Suspenseful 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

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Very Hungry Caterpillars

Munch munch munch… Someday I will be a beautiful butterfly! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Caterpillars spend their days busily feasting, turning carbon-rich leaves into nitrogen-rich poo. This means less falling leaves and more caterpillar poop washing into nearby lakes. This can change the

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Scents and Sensibility

We’ve got chemistry…literally! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. You’ve just clicked with a new friend. It’s easy to SEE why. You think alike, talk alike, even dress alike … but do you SMELL alike? Inbal Ravreby from the Weizmann Institute of Science tried to

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Flash Dance

It all happens in a flash! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Solar power is so cool — the sun comes out and on go your lights! HOW does that happen? It starts with chemicals like methyl viologen. They react with light to generate power.

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Vanilla Warfare

Reduce, reuse, recycle…VANILLA? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Plastic wrapping, cups, utensils, oh my! Plastic production is contributing to a global waste crisis! One type of plastic in particular, P.E.T, can be recycled — but it doesn’t break down easily. Is there a sweet

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Life’s Soupy Start

Primordial soup? Yum!    This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.   Scientists propose that life on earth started as a warm primordial puddle of life-sustaining compounds. But HOW?    Zhong Yin and team from ETH Zurich and the University of Geneva wanted to find out. 

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Nanodiamonds in the Rough

It’s raining cats, dogs, and… NANODIAMONDS?! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Icy planets like Neptune and Uranus have some CRAZY weather conditions. We’re talking three hundred fifty degrees below zero AND rainstorms. But not just any rainstorms… DIAMOND storms! How could we do that

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Flash Dance

It all happens in a flash! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Solar power is so cool — the sun comes out and on go your lights! HOW does that happen? It starts with chemicals like methyl viologen. They react with light to generate power.

Continue reading

Scents and Sensibility

We’ve got chemistry…literally! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. You’ve just clicked with a new friend. It’s easy to SEE why. You think alike, talk alike, even dress alike … but do you SMELL alike? Inbal Ravreby from the Weizmann Institute of Science tried to

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Modern Alchemy

What if WE have the Midas Touch? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Turning water into metal? Sounds like something from an alchemy book! PURE water is not metallic — because the molecule structure is too stable. But, with enough pressure, we could SQUEEZE water

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