08x12 - Buggies, Grounding and Muscles

[bunniefuu]

DALLAS (off-screen): This

is the Science of Stupid.

Yes, this is the show that

uses science to clean out the

stain of stupidity.

Study the mistakes of the

ignorant as they take on the

laws of science and

discover they always win.

We'll learn

what they should have done

by watching what they did.

With the help of scientific

principles such as

hydrodynamic drag, gravity,

and my personal favorite,

impact force.

Watch out,

it's the Science of Stupid.

In this episode we'll

break down the physics

of breaking glass.

We'll explain why our brain

struggles to do more than one

thing at a time and we'll

explore the scientific dos and

don'ts of unloading

but first this.

You'd be surprised at just how

many different ways there are

for cleaning snow

from your path.

DALLAS (off-screen): You've

got your traditional method.

Well, you have to use a hover

board for something but maybe

not that.

Alien intervention and

trained snow rodents.

But without doubt one of

the most useful methods

is the old snowplow.

This has stood the test of

time because

it's the perfect mix between

functionality and science.

DALLAS (off-screen):

Snow is a variable substance

which can be anything

from loose nearly fallen snow

to hard compacted snow

with a density close to ice.

The greater

a vehicle's momentum,

the larger the volume

of snow it can shift,

and its angled plough helps

by cutting through

the white stuff

and pushing it to the sides.

As the snow provides very

little friction the vehicle

needs to produce a large

amount of traction to maintain

control and prevent accidents.

Snow on roadways typically

becomes more dangerous as more

traffic travels on it.

Heat from tires can cause

the snow to melt and then

re-freeze as thin

sheets of ice,

which when covered by fresh

snowfall can be hard to spot

but a tell-tale sign.

DALLAS (off-screen):

Is when that happens.

The snow appears to have

melted and refrozen as ice,

which has an even lower

co-efficient of friction,

resulting in the

driver losing traction.

His powerful engine and

large plough can shift heavy

compacted snow but a police

car and two buses, well,

it's a big ask.

The power and mass of

some trains mean

they can build enough momentum

to shift as much as 10 feet of

low density, freshly fallen

snow and deposit it on top of

train spotters.

It's good clean fun.

Now, this road has clearly

already been cleared until the

snowplow comes along.

The plough driver's blade is

positioned so that instead of

helping a slippy and dangerous

situation he's causing one.

Maybe a different kind

of driver would help.

It wasn't exactly what I

was thinking and since this

machine doesn't only shift

snow, it churns it up,

maybe little Rex here

should stand back a bit.

Yeah, a bit more, a

bit more, a bit more.

Watch the tail.

Alright, this is the part of

the show where we take a break

from those suffering from

a scientific deficiency and

celebrate the spectacular,

and this time we've got

a doozy for you.

DALLAS (off-screen):

Meet Joel Brown,

an Australian freestyle

motocross champion and hero in

the making.

He's gonna attempt to jump his

bike over a flying plane and

if that isn't

enough, which it is,

he's gonna try and do

it with a backflip.

The pilot will fly

between these two ramps,

hoping his path doesn't

coincide with Joel's.

Good luck, you're

gonna need it.

Absolutely incredible.

To reach that level of

perfection Joel has combined

his raw talent with years

of painstaking dedication.

DALLAS (off-screen):

While others have just

brought the painstaking.

The other thing Joel has going

for him is that he studied and

understood the mechanics

behind the stunt,

so for him it's not

luck, it's science.

DALLAS (off-screen): At launch

our man's take-off velocity

must be correct as the path of

his center of mass is set and

follows a parabolic

trajectory.

He needs to accelerate and

lean back as he takes off to

generate enough angular

momentum to complete the flip.

And the final science is

probably the most obvious and

crucial, have a pilot who

knows what they're doing.

Really it comes down

to three principles,

parabolic trajectory,

angular momentum and a

competent pilot.

So, let's take

each one in turn.

First up, getting the

correct parabolic trajectory.

DALLAS (off-screen): Or

more accurately failing to.

He doesn't have enough

take-off velocity,

which means his parabolic

trajectory can't make the

landing ramp so all he

can do is wait for

the inevitable pain.

MAN (off-screen): Oh.

DALLAS (off-screen):

Oh, that's much better.

MAN: Whoa.

DALLAS (off-screen):

Oh, but that's not.

Even though he had enough

take-off velocity he launches

on a slight angle to the

ramp and as his parabolic

trajectory was set at launch

he can't avoid the obstacle.

MAN: Whoa.

DALLAS (off-screen):

Or the ridicule.

Okay, I think we've

mastered trajectory.

How about angular momentum?

DALLAS (off-screen): Yep,

still needs a bit of work.

To be fair he's a big man on

a small bike and the bike just

doesn't have the power to

generate the angular momentum

he needs to finish the turn.

If only he'd listened to

my lovely friend, science.

MAN: Oh.

DALLAS (off-screen): Yeah,

right ramp, right bike,

right hard landing.

Maybe if he'd leant back

further on take-off he'd have

generated enough angular

momentum to complete the flip.

Don't worry, he was

okay eventually.

Thankfully there wasn't an

airplane under him

because flying a plane is a

whole other science and

even just the taking off bit.

WOMAN (off-screen): Oh.

DALLAS (off-screen): Is

gonna take some explaining.

Luckily the pilot was fine,

but I don't think we're ready

to top Joel's stunt quite yet.

Ah, playing catch with your

friends but can you guess what

science they're

about to show us?

DALLAS (off-screen): Now then,

did you work out what science

they're trying to demonstrate?

Yes, that's right.

It's momentum.

He builds momentum as he runs,

added to by gravity as he's

going down the hill.

His feet can't keep up,

producing a turning effect so

he falls transferring his

momentum to the water.

Happy days.

Now then, the first thing

we are taught at the

University of Science of Stupid

is that glass is not funny.

DALLAS (off-screen):

It's hilarious, oh.

Glass is everywhere, you

just can't always see it,

which is sort of the point.

It's brilliant at letting

light through but due to its

brittle nature it's

also very smashable,

so to be safe I recommend

you study the science.

DALLAS (off-screen): Glass is

transparent because it doesn't

absorb the wave lengths

of light we see,

instead it allows

them to pass through.

Glass consists of a rigid

network of atoms that can't

easily deform.

So, the stress of an impact

initiates a fracture.

As the energy required to

initiate the fracture is

greater than the energy

needed for it to spread,

the crack can grow at

around the speed of sound.

This is known as a

brittle fracture.

So, it's clear

and very fragile,

not necessarily good

bedfellows but as long as you

know it's there you should be

able to avoid any accidents.

MAN: Oh.

DALLAS (off-screen):

Unlike glass,

his nose can easily deform.

Thankfully it can also reform.

The transparent nature of

glass means animals can

struggle to understand it.

If you can see through it it's

not there, even when it is.

Human animals on the

other hand invented glass,

so of course understand its

transparent nature perfectly.

They just sometimes forget.

Yeah, it was the other

door that was open.

As the glass can't easily

deform the stress produced by

the impact reaches the

critical level to initiate a

brittle fracture.

Well, at least you've

learnt some science there.

That'll impress Mum and

Dad when they get home.

Maybe due to its delicate

nature glass should really

only be handled

by the experts.

MAN: Whoa.

DALLAS (off-screen): Shame

they didn't have any.

As the glass impacts the crane

neither surface deforms and as

the crane is stronger the

only option is for the

glass to fracture.

Luckily due to its transparent

nature nobody noticed when

they didn't

replace the window.

So, glass, it's crystal

clear and fragile,

unless it's a hilarious video

display or a horrifying one,

depending on your perspective.

Unloading a truck,

how hard can it be?

DALLAS (off-screen): Well,

for some people a lot harder than you'd think.

The thing about unloading

trucks is that as well as

their cargo they are

packed with science.

You just need to know

how to unpack it.

DALLAS (off-screen): In order

to remain stable the center of

mass of a load must remain

above its base of support.

The heavier the load, the

greater the friction between

it and the truck bed.

So, wheels and ramps are

often used to aid unloading.

The ramp should be secured

to the vehicle to prevent it

moving or collapsing,

leaving the load unsupported.

As you can see, there's

a lot to take in or out.

Either way if you understand

the science then unloading

should be straightforward.

DALLAS (off-screen):

Or straight backwards.

The weight of the couch means

there's a large amount of

friction between its packaging

and the bed of the truck.

Unfortunately said friction

appears to exceed the material

strength of the

couch's packaging.

Maybe try a ramp.

Maybe try a different ramp.

MAN: Are you alright?

DALLAS (off-screen):

Yeah, he's great.

He's just learnt

a valuable science lesson,

which is when the ramp

collapsed the base of support

of the bike was reduced to

just the rear wheel and its

center of mass was

clearly outside of it.

Maybe the makeshift

ramp wasn't a good idea,

but it was probably better

than the makeshift helmet.

Thank goodness, a proper ramp,

just not properly attached.

The ramp was strong enough,

but it wasn't secured and

slips off the truck when the

ATV applied a horizontal force

to it, leaving the load

totally unsupported but

sometimes you need more

than an extra pair of hands.

This tractor has a

specifically designed trailer

to deposit large loads, just

not when parked at that angle.

As the bucket tips the

trailer's center of mass moves

towards the edge of

its base of support,

and as the trailer is part on

an angle the center of mass

ends up outside the

base of support.

On the bright side it's a

perfect excuse for a gentle

stroll and maybe a tea break.

DALLAS: What do you do when

there just isn't enough time

to get everything done?

Me? Well, I like to multitask.

DALLAS (off-screen): Like

going to the gym and keeping

my football skills up

to scratch

but biking and drinking water?

Yeah, I'd give that a miss.

The reality is we are not

computers and our brains can

get overloaded when dealing

with more than one task

at a time but don't worry,

you should have no trouble

watching and listening to the

following science.

DALLAS (off-screen): When

you perform one task many

different parts of the brain

work in harmony but when

multitasking the two tasks

may use the same parts of the

brain, so it has to switch

rapidly between tasks,

rather than doing

them simultaneously.

Complex tasks like juggling

and riding a unicycle require

conscious effort, known

as controlled processing,

but if these tasks are very

well practiced they can be

done with automatic

processing,

which is why this guy is

making it look so easy.

If you're good at multitasking

it can mean your brain is

especially proficient at

flicking between tasks.

Nevertheless, whilst

multitasking may seem

efficient it might actually

take you longer and make you

more error prone, obviously

that warning doesn't apply to

our researchers as they are

all trained professionals at

the top of their game.

DALLAS (off-screen):

Except him.

He's obviously a good juggler

but when he tries to add a

spin the part of the brain

keeping track of where things

are is already busy with all

of those ba*ls and so failed

to notice the massive wall.

Ah, young love or

maybe just, 'Ahh.'

Switching between tasks

and going from concentrating

on cycling to canoodling,

they weren't able to make

the split second adjustments

needed to maintain

their balance.

Maybe try a tandem next time,

or a platonic relationship.

Cycling is obviously automatic

to her allowing her to

concentrate on whatever

that is with the hula-hoop.

Hello, what's going on here?

MAN (off-screen): Oh.

DALLAS (off-screen): Oh,

lower frontal leg pain?

WOMAN: Argh, I hit my shin!

DALLAS (off-screen):

Right again.

When she tries

switching to a new task,

standing on the bike,

her brain uses controlled

processing as conscious

effort is required.

Switching between this and the

hula-hooping proves too much

and she fails at both.

MAN (off-screen): Oh.

WOMAN: Argh, I hit my shin!

DALLAS (off-screen):

Yeah, we know.

Now, this guy might think his

brain is good at switching

between two very

different tasks,

but the reality is his clothes

are just falling off him while

he concentrates on the jumps.

If he really wanted to impress

me he would have folded them

at the same time.

Now, that would have

been multitasking.

Getting a body like mine takes

work but not this much work.

DALLAS (off-screen): I mean,

that's just annoying to be

that good at everything.

MAN: Yeah.

DALLAS (off-screen): Well,

maybe not everything.

Where Daddy Fitness went wrong

was with the push up ring and

that's because he was too busy

exercising his muscles when he

should have been

exercising his mind.

DALLAS (off-screen): When

using a push up ring force

must be applied directly

downwards over the base

of the ring.

Any sideways force to the top

of the ring will produce a

turning effect and could cause

it to rotate and remove part

of your base of support.

More experienced ring users

can add a jump and a clap to

their routine, with the key

being the landing as the rings

must remain vertical.

And finally it's important

to make sure that whatever

surface the rings are on

provides sufficient friction

to prevent them slipping.

DALLAS (off-screen): It

looks like someone wasn't

paying attention.

When he lands the rings aren't

vertical so the downward force

he applies through his arms is

not directly over the ring's

base and thanks to the

resulting turning effect

he loses his base of support.

Luckily his face

broke the fall.

Maybe try it without

the clap next time.

Maybe try it on the

floor next time.

Low friction between the ring

and the railing means that it

only took a small sideways

force to overcome the friction

and slip, removing one side

of his base of support.

(screams)

As my grandmother

used to always say,

'If at first you don't

succeed, give up,' or not.

At least our bearded friend

has more support this time.

It's just a very

unstable support.

The rings aren't vertical when

he lands and so the force he

applies produces

a turning effect,

causing them to rotate

and him to lose

his base of support.

Third time lucky?

Uh, what about fourth time?

And that is it, my friends.

I am sorry to say we've run

out of time but don't worry

because there's plenty more

stupid where they came from.

There's an often quoted saying

within scientific circles that

goes, 'If we knew what it was

we were doing it would not be

called "research", would it?'

Well, I concur.

I mean, these researchers

haven't got a clue what they're doing.

(music plays through credits).