Usain Bolt - Mathematical Progression Of The 100M Dash

[Parsad]

As I mentioned in a previous post regarding my disbelief around Usain Bolt's feats, some blogger has done a terrific job mapping the progression of the 100m mark.  Thanks David for sending it!

 

As you can see, Bolt's mark is quite the outlier over the last 100 years.  I would suspect that many of the marks set in the last 15-20 years were done with some sort of enhancement, as the numbers were dropping so fast that we should be running sub-eight seconds by the end of the next decade!  Cheers!

 

http://scienceblogs.com/startswithabang/2009/08/the_math_of_the_fastest_human.php?utm_source=nytwidget

[benhacker]

Cool blog, but methinks the statistical significance might be lacking for that pretty exponential.

 

Not to add or take anything away from Bolt... holy sh1t...

 

Ben

[Guest kawikaho]

That guy is just the best.  Fastest human alive, and I like his persona.  He seems to be a good role model, unlike Phelps who seems a bit douchey. 

[Rabbitisrich]

Well, that's just, like, your opinion, man. Phelps abides.

 

I hope Usain Bolt is clean, but even if he is, he might be a historical relic in a few years.

 

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0823/p12s01-stgn.html

 

I would be surprised if, in 30 years, people limit themselves to their genetic endowments. Adderall was fairly common when I went to college. Even coffee is part of the post-human trend. If someone said that they could make you more productive for 4-5 hours a day, would you say that $1,095 a year ($3.00 a day) is a fair price?

[yudeng2004]

Well, that's just, like, your opinion, man. Phelps abides.

 

I hope Usain Bolt is clean, but even if he is, he might be a historical relic in a few years.

 

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0823/p12s01-stgn.html

 

I would be surprised if, in 30 years, people limit themselves to their genetic endowments. Adderall was fairly common when I went to college. Even coffee is part of the post-human trend. If someone said that they could make you more productive for 4-5 hours a day, would you say that $1,095 a year ($3.00 a day) is a fair price?

 

I think any genetics that improve the human condition without bad long-term health consequences is a good thing.  The question is we also need simultaneously genes that help us process food more efficiently if we were to live longer, else we don't have enough resources on earth to support so many people.

[Parsad]

...else we don't have enough resources on earth to support so many people.

 

Eventually yes...perhaps several hundred years out.  But I think science will continue to allow us to produce more food and heartier versions.  I remember watching old episodes of "All in the Family", and Mike the son-in-law used to say that the world would run out of food by the next century.  That was in the 70's! 

 

Yet here we are today, producing twice as much food with half as much land set aside for agriculture in North America.  Crops are sturdier, require less water and grow in diverse conditions.  We continue to produce enough meat or protein substitutes without little difficulty.  Yes, we are eliminating many types of fish and game in the wild, but farming practices are allowing us to increase their numbers in captivity.

 

The other aspect of farming which hasn't taken hold yet, but will as land becomes more valuable, is vertically-integrated urban farms.  Massive concrete structures, where using advanced hydroponics, we will be able to grow crops in urban settings.  What may look like an office building, will actually hold massive floors of crops, with water being utilized by the plants at each floor with greater efficiency as it trickles from one level to the next.

 

There are so many reasons to be optimistic about the future.  There is a terrific interview on Charlie Rose with physicist Freeman Dyson.  I believe it was around the 16th of August.  You can probably find it in the archives at Charlie Rose.  Fantastic interview and a very real prognosis of our future existence.  Cheers!   

[Parsad]

Actually here it is.  It was on the 14th, and there was also another one in May.  I didn't see that one, but the 14th one is terrific.  Cheers!

 

http://www.charlierose.com/guest/view/3411