"At Stanford University two sales representatives from Nike were watching the athletics team practise. Part of their job was to gather feedback from the company's sponsored runners about which shoes they preferred. Unfortunately, it was proving difficult that day as the runners all seemed to prefer... nothing" - from Christopher McDougall's forthcoming book "Born to Run" which looks at the story the growth of the $20 billion running shoe industry. Starting form Bill Bowerman's Cortez in 1972 onwards runners have seen a steady flow of innovations to improve performance and reduce injury rates. Only it would appear they may not work. By way of contrast the book includes coverage of the Mexican Tarahumara tribe who run ultramarathons with shoes made from car tyres on their feet.
posted by rongorongo on Apr 20, 2009 - 38 comments

Two of Six Washed Up Feet Matched by DNA Mentioned on MeFi at least once before, this is the latest news in the saga of six human feet (enclosed in shoes) that have, over the past few years, washed up along the coast of BC. DNA testing has proven that two of the dismembered feet--found six months apart and clad in size 7 New Balance running shoes--apparently belonged to the same woman. I'm guessing the matching sneakers were a clue. Two down, four to go.
posted by dbarefoot on Dec 6, 2008 - 34 comments

Remember those pesky left feet that kept washing up on Canada's West Coast? One of their counterparts finally showed up. The plot thickens with the knowledge that The Sixth Foot was a hoax... [more inside]
posted by mannequito on Nov 12, 2008 - 78 comments

Footloose. No, not the movie, and not the song, but the continuing mystery of feet washing up in the Strait of Georgia. Previously, previously and previously.
posted by Neiltupper on Jun 18, 2008 - 91 comments

Missing: four left feet or some number of bodies. Another severed right foot has been found in British Columbia. Another severed human foot has been discovered washed ashore on Canada's Pacific coast, but police are no closer to solving the gruesome mystery on where they are coming from. The shoe-clad foot was discovered on Thursday on a small uninhabited island south of Vancouver in the Strait of Georgia, and is the fourth discovered in the region in the past 10 months. All four cases involved right feet, and each was found on a different island. The earlier feet were also still in shoes. Previously 1, 2.
posted by jokeefe on May 23, 2008 - 69 comments

You Walk Wrong. "It took 4 million years of evolution to perfect the human foot. But we’re wrecking it with every step we take." [Via]
posted by homunculus on Apr 22, 2008 - 102 comments

Reading celebrity toes.
posted by Rumple on Mar 18, 2008 - 29 comments

Last summer two right feet washed up on shore within a week of each other on two separate tiny islands in British Columbia. Today a third right foot has just washed up.
posted by joelf on Feb 15, 2008 - 93 comments

Youtube banned in Thailand.
posted by gman on Apr 4, 2007 - 57 comments

Pseudomamma on the foot: An unusual presentation of supernumerary breast tissue.
posted by Burhanistan on Mar 14, 2007 - 27 comments

Mum with no arms changes baby's nappy with her feet. There's something really unnerving about this (rather old) video, but it sure puts Gondry to shame.
posted by tombola on Jan 17, 2007 - 14 comments

Michel Gondry solves a Rubik's Cube with his feet. Guess how he does it. (youtube)
posted by fungible on Dec 12, 2006 - 40 comments

Evolution just won't go away. New evidence suggests the development of the human embryo mirrors our species' course of evolution. This guy seems to be stirring up all kinds of trouble these days. It makes me wonder: does this new information help determine the quality of being human? From the link: "Another supposed vagary produced by the abortion issue is the question as to when the embryo or fetus becomes human. Rivers Singleton, Jr. states in his article in Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, that, for some, conception defines the point of being human, whereas, for others, various periods of development suffice to 'distinguish human from non-humans.'"
posted by narwhal on May 19, 2006 - 41 comments

Feet Meat. {Probably NSFW}
posted by dios on Feb 24, 2006 - 49 comments

Punitive shoes - cruel shoes are nothing new. From 1000 years of lily-footed Chinese concubines to Renaissance Venetian courtesans, footwear has migrated from the sex trade to more popular and mainstream culture. Foot fetishists throughout the centuries have endured painful training and disfigurement for notions of eroticism and sexy feet. For those who want the sex without the pain, there's always some rather delightfully erotic socks.
posted by madamjujujive on Mar 7, 2004 - 12 comments

Feet first? You're sick! What's this all about? Fetishism on its own is impotence. It should surely be an apéritif, an accompaniment, a starter - not the main dish. Men seem to use it as an excuse not to engage. For women it's just an item on the menu of love; not the make-or-break thing men seem to make it. What was that Adam Sandler film where he gets foot-whacked by brilliant, dreamy John Turturro? [Via very manly, ever-so-sensitive Bifurcated Rivets - I hate the way men post things and then cover themselves by saying "may offend"!]
posted by Schweppes Girl on Oct 27, 2002 - 25 comments