Maybe you have wondered why 12 inches is called a foot.
Traditional units of distance such as the Iranian parasang and English league both reflect how far a person could walk in a certain amount of time. Ancient Greeks and Romans measured with the foot (pous in Greek and pes in Latin), which was based on the length of the average adult man’s foot.
The units people prefer for measurements change over time. The reasons include convenience, compatibility with other units, and advances in science and technology that allow and require more precise information.
Britain started using the foot during the Roman conquest early in the first millennium. The Roman pes naturalis (“natural foot”) was about 10 inches (25 cm). To compare to shoe sizes, a foot that long would wear a men’s size 7.5 or women’s size 9 shoe in the US sizing system. Then a length close to 12 inches (30.5 cm) became accepted. It was a more convenient definition because it was more compatible with other units. (A 12-inch foot requires a pretty big shoe: a men’s 14 in the US. That’s the size pro basketball player Kawhi Leonard wears.)
Esta historia es de la edición April 2020 de Muse Science Magazine for Kids.
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Esta historia es de la edición April 2020 de Muse Science Magazine for Kids.
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To figure out if we can die of boredom, we first have to understand what boredom is. For help, we called James Danckert, a psychologist who studies boredom at the University of Waterloo in Canada.
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SERGE WICH
Serge Wich’s favorite days at work are spent out in the forest, studying orangutans in Sumatra and Borneo or chimpanzees in Tanzania.
ELODIE FREYMANN
When you’re feeling sick, it probably doesn’t occur to you to try eating tree bark.
Guardians of the Forest
EARLY, MAKESHIFT WILDLIFE DRONES HELPED TO DETECT AND PROTECT ORANGUTANS.
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The Whirling World of primate play
Dr. Ape Will See You Now
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THE LEFT OVERS
A lot has happened for modern humans to get to this point. We lost most of our hair, learned how to make tools, established civilizations, sent a person to the Moon, and invented artificial intelligence. Whew! With all of these changes, our bodies have changed, too. It’s only taken us about six million years.
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What do you have in common with the aye-aye, sifaka, siamang, and potto? If you said your collarbone, you re probably a primatologist—a person who studies primates. If you’re not, read on.
