HOW DO WE STAND? HOW DO WE MANAGE TO MOVE?
To get here we walked, climbed the stairs etc., how did we do it? How do we grab different objects?
We do this thanks to the musculoskeletal system, that is the set of bones, joints and muscles, which perform support and defense functions of the organism and which allow its movements.
This is the most voluminous apparatus of the human body: it represents about 80% of the total weight. Our skeleton forms the scaffolding of our body and is made up of all the bones.
At birth the human skeleton has about 270-300 bones, as adults the bones are reduced to 206, and are linked together by 68 joints. All bones together weigh only 9 kg!
Competition between strong men (2017) by Città della ScienzaCittà della Scienza
Bones are an extremely specialized form of connective tissue, highly mineralized: they are mostly made of calcium phosphate which gives it hardness and mechanical resistance.
According to the shape that characterizes them, the bones are generally divided into long bones (such as the femur, tibia and fibula for the legs; the humerus, the radius and the ulna for the arms) flat bones (shoulder blades, sternum, 24 ribs and 22 cranial bones), short bones (carpus and tarsus: hands and feet) and irregular bones (33-34 vertebrae, facial bones and iliac bone).
High jump (2017) by Città della ScienzaCittà della Scienza
We have bones, joints and muscles like all other vertebrates. But what is it that differentiates us? The upright posture! We are bipedal and not quadrupedal: a winning turn in the evolutionary path of man, made a few million years ago.
We have therefore gradually renounced the use in the locomotion of all 4 limbs.On two feet it is more difficult to find a balance, which is certainly more precarious than that of a quadruped (let's think about the balance of a scooter compared to a car). So why abandon a solid balance on 4 legs?
The real reason why evolutionary competition has privileged this solution is that it allows us to move around using only the lower limbs, leaving the upper limbs free from commitments, which can thus be used simultaneously to perform other actions and pursue other objectives.
A winning advantage in hunting trips, in the collection of food, in the handling of objects and in the fight against other animals.
Corporea - Interactive museum of human body
By: Fondazione Idis-Città della Scienza
You are all set!
Your first Culture Weekly will arrive this week.