A Big Spring in One’s Step Makes One Faster

An almost-Nakamatsian invention would let human runners run much faster, explains a new study: “How to run 50% faster without external energy,” Amanda Sutrisno and David J. Braun, Science Advances, vol. 6, no. 13, March 25, 2020, eaay1950. The authors, at Vanderbilt University, report: “Humans have attempted to surpass their natural running capability using springs […]

The effect of potholes in the path of helmeted guinea fowl

What happens when Helmeted Guinea Fowl, out walking, encounter an unexpected pothole? Do they fall over? That depends, in quite an improbable way, on whether they see it coming or not … In 2005, a research team at Concord Field Station, the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, US, endeavoured to clarify things by encouraging […]

Predictors of 3-D Breast Kinematics during Bare-Breasted Running

A six-person research team has just released its findings about the predictors of three-dimensional breast kinematics during bare-breasted running. Details are in their singular study: “Predictors of Three-Dimensional Breast Kinematics during Bare-Breasted Running“, Louise Ellen Wood, Jennifer White, Alexandra Milligan, Bessie Ayres, Wendy Hedger, and Joanna Scurr [pictured here], Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, vol. 44, […]

Running Speeds of Crippled Coyotes

Running Speeds of Crippled Coyotes introduced itself in 1976, in a journal called Northwest Science. You’ll find few scientific studies that tell their story so clearly and efficiently. Bruce C Thompson, of the department of fisheries and wildlife at Oregon State University, wrote everything he had to say in a plain two pages. It contains little […]

Running downhill

Does running downhill affect maximum speed? A team from the Structure and Motion Laboratory at the Royal Veterinary College in the UK have been investigating the relationship between running-speed and slope. The rapidity of thoroughbred racehorses (Equus caballus), greyhounds (Canis familiaris) and human subjects (Homo sapiens) was logged under a number of different uphill and […]