The people in Landes , in the pre-1900s , had a trouble . Their ground was swampy and uneven , and they were too poor and too remote for anyone to bother put in roads . They had to get around someway , and they means they figured out their position yield me hope for notion on other planets .
When we think of terraforming as the process of making other planets idealistic for human life , we leave that many parts of the Earth are n’t idealistic for human life either . Human life managed passably well , despite all that , and I like to think that if humans ever chance a land like that of Landes , France , we might have brave terraformers take with it as well as the people there did . The people in Landes live in a country of uneven , pissed priming coat with large quad between household and few route . Horses were impractical , wheeled vehicle virtually impossible , and shoes were keep soaking until they waste .
The practical workaround for this problem started with shepherds , but gradually spread to anyone , admit postal bearer and natural law enforcers , who involve to move huge distances apace . They wear stilts . And not small unity , either . Any stiltwalker perched about three and a one-half foot up , and some had long-legs that were much higher . They carried a prospicient cane that reached to the earth which they would lean on whenever they were still , or even sit on to rest . With praxis they became quick – dancing , running , and even frown themselves so close to the ground that they could plunk flowers .
They also got fast . One stiltwalker , Sylvain Dornon , walked all the way from Paris to Moscow in fifty - eight days . He also climbed the Eiffel Tower in stilts . Stilt - walkers were once sent as part of the suite that accompanied the Empress Josephine , and the stilt - Alice Malsenior Walker easily kept up with the trotting sawhorse . Today , as less citizenry have needed spile to get around , the practice has precipitate out of favor . Only a few street performers still get around in stilts . It ’s unbelievable to spring up again on this planet .
I like to retrieve , though , that as we jet about the solar system and beyond , there might be other luck . I wish to think that someday , on some planet , where resources are tight , the ground is too wet ( or corrosive ) to be utilitarian ( yet ) , and monumental amount of distance require to be covered to gather supplies , human might go back to tottering around a world like human tripod . If we were resourceful once , and it lead to us be quick and far - tramp with ironic feet , there may be chances to do it again . Someday there could be stiltstronauts .
ViaPopular ScienceandIllustrated Past .
Scienceterraforming
Daily Newsletter
Get the good tech , skill , and culture news in your inbox day by day .
News from the future tense , delivered to your nowadays .
You May Also Like
