When you’re a cartoon-watching kid, you get good at suspending disbelief. Sure, characters don’t know what their own ears are, and sure, CatDog doesn’t poop. But when you’re older, that disbelief can come rushing back. That’s exactly what happened to me when I fell down the rabbit hole of what I’m calling “Powerpuff Hand Theory.” Bubbles, Blossom, and Buttercup of The Powerpuff Girls don’t have fingers — they shouldn’t be able to grab or grip anything. Clearly they do, even chopsticks. How is this possible?

In my latest Because Science, I’m establishing some Powerpuff Hand Theory of my own (despite what creator Craig McCracken told me). To me, a theory will only fit the evidence we see in the cartoon if it explains the girls’ gripping ability with minimal anatomical changes, or at least changes that aren’t outwardly visible (who knows how much “Chemical X” mutated them). That leaves in my mind two possible options: the girls either have the kind of skin that lines the feet of one particularly adorable reptile, or their arms are more like robotic limbs than human limbs.

Which theory sounds more plausible to you? Check out the science in the video above, and then let me know in the comments below.

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