05x10 - Blindfolds, Punchbags and Waterslides

[bunniefuu]

[Dallas off-screen] This
is the Science of Stupid.

Yes, this is the show that
takes serious scientific

knowledge and pairs it with
the pinnacle of stupidity.

Get ready as people with
a complete disregard for

personal safety take theory
and themselves to new lows

with eye watering results.

Then we'll delve deep to tell
you what went wrong and why

with the help of key
scientific principles,

such as reflexes,

pressure and angular momentum.

So, settle in and get
ready to feel the burn.

Watch out it's the
Science of Stupid .

In this show we'll be
looking at visual input,

uneven distribution of force,

and Bernoulli's principle.

But first this.

Now, I don't like to brag, but
before my dive career was cut

short by a rather unfortunate
swimwear related incident,

words like grace, beauty and
style were bandied about.

Mainly by me admittedly,
but a reviews a review.

Rather reminds me
of these guys here.

[Dallas off-screen]
Well, not so much him.

Yeah, or him.

He looks prepared.

But not for that.

There's nothing like a pike
or a swallow dive to enter the

water, but those are hard.

If you want more
splash for your cash,

then I'd recommend
the classic dive b*mb.

[Dallas off-screen] She
pushes off hard generating

a large reaction force
from the platform.

She tucks herself into a ball.

This rounded shape will
make a bigger splash.

A higher jump will
mean a longer fall,

which will equal a
faster impact velocity,

meaning she'll hit
the water harder.

The water is displaced
and a radial jet forms,

spreading up and out.

This is one of those times
when size really does matter.

The heavier the person
the larger the splash,

but a word of warning,
as everyone knows,

water reduces the
coefficient of friction,

increasing the
potential for a slip.

[Dallas off-screen] Now,
let's see if this guy has

been paying attention.

Eh, no.

That wet deck reduced
friction, resulting in a slip,

a smack and a
satisfying splash.

These guys look like they've
remembered that water can

cause slips.

And apparently so can grass.

But this guy has a
natural advantage.

So, although he didn't manage
to generate much of a reaction

force from the ground or a
rounded shape after his slip,

a larger mass enabled him
to create a bigger splash.

A longer fall time equals
a faster impact velocity.

Just like that.

Perfect combination of fall
time and rounded shape.

That was slightly
less perfect.

Height and a belly flop
equaled a large impact force

and a lot of pain.

If you haven't got
a boat to jump from,

maybe a diving
board would help.

Or not really.

Our pool partier did generate
the reaction force needed for

a high jump and a good splash.

Unfortunately he made
that splash with his face.

But, of course, rule one
of dive bombing is to make

sure the water isn't...

frozen.

I'm terrible at directions and I got
myself a new sat nav recently.

But I think it
might be broken,

because I took it for a quick
spin around my local safari

park and it said bear left.

But when I looked, all I
could see was a grumpy hippo.

But then everything
about driving is hard.

[Dallas off-screen]
Like directions.

There really is nothing
worse than missing your exit.

But it's not the type of
vehicle that makes life hard,

it's other people.

Of course, traffic
can be a problem.

But again it's
mostly other people.

Pulling into traffic is hard,
and when you look at the

science behind it, it's
easy to see just why.

[Dallas off-screen] To
safely pull into traffic,

our man needs to be aware
of his relative motion.

He needs to take into account
the relative velocity and

acceleration between him and the traffic
he's trying to join.

When pulling into the traffic,
he needs to try and minimize

the relative motion between
him and the other cars.

Pulling in slowly if the
other traffic is slow,

and quickly if the
other traffic is fast.

Or the other cars will have
to swerve, brake or hit him.

And let's not forget
our Fermat's principle,

which tells us that light tends to
travel in straight lines.

So, if any bit of your car is
blocking an object from your

line of vision, you
won't be able to see it.

It all makes total sense
if you think about it.

[Dallas off-screen]
Which he obviously hasn't.

Since the car is pulling out
perpendicularly to the trikes

path, it's essentially
stationary in the trikes

direction of motion.

So, the tricycle may as
well have run into a wall.

Which would have been
a lot less expensive.

[Ethan] My name's Ethan.

I like trucks.

[Dallas off-screen] Me too.

Because the other cyclist
is heading towards Ethan,

their relative motion is
the sum of their individual

speeds, which is a shame as neither of
them were wearing a helmet.

Awareness of your surroundings is an
important part of driving.

See what I mean?

We're in the other car's blind
spot and Fermat tells us that

light tends to travel
in straight lines, so,

he can't see us, which
explains the erratic pulling

in, but not why they
drove into the restaurant.

We'd all be safer on the road
if everyone was more patient.

[woman] That's five
cars gone out now.

Five!

They could have gone!

[Dallas off-screen] After
all, that driver in front...

[man] Oh, they're towing.

[woman off-screen] Oh.

[Dallas off-screen] Might have a reason
for being a bit cautious.

The driver of the silver
car didn't see the tow rope,

which was stationary
relative to him.

So, even though
he hit it slowly,

it was enough to get himself
into a traffic jam sandwich.

Drive slowly, take care, and together we
could wipe out accidents.

Well, that was just rubbish.

Ah, snowboarding, where
physics meets pain.

But can you guess what science
we're about to see in action?

[Dallas off-screen] Did you
guess what science our

snowboarder was about
to demonstrate?

[man] Oh ****!

[Dallas off-screen]
Yes. Take off velocity.

In this case, far
too little of it.

Take off velocity is a
determining factor of a

suitable parabolic trajectory.

With too little velocity, you
have too little air and that

can leave you breathless.

[man] Oh.

[Dallas] You know what I love?

Exactly.

A sleep over.

And after my friends and I
have braided each other's hair

and had a little pillow fight,
there's only one thing

left on my to-do list.

[Dallas off-screen]
The stacked push up.

And it's a lot
harder than it looks.

[man] Oh my God.

[Dallas off-screen]
Especially if one of you is

the wrong way up.

Yes, the person on person, or stacked
push up is an actual thing.

And as you can
imagine, it isn't easy.

So, if you want to impress
your friends and amaze your

colleagues, then you could
really do with paying

attention to the science.

[Dallas off-screen] Our man
at the bottom of the stack

needs to be strong enough to
withstand a greater load from

the person above him.

The man on the top of the
stacks feet are higher than

his hands, increasing
the load on his arms,

and putting strain
on different muscles,

which can compromise his
capacity to withstand

and apply force.

It's also important to note
that a push up stack has a

long but narrow
base of support,

so it isn't very stable.

And any sudden
changes of force,

or uneven force distribution
by poor hand or foot

placement, can rotate and
destabilize the stack.

So, if you're the
bottom of the stack,

then your biggest
worry is strength.

But higher up, and your worry
is uneven force distribution.

Make sense?

Let's see.

[Dallas off-screen] These guys look like
they know their stuff.

This should be good.

[screams]

But it really isn't.

And that's because when you
are on someone your legs are

raised and you need to be
able to lift a greater load.

[screams]

Ooh, people will have
sweated on that floor.

You're gonna have to
have a shower now.

Ah, this is nice, a commitment
to exercise is great.

Even if you don't really
have the strength or skills

to back it up.

A regular push up requires you
to be able to lift 60% of

your body weight.

A stacked push up...

well, let's just say they couldn't cope
with the greater load.

This is the five
man stacked push up.

To achieve this you
need nerves of steel.

And a better understanding of
force distribution than that.

The guy in the blue striped
jumper has his left hand in

the middle of the
back of the man below.

The load isn't centered and
when the guy in the checkered

shirt lifts his leg, the whole
stack rotates in what looks to

be quite a painful way.

So there you go,
the stacked push up.

A great workout for you
and your best friend.

Alright, settle down
at the back, please.

It's time for today's
science lesson.

The part of the show where we
take one specific scientific

principle and explore
its innermost reaches.

So, who knows what the
following have in common?

[Dallas off-screen] This
fleet footed gymnast.

This football funster.

And this underdressed
unicyclist.

[man] Oh.

Ah.

[Dallas off-screen] That's the noise I'd
probably make too.

[man] Ah.

[Dallas] Yes, they are
all examples of balance,

or an unfortunate lack of it.

Due to our small
base of support,

humans are
inherently unstable,

so we need to make constant adjustments
to keep us balanced.

But, just how do we do that?

[Dallas off-screen] Three
systems govern his body's

positioning and movement.

His vestibular system uses the
movement of fluid in his ears

to detect acceleration.

His kinesthetic awareness uses
receptors in his muscles and

joints to detect where his limbs are and
how they're moving.

And he uses visual clues to
make sense of the information

that the other two systems
are relaying to the brain.

However, if the information
from these three systems

conflicts, you could become
confused or make inappropriate

balance adjustments
and fall over.

Now, it's time
for question one.

What role does kinesthetic
awareness play in balance?

[Dallas off-screen] This guy
is testing himself and his

balance all in the
name of good science.

But there was nothing
good about that.

If he had better
kinesthetic awareness,

he would have been able
to position his legs to

land on the beam.

But he hasn't, so he didn't.

Question two.

What happens when two of the
systems involved in balance

send conflicting
information to the brain?

[Dallas off-screen]
Ah, dizzy bat football.

The scientists number
one research choice.

He's off, sort of.

Wobbly, but still on track.

And now he's off track.

He's stopped spinning, but the
fluid in his vestibular system

didn't, and with his eyes
registering he was moving

forward, his brain was
confused by the conflict,

resulting in an
inappropriate adjustment.

But his mate on the
other hand, is spot on.

And finally, question three.

How important is it to make
constant adjustments to

balance to maintain stability?

[Dallas off-screen]
Let's ask him.

Right, that'll be
very important then.

The unicycle reduces his
base of support by 90%,

upping the need for
continual adjustment,

which he manages to
do very successfully.

That is until he doesn't.

Alright, class dismissed.

[Dallas] As you can tell, I spend a lot
of time in the gym getting buff.

You're welcome.

So, I really know how to lift.

But I wonder how many
other animals do.

[Dallas off-screen] This crab
does and is bench pressing the

roof to his aquarium.

Feel the burn.

This horse seems to
have got the hang of it.

Makes you wonder
who's in charge here.

And this ostrich isn't
happy at how quickly he's

getting those seeds.

Well, that's fixed that.

While he makes
lifting look easy,

for a lot of animals
it really isn't,

and science can explain why.

[Dallas off-screen] Smaller
animals are proportionally

stronger than larger ones,
and that all comes down to

strength to weight ratios.

But, vital for any lifting is
grip and how that works varies

bio-mechanically from animal
to animal depending on their

physical adaptations.

But, regardless of how you
lift something the position of

your center of mass changes
and your new combined center

of mass needs to be within
your base of support.

It's a well-known fact that ants are
natures supreme power lifters.

Some lifting 100
times their own body mass.

I'd love that power.

Now, I'm not saying I'd
use it to fight crime,

but opening jars wouldn't be
the problem it currently is.

[Dallas off-screen] Yes,
the smaller the animal,

the proportionally larger
the weight it can lift.

Normally, anyway.

This little fella has
forgotten that when you lift

something it changes the
position of your center of

mass and you need to
take that into account,

which he doesn't.

People make jokes about
raccoons being bandits.

Now I always thought it was
because of those eye masks,

but actually...

it's because they
steal things,

like this camera phone.

This raccoon is fairly small
and has a large strength to

weight ratio, so easily lifts
the phone before making

a run for it.

But, animals tend not to
understand phone theft,

or fair play.

It was a proud day in the
Campbell household when the

International Olympic
Committee finally recognized

Frisbee as a sport.

And that makes it official
and up there alongside

synchronized swimming and
possibly cheerleading.

Yay.

[Dallas off-screen] Do it well and
you'll be floating on air.

Yeah, that's pretty
good, I suppose.

But, if your head's
not in the game...

[man] OK, here we go.

[Dallas off-screen]
Then that can happen.

[man] Did you get that?

[Dallas off-screen] Yeah.

So did he.

Once you've mastered
the Frisbee,

then you can specialize on
one specific discipline,

like Frisbee golf, where you have to
land your Frisbee in a basket.

But this takes a potent
combination of serious skill

and science.

So, here's what you need
to know to get started.

[Dallas off-screen] Throwing
the Frisbee, he applies spin,

which gives it
gyroscopic stability,

which keeps it level.

It's curved edge makes air
flow over the top at a higher

velocity, generating
lower pressure,

and together with
the angle of attack,

gives the Frisbee
aerodynamic lift.

This is thanks to Bernoulli's principle
and Newton's third law.

If the disc tilts, aerodynamic lift
makes it curve to one side...

until drag, or an
obstacle, slows it down.

So, it's all
about enough lift,

good stability and
not too much drag.

Let's give it a go, shall we?

[man] First flight ever!

[man] In the air.

[Dallas off-screen] Yeah,
and just like real golf,

aim is also quite important,
especially if the basket is

behind a tree.

It looks like this guy was
trying to tilt his disc and

use aerodynamic lift to make
it bank around that tree.

If so, he failed, miserably.

Now, here's a perfect example of
Bernoulli's principle in action.

[man off-screen] Ooh.

[Dallas off-screen] Perfect.

Air moves quicker over the top
than underneath the Frisbee,

creating an area of
low pressure above it,

giving the disc its lift,
which allows him to do that.

Master the balance of lift
and drag and you can do

things like this.

[man] Ah, oh.

[Dallas off-screen]
Alright, calm down.

And you can use these
same skills for a range of

different hobbies, even if you aren't
actually using a Frisbee.

[man] The longest distance
to throw a vinyl record.

[man] Come on!
We broke the record!

[Dallas off-screen] Seems like a lot of
work for a bad pun.

The vinyl record doesn't have
the curved edges of a Frisbee,

so it's much less stable
and it tilted to one side.

I did want to remind him, but
I didn't want to sound like a

broken record.

He's already got one of those.

[man] Oh no!

[Dallas] Right, that's
the end of the show.

And remember, scientific
mishaps are only funny when

they're not happening to you.

So, don't try anything you've
just seen and here's a little

reminder of why.

[music plays through credits].