Now for a starter I know the skin turns more brown-ish because the body is protecting itself against the ultraviolet rays.
But what I don't understand is why it turns darker. When it turns more darker/browner, shouldn't it Absorb more light? And then the body would get exposed to even more UV rays. So why don't the skin turn even lighter than before, thus reflecting the light instead of absorbing it.
So does anyone have a reasonable explanation to this?
Hint: it have something to do with color pigments
Have you ever been in school?
I think it's probably a little bit more complicated than the color absorbing more heat or not.
The UV rays are damaging the pigments in your skin, causing them to turn darker.
I know about the color pigments and all that, What I want to know is why does it turn darker instead of lighter?
Post above me made it all clear I guess.
High melanin content makes it brown, similar to how chlorophyll makes plants green. It doesn't serve any purpose really but the light being reflected isn't in the ultraviolet spectrum so the same is absorbed either way.
[QUOTE=Devodiere;23800260]High melanin content makes it brown, similar to how chlorophyll makes plants green. It doesn't serve any purpose really but the light being reflected isn't in the ultraviolet spectrum so the same is absorbed either way.[/QUOTE]
But wouldn't our body be much more "cooler" if we had Lighter skin?
The UV rays damage the pigments in your skin and give you skin cancer and kill you, so clearly the clever thing to do would be to become a basement dweller.
Man I thought a gold member would be better than this.
Melanin protects your skin from the ultraviolet rays (especially UV-B). Well, eumelanin anyway, but that's the dark brownish type we're talking about.
Lighter skin means less protection and the sun can do a lot more damage.
Nothing Google or Wikipedia couldn't show you.
[QUOTE=booster;23800300]But wouldn't our body be much more "cooler" if we had Lighter skin?[/QUOTE]
Melanins don't worry about heat or cold, they just protect you from UV damage. Absorbed heat is also not going to damage in the same way UV rays will so there isn't any more damage done. It's completely coincidental that it's brown and the colour serves no real purpose.
[QUOTE=Devodiere;23800382]Melanins don't worry about heat or cold, they just protect you from UV damage. Absorbed heat is also not going to damage in the same way UV rays will so there isn't any more damage done. It's completely coincidental that it's brown and the colour serves no real purpose.[/QUOTE]
That pretty much summed up all the answers to my questions, Thanks.
Itt we do OP's homework
How far have we come with technology and people STILL dont know about google? Shit isnt hard.
Mine only reddens.
My "darken" genes split the coop.
This thread is full of people who didn't understand the question asked in the OP (or only read the title), and thinking they did, immediately started acting condescending and only made idiots of themselves.
It's a good question, asking why a pigment - which appears to absorb more than reflect - would be beneficial in protection from the sun.
To answer the question: it absorbs light in the UV spectrum, which causes it to heat. Melanin, however, does not suffer from ionization which the UV light causes. By absorbing the light it prevents the DNA from doing so and being damaged.
[QUOTE=ThePuska;23800626]This thread is full of people who didn't understand the question asked in the OP (or only read the title), and thinking they did, immediately started acting condescending and only made idiots of themselves.
It's a good question, asking why a pigment - which appears to absorb more than reflect - would be beneficial in protection from the sun.
To answer the question: it absorbs light in the UV spectrum, which causes it to heat. Melanin, however, does not suffer from ionization which the UV light causes. By absorbing the light it prevents the DNA from doing so and being damaged.[/QUOTE]
At last a person that understands my point with the question. Very good answer aswell.
I always thought it was cooking your skin :smile:
^ I was thinking that exactly actually.
[QUOTE=booster;23800300]But wouldn't our body be much more "cooler" if we had Lighter skin?[/QUOTE]
No, our skin isn't fucking cloth. It absorbs sun, and reflects as well. The darker our pigmintation, the less radiation and vitamin's it absorbs.
Why won't you take a look at the people from other regions.
If the Africans were whiter, they would most certainly die from the heat.
If the Angelo Saxons were black, they would die in the cold.
You see how this is going?
OP is racist..?
Haha I was wondering this too.
No shame
[QUOTE=Inacio;23817341]
It is a valid question, even though it's simple.[/QUOTE]
It's too simple, that's the problem. It would've taken him two minutes to look that up with any preferred search engine.
you answered your own question in the OP
sigh... 7th grade was a good year mate, you should retake it
your skin becomes darker because more light is absorbed and transformed into heat instead of being reflected
I know its been answered, but...
The dark pigment in your skin, melanin, reflect ultraviolet rays. As the sun strikes your skin, it begins to produce more melanin, because the ultraviolet rays of the sun can damage your skin, and cause cancer, etc. Though we probably do end up absorbing more heat, it has been selected for by evolution, so it has to be a benefit in the long run.
Little brown men appear on your skin to help wash away the sweat but they end up staying there for a while because they like it.
Your skin goes brown because the heat doesn't agree with it and it starts shitting itself.
EDIT: Yeah, best I could come up with.
we are doomed to being fucked by the universe
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