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Yomiuri Shimbun
2 days ago
- Science
- Yomiuri Shimbun
4 Ways Women Are Physically Stronger Than Men
Pete Schreiner Tara Dower in September 2024, when she became the fastest person to complete the Appalachian Trail. In September, Tara Dower became the fastest person ever to complete the Appalachian Trail. Her record – 40 days, 18 hours and 6 minutes – was 13 hours faster than the previous record holder, a man. That same year, 18-year-old Audrey Jimenez made history in Arizona as the first girl to win a Division 1 high school state wrestling title – competing against boys. Across a variety of sports, women are not just catching up after generations of exclusion from athletics – they're setting the pace. In ultramarathons, women regularly outperform men, especially as distances stretch toward the extreme. Jasmin Paris, who in 2024 became one of only 20 people ever to finish the brutal 100-mile Barkley Marathons race in under 60 hours – while pumping breast milk. In long-distance swimming, female athletes now so routinely excel that within the community, their records are just part of the sport. In climbing last year, Barbara 'Babsi' Zangerl became the first person, man or woman, ever to 'flash' – climb without prior practice and sans falls – the towering Yosemite rock formation El Capitan in under three days. These aren't just athletic feats. They're cultural resets. Experts say we're finally waking up to what women's bodies are capable of. And it's not just young women blazing new physical trails. 'In the Masters 70-plus, they just set a record for the women's deadlift,' says exercise physiologist Stacy Sims, who teaches at Stanford University and the Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand. 'Older women are demonstrating that 'I am strong and I can do this.'' Built to endure Generally, discussions of 'strength' have meant brute force and speed over short distances – qualities historically associated with male physiology. But stamina, recovery, resilience and adaptability are as essential to athletic performance. And in those areas, female physiology holds real advantages, experts in sports science, human physiology, and biological anthropology have found. The myth of female fragility is relatively modern. For most of human history, women were hauling gear, tracking prey, and walking eight to 10 miles a day – often while pregnant, menstruating, nursing or carrying children (one estimate found that hunter-gatherer women covered more than 3,000 miles in a child's first four years of life). That evolutionary foundation undergirds today's feats, experts say. 'Female bodies have superior fatigue resistance,' says Sophia Nimphius, pro-vice-chancellor of sport at Edith Cowan University in Perth, Australia. In test after test, female muscles outlast men's when doing repetitive, if lower-weight, work, according to the pioneering research of Sandra Hunter, an exercise physiologist at the University of Michigan. Hunter's research – and others since – has shown that women's muscles fatigue more slowly than men's, so they can knock out more reps, more consistently. Men might start strong with heavier lifts, but when the workout gets long? Women can keep going, sometimes twice as long, or longer, outlasting even the most jacked guys. That endurance capacity is likely due to female bodies preferentially using slow-burning fat over quickly exhausted carbohydrates, in both athletes and less sporty people, studies have shown. In addition to using fat for staying power, fatigue-resistant slow-twitch muscle fibers are generally more common in women's bodies (though all bodies vary in their proportion of muscle fibers according to individual genetics). This muscle type is also more efficient than fast-twitch, which are generally higher in men's muscles. 'Our muscles do more with less,' Nimphius says. Recovery and resilience Beyond endurance, several small studies on sprinting and heavy weightlifting have shown that women also recover from hard workouts more quickly. Slow-twitch muscles inherently have a higher capacity to recover, but the female advantage may also be explained by faster healing: A study shows two times faster muscle repair rates for female mice (though mice studies don't always translate to humans). The reason? There's strong evidence that estrogen reduces inflammation and supports muscle repair (one reason that Sims recommends postmenopausal women get targeted training support and recovery time). However, some studies show that women are more prone to other kinds of sports injuries, especially certain kinds of knee and ACL injuries, but it's not yet known whether that's explained by biomechanical differences in bodies, hormones, or poor training. Some researchers say the greater injury rates in women are because existing research is based on men's bodies: 'Female bodies are different – I tell [women] the protocols you're applying aren't meant for your body,' says Sims. Feats of bodily strength – in both ordinary women and trained athletes – are more than just purely physical. Many experts on competitive strength remark on this mental aspect of female endurance: 'I do think that there is a mental grit, a resilience factor that helps women go to a place in their mind – a state that allows them to continue to push to the limit,' says Emily Kraus, director of the Female Athlete Science and Translational Research (FASTR) Program at Stanford University. A changing future Men have usually defined strength by what their bodies tend to be good at, but max bench presses or fastest sprint times, both of which men tend to excel at, are just a few ways to test the human body. If we instead focused on endurance, resilience, longevity and recovery, the narrative of who is 'strong' would probably have a female form, many experts say. Currently, young female athletes still don't receive the same level of encouragement, training, and scientific attention as boys, Nimphius says. Research into girl's and women's health, while slowly improving, still lags – just 6 percent of sports and exercise research has looked exclusively at female bodies, according to a 2021 study. Considering all the wins for women already, what would the landscape look like if we designed sports science around female physiology – rather than downsizing routines created for men? The current generation of women athletes is challenging the very architecture of athleticism. Soon, experts say, they will have better information to help female athletes understand and train, and that will be true for weekend warriors and 5k racing types as well. Ongoing and anticipated sports science studies will be 'a game changer for girls and women – not just now, but in five, ten, fifteen years from now,' Kraus says. 'And that's really exciting.' Four things women's bodies do exceptionally well – Pain tolerance Human bodies endure all kinds of pain – from menstrual cramps and childbirth to back injuries and broken bones. Pain is subjective, so difficult to measure, but most research agrees with your grandma – women seem to handle pain better. Athletes are pain experts, and numerous studies show that they have higher pain tolerance than non-athletes – and when you break it down by sex, the limited research shows that female athletes don't differ from their male counterparts' pain tolerance despite higher pain sensitivity and that women are more likely to play through injuries. This is probably due to both biology and experience, says Sophia Nimphius, pro-vice-chancellor of sport at Edith Cowan University in Perth, Australia. A 1981 study put it plainly: 'Female athletes had the highest pain tolerance and threshold.' – Immunity Among mammals, including humans, it is widely accepted that females have stronger immune systems than males. That's due to the power of estrogen, and also of the XX chromosome carried by women but not men, which provides more variability in immune function. As the University of Minnesota evolutionary biologist Marlene Zuk wrote in a 2009 article, 'There is no contest about the identity of the sicker sex – it is males, almost every time. Everyone knows that old age homes have more widows than widowers, but the disparity extends far beyond the elderly.' (There is a downside though; the majority of autoimmune disease patients are female. It's the cost that women bear for an aggressive immune system.) – Resilience Women's bodies seem better built for the long haul – less wear and tear, more staying power, according to the limited research. The data on long-term exercise suggests women may also pay a lower price for physical strain. For instance, the British Heart Foundation studied the vascular condition of 300 Masters' athletes (meaning over age 40), that included a mix of long-distance runners, cyclists, rowers and swimmers. In men, vascular aging increased among the athletes – by some markers up to 10 years, increasing their risk of cardiovascular issues. Among the female athletes, the reverse was true, they had biologically younger vascular systems, lowering their risk of heart problems. – Longevity Arguably, the truest test of any body is longevity. And with rare exceptions, no matter the species or culture, women live longer. That's partly behavioral – men tend to take more risks that can kill them – but it's also biological. Women tend to survive disease, starvation and injury at higher rates than men do. Studies have shown that the Y chromosome, which is unique to men, can degrade over time – a phenomenon known as mosaic loss of Y. This degradation has been linked to a range of health issues in men, including increased risks of heart disease and cancer.
NZ Herald
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- NZ Herald
Popular Auckland restaurant Tokki announces impending closure
The Tokki announcement said the team were 'stepping away not out of loss, but to make space for new beginnings'. 'We thank you, our guests, friends and supporters for being a part of this chapter. We hope to welcome you in the coming weeks as we celebrate Tokki's final season.' The restaurant's last day of service will be Saturday, June 21. Tokki chef and owner Jason Kim migrated to New Zealand when he was 13. His family opened a small Korean restaurant in Birkenhead. After working in the family business, Kim earned a Diploma in Culinary Arts at Auckland University of Technology, while gaining experience in some of Auckland's leading eateries such as Jervois Steak House and Euro. He worked alongside chef Sid Sahrawat at The Grove and Sidart before opening his own restaurant, Gochu, in Auckland's Commercial Bay in 2020. Kim opened Tokki in 2022. The restaurant's name is a direct translation of the Korean word for rabbit. According to its website, the animal serves as the restaurant's symbol because Kim was born in 1987, a year of the rabbit. 'Tokki was born to represent our head chef Jason Kim's spiritual animal, with the main purpose of encouraging customers through a Korean taste palette adventure like no other,' the website said. The restaurant implored customers to follow it 'down the rabbit hole into Jason's culinary adventures'. Reviewing the restaurant shortly after it opened, Viva's resident dining-out editor Jesse Mulligan praised the 'sensational' food. 'It's all a great mix of refined cheffery and hot comfort food and, between courses, you get to enjoy the room and drink from one of the best short wine lists in the city,' Mulligan wrote. 'For a local, this is a no-brainer; for those south of the bridge, it's worth a special trip.' The Milford restaurant featured in Viva's Top 60 Auckland Restaurants For 2024, with deputy editor Johanna Thornton saying Kim had 'brought some magic to Milford' with a 'charming 26-seat restaurant serving a seasonal, Korean-inspired menu alongside a serious, 12-page drinks list that includes standout New Zealand wineries and rare cellar bottles'. The restaurant is welcoming customers until its last service and will honour all outstanding vouchers up to this date. 'If you have a Tokki gift voucher, we warmly encourage you to visit us and use it before our final day of service.' The closure is the latest in a string of hospitality shutdowns. Last month, Ponsonby Road Bistro owner Blair Russell announced he was closing the business after 18 years, with the restaurant having its last dinner service on May 3. In April, Sid and Chand Sahrawat announced they would close their restaurant Kol, citing challenging trading conditions.
Scoop
22-05-2025
- Health
- Scoop
AUT University
Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makau Rau AUT is the fastest growing and second largest university in New Zealand. We have been a university since 2000, but a place of learning for 120 years and operate in accordance with the Education Act (1989). AUT University - Latest News [Page 1] Trans Tasman AI Collaboration Links High School Students With Trailblazer AUT Vice-Chancellor, Professor Damon Salesa, says that as New Zealand's only university of technology, AUT is proud to collaborate on initiatives that harness the power of technology to shape a better future. More >> 'RunIt' Contact Event Poses Serious Risk To Brain Health, Says Leading Sports Scientist Tuesday, 20 May 2025, 9:48 am | Auckland University of Technology The 'RunIt' event, which involves participants sprinting directly at each other in high-speed collisions, has been widely criticised by medical professionals and researchers. Despite its viral popularity online, Professor Hume says the format ... More >> Lindsay Foundation Gait Lab Reopens To Support NZ Children Wednesday, 14 May 2025, 1:28 pm | Auckland University of Technology The lab, which has been a cornerstone of the National Clinical Gait Analysis Service in conjunction with Starship Child Health for over a decade, continues its mission to assess and support children and young people with complex walking issues. More >> Auckland At 15 - Auckland Is United On What Matters Yet Divided On Delivery Wednesday, 7 May 2025, 3:48 pm | Auckland University of Technology Latest research sets scene for a new Auckland agenda. More >> AUT And Abbott Team Up To Tackle Concussions & Women's Health Wednesday, 30 April 2025, 12:10 pm | AUT Under the collaboration, Abbott has installed the ARCHITECT® ci4100 analyser, one of its Core Laboratory platforms, in AUT's SPRINZ biochemistry lab at AUT Millennium, a hub for many of New Zealand's high-performance sports organisations and Olympic ... 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More >> New AUT Research Shows Online Gaming A Predictor Of Gambling Harm Thursday, 14 November 2024, 6:30 am | Auckland University of Technology The study showed that gambling participation by the group was low and infrequent, and risk factors and gambling harms were not specific to Pacific people in that they were generally as would be expected among the general population. More >> Alarming Differences In Incidence And Mortality Of Devastating Brain Haemorrhage Across NZ Monday, 14 October 2024, 2:58 pm | Auckland University of Technology Despite a relatively low mean age among the working-age population in Aotearoa, SAH is the most devastating type of stroke, killing almost half of those affected. More >> New Study Reveals 'Massive' Impact Of Concussions On NZ Incomes And Employment Thursday, 26 September 2024, 7:18 am | AUT The study found that after sustaining a brain injury, employment and earnings do not recover quickly; instead, they continue to decline over time. The study found that earning losses reach more than $3,000 in the first year after the injury and ... More >> How Aotearoa Should Deal With Increased Global Stroke Risks Identified In New Lancet Neurology Study Thursday, 19 September 2024, 11:51 am | Auckland University of Technology "The NZ priorities should be in implementing effective primary stroke prevention strategies for all individuals at increased risk of stroke, regardless of the level of the increased risk," Professor Feigin says. More >> Innovative AUT Collaboration With Southern Cross Health Trust Provides Financial Boost To Nursing Students Wednesday, 21 August 2024, 8:13 am | AUT A new partnership between AUT and the Southern Cross Health Trust offers student nurses an unprecedented level of support as they navigate their studies and clinical placements. More >> Unclear Roadside Drug Testing Risks Motorist Delays Tuesday, 20 August 2024, 12:53 pm | Auckland University of Technology Theoretically, it is possible for someone to test positive to amphetamine if they are taking dexamphetamine (an ADHD medication) depending on the sensitivity of the test. What happens to these people at the roadside? More >> Unemployment Looks To Be Getting Worse Monday, 19 August 2024, 8:19 am | Auckland University of Technology A model designed to give an early warning of a downturn in the economy is suggesting continued weakening in the labour market with an unemployment rate that may have already reached 4.8 per cent. More >> New AUT Concussion Research Could Revolutionise Understanding And Recovery Wednesday, 14 August 2024, 1:06 pm | Auckland University of Technology Newly published research from AUT has the potential to revolutionise the understanding of concussions and mild traumatic brain injuries (mTBI), including the impact of brain inflammation and ways to predict improved chances of recovery. More >> AUT Collaborates With Māori Urban Artist For Space Planning Of New Building, Tukutuku Monday, 24 June 2024, 10:06 am | Auckland University of Technology Tukutuku, at around 9000m2, is the largest development at the University's North Campus and will accommodate around 2000 students and 200 staff. It is also AUT's most sustainable building yet and on track to be the country's most efficiently ... More >> Innovative Dual Health Qualification Addresses Workforce Issues Thursday, 13 June 2024, 11:17 am | Auckland University of Technology Auckland University of Technology (AUT) has launched for the first time a double health degree and dual registration pathway within a continuous four-year course of study. More >>
Scoop
19-05-2025
- Health
- Scoop
'RunIt' Contact Event Poses Serious Risk To Brain Health, Says Leading Sports Scientist
Auckland, New Zealand – Professor Patria Hume, internationally recognised sports scientist and injury prevention expert at Auckland University of Technology (AUT), has issued a strong warning against the newly launched 'RunIt' Championship League, calling it a 'reckless and dangerous spectacle' that contradicts decades of scientific evidence on head injury risks in contact sports. The 'RunIt' event, which involves participants sprinting directly at each other in high-speed collisions, has been widely criticised by medical professionals and researchers. Despite its viral popularity online, Professor Hume says the format is 'a step backwards' in athlete safety. 'The deliberate design of this event to maximise impact is not only irresponsible—it's scientifically indefensible,' said Professor Hume. 'We've spent years building evidence-based strategies to reduce head and neck injuries in rugby and contact sports. This event ignores all of that.' Scientific Evidence Against High-Impact Collisions Research from leading New Zealand experts has consistently shown that high-speed, head-on collisions significantly increase the risk of concussion and long-term brain injury: Dr Ken Quarrie and Dr Will Hopkins found that tackles involving sprinting players resulted in injury rates 3 to 5 times higher than slower-speed tackles, with head and neck injuries being among the most common [1]. Dr Doug King has documented the cumulative effects of sub-concussive impacts in rugby league, warning of the long-term neurological consequences. Professor Alice Theadom, a psychologist at AUT, has led longitudinal studies showing that even mild traumatic brain injuries can lead to persistent cognitive and emotional symptoms. Professor Mangor Pedersen, a neuroscientist at AUT, has used advanced brain imaging to demonstrate structural brain changes in athletes exposed to repeated head trauma. 'The evidence is clear: repeated high-force impacts to the head—even without immediate symptoms—can lead to serious brain conditions,' said Professor Hume. "The posturing observed in several videos following the impacts in RunIt suggest involvement of the brainstem, and is clear indicator of neurological disruption,' said Professor Pedersen. Call for Action Professor Hume is calling on event organisers, sponsors, and public health authorities to reconsider the promotion of 'RunIt' and similar events. 'This is not innovation—it's exploitation. We should be protecting athletes, not putting them in harm's way for entertainment.' She also urges the public to think critically about the content they consume and support. 'We all have a role to play in shaping the future of sport. Let's choose safety, science, and sustainability over spectacle.'
Observer
12-05-2025
- Science
- Observer
It Took a Century to Find This Colossal Squid
In March, Kat Bolstad returned from an Antarctic expedition where she had used a new camera system specially built to search for the elusive colossal squid. No one had captured footage of one of these animals swimming in the deep sea. She didn't spot one on this voyage either. On the day she left the ship, though, Bolstad, a deep sea cephalopod biologist, learned about a recent video taken March 9 from the South Sandwich Islands. A team searching for new marine life and remotely using a Schmidt Ocean Institute submersible, had happened upon a young cephalopod, and people wanted Bolstad's help identifying it. The juvenile was about 30 centimeters long (a little less than a foot), with a transparent body, delicate arms and brown spots. It was a colossal squid. 'Pretty much as soon as I saw the footage, I knew there was a good chance,' said Bolstad, a cephalopod biologist at the Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand. She consults remotely for Schmidt's Antarctic work. It's been 100 years since the colossal squid was formally described in a scientific paper. In its adult form, the animal is larger than the giant squid, or any other invertebrate on Earth, and can grow to 6 or 7 meters long, or up to 23 feet. Scientists' first good look at the species in 1925 was incomplete — just arm fragments from two squid in the belly of a sperm whale. Adults are thought to spend most of their time in the deep ocean. A full-grown colossal squid occasionally appears at the ocean's surface, drawn up to a fishing boat while it's 'chewing on' a hooked fish, Bolstad said. Younger specimens have turned up in trawl nets. Yet until now, humans had not witnessed a colossal squid at home, swimming in the deep Antarctic sea. One reason they're so elusive is the sheer size of that home. Additionally, the squid are probably avoiding us, Bolstad said. 'They're very aware of their surroundings, because any disturbance in the water column around them might mean a predator.' Sperm whales, the squid's main predator, can dive up to 2 kilometers (1.25 miles). Perhaps to help them avoid the whales, colossal squid have evolved the world's largest eyes — bigger than a basketball. They also have 'a unique combination of suckers and hooks on the arms and the tentacles,' Bolstad said, which is how she was able to confirm that the young sea creature in the new footage was a colossal squid. The footage was taken by a remotely operated submersible called SuBastian, which the Schmidt Ocean Institute uses to explore the deep sea. This particular dive was a partnership with Ocean Census, an initiative to discover unknown species. The submersible stopped for a few minutes on descent to film the small, transparent cephalopod. 'I think it's very exciting,' said Christine Huffard, a biologist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in California who wasn't involved in the expedition. Huffard has used other remotely operated submersibles in her research. She said these exploratory missions have 'tremendous value.' For example, her observations of octopuses walking bipedally on the ocean floor — using two arms to stroll, and the other six to possibly camouflage themselves as a clump of algae or a coconut — happened by chance. The findings have been useful to researchers in soft robotics, she said. Capturing footage of rarely seen marine animals like the colossal squid, Huffard said, can also inform decisions about human activities like deep-sea mining. She said it would help to know where these animals spend their time, where they travel to mate or spawn, or how long they live. The young colossal squid in the video was swimming around 600 meters down, Bolstad said, not in the deeper waters where adults likely dwell. Other deep-sea squids spend their early lives in shallower waters, she said. Having a transparent body may help the baby swim undetected by predators before it descends as an opaque, reddish adult to the darker ocean. A submersible's camera can detect the squid — and transmit images instantaneously. Unlike the scientists of a century ago, who had to dig through partly digested carnage in a whale's belly, anyone could watch the Schmidt 'dive-stream' from home to be part of the moment of finding the colossal squid, Bolstad said. 'To be able to participate in these explorations and discoveries, essentially in real time, from anywhere on the planet — that's an amazing thing that humans can do.' She'll continue looking for a full-grown animal. 'I can't wait to see what a live adult colossal squid looks like, at home in the deep sea where it belongs,' she said. But she said she was also glad that the first sighting of the species in the wild was not of the adult version — an enormous, hook-wielding leviathan, but 'this beautiful early life stage that looks like a little glass sculpture.' 'I actually love that this is our first glimpse of what will become a true giant,' Bolstad said. —NYT
