You may be aware that your hair says a lot about you. Your hairstyle is used to express your personality, your hair color can hint to your ethnic background and the length and texture can also allude to your gender. However, did you know that your hair can also tell scientists where you live?
A recent study that involved hair samples taken from 65 cities revealed that the composition of a person’s hair was related to the certain chemical ratios found in their home town. It is a known fact that water molecules separate into hydrogen isotopes and oxygen isotopes as they accumulate in your hair. Researchers studying this phenomenon have found that the concentrations of these isotopes and their ratio to one another are similar to the concentrations and ratios found in the water supply of the area where a person lives.
Right now this discovery is being applied to forensic science. Hair samples can now be used to link certain people to crime scenes or to help track down criminals.
If you are looking for a unique biology science fair projects then consider elaborating on this discovery. Hair is a great material to experiment with because it is easy to collect, it is free and collecting the hair doesn’t hurt the person the hair is harvested from. Possible school science fair projects you can conduct with hair include:
The possibilities are limitless. Return to this science blog each Friday for more science fair project suggestions.
Hi,
I am very scared for my hairstyle and never afraid of trying new and cool styles.
The post is really good and interesting one.
Thanks for sharing.
usually hair loss runs in the family. so its genetic so to speak.
And unlike what has been said in the past that it is inherited from the father’s side only, new genetic studies show that you can inherit baldness from the mother’s side also.
Hmmm, this would be an interesting hair science fair project. How about surveying all the students in your school and see by asking fathers to fill out a form and state who in their family is bald, which uncles!
Fascinating. I can’t believe that they can tell where you live based on your hair samples. Is that the same no matter where you live or only for certain areas?
The study was focused on people who lives in various towns. Your question is interesting because I live in north of Chicago, IL, U.S. and would like to know if people who live closer to O’Hare Airport would have more chemical toxicity in their hair samples than people who lived about 20 miles away from an airport.
Other studies that would benefit all of us are studies of people who live near a cell receiving tower. Hmmm. Who would like to take that one on?
Very valuable information you have here. I loved reading it. Thanks for sharing this. I never thought that you could tell where a person lived with the use of hair. Interesting.
This is interesting that you can find where someone is from based on their hair. It is amazing where science is taking us these days.
I’m interested to see what else they will be able to find out about you by a hair sample in the future. Science is crazy these days.
Crazy or exciting?
Wow I never knew there was so much that can be told of by just a strand of your hair. Very interesting post. I am amazed at what scientist find out these days. I wonder if you move to a new state how long it takes for your hair to change for them to know?
Great question. Wonder if scientists have done studies to see if your hair changes when you move to a different climate or country. Do you know anything about that?
That is interesting, but in this day and age, not that surprising. Our bodies take in residues from the environment and so it is only a question of analysis. But fascinating none the less.
I think you can find the answer to your question in this article. It says that your hair can tell scientists where you live, so the composition of a person’s hair depends upon where he/she lives. It means your hair changes when you move to a different climate or country and scientists can see the difference under micrscopic conditions or through hair analysis which tells you the chemical makeup of the hair.
Very interesting article. I didn’t know that they could tell where you lived by studying the hair. I do know that everything that you put into your body comes out through your hair. Including medicine, anesthesia, vitamins and etc.
It makes you think about what we are consuming and all of the toxins we are breathing in.
I guess this all just goes to show how important it is to keep up the environmental quality of the places where we live. Too many unintended consequences happen when we pollute our towns.
Amazing that you can tell where someone comes from by analyzing their hair? I suppose you could go bald just to avoid the police? Or drink bottled water from Scotland, if you are from London, to throw them off your scent?
Your comment is very funny. Just think about it… we have minute hairs all over our body, so samples can be taken from anywhere. .. our arms, neck, chest, legs, etc
So you need a total body shave before you commit a crime…
Funny! But what about your sweat glands? Science seems to be getting ahead of our creativity.
Its hard to believe that you can gain so much information from just hair strands.
Good article
-Dave
i think the main reason of hair damage is pollution and color on the hair which include harmful chemicals, so i advise to all that stay away from dust and don’t use hair color.
I have noticed that my hair feels different depending on where I am living, so it is interesting to read your article.
When I go home to my Mum’s house I always feel my hair looks nicer after I have a shower. It must be the water!
If you use YUKO, used for hair straightening, it actually repairs your hair. I have short wavy/curly hair and I use this japanese straightening. It works really well and of course, you have straight hair for about 3 months.
How toxic is the chemical that you put on your head to straighten your hair? Did you ever investigate this issue?
The research is very interesting. The hometown’s soil and water determine the hair and even the body. Thank you!
I used to think that all the bald men around are just following the latest “hairstyle” fad. I never thought of this before, but…I now think that so many men shave their heads, because they don’t want to leave “evidence” at the scene of their crimes
@JethroPotts
I also made the same observation. Quite a bunck or rock’n'roll musicians that used to wear long and thick hair all of a sudden turn absolutely bald and now the real cause is evident to me. So it seems there are two main “hairstyles” there. Or I would rather call the second one a “headstyle”, hehe)
Now I know why Brittney Spears shaved her head…so that the authorities wouldn’t have “evidence” that she used drugs, and not allow parental rights to her kids. I doubt that she wanted to hide that she uses “color in a bottle” on her hair…hee, hee!
I know one thing that hair is very important part of our body and one has to take care of it, it is actually a protein and it requires lot of protein and other nutrients that are essential for hair growth. So, we have to take of it so that to prevent it from hair loss.