Friday, July 24, 2009

Why have Fingerprints?


Some ideas:
  1. Friction and increased surface area.
  2. DNA coded unique for each human specimen
  3. Increased sentitivity due to blood flow.

In fact this post on NPR suggests fingerprints may not aid in friction and in fact reduce contact area. The study mentioned in the post still leaves most possibilities open to scientific debate.

Monday, July 20, 2009