Hey couch potatoes! Could watching TV power… your home? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Despite our best intentions, we constantly waste energy. Not because I fell asleep watching Jeopardy, again, but due to heat loss. Phones, computers, cars – almost any device or large
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Body Mod
Smart watches are SOOOOOO 2017….! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Today’s smartwatches can track everything from your heart rate to your breathing. But Michael McAlpine at the University of Minnesota thinks we can do better. He and his colleagues want to print electronics directly
Continue readingZoom and Enhance!
Step aside kids, who’s playing cops and robbers now? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science, saying…computers, that’s who! Artificial Intelligences aren’t just fighting for our attention with Facebook ads, now they’re battling each other! It’s Cops versus Counterfeiters. Christian Ledig and colleagues at Twitter are
Continue readingHuman or Hologram?
Help Me, Obi-Wan Kenobi — you’re my only hope! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. In Sci-fi films, communicating via 3-D holograms is all the rage. Here on earth, our two dimensional video conference calls? Not nearly as exciting. No longer, says Roel Vertegaal of
Continue readingZika Detector
Did playing doctor just get real? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. What if you could diagnose viruses – like Zika – from home? This may be possible very soon! Right now, a Zika diagnosis requires a blood test. This can be challenging and expensive
Continue readingObey Your Thirst
Obey your thirst! Your brain commands it! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Meet Yuki Oka of the California Institute of Technology. He and collaborators have a thirst for knowledge. Literally! They’ve pinpointed two groups of cells in mouse brains that control thirst. Kind of
Continue readingRobofish
The catch of the day is….robots? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Luckily, robotic fish won’t be on menus any time soon. But they are making a splash in exploring the ocean— considered, by many, the last frontier on earth. Scientists have tried using robotic
Continue readingTool Time
Look, ma! No hands! I mean wings! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science, and on the tool-using habits of New Caledonian crows. Sure, various animals use tools, but we’re the only ones with toolboxes. So other species have to find creative ways of keeping their
Continue readingCybersluggish
Feeling—literally—SLUGGISH? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Brains are like computer programs. Information in, decision out. For example, if hungry, eat whatever’s around. REALLY hungry? How deadly ARE those month old leftovers? But this analogy is a gross simplification, RIGHT? Meet Rhanor Gillette from the
Continue readingHappiness Unplugged
Is the key to your teen’s happiness… a smartphone? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. They’re texting, on Facebook, or playing games. They SEEM to be enjoying themselves. After all, they KEEP playing Candy Crush and scrolling through their news feed. But could all of
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