Slip, Slop, Slap
It turns out that hippos make their own sunscreen:
The researchers collected sweat samples from the face and back of a hippo at Ueno Zoological Gardens in Tokyo.
…
They found unstable red and orange pigments that turned out to be aromatic compounds, naming the red one hipposudoric acid and the orange one norhipposudoric acid.
The researchers then set out to find out what these pigments did.
As the pigments reflected light in the 200 to 600 nanometer range of the spectrum, the researchers concluded they acted as sunscreen pigments.
Is it only a matter of (evolutionary) time before sun-worshipping humans also start to manufacture our own sunscreen? In the meantime, I’ll stick to my Banana Boat SPF 50.
If it is a matter of evolution, that would mean that all the people lacking melanin must die off (natural selection and all). Unlikely, given the prevalence of Banana Boat SPF 50. ;)
C'mon, Andrea, this is a golden opportunity. Do it for science! :-)
Nah. I like my tattoos too much to sacrifice them for science.
FYI, a large fraction of the world's population (namely people living in India & Africa with dark skin) already do make their own sunscreen. That's what the melanin in dark skin is for!