Purpose of Fingerprints Is Questioned

livescience ^ | 17 June 2009

[JoeProBono]

The bumpy ridges on the tips of our fingers are an evolutionary mystery. Scientists have long reasoned that fingerprints help humans grip objects by creating friction, since a few primates and tree-climbing koalas also have fingerprints. But a new study found that if fingerprints help people grip things, it's not because they create more friction.

[JoeProBono]

Over the mountain Down in the valley Lives a former talk-show host Everybody knows his name He says there's no doubt about it It was the myth of fingerprints I've seen them all and man They're all the same Well, the sun gets weary And the sun goes down Ever since the watermelon And the lights come up On the black pit town Somebody says what's a better thing to do Well, it's not just me And it's not just you This is all around the world

Out in the Indian Ocean somewhere There's a former army post Abandoned now just like the war And there's no doubt about it It was the myth of fingerprints That's what that old army post was for

Well, the sun gets bloody And the sun goes down Ever since the watermelon And the lights come up On the black pit town Somebody says what's a better thing to do Well, it's not just me And it's not just you This is all around the world

Over the mountain Down in the valley Lives the former talk-show host Far and wide his name was known He said there's no doubt about it It was the myth of fingerprints That's why we must learn to live alone

[fso301]

I hope they didn't spend much money on this deep mystery

[proudpapa]

Great Song. I just love that Graceland album.

[dila813]

These are used to provide for the removal of bacteria and viruses.

The ridges increase the surface area to enable easy cleaning of microbes with minimal effort.

[dila813]

one other feature is non-stick.

here is a simple experiment you can try, stick wet mud to a bare hair area of skin and then your hand. See how the hand will quickly shed this.

Don’t these dumb scientists know that this is how Teflon pans work?

I swear, we figured this out in high school at the science fair 20+ years ago. we did experiments and everything.

[JoeProBono]

Paul Simon & LadySmith Black Mambazo

[Does so]

"...The ridges increase the surface area to enable easy cleaning of microbes with minimal effort..."

Yup. And when I use all of the surface of my hands, I use the ridges on my feet.

[dila813]

see my other post too. there are two primary purposes.

if you read about non-stick surfaces, the more random the texture on the surface the more effective it is.

[dila813]

Check this article out, this should help

http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/content/interviews/interview/798/

[SunkenCiv]

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[Mike Fieschko]

NPR's Science Friday had this in their June 12 show, and the segment is available as a free mp3 audio file entitled Study Says Fingerprints Aren't For Friction. The direct link to the mp3 file is here, and the show notes here are:

New research in The Journal of Experimental Biology shows that — contrary to conventional wisdom — fingerprints don't increase the friction between the fingertips and the grasped object. Biomechanics researcher A. Roland Ennos explains what fingerprints might actually be for.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks!