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Marathon milestone
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Pregnancy
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Pollution linked to miscarriage risk
Marathon milestone Eliud Kipchoge’s historic sub-2-hour marathon comes years ahead of sport scientists’ predictions, reports Adam Vaughan TWO years after missing out on a 2-hour marathon by only 25 seconds, Eliud Kipchoge has become the first person ever to run 42.2 kilometres in less than 2 hours. He ended the run in Vienna, Austria, on 12 October, smiling and pointing to the crowd as he accelerated through the final kilometre to finish in 1:59:40. The feat won’t be recognised as an official world marathon record because it wasn’t a race and the elite athlete was assisted by a pace car and a rotating team of 41 pacemakers. Nevertheless, Kipchoge’s achievement is undoubtedly historic. And the following day, Brigid Kosgei set a women’s
world marathon record of 2:14:04 in the Chicago Marathon. These feats show how far sports science has come. “Many of the leading scientists didn’t really see [a sub-2-hour marathon] happening in the next couple of years,” says Stephen Mears at Loughborough University, UK. The marathon record was just under 3 hours at the start of the 20th century, but it quickly fell in the following decades due to improvements in technology, training and nutrition, says Mears. Roger Bannister broke the 4-minute mile in part because of interval training, for example. There have been other developments too, such as a growing grasp of the role our
minds play in capping athletic performance. Mears describes Kipchoge as a “once-in-a-lifetime athlete”. He probably has superb VO2 max – the maximum amount of oxygen the body can utilise – and exceptional running economy, meaning he uses energy extremely efficiently. Kipchoge’s second effort at sub‑2-hours involved small improvements to many different aspects of the race, says Mears. The formation of pacers around him was precisely tweaked and the car was slightly further ahead than before. The drinking strategy was different, the weather better, the course flatter, his shoes slightly modified – and this time there was a supporting crowd. ❚
HIGH levels of air pollution may increase the chance of a missed miscarriage, according to data from pregnant women living and working in Beijing, China. A missed or silent miscarriage is when a fetus dies or stops developing during pregnancy, usually without any symptoms. Such miscarriages tend to happen in the first trimester, and can be picked up on 12-week scans. Little is known about what causes them. Liqiang Zhang at Beijing Normal University and his colleagues assessed the health records of 17,500 women in Beijing who had a missed miscarriage in their first trimester. They also collected data on the levels of air pollutants close to where the women lived and worked. Those exposed to higher levels of air pollution had an increased risk of a missed miscarriage. The team didn’t directly test if the link was causal, but there is growing evidence that air pollutants
“There is growing evidence that air pollutants can reach a developing fetus” can reach and potentially harm a developing fetus (Nature Sustainability, doi.org/dcnh). Zhang’s team also found that, since China’s government issued rules to reduce pollution in 2013, air pollutant levels have declined, as has the risk of missed miscarriage. ❚ 19 October 2019 | New Scientist | 7
Lyme disease Are prolonged cases really chronic fatigue syndrome? p12
Eternal wormhole Quantum weirdness means stargates could persist p14
Deep-sea bacteria Angler fish may shed luminous microbes p15
Green economy The US has 10 times more green jobs than fossil fuel jobs p16
Pregnancy
XINHUA/ALAMY
Pollution linked to miscarriage risk
Marathon milestone Eliud Kipchoge’s historic sub-2-hour marathon comes years ahead of sport scientists’ predictions, reports Adam Vaughan TWO years after missing out on a 2-hour marathon by only 25 seconds, Eliud Kipchoge has become the first person ever to run 42.2 kilometres in less than 2 hours. He ended the run in Vienna, Austria, on 12 October, smiling and pointing to the crowd as he accelerated through the final kilometre to finish in 1:59:40. The feat won’t be recognised as an official world marathon record because it wasn’t a race and the elite athlete was assisted by a pace car and a rotating team of 41 pacemakers. Nevertheless, Kipchoge’s achievement is undoubtedly historic. And the following day, Brigid Kosgei set a women’s
world marathon record of 2:14:04 in the Chicago Marathon. These feats show how far sports science has come. “Many of the leading scientists didn’t really see [a sub-2-hour marathon] happening in the next couple of years,” says Stephen Mears at Loughborough University, UK. The marathon record was just under 3 hours at the start of the 20th century, but it quickly fell in the following decades due to improvements in technology, training and nutrition, says Mears. Roger Bannister broke the 4-minute mile in part because of interval training, for example. There have been other developments too, such as a growing grasp of the role our
minds play in capping athletic performance. Mears describes Kipchoge as a “once-in-a-lifetime athlete”. He probably has superb VO2 max – the maximum amount of oxygen the body can utilise – and exceptional running economy, meaning he uses energy extremely efficiently. Kipchoge’s second effort at sub‑2-hours involved small improvements to many different aspects of the race, says Mears. The formation of pacers around him was precisely tweaked and the car was slightly further ahead than before. The drinking strategy was different, the weather better, the course flatter, his shoes slightly modified – and this time there was a supporting crowd. ❚
HIGH levels of air pollution may increase the chance of a missed miscarriage, according to data from pregnant women living and working in Beijing, China. A missed or silent miscarriage is when a fetus dies or stops developing during pregnancy, usually without any symptoms. Such miscarriages tend to happen in the first trimester, and can be picked up on 12-week scans. Little is known about what causes them. Liqiang Zhang at Beijing Normal University and his colleagues assessed the health records of 17,500 women in Beijing who had a missed miscarriage in their first trimester. They also collected data on the levels of air pollutants close to where the women lived and worked. Those exposed to higher levels of air pollution had an increased risk of a missed miscarriage. The team didn’t directly test if the link was causal, but there is growing evidence that air pollutants
“There is growing evidence that air pollutants can reach a developing fetus” can reach and potentially harm a developing fetus (Nature Sustainability, doi.org/dcnh). Zhang’s team also found that, since China’s government issued rules to reduce pollution in 2013, air pollutant levels have declined, as has the risk of missed miscarriage. ❚ 19 October 2019 | New Scientist | 7