Fridaygram: student doodlers, wrinkled fingers, space station tour

January 18, 2013


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Author PhotoBy Scott Knaster, Google Developers Blog Editor

Each year the Doodle 4 Google competition gives K - 12 students in the U.S. a chance to win a place for their work on the Google homepage, along with some nice prizes. Submissions are open from now until March 22, and you can see all the rules and other information on the competition site.

This is the sixth year for Doodle 4 Google. If you’re a grade school student in the U.S., or you know someone who is, be sure to let them know about this cool program.

You can submit your Doodle 4 Google entry on paper, because lots of people like to do their drawing old school, with their hands. And speaking of hands, scientists have long wondered why fingers on those hands get wrinkled after long exposure to water, such as in a swimming pool or bathtub. A recent study suggests that this wrinkle effect might be an evolutionary advantage to help us gain a better grip on wet objects. Long ago, this might have helped with food gathering; now, it’s mostly just weird.

Finally, please take 25 minutes of your weekend and watch this wonderful video tour of the International Space Station conducted by departing commander Sunita Williams. Unless you’ve been to space, you’ll probably see things you’ve never seen before. And even if you have been to space, or you are from space, you’ll probably enjoy it.


Each week we take a break from developer topics and publish Fridaygram, featuring interesting stuff from Google and the rest of the universe that you might not have noticed before. Last year we didn’t mention Doodle 4 Google until it was over; we thought it would be better to talk about it sooner this time.