Printed meat in space and diesel-pattern baldness

But there’s a newly revealed association sure to make even the most jaded health news consumer’s hair stand on end: Exposure to pollution’s particulate matter is linked to ... hair loss.

Researchers from the Future Science Research Center in South Korea exposed cells from the base of human hair follicles to assorted concentrations of diesel and dust particulates. After 24 hours, the pollutants had suppressed production of beta-catenin, the primary protein crucial to the maintenance of George Clooney’s luxurious mane. And three other proteins supporting hair growth and hair retention also went AWOL in the presence of pollutants. Plus more particulate matter meant fewer hair-restoring proteins.

Diesel particulates and baldness? It all makes so much more sense now. Given the pollutant-rich Big Apple air in which lollipop-loving TV detective Theo Kojak’s smooth pate was steeped, is it any wonder he was famously so follicularly challenged? The Clean Air Act – who loves ya, baby?