Biomechanics

2 articles
  • ostrich feet

    The Problematic, Newfangled Hack That Is the Human Leg

    If you were to design a leg for a bipedal animal from scratch, what would it look like? Don’t bother looking down at your own body for inspiration—you won’t find a good model there.  If you want to make a really good bipedal leg, you should make one a lot like an ostrich’s, and nothing like […]
  • hand_evolution_052013

    Are Humans the Greatest Things Created by the Human Hand?

    What a waste are two thumbs on the space bar. There they sit, nearly flaccid, punctuating the end of each word, awaiting the call to crack stone or to use sharp flakes to incise wood.It is easy to think of other traits as making us human. We talk, use metaphors, empathize, follow fashions, laugh, play politics […]