Ever wondered why our fingers get wrinkly after a long soak in the tub? Well, scientists at Newcastle University think they’ve finally found the answer.
In a recent study volunteers were asked to pick up wet or dry marbles with either dry hands or wet and wrinkly fingers. Surprisingly, the volunteers were faster at picking up wet marbles with wrinkly hands.
Although wrinkling is often thought to be caused by too much water touching our skin, scientists now think it’s actually an evolutionary reaction which improves our grip on wet objects due to blood vessels under the skin constricting. The wrinkles are thought to help us grip things better by channelling water in a similar way to how treads on car tyres work…. mind = blown.
Tom Smulders, an evolutionary biologist and one of the researchers, said ‘Wrinkled fingers could have helped our ancestors to gather food from wet vegetation or streams.’
So… does this mean I can use my phone in the bath now?
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.