Pruney fingers give us better grip underwater

In 2011, a team at Newcastle University, UK, timed people as they transferred wet or dry objects from one box to another with and without wrinkled fingers. With wrinkles, wet objects were transferred about 12 per cent faster than with unwrinkled fingers, while dry objects were transferred equall fast regardless of wrinkles. The reason for us not having prune-fingers all the time, might be that it decreases sensitivity.

Awesome study, via New Scientist

Image courtesy of Lacey_and_Cielle , CC BY-NC-SA