25. Silly Walks
Andy Ruina
Andy L. Ruina, Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, and a research colleague explained mathematically why the silly walks of John Cleese in Monty Python’s Flying Circus have never been utilized by Homo sapiens. These silly walks use up too much metabolic energy compared to conventional locomotion. The researchers created a mech-anical model of human walking and running that assumed that each leg is a telescoping actuator that can change its length. In walking, the body vaults forward in circular arcs with the toe and heel providing the push-off and landing point for each movement. In running, the body travels from one parabolic arc to the next with a bounce in between. After calculating the metabolic energy used in a whole range of silly walks and runs, the researchers determined that regular walking and running are the most energy-efficient gaits for the human species. The research has implications for biomechanics and robotics.