Deep Dive
Shownotes Transcript
From the brains behind Brains On, this is Moment of Um. Answering those questions that make you go, um. Moment of Um comes to you from APM Studios. I'm Sandon Totten. Um.
It's worse than I thought. Oh, geez. This is horrible. A travesty. The crime of the century. Oh, I'm so glad this is a podcast because I wouldn't want you to see me like this. You see, being Sandon isn't always easy. Yeah, I'm known for my lovable schemes, my can-do spirit, and most importantly, my boy band-worthy picture-perfect hair. And dear listener, brace yourself. I'm
I got a haircut today and the top is half an inch too short. I know, I know, we're all very upset. It completely destroys the normal ratio of side length to top length.
The only consoling fact I can think of is that hair grows about an eighth of an inch a week, so this should be fixed with patience. But I keep checking the mirror to see if my hair has grown, and I can't tell if it's growing at all. I feel nothing. Well, that's not true. I feel deep sadness for myself and the fans of my chestnut-hued locks, but as far as my hair, I can't feel it growing. Why is that? Jacob and Sadie Mae were also wondering, why can't we feel our hair growing?
There are actually a few reasons that you can't feel your hair growing, but first you have to understand how we feel things. I'm Dr. Wendy Hunter. I am a primary care pediatrician in La Jolla, California and host of the Pediatrician Next Door podcast. Anything you feel is because there's a nerve in your body that's triggered and then it sends a signal to your brain so that you feel it.
A nerve is kind of like an electrical wire. So you know the wires that go from your lamp to the wall? The wall has electricity in it and it sends a signal to the lamp to be on. And nerves are the same thing in your body. And there are actually a few different kinds of nerves that send feelings to your brain. So you can feel pressure or you can feel heat. There are all kinds of different nerves.
So your hair, it doesn't have nerves in it, and your hair grows from inside a follicle. So it's kind of like if a baby plant is in a small little pot, there are like a whole bunch of little pots in your skin on your head, and one hair grows out of each one. So you can't feel the inside of the pot where the soil is, and you can't feel the plant. But...
If you pull on it, the outside of your skin has nerves in it, and that has signals that send the sensation to your brain so you can feel it. So if you pull on your hair, you can feel it, but your hair grows so slowly, it doesn't trigger any nerves. That's why you can cut your hair. There's no nerve in there. You can't feel it when you cut your hair. But if you pull your hair and move it around, your skin feels things.
You have hairs all over your body and it's kind of like cats have whiskers. Like they actually use it to feel things. So when you move a hair around, you know, you can feel it. Right. And that helps. Like if you feel say a bug on your arm, you may not feel it touching your skin, but it actually might make one of your hairs move and your skin might feel the hair moving. So it's really important to have hairs all over your body. Um, uh,
Well, here you go! Hair doesn't have nerves, so we can't actually feel it. That's a relief because honestly, haircuts would be terrible if we could feel our tresses getting trimmed. Eesh.
But the skin around each of our hairs has nerves, which is why you can feel it if your hair gets pulled. And did you know hair is pretty strong? Yeah, a typical hair can hold up to 100 grams before breaking. That's like the weight of a good-sized apple. Oh, and speaking of hair, let me grab my tape measure and check mine. Yes! Finally, my top hair is back to its perfect, stunning length.
Feels good. Oh, wait, my hair is going to keep growing. I better get out and strut this look now before it gets too long. If you like this episode, take a second to subscribe to Moment of Um wherever you listen to podcasts. And if you think hair is cool, check out the Brains On podcast where we have a whole episode all about the hows and whys of hair.
Want to see our shows come to life? Head to YouTube, where we've got awesome animated Brains On episodes. Search Brains On Universe on YouTube and subscribe. If you have a question, we'd love to help you answer it. Drop us a line by going to brainson.org slash contact. See you next time and the next day and every weekday. Until then, um...
Behold, everyone, the perfect haircut. Oh, wait, now it's one hundredth of an inch too long. Back to the barber. Hey, friends, Molly, Sandin and Mark here with some very big news. Drumroll, please. Drumroll.
We're hitting the road in search of adventure, fresh air, and you. That's right. We're going to be live at the Boulder Theater in Boulder, Colorado on Sunday, April 27th. Our science-themed live stage show takes the audience on an adventure through the brain, complete with magic tricks, dance moves, out-of-body experiences, mystery sounds, and a game show. Molly, you almost left out the most important part.
Yeah, Molly, don't forget the big party. Oh, right. After the shows, we're throwing a brain-tastic bash. Join us afterward for a VIP party where we'll play games, guess mystery sounds, pose for photos, and give as many high fives as humanly possible. Snag a spot by purchasing a VIP pass when you buy your show ticket. Oh, that reminds me. I've got to start training. These hands aren't going to high five by themselves. Five and five. Good idea.
And remember, spots are limited, so grab your tickets today at brainson.org slash events.