Smart Smell

Lime, lemon, … Cinnamon. One of these things is not like the others! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Familiar aromas can bring back childhood memories — OR send a chill up your spine! But why do things get personal for the brain when it

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Spooky Snapshot

Was there life before Instagram?  This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. A century ago, Instagram filters didn’t exist. But artists created beautiful, black and white photographic images with an other-worldly effect. This mysterious technique, known as mordançage, makes the black parts of the picture billow

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Perfect Shot

A physicist, a mathematician, and a chemist walk into a coffee shop…, This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Making your own morning coffee these days? Trying to make your Starbucks “usual” is tough! Behind every cup of Joe is some serious science. How does your

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Dirty Drinking

What do trees, coastlines, and pineapples have in common? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Answer? They’re all FRACTALS, shapes that repeat as you zoom in. Their aesthetically-pleasing geometry inspires artists, writers, and even scientists! Sagar Khare’s team from Rutgers University felt drawn to fractals…

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Cars Lite

Does your car need to go on a diet? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Wish your gas-guzzler got more miles to the gallon? It would if it wasn’t so heavy! Steel accounts for more than FIFTY PERCENT of average car weight! Replacing steel with

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Robo-Situps

Happy hour for robots? Hey, it’s five o’clock somewhere! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Robots with artificial muscles that are flexible, durable, and responsive would be a dream! Unfortunately, robotic joints are too stiff and slow for human-like movement – yet! Shengqian Ma from

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Micro-Medicine

Hugs, not drugs. Wait, I mean, bugs on drugs! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. If you get sick, your doctor might write you a prescription. But not everyone responds to medicines in the same way. Prescriptions can be guess-and-check – expensive, and possibly even

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Life in Space

Men are from Mars. Women, from Venus. Really? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science, saying not exactly. But check out this intriguing new cosmic discovery from the University of Nice. Researchers there were simulating conditions commonly found in comets. Why? To see if life might

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Salt Fix

Salt free potato chip? No thanks! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Salt is in almost all foods, from soup to nuts! But too much causes high blood pressure. So how can we reduce salt intake without sacrificing taste? Healthier salts! Which have potassium or

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Whiskey Rings

To avoid those annoying coffee-rings on your table, try switching to whiskey! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science, saying: Slow down. This study comes to us via engineers Hyoungsoo Kim and Howard Stone at Princeton University. They were inspired by photographer Ernie Button’s portraits of

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