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Wet fingers always wrinkle in the same way

The folds follow the paths of blood vessels

A hand with wrinkly fingertips held above a swimming pool.

Finger wrinkle patterns induced by a long soak stay consistent over time, a new study suggests.

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By McKenzie Prillaman

Read another version of this article at Science News Explores

Summertime soaks in the pool often leave fingertips shriveled and pruney.

Each time someone goes for a dip, their digits wrinkle in the exact same patterns, researchers report in the May Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials.