Deri,

That was my thought too.  A metabolic advantage is quite different
from a mechanical advantage.  The "spring" provided by Pistorius'
prostheses may not provide a metabolic advantage (i.e., alter the
amount of energy consumed, calories burned, glycolisis, etc.), but by
providing a mechanical advantage, he might do better. Meir might be on
to something with his "cartoon jumps."  It would be nice to have a
disability be an advantage for once in something other than standing
in line, though!

On Fri, May 16, 2008 at 3:14 PM, Deri James <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> On Friday 16 May 2008 19:22:23 Meir Weiss wrote:
>>  sorry
>>
>> Pressed send too fast.
>>
>> Yeah that's it
>>
>> And the tazmanian devil etc ')
>>
>> That's my point
>>
>>  you might think thjat there is a physics/ physical advantage to this cool
>> new fangled foot.
>>
>> APPARENTLY not.
>
> Well the actual article says:-
>
> "The IAAF based its January decision on studies by German professor Gert-Peter
> Brueggemann, who said the J-shaped "Cheetah" blades were energy efficient.
>
> Pistorius' lawyers countered with independent tests conducted by a team led by
> MIT professor Hugh M. Herr that claimed to show he doesn't gain any advantage
> over able-bodied runners."
>
> and
>
> "The panel was not persuaded that there was sufficient evidence of any
> metabolic advantage in favor of a double-amputee using the Cheetah
> Flex-Foot,"
>
> So, as the panel only made its decision on whether there was a metabolic
> advantage or not, a lighter prosthetic with slightly longer levers may
> produce a similar metabolic rate, but the extension in stride would be
> unfair.
>
> Cheers
>
> Deri
>
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-- 


Kendall

An unreasonable man (but my wife says that's redundant!)

The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one
persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all
progress depends on the unreasonable man.

-George Bernard Shaw 1856-1950

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