Skip to main content

The science of skin color - Angela Koine Flynn

3,344,789 Views

54,291 Questions Answered

TEDEd Animation

Let’s Begin…

When ultraviolet sunlight hits our skin, it affects each of us differently. Depending on skin color, it’ll take only minutes of exposure to turn one person beetroot-pink, while another requires hours to experience the slightest change. What’s to account for that difference, and how did our skin come to take on so many different hues to begin with? Angela Koine Flynn describes the science of skin color.

From and to where where did the early ancestors of humans migrate nearly 50,000 years ago?

About TED-Ed Animations

TED-Ed Animations feature the words and ideas of educators brought to life by professional animators. Are you an educator or animator interested in creating a TED-Ed Animation? Nominate yourself here »

Meet The Creators

  • Educator Angela Koine Flynn
  • Script Editor Emma Bryce
  • Director Tomás Pichardo-Espaillat
  • Animator Tomás Pichardo-Espaillat
  • Composer Cem Misirlioglu
  • Narrator Susan Zimmerman

More from Getting Under Our Skin