Offensive Chants

The World Series just ended, so let’s focus on Europe—sports hooligans! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Dutch acoustics engineers — Sander van Wijngaarden and Johan van Balkan — were soccer fans. Very annoyed soccer fans. The problem?  Negative fan chanting.  That’s a feedback loop of

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Seeing Sounds

These glasses help you see… with your ears! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Blindness affects about thirty-nine million people worldwide. This can make daily life more difficult! Can technology help? Enter Howe Yuan Zhu and team from the University of Technology Sydney, Australia. They

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The Sound of Our Bodies

We are aliveeee with the sooounds of our boooodiess! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. From beats to burps, our bodily functions continuously make sounds – *RASPBERRY*… Wasn’t me… Anyway, changes or stops in bodily sounds can indicate a problem. What sort of problem? Enter

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Goldilocks Soundscape

Why are we so productive at bustling coffee shops?! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Noise can be a distraction. When it’s too loud, it’s hard to work. But too quiet isn’t great either! So what’s the Goldilocks zone? Enter Karthik Srinivasan from the University

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Muting Moths

SHHHH! I’m trying to SLEEP.  This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.  City noise is a big issue. But not for moths! Their scaly wings literally have NOISE-CANCELING abilities – it keeps them from becoming bat food. Could MOTHS offer a solution for noise pollution? Thomas

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Drip Drop

The sound of insomnia: cue the LEAKY FAUCET! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science, on the most annoying sound ever. What causes that DRIP DRIP of a leaky bathtub? It’s not what you think! Anurag Agarwal at the University of Cambridge discovered the cause —

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Flee Bird

Busy airports… are for the birds! Unfortunately. This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Birds can really be a nuisance. Especially around airports. These unwanted aviators cost domestic airlines billions of dollars in damages and delays. They’ve tried blasting recordings of hawks. They’ve tried air cannons.

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Noise Pollution

Don’t forget to dry your hands! WHAT? What’d you say?! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Many public restrooms have electric hand dryers. It saves trees and cuts down on trash! But those noisy contraptions have little kiddos covering their ears! Young scientist Nora Louise

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Spider Sense

As if spiders weren’t scary enough…they’re listening to us, too?! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Jumping spiders are vicious predators known for their keen eyesight. Not so much for their hearing, because they lack eardrums. But now researchers from Harvard and Cornell have spun

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