Why Feet Are Weirder Than You Think
6/14/202646 min
Compared with almost every other animal on Earth, our feet seem strangely specialised. They can't grip branches, they're full of arches and joints, and for some reason we're the only species that regularly puts shoes on them. Hannah and Michael explore how millions of years of evolution transformed ape like feet into powerful biological springboards, uncovering a surprising connection between human walking, pizza slices, and one of mathematics' most beautiful ideas. After the break, they ask why feet attract so much attention from WikiFeet ratings to one of the most common fetishes on Earth.
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsHannah Fry· Host0:01
Welcome to The Rest is Science. I'm Hannah Fry.
Michael Stevens· Host0:03
And I'm Michael Stevens.
Hannah Fry· Host0:03
Here's a question for you, Michael. What is going on with feet?
Michael Stevens· Host0:07
With my feet?
Hannah Fry· Host0:08
M- m- yeah.
Michael Stevens· Host0:09
Well, no- Not just yours, but, but also yours ... okay. No one knows what's going on with my feet- [laughs] ... 'cause I never show them off.
Hannah Fry· Host0:16
Do you not?
Michael Stevens· Host0:16
Okay, I guess I did once when I stepped on LEGOs, like, for a bit to get views, but when I was a small child, like a s- child, I had hairy feet. [gasps] Yes, and I was walking around barefoot one day, and my dad's friend, whose name was Al, like, I'm not afraid to name and shame. [laughs] He looked at me, and he goes to my dad, he goes, "Whoa, your son's feet have a lot of hair on them."
Hannah Fry· Host0:38
[laughs] [laughs] Wait, how old were you at this point?
Michael Stevens· Host0:40
Okay, in my mind I'm, like, four, but I'm sure, [laughs] I'm sure I was, like, a teenager actually.
Hannah Fry· Host0:45
Are we talking about, like, sort of soft, downy children hair, or are we talking about, like, thick man hair?
Michael Stevens· Host0:49
No, we're talking about, like, look at my beard and then imagine toes coming out of it. [laughs] It's n- it's almost like that. Even at home, I've been married to my wife for 10 years now, I still just wear socks all the time- [laughs] ... so she won't go, "Bleh," whenever she sees me.
Hannah Fry· Host1:04
Are they still hairy?
Michael Stevens· Host1:06
Well, yeah, I haven't shaved them.
Hannah Fry· Host1:07
[laughs] Wow.
Michael Stevens· Host1:09
But this episode is not about me.
Hannah Fry· Host1:11
Okay, but- This episode is about our entire species. It is about our entire species.
Michael Stevens· Host1:15
And I hadn't really thought about it until you mentioned it, but they are a bit weird.
Hannah Fry· Host1:19
They are very weird. They're very different to other animals' feet, and, uh, that is what we're gonna get into. But listeners, don't worry, we're gonna come back to Michael's feet as well because