SyFy goes behind the science of Rapunzel’s hair and if it’s possible in real life.
There’s not a clear answer on why our head hair grows so long while the same isn’t seen in other animals. It could be there’s some evolutionary advantage putting pressure on longer hair. Or it may be an artifact. Evolution, after all, doesn’t necessarily care about the objective best, so much as it cares about the good enough.
What we do know is the same processes are present in humans as in other mammals. Each follicle goes through those same three stages. It just so happens that the fur on your head has a longer anagen phase than your non-human counterparts.
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