We see it all the time on shows like Bones and CSI. Skeletal remains can ___1___ all sorts of clues—gender, age, past physical traumas. But not the person’s weight. Now, scientists say that skeletons may be able to reveal whether the person had some ___2___.

The scientists evaluated the femurs (or thigh bones) of 121 deceased men for whom they had both weight and height. The group was ___3___ into two weight categories based on BMI, body mass index. The researchers found that the femurs of the individuals in the heavier group had significantly wider shafts. The study was published in the Journal of Forensic Sciences. [Gina Agostini and Ann Ross, "The Effect of Weight on the Femur: A Cross-Sectional Analysis"]

The scientists say that previous studies showed that obese individuals actually walk differently than those of ___4___. So their bones are dealing with an increase in weight load and a difference in the biomechanics of movement. This brings on a physiological change to ___5___. Skeletons will never be able to give us an exact read on someone’s girth, but they may be able to give investigators more evidence…to weigh.
【視聽版科學(xué)小組榮譽(yù)出品】
yield extra padding split average weight withstand the stress
我們在《識骨尋蹤》《犯罪現(xiàn)場調(diào)查》等劇中見多了，骸骨能夠?yàn)槲覀兲峁└鞣N的線索——死者的性別，年齡以及生前受過什么傷。不過沒見劇中提到骸骨能告訴我們死者生前的體重。不過，目前科學(xué)家們表示通過骸骨人們也許能夠得知此人生前是否體重超標(biāo)。 科學(xué)家們對121名已知身高體重的男性死者的股骨（大腿骨）進(jìn)行研究估算，并根據(jù)死者生前體重指數(shù)，將他們分成輕重兩組。研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，生前體重較重那一組的股骨彎曲弧度較大。這項(xiàng)研究發(fā)現(xiàn)刊登在《法醫(yī)學(xué)雜志》上。 科學(xué)家稱有研究表明肥胖患者走路姿勢與正常人不同，因此他們的骨骼也負(fù)擔(dān)著相當(dāng)重的分量，生物力學(xué)作用也與常人大不相同，因而導(dǎo)致了生理學(xué)結(jié)構(gòu)的改變以承受這種壓力。骸骨無法告訴我們死者的確切腰圍，但卻能為研究人員提供相當(dāng)多的線索（了解死者的體重）。