Most of us would love to have what we consider to be “the perfect body,” but chances are our vision of what that entails is very different than that of biologists. Anatomists recently dared to dream about what the perfect body would look like, biologically speaking, and it’s enough to freak people out completely.
- What does a body without human imperfections look like? Not anything any of us would likely want to have, I don’t think. As part of BBC Four’s Science Can Make Me Perfect, the ideal body was revealed by anatomist Alice Roberts and it’s hard not to be horrified.
- It’s only barely recognizable as human. Roberts and her team created the body with “the shock-absorbing legs of an emu” as well as a baby head sticking out of its stomach, meaning we’d obviously be better off with a marsupial-like pouch. This detail was added to imagine the idea of pain-free childbirth. I think everyone would rather things stay as they are.
- The “human” almost looks like an Avatar character. While Roberts says that it’s been an “extraordinary project” and that she’s “terribly excited” for everyone to see the results, even Roberts herself screams when she sees the final product. The crowd is also visibly (and audibly) horrified, though everyone does have a good laugh.
- So what other details does “the perfect human body” have? Alice 2.0, as she’s called, has been given “a chimp’s sturdy lower back” to “counter the faults of our flawed transition to standing upright.” Those shock-absorbing emu legs should help “improve blood circulation” via “tiny pumps in her thighs.” Oh, and there’s one more thing: “Beneath her breast-less chest lies the reliable heart of a dog and the graceful lungs of a swan” and she’s also been given a “choke-proof windpipe.” Perhaps we should all be grateful for our flaws.
