Smartphone Psychiatry

Think you need a professional to tell if you’re depressed? Maybe your cell phone can help! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. A new study shows that data from smart phones – such as minutes used and caller location – can be used to identify

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TB or Not TB?

Is that special glow. . . T-B? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Tuberculosis causes around two million deaths a year. And it can be difficult to diagnose! The test for poorer, densely populated places is over one hundred years old—and it’s often WRONG! Carolyn

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Calories Count

Can you eat yourself to death? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. A stick of butter can make ANYTHING taste good. But oops… Calories galore! They can add to our waistline. But could excess calories also speed up our metabolism, or even how fast we

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Good Fat

Is the cure for that next cold. . . your love handles? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. If your pants are too tight, perhaps there’s a silver lining. Consider a new study by researchers at the National Institutes of Health. They discovered that fat

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Total Buzzkill

Today’s update is sure to … bring you down? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science, saying: That’s not exactly the goal of French medical researchers. They investigated the neurochemical basis of marijuana addiction. How? They got rats high by injecting them with marijuana’s active ingredient

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Pearly Reds

A merlot a day keeps the… DENTIST away? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science saying, apparently it does in Spain! We’ve heard of the many potential benefits of red wine for our colon and heart… but could it help us in other ways? Bacteria live

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Fantastic Voyage

Do you remember the classic movie, Fantastic Voyage? If not that, then at least Raquel Welch’s jumpsuit? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. It’s fun to think about how 21st century science has actually caught up with 1960s science fiction. In this case, think mini-submarines

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Feel-Good Fingertips

I’d like the French manicure and some … fake fingertips? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science, and a new material with feeling. Literally! Meet Jonghwa Park, from Korea’s Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology. He and fellow engineers fabricated a special film out of

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The Nasal Cycle

Did you know your nose has its own cycle? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. A whopping eighty percent of us have a nasal cycle. Meaning that congestion alternates from one nostril to the other throughout the day. We just don’t usually notice because our

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Bad Vibrations

You’ve heard of good good good vibrations. What about bad bad bad vibrations? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science, talking about an icky allergic disorder. It’s called vibratory urticaria. And people who have it aren’t singing a happy tune. That’s because any vibration against their

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