News tagged with hair
Unusual protein helps regulate key cell communication pathway
Charged atoms, or ions, move through tiny pores, or channels, embedded in cell membranes, generating the electrical signals that allow cells to communicate with one another. In new research, scientists have ...
Apr 23, 2012 |
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Fur loss, lesions reported in Beaufort Sea polar bears
Research scientists working for the U.S. Geological Survey report that some Alaska polar bears are losing their fur.
Apr 10, 2012 |
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The gecko walks on sticky pads
As sticky as a gecko. Wageningen UR Veni-researcher Marleen Kamperman tries to stick with plastic material full of microscopic rods.
Mar 08, 2012 |
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New mosquito repellant could be frightening ... for the mosquitoes!
In a small, narrow, temperature-controlled lab room at Vanderbilt University live some of the most deadly and dangerous animals in the world.
Feb 28, 2012 |
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Rapunzel, Leonardo and the physics of the ponytail
(PhysOrg.com) -- New research provides the first mathematical understanding of the shape of a ponytail and could have implications for the textile industry, computer animation and personal care products.
Feb 13, 2012 |
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Moonlighting enzyme works double shift 24/7
A team of researchers led by Michigan State University has discovered an overachieving plant enzyme that works both the day and night shifts.
Jan 31, 2012 |
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Beijing air pollution soars with fireworks smoke
(AP) -- Clouds of smoke from Lunar New Year fireworks sent air pollution readings soaring in the more sensitive measurement system Beijing started using a little more than a week ago, reports said Sunday.
Jan 29, 2012 |
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Blind moles use beauty for function, not fancy
(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have long wondered why a blind mole that lives in underground darkness has beautiful iridescent hair. After all, many animals or birds with magnificent features exhibit their colorful ...
Jan 27, 2012 |
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Study uncovers how DNA unfolds for transcription
(PhysOrg.com) -- The human genome contains some 3 billion base pairs that are tightly compacted into the nucleus of each cell. If a DNA strand were the thickness of a human hair, the entire human genome would ...
Jan 17, 2012 |
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U.K. duo suggest early humans retained fine hair to ward off parasites
(PhysOrg.com) -- Evolutionary biologists have long been puzzled by the question of why human beings have retained body hair. Most agree that changes to the fur that our ancestors sported came about as a means ...
Dec 15, 2011 |
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Cellular automaton model predicts how hair follicle stem cells regenerate
Your hair -- or lack of hair -- is the result of a lifelong tug-of-war between activators that wake up, and inhibitors that calm, stem cells in every hair follicle on your body, according to Cheng-Ming Chuong, M.D., Ph.D., ...
Dec 07, 2011 |
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Synthetic cricket pricks up its 'ears'
The tiny hairs on the abdomen of a cricket have inspired researchers at the University of Twente, to make a new type of sensor which is ultra sensitive to air flows. These synthetic cricket hairs can now also ...
Dec 06, 2011 |
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Nanowrinkles, nanofolds yield strange hidden channels
Wrinkles and folds are ubiquitous. They occur in furrowed brows, planetary topology, the surface of the human brain, even the bottom of a gecko's foot. In many cases, they are nature's ingenious way of packing ...
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Nov 23, 2011 |
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Herbicide may affect plants thought to be resistant
Purdue University researchers have discovered a fine-tuning mechanism involved in plant root growth that has them questioning whether a popular herbicide may have unintended consequences, causing some plants to need more ...
Nov 22, 2011 |
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World's smallest four-wheel-drive is a billionth of a meter (Update)
(PhysOrg.com) -- Reduced to the max: the emission-free, noiseless 4-wheel drive car, jointly developed by Empa researchers and their Dutch colleagues, represents lightweight construction at its most extreme. ...
Nov 09, 2011 |
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Hair
Hair is a protein filament that grows through the epidermis from follicles deep within the dermis. The fine, soft hair found on many nonhuman mammals is typically called fur; wool is the characteristically curly hair found on sheep and goats. Found exclusively in mammals, hair is one of the defining characteristics of the mammalian class. Although other non-mammals, especially insects, show filamentous outgrowths, these are not considered "hair" in the scientific sense. So-called "hairs" (trichomes) are also found on plants. The projections on arthropods such as insects and spiders are actually insect bristles, composed of a polysaccharide called chitin. There are varieties of cats, dogs, and mice bred to have little or no visible fur. In some species, hair is absent at certain stages of life. The main component of hair fiber is keratin.
The hair can be divided into three parts length-wise, (1) the bulb, a swelling at the base which originates from the dermis, (2) the root, which is the hair lying beneath the skin surface, and (3) the shaft, which is the hair above the skin surface. In cross-section, there are also three parts, (1) the medulla, an area in the core which contains loose cells and airspaces (2) the cortex, which contains densely packed keratin and (3) the cuticle, which is a single layer of cells arranged like roof shingles.
For more information about Hair, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
