From Lose Friends Radio comes this ‘Believe it or not’ segment Number 12, called ‘Mind your elbows’. You can read the transcript below, or listen to the original broadcast by clicking on the green play button: [audio:Jonar_Nader_12_BION_Mind_your_elbows.mp3]
Believe it or not, according to Jonar Nader, a new study at a Chinese university has speculated that the human body will evolve over time to cope with the new demands being placed upon it as a result of our modern environment.
In particular, the scientists are suggesting that our elbows (which are currently somewhat pointed) will flatten-out as a result of the relatively recent invention of tables. The way that humans lean on tables and office desks, and the way that children lean on the floor while watching television or playing electronic games, will, eventually, reshape the human elbow.
The scientists could not agree about what would happen to the funny bone, and whether that electric-shock sensation would remain.
Other anticipated evolutions will include the curvature of the thumb (mostly due to the way we hold pens, as well as the effects of the latest texting craze), and the softening of the gluteus maximus (the buttocks) thanks to padded chairs and soft beds.
Observations along these lines have already shown that populations who do not use desks and tables have slightly different elbow shapes.
“The students did not set out to arrive at this finding,” said professor Wu. “I was showing them how to design a large-scale experiment, and they accidentally stumbled on this finding.”
Believe it… or not.
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