Why Are Some World Records So Hard to Break?

Why are some athletes able to crush world records when other records remain unbroken for years? The answer has to do with the kind of materials used in the competition and the type of athletic event one is competing in. Hank Green explains in this episode of SciShow. This episode is inspired and brought to you by the upcoming Focus Features film, RACE, which releases nationwide on February 19th. Race Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3ZF5b0zu00 Hosted by: Hank Green ---------- Dooblydoo thanks go to the following Patreon supporters -- we couldn t make SciShow without them! Shout out to Justin Ove, Justin Lentz, David Campos, Chris Peters, Philippe von Bergen, Fatima Iqbal, John Murrin, Linnea Boyev, and Kathy & Tim Philip. ---------- Like SciShow? Want to help support us, and also get things to put on your walls, cover your torso and hold your liquids? Check out our awesome products over at DFTBA Records: http://dftba.com/scishow Or help support us by becoming our patron on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/scishow ---------- Looking for SciShow elsewhere on the internet? Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/scishow Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/scishow Tumblr: http://scishow.tumblr.com Instagram: http://instagram.com/thescishow Sources: http://www.runnersworld.com/newswire/ultimate-100-meter-time-927-seconds http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2011/nov/15/usain-bolt-sprinters-100m https://www.ted.com/talks/david_epstein_are_athletes_really_getting_faster_better_stronger/transcript http://www.gizmag.com/usain-bolt-fastest-man-physics-analysis/28457/ https://harvardsportsanalysis.wordpress.com/2012/07/21/swimming-on-steroids-the-suits-that-brought-down-records/ http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-speedo-created-swimsuit/ https://spinoff.nasa.gov/Spinoff2008/ch_4.html http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2008/issue47-2/ http://illumin.usc.edu/143/soaring-to-new-heights-the-evolution-of-pole-vaulting-and-pole-materials/ https://www.brunel.ac.uk/~spstnpl/Publications/Ch12Athletics(Linthorne).pdf http://trackandfield.about.com/od/worldrecords/fl/Menrsquos-Pole-Vault-World-Records.htm Images: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Owens#/media/File:Jesse_Owens3.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LZR_Racer#/media/File:Phelps4x100.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LZR_Racer#/media/File:Unveiling_of_LZR_Racer_in_NYC_2008-02-13.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pole_vault#/media/File:Pole_vaulting_LOC_det.4a15081.jpg