists just as much as anyone else! And some are looking for answers by studying… mice! At the University of Copenhagen, Karen

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Bear-ly Exercising

Need a workout buddy? How about a….polar bear?! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Studies show that ice in the Arctic is rapidly melting. Since polar bears call this ice home, how will its disappearance affect them? Anthony Pagano teamed up with zoos in San

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A Dog’s Life

The dog! Man’s best friend …AND best diet buddy?! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Think your dog resembles you? Maybe it’s the curly fur, the glaring distrust of the FedEx guy — or is it your… metabolism? Peer Bork’s team at the European Molecular

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Veggie Shark

Have you ever met a shark who’s a….vegetarian? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Okay, so maybe not a STRICT vegetarian. But there IS a shark who eats more seagrass than fish! It’s the bonnethead shark—a small relative of hammerheads. Samantha Leigh and her colleagues

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Low-Emission Camels

Do you know your animal farts? Pop quiz. This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Who makes more flatus than your lovable but aging dog? Ruminating animals, like cows and sheep, that’s who. They chew their cuds at one end, and release methane gas from the

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Smog Breath

Does this smog make me look fat? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science, and a weight-gain study we hope doesn’t make you hyperventilate! Who’s asking it? Environmental health scientists at Ohio State University. They wanted to examine how exposure to air pollution early in life

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Slippery Swimmers

Want to swim like Michael Phelps? Learn from a swordfish! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Swordfish are known for their iconic sword-shaped bills. But did you know they can swim sixty miles per hour?! That makes them the fastest swimmers on Earth! What’s their

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Little Champs

How do kids have so much BLEEPING energy? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Young children can scream and run around all day. It’s like they have enough energy to be Olympic athletes… But could they really? Anthony Birat and colleagues at Clermont-Auvergne University decided

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Whale of a Tale

Too big…? too small… ? This BODY size is just right! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Mammals that live in the ocean are some of the largest animals in the world. Think whales and walruses. These mammals’ ancestors used to live on land. When

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