Fabian Gaete Maureira is an artist in Santiago, Chile. Here he demonstrates his fast finger painting technique for people on the street. See more of Maureira’s work at his site. Link -via reddit

This Korean report follows a hand that has all the moves. I don’t understand Korean, but the comments at YouTube indicate the puppeteer is a high school girl. Watch this little fighter try to split a board! -via Buzzfeed

Sure these might not be the most amazing artistic displays in the world, but Oddee’s collection of cute finger drawings are still clever and fun to look at.

Link

Now Changizi is trying to explain why the surface of human fingers get pruney after prolonged exposure to the water. His hypothesis is that the marks help disperse water and improve grip:

Changizi thinks that the wrinkles act like rain treads on tyres. They create channels that allow water to drain away as we press our fingertips on to wet surfaces. This allows the fingers to make greater contact with a wet surface, giving them a better grip.[...]

When we press down with a finger, we apply pressure from the tip backwards. The sides of the finger are like cliffs where water can easily fall away, but the flat part is more like a plateau where water can pool. Wrinkles form on the plateau because “that’s where all the work has to be done to channel the water away”, Changizi explains.

Not everyone is gripped by the new theory. “This hypothesis is unjustified,” says Xi Chen, a biomechanical engineer at Columbia University in New York. Chen thinks that the wrinkles have a simpler cause: when fingers are immersed in hot water, the blood vessels tighten and the tissue shrinks relative to the overlying skin. This contraction causes the skin to buckle. “It’s a classic mechanics problem,” he says.

Link -via Geekosystem | Photo: Ever So Strange

Party Rats – $5.95

Do you know someone who is planning a fabulous graduation or summertime party?  Get them the Party Rats from the NeatoShop.

Com on everybody!  Strap on some colorful, plastic, light up rats and let’s get this party started! Woo Hoo!

Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more hilarious Gag Gifts & Pranks!

You’ve heard of lady finger biscuit, but what about Magician’s Finger chocolate candy? The creepy and anatomically correct fingers and thumbs, made from yummy chocolate, are the creation of Curious Confectioner (AKA David Bradley). They were on display at last year’s Eat Your Heart Out & the PRETOX Potion (some images NSFW) show.

Link | More photos from Miss Cakehead on Flickr (some images NSFW)

Halloween is still a few months away, but wouldn’t this be the perfect chocolate candy to drop into unsuspecting kids’ trick or treat basket?

“The aim was to understand what makes a man attractive,” and whether at least some of those qualities “were in part conditioned by the foetal environment,” Ferdenzi said in an interview.

For the visual test, the results were unambiguous. “The longer the ring finger compared to the index — that is, the greater the exposure to testosterone — the more attractive the face was rated,” she said by phone.

Link via Glenn Reynolds | Photo by Flickr user marysecasol.com used under Creative Commons license

An unidentified 6-year-old boy in Shenyang, China has a world record 31 digits: 15 fingers and 16 toes! He isn’t able to use all the fingers, as three are fused together in the middle of each hand. He will soon undergo surgery to reduce the number of extra digits. The previous record was 25 fingers and toes, held by two children in India. Link -via Arbroath

Fingers tapping on the tabletop are something you usually want to get rid of instead of something to reproduce. Nik Ramage, on the other hand, created a copy of his own hand with a motor that taps the fingers incessantly. His purpose is not clear, but it might make a cool Halloween prop. Link

In the new study, the researchers measured the right hands of 44 male stock traders who were engaged in a type of trade that involved rapid decision-making and quick physical reactions.

Over 20 months those with longer ring fingers compared to their index fingers made 11 times more money than those with the shortest ring fingers. Over the same time the most experienced traders made about 9 times more than the least experienced ones.

Looking only at experienced traders, the long-ring-finger folks earned 5 times more than those with short ring fingers.

While the finger ratio, showing fetal exposure to male hormones, appears to signal likely success in high-actively trading that calls for risk-taking and quick reactions, it may not indicate people who would do well at other sorts of financial activities, the researchers said.

So, guys, if a job interviewer looks at your fingers, they may be checking more than just how clean you keep them. Link -Thanks, Geekazoid!

(image credit: Flickr user dhammza)