Wolf to Woof

Puppies are fast learners! But imagine training a WOLF PUP to sit!  This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.  Dogs started out with a wild streak, as wolves. But for fourteen thousand years, they’ve been our faithful companions.  Hannah Salomons and colleagues at Duke University wondered

Continue reading

Bin Birds

Who’s taking on racoons for the title of ULTIMATE DUMPSTER DIVER??!!  This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science, saying – SURPRISE! It’s the Sulphur-crested cockatoo! Before twenty-eighteen, these pranksters were reported opening garbage cans in three suburbs around Sydney, Australia. They used their beaks and feet

Continue reading

Surfing Sharks

“Just keep swimming…just keep swimming….” This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Imagine having to constantly walk in order to breathe. Sounds exhausting — but that’s a shark’s reality! Sharks MUST keep swimming to get oxygen over their gills. Do they EVER get a break? Yannis

Continue reading

Humming Bar

Flying under the influence?   This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.   We’re not the only creatures that drink alcohol. Birds do too. Over time, some of the sugar in bird feeders and the nectar in flowers ferments into booze. And hummingbirds… drink up to

Continue reading

You First

Lots of small sparrows running on the ground.

Come on in, the water’s fine! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Brrrr, a freezing lake! But your buddy dives right in! Building up your courage — you too take the plunge! This is called social learning, and humans do it all the time. But

Continue reading

Tongue Tech

Can cats help us create the PURRR-fect hairbrush? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Our feline friends are some of nature’s most fastidious groomers. Tool of choice? Their tongues! What makes them such good cleaning tools? Alexis Noel and David Hu from Georgia Institute of

Continue reading

Spun Out

Ring around the rosyyy… This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Remember spinning around the playground as a kid til you felt like hurling–or maybe did!?? It turns out many other primates like to spin too! What makes this silly, dizzying pastime so much fun? Adriano

Continue reading

Micro Personality

Threespine Stickleback fish swimming

That body language seems somehow… FISHY! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Confident strides, head held up high OR hunched back, looking for cracks in the pavement? The way we move says a lot about our personalities! Is this also true for ANIMALS?  Joseph Bailey

Continue reading

Shrimply More

Cuttlefish

One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish… This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Have some raisins? Eww, no. Avocado, cheese, or nummy tuna melt? Darnit! Are cuttlefish as picky as toddlers when choosing a snack? Tzu-Hsin Kuo and Chuan-Chin Chiao from National Tsing Hua

Continue reading

Eight Punches

Brown octopus

Why did the octopus punch the fish? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Remember those school yard bullies from grade school? They’d just push people over and start punching! But imagine if these kids had EIGHT FISTS! Eduardo Sampaio from University of Lisbon, Portugal, and

Continue reading