UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa., Sept. 8 -- Pennsylvania State University issued the following news release:
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The average person takes thousands of steps each day, instinctively walking heel-to-toe. Although they hardly register them, those consistent heel-first strides are more unique to humans than previously thought and allowed early hominins to walk farther more efficiently, but at the cost of higher impact forces on bones and joints, according to a new study led by a researcher at Penn State.
The team said the findings, published today (Sept. 8) in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shed light on an evolutionary adaptation that made early human walking more efficient, ultimately helping our ancestors to a...