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Foot binding was a tradition among Chinese women from around a thousand years ago to less than 100 years ago. Billions of women endured the crippling tradition, although many died trying to achieve the goal of “lotus feet.” The process of deforming a girl’s feet was started when she was between two and five years old.
To begin the foot binding process, the foot binder would gently soak the child’s feet in a solution of animal blood and herbs. Her toenails were trimmed and groomed, and her feet were thoroughly massaged. Once the skin was softened and the muscles were relaxed, the foot binder would curl the child’s toes down towards the sole of the foot as far as the bones would allow. The binder would then curl the toes farther than the bones would allow, snapping the toddler’s phalanges and forming a kind of twisted foot-fist. No manner of pain relief was employed during this process, so the binder was required to disregard any agonized screams. Next, the arch was broken.
But that’s just the beginning of the process. Read the rest of it, and how foot binding finally fell out of style, at Damn Interesting. Link
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Moses Lanham, Jr., who bills himself as “Mr. Elastic”, can turn his feet 120° backwards. He’s journeying to Rome to attend a show hosted by Guinness World Records. There, he hopes to win the record for walking with his feet backwards:
His second record attempt will clock how fast he can walk 20 meters with his feet turned backward. Lanham is aiming for a 30-second jaunt.
Both will be newly created records.
While it sounds like something that would crack a few bones, Lanham insists it’s completely painless and requires no warm-up routine. “A lot of times when I’m sitting down I’ll put my feet in a twisted position because it’s more comfortable for me,” he said.
Link via Geekosystem | Photo: Moses Lanham, Jr.
(Image credit: Flickr user Mini Mookiy. This is not “Esther”)
by Fiorella Gambale, Ph.D.
Institute for Feline Research
Milano, Italy
Cats have excellent balance, and are remarkably acrobatic. When turned upside down and dropped from a height, a cat generally has the ability to land on its feet. Until now, no one has systematically investigated the limits of this phenomenon. In this study, I dropped a cat upside down from various heights, and observed whether the cat landed on its feet.
I dropped the cat from a height of six feet. I did this one hundred times. The cat always landed on its feet.
I dropped the cat from a height of five feet. I did this one hundred times. The cat always landed on its feet.
I dropped the cat from a height of four feet. I did this one hundred times. The cat always landed on its feet.
I dropped the cat from a height of three feet. I did this one hundred times. The cat always landed on its feet.
I dropped the cat from a height of two feet. I did this one hundred times. The cat always landed on its feet.
I dropped the cat from a height of one foot. I did this one hundred times. The cat never landed on its feet.
| Drop Height | Attempts | Landed on feet | Did not land on feet |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft. | 100 | 100 | 0 |
| 5 ft. | 100 | 100 | 0 |
| 4 ft. | 100 | 100 | 0 |
| 3 ft. | 100 | 100 | 0 |
| 2 ft. | 100 | 100 | 0 |
| 1 ft. | 100 | 0 | 100 |
Popular belief is that “a cat will always land on its feet.” My experiments show this to be true for drop heights ranging from six feet down to two feet. It is not true at a drop height of one foot.Does a cat land on its feet when dropped from a height of less than one foot? This preliminary study indicates that the answer may be no. However, further experiments, preferably with the same cat, are needed to settle the question.
I want to thank the cat, “Esther,” for her initial cooperation in this experiment. Thank you, also, to Esther’s owner, M.R. Young. And special thanks to the organization PFTAR (People For the Tarring-and-Feathering of Animal Researchers), whose indiscriminate yacketing inspired this project.
_____________________
This classic article is republished with permission from the July-August 1998 issue of the Annals of Improbable Research. You can download or purchase back issues of the magazine, or subscribe to receive future issues. Or get a subscription for someone as a gift!
Visit their website for more research that makes people LAUGH and then THINK.
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