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THE ARTICULATE LIP. “Some mimetic musculature in humans is also used during speech. Human lips act in part as ‘articulators’ during speech, refining the sounds that come from the larynx into specific, meaningful speech units.” http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/joa.12440/full View in LinkedIn

THE INDEFATIGABLE TONGUE. “A recent study by Sanders et al. (2013) showed that human tongue musculature has a greater percentage of slow-twitch fibers than tongue musculature from chimpanzees. Authors of that study correlated this evolutionary innovation in muscle physiology of the human tongue with the ability of the human tongue to slow down and produce more specific and longer contractions during speech, relative to how the tongue behaves in chimpanzees during vocalizations.” http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/joa.12440/full View in LinkedIn

DEEP CLUES. “These differences in the ratio of slow-twitch to fast-twitch myosin fibers can inform our understanding of muscle function and preceding evolutionary pressures.” http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/joa.12440/full View in LinkedIn

FATIGUE FACTOR. “It is well established that human mimetic musculature is dominated by fast-twitch myosin fibers. Our facial muscles are able to contract quickly and spontaneously (think of how quickly and automatically we smile at the sight of a familiar friend or a funny joke) but it is difficult to hold that contraction longer than a few seconds before fatigue sets in.” http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/joa.12440/full View in LinkedIn

GALILEO’S PICKLE. “Galileo was obsessed with Copernicanism as the actual structure of our Solar System, appeared to have disobeyed an injunction, made a number of enemies who were more influential than he thought, was insensitive to the current political situation, advocated his personal interpretation of the Bible against Catholic authorities, and antagonized his friend, the pope.” https://lnkd.in/dZFzGDE View in LinkedIn