Long thought to be the effect of osmosis, scientists now think fingers wrinkle in the wet to give us better grip. Flickr/Theron LaBounty Human fingers go wrinkly in the bath to give us better grip in ...

The wrinkles that develop on wet fingers could be an adaptation to give us better grip in slippery conditions, the latest theory suggests. The hypothesis, from Mark Changizi, an evolutionary ...

Stick your fingers in water and your fingertips will soon start to wrinkle. There’s a common belief that this happens because the tips absorb water, but that can’t be right. Since the 1930s, we’ve ...

Prunelike fingers and toes may be an unpleasant result of an extended swim, but scientists suggest they may serve an important purpose: to keep us from slipping. A study published online last month by ...

A new robotic device could make simple, everyday tasks — such as peeling a banana or unscrewing the cap from a water bottle — even easier. Developed by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of ...

Beachgoers know it well. You soak in the sea or the tub long enough, and your waterlogged fingers get puckered and funny looking. But why do our fingers and toes wrinkle in water? This pruning ...

Dan Didrick's X-Finger prosthesis is digital in the old-fashioned sense: it replaces digits lost to wear and tear with fully-mobile artifical replacements. Moreover, it does so without any electrical ...