Hm—how truly green ARE those green LED’s? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Computers, phones, lamps – our world runs on LEDs! But so much electricity! And to make colors, red, blue, and green lights have to be combined, via an energy-sapping color filter. D.J.
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It’s tough being the new bird on the block. This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Migration is sometimes necessary for survival. But animals with social structures might need to re-learn how to be….social! Enter the Cirl Bunting: a brown sparrow-sized bird. They’ve been studied in
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Countdown to… NUMBER TWO?! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Many struggle with chronic constipation. But what causes this stoppage? Lauren Jones and Flinders University in Australia wanted to CLEAR THIS UP. Our gut contracts to move food along the digestive tract. Piezo2 is a
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Help! It’s the attack of the zombie… leaves?! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Tree ferns were once dinosaur food, but guess which scaley beasts this flora outlasted. How? James Dalling and colleagues from the University of Illinois were collecting tree ferns. They saw rot
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What’s black, white, and LOVES siestas? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Humans enjoy cat naps, particularly at our desks, but if you’re a creature out in the wild? Dozing off can make you lunch for predators. Or does it? Enter the Chinstrap penguins of
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Morning sickness? *retch*!! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Nausea and vomiting affects SEVENTY percent of pregnant women. It can even cause hospitalization; but why’s it happen? Enter Marlena Fejzo and the University of Southern California. First, they analyzed blood from three hundred pregnant women
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Someday they’ll find it–the Rainbow Connection! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Animals are kinda color-blind. Only some can tell between MEDIUM green wavelengths and LONG red wavelengths. And the different cells that sense color are tough to distinguish! Sarah Hadyniak and Johns Hopkins University
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Freaky Fractals! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Ever trip out on ink fractals? You make ‘em by putting ink onto wet paint. Then it spreads out symmetrically, like tree roots. How does it happen? San To Chan and the Okinawa Institute of Science and
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COVID detection is literally going down the toilet! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. When health officials see new COVID-19 cases in a community, too late—it’s ALREADY been circulating. Is there an “organic” way to predict rising case numbers? Enter Haley Kappus-Kron and team from
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Get my medicine! From the printer! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Liver cancer is increasingly treatable, especially with surgery. But cancer cells can remain, growing new tumors. Souha H. Youssef and team at University of South Australia said, not so fast. They three-D printed
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