Answers to Questions Kids Ask! - Where "Why?" Turns to "Wow!"
Born on this day
September 19, 20111931 - Brook Benton
1934 - Brian Epstein
1928 - Pete Murray
1933 - David McCallum
1940 - Zandra Rhodes
1940 - Bill Medley
1945 - Kate Adie
1946 - Michael Elphick
1948 - Jeremy Irons
1949 - Twiggy
1963 - David Seaman
It’s hard to imagine that those lovely locks of blond or brunette hair on your head may someday change color so dramatically. But your hair doesn’t turn white from a lifetime of watching really scary horror movies. Instead, it’s actually revealing its natural beauty. Hair loses much of its color because it’s losing its melanin or carotene, which are your body’s natural coloring substances (also known as pigments). As you grow older, the pigment production in hair follicles slows down and may eventually stop, cutting off your hair’s supply of coloring and making it appear gray or white. But your entire head of hair won’t turn gray overnight; after all, this is a process that takes about 10-20 years.
So when exactly will your hair start turning gray? It’ll probably depend on your own biological timeclock, as set by the genes you’ve inherited from your parents, your parents’ parents, and beyond. And that explains why some people get gray hair while they’re still in their teens and twenties–the melanin-producing cells of those people were set to stop working much sooner than others. But if this happens to you, don’t fret over your follicles. There’s nothing wrong with showing maturity at an earlier age!
Link to this question!
What are freckles?
The answer is a simple one. Melanin. Melanin, you know, is the chemical pigment that gives us all our skin color. No matter what the shade of your skin (or…
What makes people have different skin colors?
Under your outer layer of skin, there are special cells which make a pigment called melanin. How much melanin there is in your skin determines whether you are light or…
Why do cats cough up hair balls?
Cats have two kinds of fur: a short undercoat and the longer hairs, which are called the overcoat. Humans have bred some cats to get outrageously long and fluffy furs….
Why does the skin of a banana turn brown when I leave it outside?
Bananas turn brown when left outside after a while because certain chemicals in the fruit react with the oxygen in the air by destroying cells, creating that icky brown color….
How come we have hair on our bodies?
Humans are mammals — just like cats, dogs, bats, elephants, monkeys and foxes. Ever notice that mammals are pretty hairy animals? That’s because mammals have to stay warm — and…