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CrowdScience

BBC World Service

Released: 2022-07-01

Free New

293 Episodes

Audio

Free New

293 Episodes

Audio

Released: 2022-07-01

Most Recent Episode

What is healthy hair?

How can this nonliving structure be 'healthy' And why is it concentrated on our heads?

Time: 33:19

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Hair is an important part of our identities – straight, frizzy, long, not there at all – and our

efforts to keep it styled and clean have created an $80 billion hair care industry. Many

products offer to improve the life of the stuff on our heads, but isn't it all just dead

protein?

CrowdScience listener Toria wants to know what 'healthy' hair really means. To untangle

the science behind hair, we zoom in to see how hair grows from the follicles in our scalp

and explore how the hair growth process will change over our lifetimes.

Changes in our hair and disorders affecting the scalp can often have emotional impacts

on our lives, as presenter Marnie Chesterton learns from a dermatologist who

specialises in hair issues.

Having been on a journey with her own hair in recent years following chemotherapy,

Marnie is ready for a new 'do and ventures to the hair salon to find out about the health

of her own hair.

Meanwhile, another CrowdScience listener, Lucy, wonders why humans lost hair (or fur)

on most of our bodies when most other mammals are covered in the stuff. A biological

anthropologist who studies not only why hair became concentrated on our heads, but

also why there's so much diversity in hair types across humans unpacks the

evolutionary benefits.

With all these different hair types, we ask: does different hair need different care? And

when it comes to shampoo, conditioner, washing, blowdrying and dyeing – what should

we be doing to keep our hair structure sound?

As we learn about this strange nonliving feature of our bodies, Marnie finds a new

appreciation for the "dead strands of protein sticking out of our skin". And with listener

Toria's help and advice, she also finds a new shade for her chemo-curled locks.

Presented by Marnie Chesterton and produced by Sam Baker for BBC World Service.

Featuring:

● Tina Lasisi, Penn State Department of Anthropology

● Sharon Wong, Consultant Dermatologist

● Ekwy Chukwuji-Nnene, Equi Botanics

Episode ID: 1000568480638

GUID: urn:bbc:podcast:w3ct3j71

Release Date: 01/07/2022, 22:00:00

Description

We take your questions about life, Earth and the universe to researchers hunting for answers at the frontiers of knowledge.

Feed URL

https://podcasts.files.bbci.co.uk/p04d42rc.rss

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