Good News, Bad News

The good news is…the BAD news? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. We LOVE good news and tend to filter out bad news. This could be why some folks ignore warnings to leave disaster areas. Is there any hope for us cheesy optimists? Tali Sharot

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Stressy Study

Are you STRESSING OUT right now? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Life is full of stressful situations – exams! Traffic! Which remote goes with which appliance?!! And the effects of stress are usually thought to be harmful to our health. But WHY do we

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Let It Go

HULK ANGRY! HULK… does yoga? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. The superheroes in the Avengers don’t always get along. When they’re not fighting villains, they tend to bicker with each other. But it’s not just superheroes! Mere mortals often experience rude interactions at work,

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Laundry Stinks!

Dirty laundry stressing you out? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Ahhh… the smell of freshly washed clothes. Some even find it relaxing. But what about DIRTY laundry? Enter Marlise Hofer from the University of British Columbia. Her team studied the laundry likes of almost

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Scary Movie

Uh oh: blood-curdling screams aren’t just figures of speech anymore! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science, and a terrifying new study from Leiden University Medical Center. Researchers there showed a group of healthy volunteers the twenty-ten horror film “Insidious.” After a week, the same group

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Color Me Happy

Hey, adults of a certain age. Do you like to color? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science saying, coloring books! They’re not just for kids anymore. Coloring books aren’t just for kids anymore. Adults claim they help reduce stress and improve well-being. But how effective

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Nervous Nellies

Got a nervous habit? Maybe you’re a perfectionist! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science, saying: Nail biting. Skin picking. Hair pulling. These are all examples of body-focused repetitive disorders—or BFRDs for short. Are they just nervous habits? Canadian researchers think not. They believe BFRDs are

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Your Cheatin’ Hormones

Can our hormones make us cheaters? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Most discussions about cheating focus on ethics. But psychologist Robert Josephs, of the University of Texas at Austin, wondered: Are hormones involved? Because goodness knows hormones impact other decisions. If you know what

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Unbreak My Heart

What becomes of the broken hearted? Ask your doctor! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science, asking… Is a broken heart just a metaphor? Or. .. Could emotional stress actually cause PHYSICAL damage? Well, doctors have begun to recognize that it does. “Broken heart syndrome” –

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