In the battle to tell you the sort of information you didn't know you need to know, scientists have explained the formula that wearers of high-heeled shoes can use to work out how high they can go - just as the most famous Blahnik-wearers, the stars of Sex and the City, totter from our screens.Physicists at the Institute of Physics have devised a formula that, based on your shoe size, tells you the maximum height of heel you can wear without toppling over or suffering agonies. And it is:
h = Q.(12+3s/8)
h is the maximum height of the heel (in cm)
S is the shoe size (UK ladies sizes). This factor makes sure that the base of support is just good enough for an experienced, and sober, high-heel wearer not to fall over.
Q is a sociological factor. It equals p.(y+9).L, divided by (t+1).(A+1).(y+10).(L+£20)M
After I read this, the first thing I did was look at the calendar. Nope, not April 1st.
Then I considered the source. The Guardian. Hmmm. But would they go so far as to fabricate something like this?
I googled Paul Stevenson, the scientist quoted in the story, and he is indeed a physics lecturer at the University of Surrey, although his webpage makes no mention of this, er, line of inquiry.
I guess it's true, though I suspect he's trying for an Ig Nobel, the esteemed award given out by the Annals of Improbable Research.