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HYPOTHESIS AND THEORY article

Front. Physiol.
Sec. Exercise Physiology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fphys.2024.1432410

Bouncing bones -ancient wisdom meets modern science in a new take on locomotion

Provisionally accepted
Susan Lowell de Solórzano Susan Lowell de Solórzano *Stephen M. Levin Stephen M. Levin
  • Ezekiel Biomechanics Group, McLean, VA, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Recognizing that conventional understanding of animal and human locomotion is based on a dated and reductionist machine modeling of organisms, we set out to create a theory of locomotion by reasoning from first principles. We center on the constraints necessitated by 1) the 2nd law of thermodynamics, 2) the theory of evolution, 3) a systems science view of organisms, and 4) the laws of motion, but we also look for compatibility these constraints might find in emerging areas of scientific inquiry (ecological psychology, processual biology, soft matter, biotensegrity), and in the wisdom embedded in various movement traditions and ancient philosophy. Applying and synthesizing these, we propose an updated “bouncing bones” (BB) model for walking and running, which corresponds with maximum efficiency and conservation of energy.

    Keywords: biomechanics1, locomotion2, thermodynamics3, systems science4, laws of motion5, ground reaction force6, flow7, T'ai Chi8 Font: (Default) Liberation Serif

    Received: 14 May 2024; Accepted: 17 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Lowell de Solórzano and Levin. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Susan Lowell de Solórzano, Ezekiel Biomechanics Group, McLean, VA, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.