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"Discovery Files" Features from the National Science Foundation
"Finger Index"
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READER SCRIPT
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PUTTING OUR FINGER ON MANUAL DEXTERITY... THE "DISCOVERY FILES": NEW ADVANCES IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, FROM THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION. GOT A FREE HAND? TRY PUSHING YOUR FINGER, AS HARD AS YOU CAN, AGAINST A FLAT SURFACE. NOW, KEEP PUSHING--BUT SLOWLY MOVE YOUR FINGER FROM SIDE TO SIDE. NOW, MOVE IT FASTER--AND STILL FASTER. DID YOUR PUSH WEAKEN, AS YOUR MOVEMENT SPEEDED UP? A RESEARCH TEAM AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA PERFORMED THIS SAME EXPERIMENT--BUT ADDED IN SOME FORCE-MEASURING SENSORS AND OTHER DEVICES. THEIR EXPECTATION WAS THAT MAXIMUM DOWNWARD FORCE WOULD DECREASE, AS MOVEMENT-SPEED INCREASED. BUT, THE ACTUAL RESULTS POINTED A DIFFERENT WAY: THE SCIENTISTS SAID THAT DOWNWARD FORCE DID LESSEN, WHEN MOTION WAS ADDED TO THE TASK--BUT, REMARKABLY, THAT THERE WERE NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SLOW AND FAST MOVEMENTS, EVEN THOUGH THE MOVEMENT-SPEEDS VARIED BY 36 TIMES. THE OBSERVATION CHALLENGES OLD THEORIES ABOUT HOW THE PROPERTIES OF MUSCLES INFLUENCE THEIR EVERYDAY FUNCTION--AND MAY HELP US UNDERSTAND WHY MANUAL DEXTERITY IS SO VULNERABLE TO AGING AND DISEASE; IT MAY EVEN HELP IN DESIGNING MORE-VERSATILE ROBOTIC GRASPERS. THERE'S STILL NO EASY SCIENTIFIC MODEL TO EXPLAIN THE INTRICATE WORKINGS OF THE HUMAN HAND; FOR NOW, THEY'RE STILL TRYING TO "FINGER" IT OUT. THE "DISCOVERY FILES" COVERS PROJECTS FUNDED BY THE GOVERNMENT'S NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION: FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH BROUGHT TO YOU BY YOU! LEARN MORE AT "N-S-F"-DOT-GOV--OR ON THEIR PODCAST.
For additional "Discovery Files" features from the National Science Foundation, click here.
