Mind Movies

Lights, camera… neural action! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science saying… What is your brain actually doing while you watch a movie? Reza Rajimehr at MIT observed brain activity in two hundred people watching film clips. Why? To understand how our brains process information from

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No More Butts

Watching a toxic relationship go up in smoke… might be the best medicine. This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. When facing a cancer diagnosis, you know who isn’t in your corner? Cigarettes. “The damage is already done,” you say, smoker? Well, what if it’s not

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Blue War Paint for Everyone!

Not many holidays in January, but—ah—happy Mel Gibson’s birthday! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Whatever you think of the hot-headed actor, all can agree:  Braveheart was a great movie. That screaming blue warpaint was awesome, and it can also… cure cancer? In ancient Britain,

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Chemistry Robots

Gotta have my drugs, man! But short on cheddar! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Cost is one of the biggest obstacles to getting the medicine we need. How can we make meds cheaper? Enter Tianwei Dai and team from the University of Liverpool. They

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On Ice

Happy 2025!  Oof da—  Have you heard about Norway’s Doomsday Vault? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Never mind its grim nickname, Norway’s Crop Trust encompasses a storage vault—a kind of Noah’s Ark— for seeds.  The purpose: to ensure crop survival and diversity if there’s

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Tasty Bubbles

Happy New Year!  How about a big fat mug of champagne? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Gerard Liger–Belair from France’s University of Reims wondered: Do bubblier champagnes taste better? With German colleagues, he used mass spectroscopy to analyze bubbles. Bubbles have what Liger-Belair calls an

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Red Eye

Once upon a time, each holiday photo was like Halloween! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Oh, those awkward family photos from the 1960s, ‘70s, ‘80s.  Smiling families in colorful holiday sweaters with red demon eyes like the Balrog from Lord of the Rings. The

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Lone Phone

What do you see in the black mirror? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. It’s tough being a teen? No one understands you! And teens today report feeling even lonelier than past generations! “WHY?” asked Jean Twengea and team from San Diego State University. Over

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Food Coma Revealed!

In a food coma after too much holiday fressing? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Researchers at the University of Manchester, lead by Dennis Burdakov, can explain. When we’re hungry, we have low levels of glucose in our bloodstream and brain. That activates tiny proteins

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