Human body

Certain hair products — many of which are used on black girls from birth to help straighten their hair — have been linked to such health issues such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and breast cancer.

Study shows hair care products targeted to black community contain harmful chemicals

Health

The quest for straighter and smoother hair may be causing significant health issues, according to a new study.

The generation of a ball of mouse skin through stem cell work has created excitement among the the scientific community about possible new insight in skin formation — especially on humans.

A ball of mouse skin could lead to new insight in human skin generation

Health
Safi Haso, about 70 years old, from Girik village of Kobani. "We are probably the last generation that has tattoos," she says. "All Kurdish women had them." In addition to facial, hand and neck tattoos, Haso has tattooed her own breast with circles around

These Kurdish refugee women are proud owners of facial tattoos

Culture
The World

Veterans display their wars through ink and art

Culture
The eyes tattooed on this Soviet prisoner's chest signify "I can see everything" and "I am watching," the powerful tattoo of a criminal "overseer." The eight-pointed stars tattooed on the shoulders mark the bearer as an "authoritative’" thief.

What it means when you see a Russian guy with a knife tattooed on his neck

Culture

On a Razor’s Edge: Beards and Reforms in Iran

Arts, Culture & Media

In Iran, the president’s facial hair can be of major political significance. The new President Rouhani’s neatly groomed beard is seen as an indicator of his reformist credentials.

Getting Inked: The Story Behind Traditional Maori Tattoos

Arts, Culture & Media

Tattoos take many forms and have a history going back thousands of years. But in which country would you most likely find a tattoo style called moko?

Journalist Mai El Shoush Creates Arab Comic Book Heroine, Rayann Lawsonia

Arts, Culture & Media

A Sudan-born reporter saw the need for a modern, intelligent, female heroine and has come out with a new super heroine, Rayann Lawsonia.

Tattoo Culture Along the Texas-Mexico Border

Arts, Culture & Media

These are trying times at the US-Mexican border, and many of the tattoo designs there reflect that life, as The World’s Jason Margolis found out in the Rio Grande Valley, in corner of southeast Texas.

The World

Your Occupational Tattoos

Last week on the show, we heard from people who are so passionate about their careers as scientists and mathematicians that they’ve tattooed equations and fragments of DNA on their bodies. So we asked: Do you have a tattoo related to your profession?