THOM YORKE THUMBS – Radiohead musician Thom Yorke has a simian line! [hand crease]

• Tribute to the hands of Thom Yorke! • Famous simian line holders! Thom Yorke thumbs & the simian line… The simian line (a.k.a. ’simian crease’) is the most studied line of the human hand. Despite it’s associations with Down syndrome (+ a rainbow of other medical problems), quite a few famous people have the simian line. Radiohead’s leadsinger Thom York has a variant of the classic simian line in his right hand – an ‘incomplete simian crease‘. What do we know about the most ‘notorious’ of all hand lines? Having a simian line is not very uncommon at all: about 2% to 4% of the population has this rather remarkable hand line – though in Asia the percentages are higher up to above 10% in Chinese people. Rather remarkable – despite the strong links with various medical problems – some believe that the simian line can also be recognized as a ‘gift marker‘ which could relate to strong personality characteristics that bring stamina, intensity and strong concentration. More Thom Yorke thumbs of his simian line: - MORE FAMOUS HANDS & THUMBS - Another fascinating characteristic of the hands of Thom Yorke concerns his fingerlength: his ring finger is much longer than his pointer finger. Interestingly the long ring finger has historically been associated with musical abilities. Professor John Manning (Liverpool University) presented in 2000 a study which pointed out that the hands of male symphony musicians are characterised with a likewise combination: the low ‘digit ratio’ – of 2D:4D finger ratio (2D = index finger; 4D = ring finger). Quote from Professor John T. Manning’s book ‘digit ratio’ (page 121): “Sorell (1968) pointed out that musical ability has been linked with very long ring fingers for many years. He illustrated this with handprints from composers such as Alexander Tcherpenin and Edgar Varese, but the most powerful image he showed in this context was that of a cast of Franz Liszt’s right hand (Sorell 1968, 187). In this cast Liszt’s ring fingers is strikingly dominant in length, with the middle phalanx making up an apparently disproportionate part of the finger. These are anecdotal observations, but measurements of casts and photographs of the hands of eminent musicians may wel reveal very low 2D:4D ratios.” By the way, extreme digit ratios (finger lengths) are – just like the ’simian crease’ (Thom Yorke) and the ‘clubbed thumb’ (Megan Fox) – recognized as a ‘minor physical anomaly’ (MPA). SUGGESTION FOR FURTHER READING: • Famous simian line holders! • Hands of fame: the hand of 50+ famous people! • The Simian Line – a Facebook group • Megan Fox thumbs – the beauty queen has a minor physical anomaly!

Charles Darwin – ‘the Godfather of evolution’ – had the long pointer finger!

CHARLES DARWIN HAD THE LONG FOREFINGER! Charles Darwin’s voyage of the HMS Beagle (1831-1836) is known as the most important journey around the world ever made. For, during that the famous trip Darwin gained knowledge and insights that has changed the perception of human kind about the image of life on Earth dramatically. On September 1, 2009 the “clipper Stad Amsterdam” left on a trip around the world, in the wake of Charles Darwin (1809-1882). During the 2009 journey researchers investigate many aspects of Darwin’s work and life. Evolutionary psychology professor Bram Buunk – who is involved in finger length research – studied Darwin’s finger length! Jealousy in Montevideo: Men and women have different reasons for jealousy, Buunk discovered in the seventies. Men are jealous because they do not want their female fertilized by another man – a genetic cuckoo – and for the dissemination of its genes on to run. Women are jealous because they do not want their husband’s attention spread over several partners, but exclusively focuses on her and her children. Bram Buunk and his colleagues have discovered a link between the susceptibility to become jealousy, and the ratio of the length of index fingers and ring fingers. The story is now more or less known: if the index finger (a.k.a. the ‘pointer finger’ or ‘forefinger’) is relatively longer than the ring finger, the individual, regardless of sexe, has sort of a ‘female character’. Conversely, human males usually have a relatively long ring finger, usually the ring finger is longer than the index finger (while in human females the both fingers often have the same length). The link could be traced back to an evolutionary coincidence. For, the same chemical cocktail during the embryonic development of the brains in the direction of the correct gender sends, plays a role in cutting the fingers of the hand embryonic plate. Buunk also studied Darwin’s fingers: “During a conversation about Buunk’s finger research, we realized that we could apply this theory to Darwin, and sure enough, a few photos, including the one in which he poses with his son William, you can see his hand with a relatively very long forefinger.” [see: the photos above]. “Another image that was found by a cameraman on the internet, confirms the idea that Charles Darwin had the long forefinger – which makes his a ‘female-typical man’.” “The conclusion is obvious: Charles Darwin was a man with a strong feminine disposition! That may explain a lot: his gentleness, his highly developed social and diplomatic skills, his easy survival during the cooperation with Fitzroy – who was known to be a ‘difficult’ man (likely, a man with a long ring finger), his care for his family, and his concern for the consequences of the publication of his ‘theory of evolution’ on society in general and the welfare of his family in particular.” SUGGESTION FOR FURTHER READING: • Beagle 2009 report: Charles Darwin had the long pointer finger! • Five things that your 5 fingers can tell you! • Evolutionary hand analysis! • A secret your finger length reveals! • How to measure the 2D:4D digit ratio!

An ode to the hands of composer & virtuose pianist Frédéric Chopin!

Left hand cast of Frédéric Chopin – the famous polish composer & virtuose pianist! In 1888 a small monument was erected to the memory of the Frédéric Chopin at Wasswan. Portraits and medallions of Chopin were executed by Ary Scheffer and Eugène Delacroix, and by the sculptors Bary and Clésinger. A distinguished English amateur thus records his impressions of Chopin’s style of pianoforte-playing compared with those of other masters: “His technical characteristics may be broadly indicated as negation of bravura, absolute perfection of fingerplay, and of the legatissimo touch, on which no other pianist has ever so entirely leant, to the exclusion of that high relief and point which the modern German school, after the examples of Liszt and Thalberg, has so effectively developed. It is in these feature that we must recognize that Grundverschiedenheit (fundamental difference) which according to Felix Mendelssohn distinguished Chopin’s playing from that of these masters, and in no less degree from the example and teaching of Moscheles…” “Imagine a delicate man of extreme refinement of mien and manner, sitting at the piano and playing with no sway of the body and scarcely any movement of the arms, depending entirely upon his narrow feminine hands and slender fingers.” “The wide arpeggios in the left hand, maintained in a continuous stream of tone by the strict legato and fine and constant use of the damper-pedal, formed a harmonious substructure for a wonderfully poetic cantabile. His delicate pianissimo, the ever-changing modifications of tone and time (tempo rubato) were of indescribable effect. Even in energetic passages he scarcely ever exceeded an ordinary mezzoforte. His playing as a whole was unique in its kind, and no traditions of it can remain, for there is no school of Chopin the pianist, for the obvious reason that he could never be regarded as a public player, and his best pupils were nearly all amateurs.” Portrait + hand casts of Frédéric Chopin. SUGGESTION FOR FURTHER READING: • Music is in the fingers! • Music & sports talent revealed by finger length measurement • Finger length moderates the impact of an agressive music video! • Portrait of the Michael Jackson’s delicate hands!

The hands of the 36th US president: Lyndon Johnson!

Right hand photo of Lyndon Johnson - the 36th US president.

President Lyndon Johnson: right hand waving photo Presidential Palm Reading: the Lyndon Johnson ‘hand-file’! • President: 1963-1969; • Dexterity: right handed; • Hand type: square palm shape; • Fingers: normal finger length, short index finger, long ring finger, long pinky.

In april ‘09 TIME magazine presented a photo essay on the hands of the last 9 US presidents; US palmist Robin Gile was asked to present his palm reading for each president. Without knowing that it was Lyndon Johnson’s hand, this is how Robin Gile described Johnson’s hand:

“The Charisma of a Performer”

“There’s a line that rises from the palm to the ring finger, which shows we’re talking about someone with the charisma of a performer, “ says Robin Gile, co-author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Palmistry. “He’s generous. I also see he’s stubborn, in a very passive-aggressive way. Decisions may not have been his strong suit. He didn’t have great mental discipline, he followed the course of least resistance. Overall, more a performer than a leader, I would say.”

MORE DETAILS AVAILABLE AT:

• The hands of the 36th US president: Lyndon Johnson!
• The hands of the last 10 US presidents!
• How to recognize the hand of a US president?
• FINGER RESEARCH – Finger length ratio linked with financial risks!’

A presidential ‘facebook’:

PRIMATE HANDS – Finger length linked with cooperative, competitive & sexual behavior!

Finger length in primates linked with cooperative, competitive, and sexual behavior! Research at the universities of Liverpool and Oxford into the finger length of various primate species has revealed that cooperative behavior is linked to exposure to hormone levels in the womb! The sientists have used finger ratios as an indicator of the levels of exposure to the hormone and compared this data with social behaviour in primate groups. The team found that Old World monkeys, such as baboons and rhesus macaques, have a longer fourth finger in comparison to the second finger, which suggests that they have been exposed to high levels of prenatal androgens. These species tend to be highly competitive and promiscuous, which suggests that exposure to a lot of androgens before birth could be linked to the expression of this behaviour. Other species, such as gibbons and many New World apes, have digit ratios that suggest low levels of prenatal androgen exposure. These species were monogamous and less competitive than Old World monkeys. The results show that Great Apes, such as orangutans and chimpanzees, expressed a different finger ratio. The analysis suggests that early androgen exposure is lower in this groups compared to Old World monkeys. Lower androgen levels could help explain why Great Apes show high levels of male cooperation and tolerance. HOW CAN WE UNDERSTAND THESE RESULTS? Primate finger length researcher Emma Nelson explains: “It is thought that prenatal androgens affect the genes responsible for the development of fingers, toes and the reproductive system. High androgen levels from a foetus or mother during pregnancy, may alter gene function and lead to subtle changes in relative digit length and the functioning of the reproductive system. Finger ratios do not change very much after birth and appear to tell us something about how very early androgens affect adult behaviour, particularly behaviour linked to mating and reproduction.” ILLUSTRATION: A comparison of the human hand with primate hands reveals that only the human hand is featured with a long opposable thumb! SUGGESTION FOR FURTHER READING: • Finger length linked with social behavior! • Understanding our past: “the primate hand vs. the human hand”! • More finger length reports! • Evolution of the human hand & the mystery of the 5 fingers!

HAND MEAT – The meat hand, something gruesome and delicious!

Megan reports how you can make it yourself! “Since August I’ve had a post it note over my desk that simply said “meat hand”. I mulled over how to make it for a while. I realized that the old formed inside a plastic glove thing wouldn’t work since the fingers would cook so much faster than the rest of the hand. It wasn’t until I saw this hand gelatin mold that I had my plan.” “I shot several angles to show how it has a base built in, meaning I could probably use it to mold meatloaf.” “I made the basic meatloaf recipe from ‘How to Cook Everything’ using a food processor to chop the onions and carrot to a very fine mince so I could fill in the details of the mold without trouble. One meatloaf recipe using 2 pounds of meat will make two hands.” “I sprayed the inside of the mold with cooking oil spray and it came out fairly easily. I put it on top of a rack to allow the fat to run off as it cooked.” “I did a few versions, learning as I went along.” HAND MEAT – VERSION No.1: “The first one was straight meatloaf. I surrounded it with mashed potatoes and kale (or brain matter and swamp greens if you have kids, or just act like kids). It looked ok, sort of creepy.” HAND MEAT – VERSION No.2: “The next time I tried adding fingernails made of onion, which were just like press on nails. To make the fingernails I sliced a thin round off of a single layer of an onion, then used kitchen scissors to trim it into a nail shape keeping the lines in the onion running the length of the nail. I kept the thinnest end of the onion slice at the tip of the nail.” “This time to better define the fingers I piped mashed potatoes around to define the hand shape. I just used a ziploc bag with a small corner snipped off to do the detail inbetween fingers, then I snipped off a larger corner to pipe around the hand. I smoothed down the mashed potatoes with a silicone spatula. The results where pretty creepy.” HAND MEAT – VERSION No.3: “The ketchup covered hand made me pretty happy but… I had this idea. My mom used to throw a slice of cheese on top of her meatloaf before cooking it and the cheese always turned out browned and crispy. I wondered how that would work with my relatively delicate hand. I also had the idea to use the smaller inner layers of the onion to create a cartoon-y wrist bone sticking out.” “I made two versions. The first used white onion and was simply covered in cheese. The second used red onion and was covered with ketchup and then cheese. I used slices of provolone cheese because I knew it wouldn’t slide off completely as it melted. (Maggi suggested it, thanks Maggi!) This time I used the version of meatloaf with spinach, again from ‘How to Cook Everything’. Here are some pre-cooked pictures – see above.” “If I were to do it again I would have put less cheese around the fingers, or rather, I would have put narrower pieces. The cheese pooled inbetween the fingers and made it more difficult to diguise later on.” “This cheese thing, it worked a bit too well. We couldn’t bring ourselves to actually eat either of them (though, we had been eating a lot of meatloaf lately). Here is a picture showing them side by side. They were cooked at the same time and the one with the ketchup beneath the cheese (white fingernails) browned a bit more. You can also see that piping the detail more carefully can make a difference.” “The wrist bone of the white onion was pushed out a bit as the meatloaf cooked.” “The smaller onion piece of the red onion write bone wasn’t as impressive.” “The red onion fingernails were creepier, but the white onion fingernails might get the point across more quickly.” MORE FUNNY HAND NEWS: • The mystery of the five fingers • The hand of God • The six digit man – hand satire from the Bill Gates Medical Center.

The hands of the 38th US president: Richard Nixon!

The right hand of Richard Nixon.

President Richard Nixon: right hand waving photo Presidential Palm Reading: the Richard Nixon ‘hand-file’! • President: 1969-1974; • Dexterity: left handed; • Hand type: square palm shape; • Fingers: normal finger length, normal index finger, long ring finger, long pinky.

Earlier this year TIME presented a photo essay on the hands of the last 9 US presidents; US palm reader Robin Gile was asked to present his palm reading for each president. Without knowing that it was Richard Nixon’s hand, this is how Robin Gile described Ford’s hand:

“An Eccentric Among Eccentrics”

“Clearly, anyone driven enough to become president is somewhat eccentric, but this, going by the angling out of the little finger, is an eccentric among eccentrics,” says Gile. “He’s a complicated soul, with a lot mental tension and passion. The long head line — the middle line in the palm [= a Sydney line] — is unusually long, indicating he probably doesn’t have an off-switch in his brain. He’s a potential insomniac, very detail-oriented and can’t stop thinking. The deep hallow in his palm says he hangs on to things and won’t let go.”

MORE DETAILS AVAILABLE AT:

• The hands of former US president Richard Nixon!
• Presidential palm reading: the hands of Richard Nixon!
• How to recognize the hand of a US president?
• Study points out: ‘long ring finger relates to financial success … and risks!’

The presidential ‘facebook’:

Fingers of fate – how to measure your ‘2D:4D finger ratio’?

The average ‘digit ratio’ is 0.98 among women (while 0.96 among men). OK, you heard about those finger stories, but do you know how to measure your ‘digit ratio’? Professor John T. Manning’s “digit ratio” – refers to the ratio between the length of your index finger and your ring finger. The following describes the basic findings of this ’scientific’ finger research + a 3-step method on how to measure your ‘digit ratio’! Studies have found that during gestation, testosterone has powerful effects on the developing body and brain, and can cause increased confidence, (financial) risk preferences and search persistence, as well as heightened vigiance and quickened reaction times. The most common measure is the ratio of the index to ring finger (2D:4D) on the right hand. A relatively longer ring finger – lower 2D:4D – indicates higher prenatal testosterone levels. Men typically have scores below 1, women above 1. HOW TO MEASURE YOUR ‘DIGIT RATIO’? 1. Place your right hand firmly on the plate of a photocopier with fingers straight. Close cover of place a sheet of paper over your hand to prevent glare from overhead lights. Ensure that the bottom crease and finger tip can be clearly seen in the photocopy. 2. Use a ruler of calipers to measure the distance from the middle of the bottom crease to the tip of the finger. 3. Once you have the measures for both your ring and index finger, then divide the length of your index finger by the length of your ring finger. The result is 2D:4D (2nd digit divided by 4th digit). Source: University of Cambridge. SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER READING: • Second to fourth digit ratio, testosterone and perceived male dominance! • Finger ratio & financial risk preference! • Finger research says: ‘lingerie sharpens the financial mind in men’! • More finger ratio research

Long ring fingers drive faster – a rather remarkable story behind Usain Bolt’s car accident!

Usain Bolt has the long ring finger!

Long ring fingers drive faster (and sprint faster!) New research from Germany points out that men with long ring fingers may more easily drive too fast, overtake on dangerous roads, and park illegally – indicated by more (self-reported) traffic violations! Earlier research pointed out that Jamaicans are known for having long ring fingers: a rather remarkable – speculative – story about how “the world’s fastest man” got into a car accident earlier this year (luckely Usain Bolt escaped without serious injuries).

Earlier ring finger research: Numerous finger length studies have shown that a long ring finger compared to the index finger in men, can have a powerful effect on health & behaviour. Quite a few studies suggest that a long ring finger is linked with: increased male aggression, outperformance in sports & (financial) risk-taking behavior. How to measure the 2D:4D finger length ratio: New ring finger research from Germany: Researchers at the University of Mainz recruited 77 male drivers at an average age of 38. Each volunteer had their left hand scanned to measure the difference in length between the ring and index fingers. They then had to provide details of all driving offences within the previous five years. Just over a third of the drivers reported having penalty points on their licences, ranging from one to 20, for offences ranging from speeding to drink driving. The results, published in the journal Accident Analysis and Prevention, showed men with longer ring fingers were more likely to have offended. In a report on their findings the researchers said: ‘A longer ring finger than index finger was related to more traffic violations. Hormone exposure in the womb might increase traffic violations in later life.’ Jamaicans have the long ring finger, and… Usain Bolt has the long ring finger!! Now, knowing that Usain Bolt has the long ring finger & with the German research findings in mind: … You might wanna take a look at the full story of Usain Bolt’s car accident earlier this year (april, 2009): A FEW SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER READING: • About: long ring fingers, testosterone & men who drive too fast! • Finger length & agression: a continuing story! • What they say about men with long ring fingers! • More stories about the ring finger!

The hands of the 38th US president: Gerald Ford!

The right hand of Gerald Ford.

President Gerald Ford: inauguration photo Presidential Palm Reading: the Gerald Ford ‘hand-file’! • President: 1974-1977; • Dexterity: left handed; • Hand type: long palm shape; • Fingers: normal finger length, normal index finger, long ring finger.

This summer TIME presented a photo essay on the hands of the last 9 US presidents; US palm reader Robin Gile was asked to present his palm reading for each president. Without knowing that it was Gerald Ford’s hand, this is how Robin Gile described Ford’s hand:

“A Good, Clear Mind”

“In theory, this guy would have been a good mechanic because of the bulbous tips on his middle and ring finger,” says Gile. “He’s got a clear head line, showing a good, clear mind. His thumb is exceptionally long, showing his force of will. He’s the kind of man who thinks, ‘I know what I want, I know where I want to go.’ He’s dogged. If you go up against him, he’s just going to keep coming at you.”

SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER READING:

• The hands of former US president Gerald Ford!
• Presidential palm reading: the hands of Gerald Ford!
• Palmprint of destiny from Pakistan: Benazir Bhutto!
• The typical finger length characteristics of US presidents!