nichocharin Hacker News • Recommends
On “NFL players: height and weight over time ”
Fasinating, reminds me of a great TED talk about this: "Are athletes really getting bigger, faster, stronger?" link to this video tl;dr: no
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Are athletes really getting faster, better, stronger? | David Epstein
TED
28M subscribers • 27 videos on Rounds
- Recommended by 3 people, in Hacker News, across 3 different months.
- Presented by David Epstein, as the video describes them
For anyone, no background needed. Education, not medical advice.
7M views12 years ago3 recommendations
ExerciseHow the body worksExercise physiologyGenetics and genomicsPhysiology
David Epstein explains how technology, genetics, and changing body types have contributed to the dramatic improvement in athletic records over time.
When you look at sporting achievements over the last decades, it seems like humans have gotten faster, better and stronger in nearly every way. Yet as David Epstein points out in this delightfully counter-intuitive talk, we might want to lay off the self-congratulation. Many factors are at play in shattering athletic records, and the development of our natural talents is just one of them. TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and much more. Find closed captions and translated subtitles in many languages at ted.com/translate Follow TED news on Twitter: twitter.com/tednews Like TED on Facebook: facebook.com/TED Subscribe to our channel: youtube.com/user/TEDtalksDirectorWhy it's here
3 people recommend thisWhat people say. Recommended for its fascinating insights into how technology and genetic selection, rather than human evolution, drive athletic progress.
code_slothin Hacker News • Recommends
On “I Was the Fastest Girl in America, Until I Joined Nike”
Professional sports today are the more result of artificial selection of people that have specialized bodies for their sport. Relevant TED talk: link to this video
aledalgrandein Hacker News • Recommends
On “How the Nike Vaporfly War Was Lost”
I can attest that running on a thick plated pair of shoes like the Zoom Fly SP I had is exhilarating, especially after training in other "normal" shoes. I see how the competition should measure athleticism and not a sponsor/athlete unit, but all recent records have been broken because of technology, let's be honest. I suggest you watch this TEDx for reference: link to this video