Gaining a Deeper Insight into Human Hair
Feb 22, 2018 • 10:29 PM UTC
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jiwoolee
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While I am very appreciative of all of the genes that my mother and father passed down to me, I am especially appreciative of their characteristics for thick and no-maintenance-required hair. I decided to observe a sample of my own hair with my Foldscope.
Under the Foldscope, I saw that my hair is very straight and untextured, which is reflective of the fact that I have straight hair. I also observed the hair follicle.
The hair follicle, which presumably included a piece of ripped skin from my scalp, covered the end of the hair, and was very transparent.
Observing my hair with the Foldscope, I remembered another time when I carefully observed my hair. During a surgery class in my junior year of high school, we were practicing suturing techniques, and wondered if it was possible to suture using human hair. Having the longest hair in my class, I was chosen to be the source of hair. We then compared the diameter of my hair compared to typical suture material. My hair was measured to be 0.11 mm. Upon further reading, I learned than the average diameter of Asian hair is 0.08 to 0.12 mm, while the average diameter of European hair is 0.04 to 0.06 mm.
I was pleasured to connect my knowledge of my hair diameter to empirical observation of my hair using my Foldscope.
Observing my hair with the Foldscope, I remembered another time when I carefully observed my hair. During a surgery class in my junior year of high school, we were practicing suturing techniques, and wondered if it was possible to suture using human hair. Having the longest hair in my class, I was chosen to be the source of hair. We then compared the diameter of my hair compared to typical suture material. My hair was measured to be 0.11 mm. Upon further reading, I learned than the average diameter of Asian hair is 0.08 to 0.12 mm, while the average diameter of European hair is 0.04 to 0.06 mm.
I was pleasured to connect my knowledge of my hair diameter to empirical observation of my hair using my Foldscope.
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