简介：
To Walk, You Have to Fall in Step
走一步，跌一步
Motion-capture technology reveals that the body falls forward and sideways as we walk, and the feet come down to restore balance. Karen Hopkin reports
动作捕捉技术揭示出，当我们行走的时候身体会向前方和侧面倾斜，为了重获平衡，我们便迈出了脚。
撰文 卡伦•霍普金（Karen Hopkin）
翻译 王宁
校对 吴东远
How many times has this happened to you? You start to fall, but then catch yourself and continue on your way. Well, new research shows that falling and catching yourself actually happens every time we take a step. And that we precisely place our feet as we walk to avoid taking a tumble during this ambulatory balancing act. The study is in the journal Biology Letters.
猜猜看，下面这种情况在你身上发生了多少次了？你有跌倒的趋势，但紧接着你便找回了平衡继续走路。新的研究表明，每当我们迈出一步，这样的事都会发生。为了防止在这一动态平衡的运动中摔倒，我们能够“秒米不差”地迈出下一步。这一研究被发表在了《生物学快报》。
When humans walk, we put one foot in front of the other. But the way each foot lands can vary from step to step. This variation in foot placement can appear pretty random. But researchers decided to take a closer look.
当人类行走的时候，总会将一只脚迈在另一只的前面，但是每只脚落地的方式会随着步伐而改变，脚的位置变化也是相当随机的，但是研究者还是准备一探究竟。
They fitted 10 volunteers with motion caption markers and then watched as the subjects walked on a treadmill. The investigators discovered that that they could predict exactly where each foot would fall based on the movement of the person’s pelvis during the previous step. The body falls forward and sideways as we walk…and the feet come down in a way that restores our balance.
他们给10名志愿者装上了动作捕捉仪器，然后在跑步机上观察他们。研究人员发现，根据志愿者在迈步前的盆骨运动，可以很准确地预判每只脚的落地位置。当走路时身体会向前方和侧面倾斜，为了重获平衡脚会以特定的方式迈出去 。
The findings could be useful for developing ways to help people with movement disorders regain their stability. The info could also make walking robots more surefooted. So they don’t, ya know, fall down on the job.
这项发现或许能为运动障碍患者重获平衡带来福音，或者，还可以使机器人走出“闲庭信步”。
（题图来源：http://www.phasespace.com/）
