walking
Not Exactly Rocket Science
Tag archives for walking
Do lost people really go round in circles?
Posted by Ed Yong on August 20, 2009 In 2007, Jan Souman dropped three volunteers into the Sahara desert and watched as they walked for several miles, in an attempt to walk in a straight line. Souman was interested in the widespread belief that lost travelers end up walking in circles, a belief that has never been properly tested but has nonetheless become…
Puijila, the walking seal – a beautiful transitional fossil
Posted by Ed Yong on April 22, 2009 Seals and sea-lions gracefully careen through today’s oceans with the help of legs that have become wide, flat flippers. But it was not always this way. Seals evolved from carnivorous ancestors that walked on land with sturdy legs; only later did these evolve into the flippers that the family is known for. Now, a beautifully…
Orang-utan study suggests that upright walking may have started in the trees
Posted by Ed Yong on March 21, 2009 Walking on two legs, or bipedalism, immediately sets us apart form other apes. It frees our arms for using tools and weapons and is a key part of our evolutionary success. Scientists have put forward a few theories to explain how our upright gait evolved, but the ‘savannah theory‘ is by far the most prolific.…