It’s a Hit!

Want to make a hit song? Here’s the secret. This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science, saying: Pick up the mic and step to the back. At least that’s what University of Southern California research suggests. Their team analyzed over one-thousand songs that made it to

Howling Mad

Hey, guys: You can be large or you can be loud. This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science, and a trade-off that makes monkeys howl. Howler monkeys, that is. They’re native to Central and South American forests. And they’re known for their loud calls, which carry

Travelin’ Cows

Where did the mysterious, pre-Roman Etruscan people come from? Ask the cows! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Thanks to a wealth of Etruscan artifacts, archaeologists know this: The civilization flourished in the first millennium BC in what is now Tuscany. But nobody ever figured

Shock Treatment

[Bzzzzzz……} Omigosh, do you hear that, or is it just me? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Fifteen percent of the population suffers from a constant buzzing sound in their ear. It’s known as tinnitus. The ringing sound is caused by over-excited FUSIFORM (FEW-si-form) cells

Email Love

“I love you” will never be the same again. This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. About to leave a voicemail for your sweetie? Log on to your laptop instead! That’s what Alan Dennis and Taylor Wells suggest. In their study, they asked college students to

Anger Management

What! Can we now find tattoos on nice people? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Tattoos used to be associated with rebellious behavior: Sailors on leave, ex-cons, biker gangs looking for trouble. But now it seems every third sorority girl has a unicorn on her

N’Sync

So you think you can dance . . . your way out of pain? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Meet Bronwyn Tarr from the University of Oxford. She invited two-hundred-and-sixty teenagers to a sciencey dance party. Half of them learned really energetic full-body dance

Sugar Buzz

Oh hey, deadly superbug. You want some. . . candy? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. You’ve probably heard about SUPER BUGS. The bacteria that become resistant to antibiotics. But RESISTANCE isn’t the only problem. Some bacteria are drug TOLERANT. What’s the difference? Antibiotic RESISTANCE

Monkey Movies

Do apes go bananas over scary movies? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Have you ever re-watched old movies and cringed, anticipating the scary parts? Psychologists from Japan’s Kyoto University wondered if apes also get the creeps. Apes are known for their long term memories.

Rain Dance

Oh boy: is yet more freak weather coming our way? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. When clouds are overloaded with water vapor, it rains. But warm cloud air can hold a lot more water than cooler air. So increased heat can create bigger water