Legs
So far I have not seen any robot do the things that human movement can accomplish. Engineers may sneer at how the human leg works but nothing comes close to what this design accommodates, not one of them has come up with a better option. Walk, run, climb and crawl with efficiency no other design is capable of - John S Smith
image by: Curated Lifestyle For Unsplash+
HWN Suggests
No, Human Legs Are Not Poorly Adapted. In Fact, They’re Amazing
Human legs... are not specialised to run; they’re specialised to power our mechanically miraculous hands to manipulate the environment while our giant, consciousness-generating brains abstract new and creative ways of doing it. Yeah, we’re bipedal runners, but our bipedalism is strictly adapted to serve those functions..
Through their continual impact with the ground, human legs generate the elastic tension that drives everything our upper limbs do, and natural selection decided long ago that the ability to throw projectiles with speed and accuracy was one of the most valuable adaptations we ever stumbled across.
Articles of Interest
Becoming Human: The Evolution of Walking Upright
Walking on two legs distinguished the first hominids from other apes, but scientists still aren’t sure why our ancestors became bipedal.
Bionic Legs, i-Limbs, and Other Super Human Prostheses You’ll Envy
Save your tears for Tiny Tim. A boom in sophisticated prostheses has created a most unlikely by-product: envy.
Evolutionary history helps explain why humans have two legs
Snakes slither. Leeches ripple their bodies along the ground in an almost comically inefficient process. The South American pebble toad rolls away from predators. Then there’s the most familiar strategy: walking. Even in that category, though, the evolutionary variety is impressive. There are two-, four-, six-, eight- and 10-legged creatures cavorting around the Earth. Millipede species have a few hundred legs — not quite as many as their hyperbolic name suggests, but still impressive. Some biologists refer to kangaroos as “functional monopods,” because of their hopping gait.
Human legs can only run so fast: Here’s why
So far, the fastest any human has run is about 27 1/2 mph, a speed reached (briefly) by sprinter Usain Bolt just after the midpoint of his world-record 100-meter dash in 2009. This speed limit is probably not imposed by the strength of human bones and tendons. Rather, a 2010 study suggested, it comes from our bipedal stride.
Humans Walk Weird. Scientists May Finally Know Why
Humanity’s peculiar gait has long confounded engineers and biomechanists—but it might be one of nature’s clever tricks.
Leg Length, Body Proportion, and Health: A Review with a Note on Beauty
The intersection of biomedical and aesthetic concern with the beauty of human leg is still strong today.
The 9 Best Quad Exercises for Building Powerful Legs
The quadriceps are one of the largest muscles in the human body and a signifier of strength, dedication, and mental fortitude. It’s no wonder building powerful legs is a dream of many fitness enthusiasts. But what are the best quad exercises for developing the lower body? Is the squat enough, or do you need to incorporate other movements? Don’t panic. We’ve compiled the 9 best quadriceps exercises so you can build a powerful lower body.
Who's got more efficient legs, arthropods or humans?
Two Irish researchers have revealed that the legs of grasshoppers and crabs are ideally shaped to resist bending and compression, making the quality of their 'design' significantly superior to the blueprint for human legs.
Your Legs Are on Backwards
No, you didn’t read that wrong! When your legs and arms first appeared in the womb, they bent in the same direction. But as you developed, your legs and arms rotated in opposite directions. Is that crazy, or what?
