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A24 TECHNOLOGY
Monday 7 october 2019
Competitors swallow transmitters to study heat effects

By PAT GRAHAM The IAAF medical team fo-
DOHA, Qatar (AP) — The cuses on body core tem-
stopwatch is only one way perature. If that number
to measure the gains ath- runs too high, it could be an
letes are making at the indication of such things as
world championships this heat stroke.
year. "Our body is the most per-
About 200 runners volun- fect machine that exists,"
teered to swallow red-and- Adami said. "We are learn-
white capsules that contain ing with this technology de-
data transmitters. It's part of vice and interpreting the
an IAAF research project messages that we normally
on the effects of heat and feel and that we would not
body-core temperatures. be paying enough atten-
They couldn't have picked tion to."
a better time or place — in All athletes competing at
Doha, where the tempera- worlds have been urged to
tures reach 100 degrees fill out a survey, where the
(38 Celsius) every day, and researchers asked ques-
less than a year removed tions involving hydration
from the Olympics in Tokyo, and acclimation plans to
where conditions are ex- brace for the Doha heat.
pected to be every bit as Distance runners can use
stifling. all the information they can
Most of the volunteers for Dr. Paolo Adami explains the use of a heat measuring sensor at the World Athletics Champion- get with Tokyo less than a
this study come from en- ships in Doha, Qatar, Monday, Sept. 30, 2019. year away. They'll be run-
durance events such as Associated Press ning in extreme heat, as
the marathon, 10,000 me- well as sunshine. Unlike
ters and race walks. The two hours before they start, ing athletes are weighed and for myself to find out these marathons, which
marathon and race walks runners in the study are before and after the race how I did throughout the are starting at midnight,
are being held outside the asked to swallow a cap- to assist in gauging hydra- competition," Groner said. next year's marathons will
air-conditioned stadium. sule — the size of a typical tion levels. She's eager to see what the go off at 6 a.m.
Temperatures have been antibiotic — that contains American marathoner Ro- results yield after her sixth- "That will be a massive dif-
around 90 (32 C) with hu- a transmitter and battery. berta Groner of Montclair, place finish. It could offer ference," Adami said.
midity above 70 percent The capsule works its way New Jersey, raised her some useful training tips Some of the teams that
each night. About 25 to into the intestines by race hand to take part in the going forward and with the reached out to partici-
40 percent of the ath- time (that's the goal, any- project. No surprise, given Olympics on the horizon. pate in the project include
letes dropped out of the way) and the medical staff her background is in nurs- For the project, IAAF part- Germany, Italy, Spain, Ja-
women's marathon and takes it from there, with ing. nered with Aspetar, an or- pan, China, Australia and
50k race walks. There are equipment set up to sync "I'll do anything for re- thopedic and sports medi- Kenya. There have been
around 20 runners taking with the transmitter after an search," Groner said. cine clinic in Doha. It's simi- individual athletes from
part in the study for the athlete finishes. The trans- Shortly after finishing the lar to the heat research cy- France, Britain and the U.S.
men's marathon Saturday. mitters record body-core midnight women's mara- cling conducted during its who wanted in on the re-
"We're learning a lot from temperatures. thon on Day 1 of worlds, 2016 world championships search, too.
these elite athletes with this In addition, there are ther- and still drenched from the in Doha. "Based on this data, ideally,
technology," said Paolo mal cameras set along the race, Groner was escorted Adami stresses the data they should be able to tai-
Emilio Adami, the health course that calculate heat over to a station, where the is only being conducted lor the needs to each ath-
and science department emission through high-def- medical staff hung a trans- for research purposes and lete," Adami said.
medical manager for the inition pictures (it's not re- mitter around her neck to can't be used to impact an As for how the device is dis-
track federation. corded through the trans- download the information. athlete during the compe- pelled — well, nature sim-
This is how it works: About mitter). And the participat- "It's good data for the sport tition since it's not real-time. ply runs its course.q

California bans ‘deep fakes’ video, audio close to elections

By KATHLEEN RONAYNE It was written in response to the bill after an altered vid-
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) a rise in the use of “deep eo that appeared to show
— California is trying to stop fake” technology that can U.S. House Speaker Nancy
people from deceptively make it appear as if some- Pelosi slurring her words cir-
editing videos and audio one is saying something or culated widely on the Inter-
in ways that are aimed at acting in a way they are net. Rudy Giuliani, the pres-
influencing elections. not. Experts have raised ident’s personal lawyer,
Legislation signed by Gov. concerns about such tech- shared the altered video
Gavin Newsom on Thursday nology’s possible use in of Pelosi on Twitter but later
bans the distribution of ma- voter disinformation cam- deleted it, the New York
nipulated videos and pic- paigns, but opponents of Times reported. President
tures that maliciously aim the law say the bill threat- Donald Trump did not share
to give someone a false ens to trample on free that video but did tweet a
impression about a politi- speech rights and may not separate video from Fox
In this Sept. 10, 2019 file photo, Assemblyman Marc Berman,
D-Palo Alto, right, talks with Assemblyman Jesse Gabriel, cal candidate’s actions or have its intended effect. Business that spliced to-
D-Encino, left, at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif. words within 60 days of an Democratic Assemblyman gether examples of Pelosi
Associated Press election. Marc Berman introduced stumbling on her words. q