Special Beijing Olympics 2008: Science and sports

Physics Today : 2008 å京奥è¿

As thousands of competitors gather in Beijing, China, for the 2008 summer Olympics, many of them over the coming weeks will be either using scientific advancements to gain a perceived performance edge, such as a new high-tech swimsuit , or applying physics subconsciously, to sail , ride , or play baseball .

Over the years the way athletes conduct sport has changed. In 708 BC, athletes would carry weights in the ancient form of the long jump. The weights, made of stone or lead, improved the jumpers’ performance, reports Steven K. Blau .

The recent Wimbledon and French Open tennis championships raised questions concerning the high-speed nature of the serves. Should drag be increased on the ball to slow the serves down? Or the tennis racket be made smaller to increase the skill required to play the game? Howard Brody from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia believes practice is more likely to win championships , not high-tech rackets, after attempting to design the perfect tennis racket. And Rod Cross takes a detailed look at ball bounce in his discussion ofthe physics of the game.

Although technology might not help tennis players, it will destroy the game of baseball, predicts Robert K. Adair from Yale University. Adair has spent years studying baseball and why aluminum bats should be banned from the game.

David E. H. Jones pondered some time ago the perplexing question of how does a bicycle keep its stability? The answer involves torsorial forces, although some centrifugal forces will be keeping the speed cyclists on the Olympic raised track.

NPR’s Andrew Prince looks at research done at George Washington University on the mechanics of the swimming in creatures such as fish and dolphins, and how its been applied to Michael Phelps’ success in the Olympic pool, with his use of the dolphin kick, the undulating, wavelike motion he makes underwater.

But air quality may prove to be the most significant factor in the athletes’ performance, and a risk to the spectators, despite the attempts by the Chinese government to reduce pollution by closing factories and banning cars. Richard Stone from Science magazine asks what happens after the games finish ?

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