Tag: sports

Olympic technology 2000

“Faster, higher, stronger” are the oft-stated goals of Olympic athletes. Increasingly, science and technology are helping them to achieve those goals. This year, the technological focus is on swimming. Until recently, the goal of swimmers seemed to be to wear bathing suits that preserved the illusion of modesty with as little material as possible, the …

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Football physics

This Sunday in Vancouver, thousands of people will gather to watch an impressive demonstration of momentum, mass, drag and other basic physics provided by highly trained specialists from Hamilton and Calgary.  This scientific exposition is called “the Grey Cup.” One interesting demonstration will be the forward pass.  A football moving through the air has inertia–the universal tendency …

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Skateboarding

Skateboarders have become as much a part of the urban landscape as pigeons, scooting down the roads and sidewalks, jumping over curbs, turning any ramp, railing or set of steps into an excuse for acrobatics–seemingly defying the laws of physics. Skateboarding may seem like the ultimate in turn-of-the-millennium hipness, but it’s been around a long …

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Bouncing balls

Summer is high sports season, and most of the games being played involve balls: baseballs, tennis balls, volleyballs, soccer balls. At first glance, every ball appears much the same as every other ball: round and bouncy. The only thing that’s different is the size. But in fact, each ball is designed specifically for the sport …

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Scuba diving

Now that winter has descended upon us in earnest, many Canadians are planning a trip south to Florida or the Caribbean, where they’ll bask in the warm sun, eat exotic foods–and maybe even try a little scuba diving. “Scuba” is a word in its own right now, but originally it was an acronym for “Self-Contained …

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Home runs

It’s World Series time again, and it’s shaping up to be an exciting one–but for me, nothing can equal the excitement of the 1909 Series. I remember it like it was yesterday. The smell of the grass, the roar of the crowd, as I made my way to the mound to start for the Detroit …

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The world land speed record attempt

Right now, on a dry lake bed in Black Rock, Nevada, two teams are locked in a fierce competition. Using exotic, jet-propelled vehicles, they’re striving to break the sound barrier–on land. In the process, they’re pushing technology to its limits. What makes the competition even more interesting is the contrast between the two teams. On …

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Golf technology

If I had to name two sports that are heavily technology-driven, I’d probably name auto racing–and golf. Auto racing is an obvious choice. But golf? Golf looks so simple. A player, a club, a ball, a hole. Player swings club, hits ball, puts it into hole. Where’s the technology in that? If you have to …

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Sports injuries

  Ah, warmer weather at last! Time to get out there and throw that–ouch!–ball, and swing that–ooh!–golf club, and jog around the–oof!–lake…and then, more than likely, turn on that–aah!–heating pad, fill that–mmm–ice pack, and slip into–whew!–bed. Yes, ’tis the season for athletic injuries, as those who haven’t done anything except shovel snow for half a …

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Olympic technology 1996

At a speed-skating meet in Norway in the 1960s, Canadian Paul Enoch smashed a world record by three seconds. He did it wearing a pair of his wife’s skintight nylon stockings–in an age when most skaters still wore flapping woolen garments. A year later, the first skin-tight nylon racing suit was released on the market. …

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Footballs in flight

In case you haven’t heard, there’s a little football game being played over at Taylor Field next Sunday between a team from Calgary and a team from Baltimore. Canadian football is known as a pass-happy game, so I thought I’d delve into the aerodynamics of a flying football. Football aerodynamics, however, isn’t something you just …

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Running shoes

I have the flattest feet of anyone I know, so running is not something I do if I can avoid it. When it comes time to purchase running shoes, therefore, I simply walk into the store, pick out something inexpensive in my size, and walk out again. The decision is far harder, I am told, …

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