Evelyn Hoover – The Loh Down On Science

Let it Brie

May 15, 2020 Evelyn Hoover

Ah, gay Par-ee! The smell of fresh baguettes, coffee, and… CHEESE! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science, saying, oui, oui! In France, cheese gets its yummy taste from a special fungus called Penicillium camemberti. It’s had hundreds of years to hone its cheesy qualities. But

A Parasite’s Parasite

April 28, 2020 Evelyn Hoover

Tales from the Crypt… home to PARASITIC WASPS? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Parasites typically target only ONE species at a time. Researchers have assumed the CRYPT-KEEPER, a known parasitic wasp, was no different. Its typical host-du-jour is another wasp called Bassettia pallida… BP

Veggie Tales

February 18, 2020 Evelyn Hoover

It’s flu season… for PLANTS?!? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Like us, plants catch viruses. Their home remedy? Plants use molecular scissors to break viruses into tiny pieces. These bits of genetic material are replicated, creating small interfering RNA’s — or siRNA’s. These act

Diamonds in the Deep

February 12, 2020 Evelyn Hoover

Are diamonds a geologists’ best friend? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Our planet’s volume is eighty percent mantle–the rock layer between Earth’s crust and inner core. But the mantle extends down thousands of kilometers, and we can only dig down TWELVE. Can we learn

Ruff History

December 3, 2019 Evelyn Hoover

Did ancient human children read “Work Spot, Work?” This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Did early man put his pets to work? Some ancient dog fossils show evidence of the spinal disease, spondylosis deformans. Does this mean the dogs pulled heavy loads? Katherine Latham from

Blackest Black

November 22, 2019 Evelyn Hoover

Ladies love a guy dressed in black…especially lady SPIDERS! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science, saying that’s right! Male peacock spiders use a slick dance and super black spots to woo the ladies. These areas aren’t just dark, they’re SUPER dark! Meaning, they absorb more

Extreme Endurance

November 4, 2019 Evelyn Hoover

Baby, we were born to run! But just how far? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Could YOU run a marathon every day – for twenty weeks? A dozen athletes did just that! They competed in the Race Across the USA. Is there no limit

Egg-ceeding Diversity

September 12, 2019 Evelyn Hoover

Medium, large, extra-large – when it comes to eggs, does size matter? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Insect eggs come in all sizes and shapes. Fruit flies lay tiny, pointy eggs. Others, like the many-banded daggerwing butterfly, lay giant round ones — Well, relatively

Batty Idea

August 21, 2019 Evelyn Hoover

Holy biodiversity, Batman! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Ninety percent of plants and animals in Madagascar are found nowhere else! Sadly, insect outbreaks threaten this amazing biodiversity. When they chomp down local crops, farmers are forced to compensate for the loss with field expansion!

Red Planet Blues

August 13, 2019 Evelyn Hoover

Everyone into the pool!…on MARS? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. A long time ago, in a galaxy not at all far away, Mars was super wet. How wet? About twenty-percent covered in liquid! But now our Red Planet is dry and dusty. Where did