London, Jan 7 (Inditop.com) Physics now has answers to questions like why we chew food or swing our arms.
“The answers may appear obvious or even trivial, but further thought and experiment is revealing that our world is far more fascinating than we could have dreamed,” according to Roland Ennos, biomechanic at the Faculty of Life Sciences at University of Manchester.
Biomechanics, who have modelled the cohesive strength of food after chewing, have shown that we actually do so to ensure it is in a firm blob and, therefore, safe to swallow.
Ennos explains how we need to look beyond obvious answers if we are to understand how our own bodies work.
Explaining why we swing our arms, why we have notched teeth, why our fingernails always break in the same direction, and, still puzzling, why we have unique fingerprints, Ennos shows how rich the boundary between biology and physics is in potentially significant discoveries.
On the fingerprint puzzle, we know that fingerprints are useful to identify people for security and crime detection, but no scientist has ever suggested that fingerprints evolved specifically for this purpose.
It has been thought that fingerprints help us to grip more tightly to objects, but tests show that a rough surface does not actually increase the friction of soft materials such as skin.
Fingerprint friction is, therefore, a mystery that has left Ennos’s team testing a number of options – it could be that fingerprints act like the treads on tyres, removing water and so increasing friction under wet conditions.
Another possibility is that prints also make the skin more flexible and stop it blistering.
The findings were published in the January edition of Physics World.
