Why Don’t Humans Have Whiskers?

You might have a beard, or a mustache, or even a soul patch. What you don't have are whiskers.

Hosted by: Hank Green

SciShow Talk Show with Dr. Amanda Duley:
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[scarletlightning]

I'd say it's due to humans walking upright. With our hands free from walking, they're free to feel around the environment and so we no longer need whiskers.

[clxk]

*angerly slams hand down on a table:* I WANT WHISKERS! NOW!

[monsterram]

Fair enough, but can I _teach_ my beard to be like whiskers?

[Nagarath]

While watching this video my cat came to my lap to presend her mighty whiskers. She had a good timing. We watched the rest of the video together.

[MeterLP]

The picture of bearded Hank really caught me off guard XD

[AbudBakri]

If anyone wants whiskers, a CRISPR Cas9 gene editing will bring it to you soon, along with whatever your heart desires.

I'm going for wings.

[Ahhh]

Am I here before "cerebral aneurysm at the age of 19" guy. Legend has it he comments on EVERY single video.

[cammy]

I always feel bad when I think about whiskers because one time when I was a kid, I was messing with my aunt's dog...I wanted to see if I could pull out a whisker because they were just...I guess because they were long and weird. I didn't understand that it hurts them, I was just curious. I did manage to pull one out and the poor little dog screeched and ran away and my family scolded me and told me it hurts the dog. I never did it again though. :c

[williamivborges]

Just shaved my whiskers today. It was liberating!

[ThefreakyOo]

Hank saying "I move them with my mind" was probably the cutest thing I've heard today.

[bananakandy]

Whiskers would go great with my fursona.


And my crippling depression.



Help.

[gvcam]

Fun Fact: Whiskers are also used to gauge if the animal can fit through the gap, which is why it seems like your cat can crawl through anything. The whiskers are wider than the body so if they fit, the cat does as well.

[GaetanAlmela]

shout-out to my boi Naruto we know he out there

[KnowArt]

Luckily we still have all kinds of whisky's

[kingkasper]

3:06 <- The point where the word "whiskers" was said too much too quickly and lost all meaning hahahahahahaha

[MuradBeybalaev]

Humans pretty much use eyelashes as whiskers.
They are what lets us shield our eyes with eyelids as soon as something suddenly comes anywhere close to our eyes. But their effectiveness is limited by our slow reaction time.

[MLMLML]

I love scishow, their topics are always interesting, their videos are constructive and informative also their hosts are all so awesome

[CMZneu]

Also seals can sense with their whiskers the wake(water turbulence) left behind by fish as they swim, effectively tracking its movement in the water to follow and catch them!

[Ides]

My guess: we don't walk on all fours and lead with our head. Whiskers would be pretty useless for us.

[cultibotics]

I've had what seemed like true whiskers, including the extra sensitivity, occasionally sprout from my eyebrows and earlobes since about the time I turned forty. They are annoying as well as unsightly, so I pluck them out as soon as I notice them. In recent years this has become an uncommon occurrence, so maybe I've already pulled out the follicles that were susceptible to this transformation.