BREAKING THE SPEED LIMIT No one has run 100 meters faster than sprinter Usain Bolt, pictured on the track in Berlin in August 2009. But even he has not yet reached the predicted maximum velocity for the human body. Hannibal/EPA/CorbisPROSTHETICS’ EDGE Peter Weyand has studied whether sprinter Oscar Pistorius’ artificial limbs confer a biomechanical advantage. Rice University
Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt secured his claim as the world’s fastest human in August when he ran 100 meters in 9.58 seconds, reaching a top speed of nearly 28 miles per hour. One day, no doubt, someone will sprint faster still. Perhaps by then, scientists may better understand why all speed records made have eventually been broken.
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