They are also looking at how their equations could be applied to building robots that can stand and walk without toppling over. Another idea is to modify their model for low-gravity regimes, to predict how astronauts' posture might respond to the microgravity of a trip to Mars, and what walking might be like when they get there. As yet, however, they are still working out how to include gravity in the equations. Alonso-S nchez is also looking at the possibility of using his equations to test people to see if they are fit to operate dangerous machinery or fly an airliner. He hopes to use a device like Collins's super-scale to record tiny postural sways, and then translate the results into a test that can tell if an individual is too tired, drunk or affected by drugs or disease to work safely.
Standing still seems mundane, yet it has proved to be remarkably complicated.
Only the most sophisticated tools of modern mathematical physics are proving up to the task of understanding it . But now that the science of standing is on a firm mathematical footing, it's really going places.