Why do we need pinky toes?
Brains On! Science podcast for kids
In this fun and educational episode of Brains On!, Molly Bloom and co-host Luna Mae explore the surprising importance of pinky toes, answering a
Key takeaways
- Pinky toes contribute significantly to balance and grip during walking and running.
Main topics
- Anatomy and function of human toes
Notable quotes
"Our toes help us grip the ground when we're walking and running, which is especially important if we're walking on a slippery or unstable surface."
Conclusion
Pinky toes may be small, but they play a vital role in balance, movement, and
Transcript preview
Speaker 3 (0:12) You're listening to Brains On, where we're serious about being curious. Speaker 3 (0:18) Hey, Molly. If your toes had names, what do you think they would be? For some reason, the name Todd the Speaker 7 (0:24) Toe comes to mind. Speaker 3 (0:26) You could name your pinky toes Mark and Sandin since they're your guys. Aw, yeah. They look so cute after a pedicure. I think I'd name my big toes Loretta and Reba. Hmm, country Speaker 7 (0:37) -western inspired. I like it. What Speaker 3 (0:40) about naming your tallest toe after very tall basketball players? Oh. Speaker 7 (0:44) Good idea. My tallest toe is my second toe. So I could name them Han Shu from the New York Liberty and Jamerion Sharp from the LA Clippers. Yeah, cool. Toes that can hoop. There's definitely more to toes than you might think. So whether you've named yours or not, we're getting to know them today. Stick around. Speaker 1 (1:07) Do you like pineapple on pizza? Personally, I wouldn't probably order a pineapple pizza, but I have definitely eaten it in the past, and I would do it again because I love pizza in pretty much all forms. Well, if you dig this topping, or if you detest it, you're going to want to hear our latest bonus episode. It's a forever ago episode all about the chef who added pineapple to pizza. Plus, we'll tell you all about how this tangy topping led to a beef between two nations. Here's a little taste. In Northern Iceland, the president of Iceland, Woodny Johannesson, was visiting a high school. Someone asked him what he thought about pineapples on pizza. And his answer? He was very much, most definitely, and totally, 100 % against it. In fact, he said he would ban pineapple pizza if he could. Speaker 1 (2:04) You can hear the whole episode by joining Smarty Pass at smartypass.org. Smarty Pass is our club where you get ad-free versions of our shows, bonus episodes like this one, and invites to online hangs with us. Plus, you support the work we do. Join now to hear the history of Hawaiian pizza. Go to smartypass.org to join. Thanks! Speaker 7 (2:35) You're listening to Brains On, part of the Brains On universe. I'm Molly Bloom, and my co-host today is Luna May from Richmond, Virginia. Hi, Luna May. Hi, Molly. Today, Speaker 3 (2:45) we're talking about toes. They wiggle, they tickle, they tiptoe, and sometimes they get cold. But Speaker 7 (2:52) it's easy to forget about them. I mean, they're about as far away from our eyes as a body part can get. Plus, they're often hidden Speaker 3 (2:59) away in socks and shoes. Luckily, a listener sent us a great question about toes. My name is Nora from Connecticut. My question is, do we really need pinky toes? We will find out Speaker 7 (3:10) for you. Luna Mae, do you paint your toenails? Speaker 3 (3:13) Sometimes I do. Speaker 7 (3:15) What colors do you like to paint your toenails? Speaker 3 (3:18) I like blue and purple. Speaker 7 (3:20) Good choices. Do you think it's funnier when people call toes piggies or dogs? Speaker 3 (3:30) They're both pretty funny. Speaker 7 (3:32) Honestly, I feel like dogs maybe is more for like the entire foot. Yeah. And piggies are the toes particularly. Maybe we should come up with another animal name for toes too. Do you have any ideas? Speaker 3 (3:44) Mice? I don't know. Speaker 7 (3:45) Mice? Yeah, a little. Maybe like shrimp. Speaker 7 (3:51) So what's your favorite thing that you feel like your toes help you do? Speaker 3 (3:56) Don't they like help you keep balance? I think that's kind of cool. I think they do. Yeah, it is cool. People Speaker 7 (4:02) can do amazing things with their toes. And it really, it turns out that our toes help us do a lot of different things. Speaker 5 (4:10) Gungidor has toe questions too! Speaker 7 (4:14) Gungidor? The dance-obsessed monster who lives in our headquarters. Nice to see you, Gungi. Speaker 5 (4:19) Gungidor been thinking toes because Gungidor training for special dance marathon. Oh, cool. Toes obviously important for dance. However, dance marathon not ordinary athletic event. It is a toe-down! Mash-up of house music and country-western-themed mega-party! Speaker 3 (4:47) Wow, I've only ever heard of a hoedown. Yeah, like a country barn-type dance. Speaker 5 (4:53) Yeah, toe-down kind of like that. But weirder. Speaker 3 (4:58) Makes sense you'd have toes on the brain then. Speaker 5 (5:00) Kangadar just want to be prepared for toe-down. But there's problem. Can Gungi get some cinematic tension music? Sure. Let's Speaker 7 (5:12) get the monster his music. Speaker 5 (5:16) Gungidor gone whole life never really paid attention to toes. Always has known of toes, but never really truly known toes. Now can't stop thinking about toes. Why so small? What makes a toe a toe? If Gungidor stand on head, are fingers now toes? And our toes now fingers! Do toes ever get lonely? Will Gungador ever understand toes? Speaker 7 (6:02) Those are some real stumpers. Gungador, it seems like you have toe woes. But lucky for you, we have an expert to fill us in. Gungador, meet Nick Holoka with Penn State University. He studies how the human body became the way it is and how we move. Hello, Nick. Nice to meet you, Gungador. To get to toes, let's start with feet. Speaker 7 (6:28) Our feet have a whole bunch of bones and muscles that help us stand and walk. There are three main parts of the foot that help us move. First, there's our heel at the back of our foot. Speaker 3 (6:38) Our heel is a little like a squishy pillow for the rest of our feet. Speaker 7 (6:42) It Speaker 6 (6:42) absorbs the shock when our foot hits the ground, and it helps us to kind of roll forward onto the other part of our foot. Then there's the arch of our foot. It's between our heel and big toe. When you put weight on it, your arch lowers to the ground. It stretches Speaker 7 (7:00) out. Then, as we push off the ground in a step, the arch boings back, kind of the way that a rubber band springs back to being small after you stretch it out. That springing back helps us push off the ground. Speaker 3 (7:13) But our toes help out with that, too. Speaker 6 (7:15) Our big toe is kind of the strong, stable part of our foot that allows us to push off with a lot of power from the ground when we're walking. Speaker 7 (7:24) The Speaker 6 (7:24) rest Speaker 7 (7:24) of our toes are also important for pushing off and for