This just in—science meets Smell-o-vision! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science saying: Humans expel all types of gases. Many are classified as volatile organic compounds, or VOCs. These gases are expelled by breathing, or even through your skin. But can the VOCs you emit, speak
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Piano, Man
Sing us a song, you’re the piano man! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Watching feel-good movies like Pitch Perfect can put us in happy mode. And that emotion creates signals in certain parts of the brain. Vesa Putkinen and colleagues from the University of
Continue readingCreature Feature
Got scary movies on the brain? Mmm…. BRAAAAIIINS….! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. We’re fascinated by cinema ghosts, ghouls – and zombies! Is it the thrill, or just masochism? Matthew Hudson and colleagues from the University of Turku investigated. They screened a scary-movie double
Continue readingSuspenseful Gases
This just in—science meets Smell-o-vision! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science saying: Humans expel all types of gases. Many are classified as volatile organic compounds, or VOCs. These gases are expelled by breathing, or even through your skin. But can the VOCs you emit, speak
Continue readingScary Movie
Uh oh: blood-curdling screams aren’t just figures of speech anymore! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science, and a terrifying new study from Leiden University Medical Center. Researchers there showed a group of healthy volunteers the twenty-ten horror film “Insidious.” After a week, the same group
Continue readingMonkey Movies
Do apes go bananas over scary movies? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Have you ever re-watched old movies and cringed, anticipating the scary parts? Psychologists from Japan’s Kyoto University wondered if apes also get the creeps. Apes are known for their long term memories.
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