Diamonds in a Hurry!

Diamond hold by a tweezer

Diamonds are forever…and take forever to make! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Diamonds — SO divine! But they take billions of years to form and mining is dangerous. Who can wait that long for luxury? Dougal McCulloch and colleagues at RMIT University in Melbourne,

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Monkey Business

Plastic brain model

Watching monkeys at the zoo – so cute! Until they start throwing their poop …! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science, saying… Humans and monkeys are similar – minus the poo-pitching. Mostly. We’ve got two arms, two legs, and developed brains. However, our human brains

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SapQuest

African trees in the dusk

Pop quiz: How many trees are there in West Africa? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Martin Brandt from University of Copenhagen wondered. So with the aid of NASA and an international team, he built a computer program to count trees — using machine learning!

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Outside/In

Aerial photography of gray concrete highways crossing

Working from home in sweatpants? Yes, please! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. The world-wide COVID pandemic has kept many people inside, away from restaurants, shops, and work. Without the usual hustle and bustle, how is the environment faring? Zhu Liu from Tsinghua University in

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Circle of Friends

Three women posting for picture

Your best friend is MY best friend? Is that even allowed? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. A breakup, bad work presentation, or family drama. Sometimes we just need to vent with our friends! We all need people to lean on. But why do some

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Planting Secrets

Trees in a forest

Plants and climate change: a love-hate relationship! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Carbon dioxide, or CO2, is a major contributor to climate change. But it’s also a plant food source. When the sun shines, plants turn CO2 into food! So, back when there were

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Friendly Felines

Two cats, one with blue eyes and other with green eyes, looking at the camera

If you love cats, blink once! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Unless your kitty is Garfield, you don’t really know what it’s thinking. Cats can’t speak! So, how CAN we communicate with our feline friends? Tasmin Humphrey at the University of Sussex says: it’s

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Robo Smarts

White robot near wall looking at the camera

Is the future of teaching. . . robots? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Teachers could sure use a hand in the classroom! Researchers think robots could help students learn, collaborate, and express themselves. But how do students feel about robo-teachers? Camino Fernández-Llamas and his

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