Stressed out? SERENITY NOW! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Social interactions help keep our stress response well-balanced. But are all social encounters created equal? Enter researchers at the Max Planck Institute in Germany. To understand how friendship impacts stress levels, they monitored wild chimpanzees
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Cuteness Overload
You are cute enough to EAT…or…SQUISH?! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. When you see adorable, chubby babies, don’t you just want pinch to them? Maybe even BITE them? Well, you’re not alone. This feeling is called “cute aggression.” Huh? How can aggression be cute?
Continue readingSurvival of the Loudest
Who’s tough enough to survive on ….The Voice?! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Animals must compete for food, mates, and other resources to win the survival race. The successful ones tend to be larger or more physically formidable than their opponents. But size can
Continue readingQuiet Creativity
Does your inner Van Gogh need a special jam? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science Music, food for the ears and the soul! Many claim that listening to music gets their creative juices flowing. But what if background music actually STUNTS the creative process? Meet
Continue readingAsleep or Awake?
Somebody pinch me! Am I REALLY awake? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Brain injury can make it difficult to tell if someone’s conscious or not! Patients in a coma may respond to things, but only as a reflex. How can doctors tell the difference?
Continue readingBetter Baby Babble
Is your babbling baby the next Shakespeare? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Baby babble… it’s sooooo cute! But it’s also an important part of brain development. Infancy is when babies hear and try to mimic the sounds around them. This exercise lays down the
Continue readingTo Tell the Truth
To tell the truth…telling the truth can be difficult! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Honesty IS the best policy. But it can be tough, especially for little ones. Are there any tricks to keeping their hands out of the cookie jar? Meet Angela Evans
Continue readingStressed-Out Chicks
Are the most popular kids also the most stressed out? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science, saying: You’d be surprised what the little birds tell us! At Oxford and Saint Andrews universities, researchers investigated what factors make youngsters more social adults. The researchers turned to
Continue readingProfane Pain
You stubbed your toe! Oh, fudge- Words you can’t say on the radio! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science asking: Why do we swear when we’re hurt? In 2009, that’s what psychologists of Keele University in the UK wondered. They led a study on the
Continue readingMind Over Molecules
Which is more powerful? Nature or nurture? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science, saying – what about “mind control?” Some aspects of our physiology and personality are encoded by our genes. And we know that environmental factors are also important. Bradley Turnwald and colleagues at
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