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A cunning goalkeeper’s glove from Peter Hochmuth of Treuchtlingen, Germany, could change football for ever by helping butterfingers make better saves (GB 2 369 767). It makes the goalie’s hand look like a duck’s webbed foot. A flexible band is stitched between the thumb and index finger of the glove, so as the hand opens to catch the ball, the material stretches tight to “increase the probability of catching the ball”. As a bonus, the tough band helps stop the goalie’s thumb bending back beyond its natural limits, because the strain is shared with the index finger. Of course, football’s governing bodies will have to OK the idea first.