As far as mysteries of the universe go, “Why do our fingers get pruney when they’re wet?” isn’t exactly the most pressing. It is, however, among the most persistent and just plain weird. After all, what kid hasn’t wondered this? It’s among our most common early scientific queries, though the answer remains unclear. Or it has — researchers now think that pruney fingers may have helped our primate ancestors grip items more effectively in soggy situations, and they seem to help us do the same, though gripping wet things is less evolutionarily advantageous than it once was. Evolutionary neurobiologist Mark Changizi explains the phenomenon in this cartoon featuring monkeys, which is how all scientific study should be expressed in the future.
(via TED-Ed)
- Carl Zimmer explains where feathers come from
- The Big Bang doesn’t seem so complicated when it’s a cartoon
- Astronaut training is as amazing as you think it is. Sometimes, even more so.
