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
Are smarter people more so-fish-ticated? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Fish may be colorful, but they aren’t very bright! Can they smarten up? Giulia Rossi and Patricia Wright from the University of Guelph in Canada think so! They study the mangrove killifish, a fish
Continue reading
Why do dogs WOLF down our leftovers? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Humans eat meat. Dogs’ ancestors – wolves — eat meat. So how did these competitors get friendly and… meet? Maria Lahtinen and colleagues at the Finnish Food Authority think the answer’s close
Continue reading
Bye bye dinosaurs, hello . . . flowers? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. The asteroid that killed the dinosaurs ALWAYS gets a bad rap. But what if it led to — a landscape makeover? With international colleagues, Mónica Carvalho and Carlos Jaramillo from the
Continue reading
“Make new friends, but keep the old” – but what if you move 10,000 miles away?? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Foxgloves are purple or white bell-shaped flowers native to Europe. They hang off the stem, like fruits, and have short tubes that store
Continue reading
As Woody says – “There’s a snake in my boot!” This is Sandra sing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Imagine you’re hiking and “sssss” – a rattlesnake! Eek! If you do get bit, the local doc MIGHT have an antidote, but will it work? Even closely-related species can
Continue reading
Are hugs the new chicken soup? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Think of your gut as a soup of friendly bacteria. Everybody’s recipe is custom made to work with our bodies properly. These good bacteria help digest food and fight disease. Scientists know that
Continue reading
Can we make food out of thin air? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Soil is full of microbes. These tiny organisms eat and break down other organisms. They also recycle nutrients. But in desolate places on earth, or even in space, what is there
Continue reading
In a pandemic, EVERY month is “No-Shave November!” This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science, saying, “Wallop those whiskers! They can take it.” Humans aren’t the only ones who rock facial hair. Chimpanzees, lions, and goats all have beards too. But why? Are they more
Continue reading
Where does YOUR family tree begin? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. We are ALL homo sapien. AKA human! Two-million years ago, humans didn’t live all over the planet. Scientists believed our ancestors, homo erectus, came from EAST Africa. Until now… Let’s travel to Drimolen Main
Continue reading