
The Math of the Fastest Human Alive - robg
http://scienceblogs.com/startswithabang/2009/08/the_math_of_the_fastest_human.php
======
forinti
I used to think that we were pretty lame compared to other species, until I
discovered that because of our skin, we are the best at cooling our bodies.
That's why in the midday heat of the savannah, the only animal walking around
is gonna be a human.

------
snewe
That simple regression does not indicate anything...the author does not show
that the data follows an exponential; he just imposes it. What about a non-
parametric regression? What about structural breaks in the time series?

~~~
symesc
What about nutrition, fitness, and performance enhancing chemicals, legal or
otherwise?

I'm not saying Bolt is a User, but I think it's safe to say he's applying
every advantage available.

~~~
snewe
That would be the "structural breaks" idea. The process in the last 80 years
that generated the downward trend in times has changed recently due to
technology, etc.

~~~
fburnaby
He plainly justified an asymptote: "there must be some limit where humans can
not run any faster". The exponential has this property and is simple. There
also looks to be a good r^2.

------
neilc
I thought this paper, mentioned in the comments, was a lot more interesting:

<http://arno.uvt.nl/show.cgi?fid=95436>

Argues that extreme value theory predicts the best time for 100m dash in the
near future is 9.51 sec.

------
yanowitz
It's an interesting post (and more interesting discussion). I think this
visualization <http://bit.ly/p2T73> shows just how amazing Bolt is. I also
can't believe someone can move faster than 10m a second. Just close your eyes
and think about that. 1 second. More than 30 feet. Wow.

------
mhb
Usain Bolt Celebrates Early ... Very Early

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzSpPaCIG0g>

