Archaeological advice on post-pandemic footwear. Plus: brittle stars in a “weirdo box,” a possible Viking ransom and more in the Friday edition of the Science Times newsletter. By Alan Burdick As ...

A 15th-century shoe craze that swept Europe left its mark on the skeletons of people who lived at the time. Archaeologists have recently attributed a plague of bunions found on nearly 200 skeletons to ...

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com. “Why are ladies’ shoes so pointy? Feet and toes ...

“Why are ladies’ shoes so pointy? Feet and toes aren’t pointy, most of men’s shoes aren’t pointy, and they hurt my feet.” – Bunny, age 13, Mizpah, New Jersey While people’s actual feet are rounded on ...

Perhaps one of the oddest moral panics - a fear that some evil threatens the wellbeing of society - was one that arose in medieval times. Fashionable pointy-toed shoes called poulaines were alleged to ...

University of South Carolina provides funding as a member of The Conversation US. Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to ...