The fascinating feature of the ends of the soaked fingers that we all have

A question from a child quickly led a team of scientists to in -depth research that has now culminated in new knowledge about the ends of our fingers wrinkled by water.

According to this, this discovery is more than an interesting curiosity.

Em 2023, Guy GermanProfessor of Biomedicine at the University of Binghamton, about the research of his team about the mechanism that makes our fingers and feet are pale and wrinkled after prolonged immersion in the water.

“When hands and feet come into contact with water for more than a few minutes, the sweat ducts of the skin open, allowing water to flow to the skin tissue,” he wrote. “This additional water decreases the proportion of salt inside the skin. Nerve fibers send a message about the lowest levels of salt to the brain, and the autonomous nervous system responds by contracting the blood vessels.”

E, more than a simple side effectThis has a biological function, with this response to prolonged exposure to water to provide a more textured surface to grasp – either to hold objects or walk on slippery soil.

But it was a question from a young reader of that 2023 article – If the wrinkling effect is random or always the same – which formed the basis of the hypothesis behind this new and fascinating discovery in the Journal of the Mechanical Behavior og Biomedical Materials.

For the first time, researchers at the University of Binghamton found that when human hands suffer “Wrinkles on the water -induced fingers” – Also known to many terms, as wrinkle e soaking – Brands are not random, but as specific as fingerprints. This can be attributed to the blood vessels that come into action.

“Blood vessels do not change much of position-move a little, but in relation to other blood vessels, they are quite static,” said German. “This means that Wrinkles should be formed in the same wayand we prove that this happens. ”

To test your theory, the investigators asked the three participants that dive Hands in water for 30 minutes To trigger Wifw and then photographed the fingertips.

The same process was repeated at least 24 hours later And, again, the next day. When the images were analyzed, the team found that the “topography” of wrinkles was essentially identical. Although it is a small study, morphological uniformity was consistent in each individual.

A Discovery has potential in the real worldas an aid in identifying in crime scenes and developing different types of biometric sensors, but also demonstrates the power of research in scientific research.

“Biometrics and fingerprints are incorporated into my brain,” he said. “I always think about this kind of thing, because It’s fascinating“.

Naturally, You can test these discoveries in your own hands. However, if you have any kind of median nerve injury that goes from shoulder to hand, Maybe there’s no luck.

“We hear that no wrinkles are formed in people with injuries to the middle nerve of their fingers,” said German. “One of my students told us that there is” injuries to the middle nerve of the fingers. “So we test him and have no wrinkles.”