I'm joined by Dr. James Rogers of Consumer Reports. Jim Rogers is the lead on the study that came out of Consumer Reports highlighting the potential dangers of synthetic braiding hair. Consumer Reports tested 10 of the most popular brands and varieties of synthetic braiding hair on the market. They found dangerous chemicals in all of their samples. The study found VOCs in the braiding hair, including benzene, which is a known cancer-causing agent, as well as other potential and likely cancer-causing agents. They also found lead in the samples, in an amount up to 600% of the maximum allowable dosage level.

This study is a step in the right direction for consumers of synthetic hair to have the information they deserve to have. If you would like more information on the study, visit this link: https://thesciencemaven.com/blog/cancer-causing-chemicals-in-all-of-the-top-10-braiding-hair-on-the-market

Join me as I chit chat with perhaps one of the most fun neuroscientists that you'll ever meet, Dr. Ben Rein. We talk about all things neuroscience as well as my most favorite thing on the planet, science communication.

Okay, friends. Gather round. So, this podcast is called The Science of Life, but we need to get to the MEAT of it all... what even IS life? Today we begin on our deep dive, deeper than the Mariana Trench. Microbes on Earth that make magnets? Are we aliens? We're getting into it ALL with evolutionary biologist Dr. Olivia Judson, author of Dr. Tatiana's Sex Advice to All Creation, The Definitive Guide to the Evolutionary Biology of Sex, in this episode.