From the aforementioned examples, we can see that skin is extremely adaptable across species, and this is true within species too. In humans, there is a layer of skin that is only present in the palms of the hands and the soles of our feet, which is made of extra tough dermal material. Our skin also has sweat glands to cool us off and is host to over 1,000 different kinds of microorganisms.
But the most amazing part of our dermis and epidermis from a packaging perspective is probably its flexibility. If you’ve every hurt your ankle badly enough, you’ve probably noted some serious swelling. And of course, pregnant women take the cake; while it might not look exactly like it did beforehand, the skin on women’s stomachs is able to stretch to pretty amazing proportions, and then, depending on the age, elasticity of the woman’s skin, and degree of stretch, it can return almost entirely to its previous form. This is an amazing feat for any material, let alone one that performs all the other functions heretofore described. How amazing would it be to have this kind of material (that’s also biodegradable and low-energy to produce) to use for transporting and protecting contents from water loss and insect invasion?
It can be easy to take for granted, but it’s so important. Interesting stuff.
interesting piece. go skin!
Yay skin!
Whoa this is amazing
Skin is a fascinating thing.