Super Awesome Science Show: Bad hair days

On this week’s Super Awesome Science Show, we’re taking a closer look at the nature of our hair by starting off with a historical perspective. We speak with anthropology doctoral student Tina Lasisi, who has been exploring how our hair came to be and why we may have such a hard time getting it to do what we want. Whether we’re talking about genetics or the climate, our historical roots may be more important than the ones on our scalp.

Next, we move on to another historical issue with hair, although this one is far more unnerving: head lice. We speak with John Marshall Clark at the University of Massachusetts Amherst about our relationship with these little creatures, including the origin of the word “nitpicking.” We also learn why lice are resistant to treatments and what the future holds for those with the annoying itchy pests.

In our SASS Class, we’re going to head to the shampoo aisle to learn about the effects of these products not on our hair but on our skin. Our guest teacher is Dr. Sandy Skotnicki, dermatologist and the author of the book Beyond Soap: The Real Truth About What You Are Doing to Your Skin and How to Fix It for a Beautiful, Healthy Glow. She’ll explain that efforts to make our hair silky smooth may also be making our skin unhealthy.

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Contact:

Twitter: @JATetro
Email: thegermguy@gmail.com

Guests:

Tina Lasisi
Web: https://anth.la.psu.edu/research/research-labs/jablonski-lab/tina-lasisi
Twitter: @TinaLasisi

John Marshall Clark
Web: https://www.vasci.umass.edu/research-faculty/john-marshall-clark

Dr. Sandy Skotnicki
Web: https://drsandyskotnicki.com/
Twitter: @DrSkotnicki

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