Where Did Curly Hair Come From? Biological An...

In this episode of Science Quickly, Scientific American’s books and culture lead Bri Kane talks with historian Craig Fehrman about This Vast Enterprise, his fresh take on the Lewis and Clark expedition. Rather than focusing solely on the famous explorers, Fehrman highlights the o ...  Show more

Almost all of us know someone who suffers from an autoimmune disease. Or maybe you do yourself. Autoimmune diseases are common: only cancer and cardiovascular diseases are more prevalent. So how do you fight a body that is fighting against itself? argenx, an immunology innovation ...  Show more

It’s fairly strange that humans, unlike many other mammals, don’t have hair all over. Our lack of body hair and wide geographic distribution led to the variation of sun-protective melanin in our skin. For the hair that remains, why did some groups develop curls while others did n ...  Show more

Why do humans have most of our hair on our heads, not our bodies? Why do we have so many varieties of hair color, thickness, and curliness? Dr. Tina Lasisi is a biological anthropologist whose work explores these evolutionary mysteries. In this episode, she shares her research in ...  Show more

What do you get when a biological anthropologist studying hair and a hairstylist compare notes? A stunning new episode of Getting Curious. Join Dr. Tina Lasisi and Jonathan as they explore the evolutionary history of human hair, measuring hair variation, and the twists and turns ...  Show more

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 pr ...