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October 16, 2005
Vishy's Useless Factoid of the Day #20: How is blond hair used in weather measurements?
Gentlemen used to prefer blondes. Nevertheless, there seems to be no end to jokes about people with blond hair. Lately, it also seems like brunette is the new blonde. However, meteorologists still prefer blondes to brunettes for, of all things, measuring certain weather indicators.
Straight blond hair is on average thinner than brunette hair. In the presence of moisture, the keratin that makes up a strand of blond hair is more susceptible to absorbing it, losing tension and expanding. Blond hair therefore provides a much more reliable measurement of humidity than other hair types. Blond human hair was used to measure humidity until electronic means were available. To think that human hair is actually useful somewhere other than the human head! A strand of nylon is said to be similarly sensitive to humidity and can be used to make a simple hygrometer.
Posted by Vishy at October 16, 2005 09:52 PM