Are your next building contractors. . . TERMITES? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. These pesky bugs are a nightmare for homeowners. But – surprise! Turns out some termites are quite the little architects! African termites build towering skyscrapers out of dirt and termite spit.
Bless your heart. Does our snark detector fade as we age? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Psychologists in Scotland wanted to know. Because as we get older, some brain tissue loses connectivity. It’s perfectly normal, but causes us to perceive things differently. For example,
Salt free potato chip? No thanks! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Salt is in almost all foods, from soup to nuts! But too much causes high blood pressure. So how can we reduce salt intake without sacrificing taste? Healthier salts! Which have potassium or
To avoid those annoying coffee-rings on your table, try switching to whiskey! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science, saying: Slow down. This study comes to us via engineers Hyoungsoo Kim and Howard Stone at Princeton University. They were inspired by photographer Ernie Button’s portraits of
Addiction – so complicated, I need a map! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. We know that drugs and chocolate are addictive. We get a taste, and our brains tell us we want more! But WHY? The brain has special delivery systems that help drugs
Here’s a pollen puzzle: how do bees get more buck for the bang? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Consider bees known as “Buzz pollinators.” They favor plants with very sticky pollen. With their mouths and legs, they grab onto the plant’s anthers – the
Second-hand smoke is bad enough. But what about THIRD-hand smoke? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. When your neighbor lights up, his smoke gets in YOUR eyes! It then reacts with sunlight or indoor chemicals to form what is called THIRD-hand smoke. Who knew? Peter
Can you teach a robot to swim? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Aquatic robots? That’s crazy talk! This is because heavy machinery and electrical components reduce a robot’s agility in water. Enter Robert Wood from Harvard’s Microrobotics Laboratory. He created an AMPHIBIOUS robot —
Can Happy Meals help us lose weight? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. We Americans love super-sized fast food, even though that’s not particularly healthy. Can we curb this habit? University of Arizona psychologist Martin Reimann thinks maybe so. He researched serving incentives along with
The ants go rafting one by one. Hoorah! Hoorah! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science, saying: No, ants don’t raft one-by-one. Many types of ants are social, and act as a team . . . or in this case a crew! A team of scientists
