Vassar College Digital Library

Vassar Scholarship

Vassar Scholarship, the institutional repository formerly known as Digital Window, reflects the research and scholarly output of the Vassar College community.  It provides access to a variety of collections, including senior theses and projects across a wide range of disciplines.

"It's Gotta be the Shoes": A Case Study on Shoes, Distance Running, and Technology in Sport

Publication Date
2021-January-01
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Abstract

Over one weekend at the beginning of October 2019, Eliud Kipchoge's sub-two-hour marathon in the INEOS 1:59 Challenge and Brigid Kosgei's world-record-breaking Chicago Marathon win reset the clock in terms of what was believed to be humanly possible in the...

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Automatic control: the vertebral column of dogfish sharks behaves as a continuously variable transmission with smoothly shifting functions

Publication Date
2016-July-07
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Abstract

During swimming in dogfish sharks, Squalus acanthias, both the intervertebral joints and the vertebral centra undergo significant strain. To investigate this system, unique among vertebrates, we cyclically bent isolated segments of 10 vertebrae and nine joints….

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Beyoncé decoded: deconstructing originality in the contemporary age

Publication Date
2016-January-01
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Authors
Department or Program
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Abstract

This thesis explores the success of Beyoncé's self-titled album in relation to the idea of originality within music. As members of the public, we assume that what sets superstars apart from novice musicians is an element of originality. However, more...

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Built for speed: strain in the cartilaginous vertebral columns of sharks

Publication Date
2014-February-01
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Document Type
Abstract

In most bony fishes vertebral column strain during locomotion is almost exclusively in the intervertebral joints, and when these joints move there is the potential to store and release strain energy. Since cartilaginous fishes have poorly mineralized vertebral centra, we...

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Testing biological hypotheses with embodied robots: adaptations, accidents, and by-products in the evolution of vertebrates

Publication Date
2014-November-12
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Document Type
Abstract

Evolutionary robotics allows biologists to test hypotheses about extinct animals. In our case, we modeled some of the first vertebrates, jawless fishes, in order to study the evolution of the trait after which vertebrates are named: vertebrae. …

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