Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

This article comes from the official account of Wechat: SF Chinese (ID:kexuejiaodian), author: SF

The DC superhero movie Flash is shown in China. In the movie, the Flash uses his super-speed ability to travel through time and space and go back to the past in order to change history and save his parents. In the real world, can human beings achieve this speed? Can the human body support and withstand this speed?

/ tr. by Stephen Kelly (Stephen Kelly)

Translation | Li Shijie

Editor | Zhao Jiaming

There is no clear consensus between DC officials and all fans on how fast the Flash can run. For example, in the first comic book story, the Flash runs at a speed of 4000 kilometers per hour, which is faster than most supersonic fighters. In the DC superhero movie Justice League, he can run faster than the speed of light (about 300,000 kilometers per second). At this speed, the Flash can even break the laws of physics and turn back time-yes, breaking all the laws of physics, traveling through time and space is one of the Flash's superpowers.

Although we don't know how fast the Flash can run, what is certain is that for ordinary people like you and me, running as fast as the Flash is impossible and dangerous. This is because, in the real world, if we move at that high speed, our faces will melt due to the heat generated by running at high speed, and our legs will break. You can imagine, we usually fitness, exercise has been very hard, many partners' bodies are a little too much to bear, let alone running at a speed of 4000 kilometers per hour.

How fast can humans run? In the real world, human beings are not good at running animals. We can take a look at the human running speed closest to the Flash, the former sprint world champion and world record holder Usain Bolt (Usain Bolt). In 2009, at the World Athletics Championships in Berlin, Bolt set a new men's 100-meter world record with a time of 9.58 seconds, with a top speed of 43 kilometers per hour. It can be said that Bolt is already the fastest human in the world, but his running speed is still unmatched compared with the Flash's speed of 4000 kilometers per hour.

Some friends may ask, is Bolt's speed the limit of human running speed? So far, no one has been able to break the 100-meter world record set by Bolt. And according to Mark Mark Denny, a biology professor at Stanford University, Bolt's record may never be broken.

Bolt's running speed has fallen far short of that of the Flash, and even most humans will not be able to reach Bolt's running speed in their lifetime, let alone catch up with the Flash. Does that mean that humans really can't walk as fast as the Flash?

The answer is clear: unless the structure of human bones and muscles can be optimized in the future, our physiological limit speed is unlikely to increase. This is also in line with the setting of the DC comic world, Flash was originally an ordinary person, he was influenced by chemicals to acquire superpowers.

In 2008, Professor Danny published a paper analyzing the fastest speed of track and field events since the 1920s, as well as the fastest speed of dog and horse races. After research and analysis, Professor Danny found such a rule: in all running races, the results of a project will be roughly stable at the same level, and some of them even show a downward trend.

For example, in horse racing, the record set by the legendary American Triple Crown King Secretariat (Secretariat) in the 1973 Belmont Championship has not yet been broken. " Since then, no racehorse has been able to get close to the record set by the Secretariat, "Professor Danny said." humans have been committed to breeding horses to make them run faster, but later horses have never been able to surpass the Secretariat's achievements. It can be seen that physiological limits do exist. "

What about humans? Professor Danny made a bold prediction based on the data available: 9.48 seconds is the limit of the human 100-meter dash, which is only 0.1 seconds faster than Bolt's record. "people are very disappointed with our prediction." "people always want the world record to be broken," Professor Danny said. Bolt had a chance to finish the feat in 9.48 seconds, but then he got older. I really hope he can run this result, but our physical limit is there. "

Why is the human body not suitable for super-high-speed running? Professor Danny believes that human beings have speed limits because the human body itself has the most basic biological limits. In other words, the structure of the human body determines that human beings cannot run so fast. You can look at quadrupeds like cheetahs, which weigh less and have more flexible spines. This advantage in physical structure makes them very suitable for sprinting. By contrast, bipeds like humans have an advantage in long-distance running. In fact, it can be said that of all the animals, human beings are probably the best at jogging over long distances.

Can humans break through this speed limit? The speed at which we run is determined by the speed at which muscles contract. "the speed at which muscles contract depends on the interaction between actin and myosin, the two key components of muscle fibers." Professor Danny explained, "you can gain an advantage by increasing the length of muscle fibers, but not if it's too long." Usain Bolt is 196 centimeters tall and even 2 meters tall. But even so, the capacity of tendons and bones is limited. If you are too tall, the muscle fibers are indeed very long, but the pressure on the bones is also heavier. In this way, your bones need to become stronger in order to ensure your normal activity. If you want to make your bones stronger, your bones will become heavier accordingly, which runs counter to our original intention. How can you run fast when your bones are getting heavier? "

Professor Danny believes that the only way to break these biological limits is with the help of genetic engineering. However, don't expect humans to run as fast as the Flash. "but genetic engineering is very likely to make our muscles stronger and legs longer. Or make local fine-tuning, such as transplanting specific muscles to other places."

This sounds incredible and worrying. Stimulants have done enough harm to the human body, and similar excesses in order to break the physiological limit seem to outweigh the gain.

Welcome to subscribe "Shulou Technology Information " to get latest news, interesting things and hot topics in the IT industry, and controls the hottest and latest Internet news, technology news and IT industry trends.