Running Man by Scott LaFee - Eureka! on Creators.com

Recently

Same Old Song (Not) Birds are not born with a song in their hearts or their heads. They must learn them from other birds. So naturally, it seems only reasonable that these songs evolve, with each generation tweaking tunes to fit their times. And, in fact, this is what …Read more. Walleye Fans See Danger in Duo Walleyes reside at the apex of the natural food chain in the Great Lakes and are a prized sports fish, critical to a $7 billion-a-year local fishery. But that lofty and much-admired perch (the spot, not the fish) is becoming increasingly precarious, …Read more. Digging Up Trouble A different kind of mine disaster may be in the offing as researchers watch and worry about the human and environmental consequences of mining antimony, an element whose effects in nature and upon the human body are largely unknown. "Antimony …Read more. Digging Up Trouble A different kind of mine disaster may be in the offing as researchers watch and worry about the human and environmental consequences of mining antimony, an element whose effects in nature and upon the human body are largely unknown. "Antimony …Read more.

Running Man

Jamaican sprinter and Olympic Gold medal winner Usain Bolt is capable of running at speeds of almost 28 miles per hour.

That's obviously not in the same league as cheetahs (70 mph), pronghorn antelope (61 mph) or even warthogs (30 mph), but it still makes Bolt the fastest known human on the planet. It's a fleeting title, however, and may be gone faster than you think.

In a new paper published in the Journal of Applied Physiology, researchers at Southern Methodist University and the University of Wyoming say they've identified the critical variable that imposes a biological limit to running speed in humans. They suggest it might be possible to alter this variable enough to permit humans — well, some humans — to achieve speeds of 35, even 40 mph.

The current, prevailing view is that speed is limited by the force with which limbs strike a running surface. "If one considers that elite sprinters can apply peak forces of 800 to 1,000 pounds with a single limb during each sprinting step," said SMU's Peter Weyand, "it's easy to believe that runners are probably operating at or near the force limits of their muscles and limbs."

But Weyand and colleagues say their research suggests human limbs are capable of applying much greater ground force without injury. They say the real limit is time. Specifically, the very brief periods of time when force is applied to the ground while sprinting. In elite runners, that foot-ground contact is less than one-tenth of a second, with peak ground force occurring within one-twentieth of a second.

But contact time is still longer than can be.

If the amount of foot-ground contact time is reduced, maximum human speed can be increased, say Weyand and colleagues. And their studies of maximum human muscle contractile speeds show there's room for improvement, enough to put people in a competitive race with mule deer, greyhounds and zebras.

EARTH-SHAKING NEWS

Or maybe not. New studies of the San Andreas Fault on the Carrizo Plain, 100 miles north of Los Angeles, show that the history of temblors along this much-studied fault is quirkier than previously believed. The general model presumed large quakes along the south-central portion of the San Andreas happen at roughly regular intervals and tend to be similar in nature and movement.

The new research suggests the reality is more frequent and smaller quakes that don't all behave the same. The significance is twofold: First, scientists apparently don't understand the San Andreas as well as they thought, and second, the chances of accurately forecasting future quakes any time soon just got even more remote.

BRAIN SWEAT

Can you translate the rebuses below?

1. CirKEEPcle

2. R.P.I.

3. fa th

ANTHROPOLOGY 101

Ancient Romans believed you could eliminate unpleasant thoughts by sucking on a finger and rubbing it behind your ear.

BRAIN SWEAT ANSWERS

1. Keep in shape

2. A grave error

3. Blind faith

VERBATIM

To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk.

— Thomas Alva Edison

JUST ASKING

If people dream in color, is it a pigment of their imagination?

WHAT IS IT? ANSWER

An emperor shrimp (Perclimenes imperator) on the polka-dotted side of a sea cucumber (Bohadschia argus).

To find out more about Scott LaFee and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.