Your daily 90-second dose of real science for real people, with Sandra Tsing Loh!
Got a nervous habit? Maybe you’re a perfectionist! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science, saying: Nail biting. Skin picking. Hair pulling. These are all examples of body-focused repetitive disorders—or BFRDs for short. Are they just nervous habits? Canadian researchers think not. They believe BFRDs are
Introducing hanger. Part hunger, part anger, let’s party! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science, saying: You know what I’m talking about. Now, don’t get hangry with me. Point is, it’s hard to be nice when your stomach is growling. Why? A dietician at Texas A&M
Got a problem? Ask yourself: What would Sigmund Freud say? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. We often listen to our gut when making decisions. Well, according to Spanish researchers, Sigmund Freud’s gut trumps our own. Sort of. The researchers used virtual reality for an
Can our hormones make us cheaters? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Most discussions about cheating focus on ethics. But psychologist Robert Josephs, of the University of Texas at Austin, wondered: Are hormones involved? Because goodness knows hormones impact other decisions. If you know what
A rose is a rose is a rose, right? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science, saying: Except when it’s yellow! Roses aside, University of York researchers have discovered something very strange about that color. People’s perception of it changes from winter to summer! As part
Will you marry me… AND my love for Pepsi? Before popping the question, consider how compatible you are with that special someone. Think: similar backgrounds, values, or religion. But Coke over Pepsi – deal-breaker? Researchers from Duke University examined how brand preferences affect relationships. They had hundreds of couples list
Are sexist men less evolved? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Meet biologist Michael Kasumovic. He studies evolution in various contexts. Like online. For example, when male gamers, hiding behind Internet anonymity, harass female gamers. Kasumovic’s team participated anonymously in the multiplayer shoot-em-up game, Halo-Three.
Sure, women know the pain of giving birth, but they’ve never been stricken by the Man Flu! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Say you, or someone you love, is bedridden with a cold. Completely debilitated. It’s a condition affectionately called the “man flu.” Are
Which piggy went to market? Which piggy stayed home? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Turns out that if we don’t look at our toes, we have trouble telling them apart by feel. Or so say Oxford University researchers. In their study, subjects closed their
The holidays are coming – yikes! Can science help How to find that perfect gift? This Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Gift shopping can be so stressful! Most of us are just clueless Most of us are just clueless about what to get our friends. Soap