Animal grouping phrases: A parliament of owls! A murmuration of starlings! A murder of crows?!? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. University of Washington researchers Kaili Swift and John Marzluff observed, and wondered: Why do crows gather around their dead? To find out, first, the
Overheard in the bat cave – conversation? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. That’s what Genevieve Wright at the University of Maryland wanted to know. In previous studies, Wright and colleagues found that brown bats seem to make six different types of social calls. Their
Is your best friend…a volleyball named Wilson? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Existential isolation is the feeling that there’s an uncomfortable gap between you and other people. Turns out, men experience existential isolation more than women. But why? Alyssa Croft at the University of
Can being less of a “free radical” keep us young at heart? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science, reminding us all that age is just a number! Arteries tend to shrink and harden with age, leading to heart disease. This is partly due to mitochondria,
Lauren published a scientific paper in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics on emissions of pollutants from Indian cookstoves. An estimated 3 billion people worldwide burn solid fuels (charcoal, wood, agricultural residues) to cook. These inefficient cookstoves give off a lot of smoke. Over time, inhaling smoke leads to adverse health effects
Check out this piece Kellen wrote for AAAS Public Engagement Reflections! The piece features her Instagram chem.with.kellen — and how she uses it to document her personal everyday interactions with chemistry. She says it’s a really fun way to interact with science, in photos of everyday things that are accompanied by
Samantha Leigh recently published her paper “Seagrass digestion by a notorious ‘carnivore‘” in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B. This research provides groundbreaking evidence of the first known omnivorous shark species! It has been reported on by multiple media outlets including The New York Times, The Guardian, and more! Check out her
Is the key to eating healthier. . . Kenny G? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science The mealtime choices we make are influenced by our environment. Bright lights, colorful restaurants, sticky icky menus, … even how loud the music is! Courtney Szocs and colleagues studied
In after-lunch meetings, when people drone on and you doze off, don’t blame bad Powerpoints. Blame food coma! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science, and on food coma—the unbearable sleepiness that sets in about a half an hour after you’ve finished a big meal. According
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
