Science of Stupid (2014) s08e08 Episode Script

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DALLAS (off-screen): This
is the Science of Stupid.
Yes, this is the show that
detects the science hidden
in the stupid.
Learn as untrained researchers
examine the laws of science
and fail to understand them.
We'll discover what went wrong
and why it shouldn't have
with the help of
simple scientific principles
such as impact force,
momentum, and,
of course, friction.
Take on science and you
open the door to stupidity.
Watch out,
it's the Science of Stupid.
In this episode we'll be
examining the difference
between fear.
And phobia.
Between traction
and no traction,
and we'll be looking
at stability in water
or the lack of it anyway,
but first this.
I love cycling,
it offers so many modes
of exploring physics.
I've got my road
bike for the commute,
my mountain bike for the
trails and my trial bike.
DALLAS (off-screen):
For the ridiculous.
This is bike trials where
riders show off astonishing
feats of balance over
obstacles or at least try to.
The next time someone tells
you something is as easy
as riding a bike, tell them
they don't know what they're
talking about, unless
of course they've
understood the science.
We're talking center of
mass and Newton's favorite,
reaction force.
DALLAS (off-screen): First he
shifts his weight back pulling
on the handlebars to help lift
the front wheel whilst driving
down on the pedal to generate
a large reaction force
launching him into the air.
Before landing he applies the
back break to help keep the
combined center of mass of him
and his bike over the small
base of support at his wheel.
He then releases the break
to repeat the process.
There you go, it's a big
reaction force for the hopping
and a carefully balanced
combined center of mass for
the not falling over.
Good, simple physics but let's
see if our young trialists
were paying attention.
DALLAS (off-screen):
He wasn't.
Starting on one wheel gives
him a tiny base of support and
when he leans his center of
mass too far forward gravity
causes him to pivot, which
might have been less painful
if he'd bothered
to wear a helmet.
It's an odd choice of
location but go for it.
Good start.
Back wheel locked
ready for the big jump,
loads of downward force and
he's made it, momentarily.
On landing he was leaning
too far back which means the
center of mass
was, once again,
outside of the
base of support.
Maybe next time just bring
your swimming trunks to the
pool, like everyone else.
Here we go.
Good technique.
Great balance.
Oh, maybe the pool
wasn't such a bad idea.
He hasn't generated
enough reaction force,
so he lacks the momentum
to make the second wall.
Look, this clearly
isn't working.
Why don't we try going
down rather than up?
See, gravity is your friend,
but not checking what you're
landing on is your fault.
Maybe it's not the
jump, it's the bike.
So, let's try a different one.
Much better.
I think it's time we took
a break from watching the
scientifically challenged
and concentrate on one of
science's heroes, Tyler
Bradt, kayaker extraordinaire.
DALLAS (off-screen): He
wants to kayak over this,
Palouse Falls in Washington.
Thousands of cubic feet of
water pass over this fall
every second and drop
186 feet to the pool below.
To consider kayaking over
this you must either be a few
sandwiches short of a picnic
or a world record breaker.
We hope.
Oh, there he is.
The new world record holder
for one of the most dangerous
stunts I have ever seen.
Needless to say, even if you
do have 186 foot water feature,
don't try this at
home or anywhere else.
Falling off a waterfall is
the easy part but as gravity
initially accelerates you
down at 32 feet per second,
per second, it's surviving
that's the tricky bit.
DALLAS (off-screen): Our
kayaker must go over the falls
at the correct speed to give
gravity just enough time to
generate the angular
velocity needed to rotate
the kayak 90 degrees.
This angle minimizes
hydrodynamic drag,
so he experiences less impact
force and cuts through
the water.
It's also worth noting that a
kayak's stability is dependent
on keeping the center of mass
in line with the center of
buoyancy, which is in the
middle of its submerged
volume, otherwise.
Okay, science taught.
Let's see if our team of
wannabe record breakers
have learnt.
DALLAS (off-screen): He's
practicing the science with a
manmade kind of waterfall,
but the law of gravity
is the same.
The thin layer of water acting
as a lubricant combined with
the steep angle allows
gravity to do its thing.
It's not quite the 32 feet
per second per second of a
waterfall freefall but
he's only practicing.
Onto angular velocity, or
in his case the lack of it.
Launching too fast meant he
gained very little angular
velocity, hitting the
H2O at a terrible angle,
thereby maximizing
hydrodynamic drag,
which is bad as it brought
him to an almost immediate and
very painful stop.
Waterfall, tick.
Angular velocity, tick.
Stability, tick-ish.
It's an upside tick but
technically he's still got
himself into a
stable position.
It's just a shame his center
of mass is directly below his
center of buoyancy as his head
is the bit he uses to breathe.
Cheering without acknowledging
the person that's just saved
your life, tick.
MAN: Yeah!
DALLAS (off-screen): Even if our
wannabe record breakers do get
to grips with angular velocity,
hydrodynamic drag and stability,
like Tyler did, 186 feet
is just too dangerous.
Maybe it's better to
kayak something safer,
like a puddle.
Now then, can you deduce what
scientific concept this young
man is about to demonstrate
by jumping over his friends?
DALLAS (off-screen):
Did you work out the science he was testing?
That's right.
It's angular momentum.
As our jumper takes off he has
little angular momentum and so
would have landed on his feet,
but the beam applies a force
to his head causing him
to gain angular momentum.
Luckily his friends were
there to break his fall
and he was okay, in the end.
Avid Science of Stupid viewer,
and 32nd President of the
United States, Franklin
Roosevelt said,
'The only thing we have to
fear is fear itself.'
Well, he's obviously never
suffered from arachnophobia.
MAN: He's trying to get to you.
DALLAS (off-screen):
Just remember.
MAN: How's he doing that?
DALLAS (off-screen): They are
as frightened of you as you
are of them.
Apart from that
one, obviously.
MAN: It's on me!
DALLAS: Arachnophobia,
the fear of spiders,
is a funny old mix between
practical survival and totally
irrational behavior.
Fear isn't the enemy,
irrational fear is.
DALLAS (off-screen):
For example,
a fear of a big dog
bearing sharp teeth,
sensible but fear of a
placid small dog, phobia.
Fear of spiders is logical
as some are venomous,
in fact research suggests
it could be genetic.
Babies were shown pictures
of spiders and their pupils
enlarged, even though they may
have never seen one before.
It's part of the fight
or flight response where
chemicals are released into
the blood stream increasing
respiratory rates and blood
flow to the muscles preparing
the body to fight back.
Or in his case, flea.
Of around 43,000 different
spiders in the world less than
30 have ever killed anyone but
it's believe our innate fear
of them may have stemmed from
our cave dwelling ancestors
who might have had more
contact with the more deadly
and less incy wincy
of those 43,000.
Anyway, lesson over.
DALLAS (off-screen): Maybe
a nice glass of milk to
calm the nerves.
Because she didn't expect
to see a spider her
reaction is instinctive.
Flight and screaming.
MAN: Hello spider.
DALLAS (off-screen): Now, he
knows exactly what he's doing.
He's teasing this
jumping spider.
MAN (off-screen): A, attack.
DALLAS (off-screen): And
it's not called a jumping
spider for nothing.
This species can suddenly
increase blood pressure in its
legs so that they instantly
extend propelling it forwards
up to several times
its body length.
Which also causes a sudden
rush of blood in our
spider-botherer.
One particularly clean
researcher has discovered a
spider in his bath and
obviously he doesn't have a
phobia as he's
happy to poke it.
Not so happy anymore.
When his eight-legged friend
jumps in our bather gets a
heavy dose of fight
or flight chemicals.
Less relaxing
than bubble bath.
But remember fear
can be sensible.
Some spiders carry enough
toxins to kill an adult.
Others not so much.
Her fear causes her body to
bypass her rational brain to
react to the danger and escape
before she even realizes it
isn't a real spider.
But running on the spot?
Probably not the
best flight reaction.
BOY: I'm so glad we filmed that.
DALLAS (off-screen):
As are we.
Rallying is the ultimate
grass roots racing sport,
it takes road legal cars
and turns them into
racing machines.
DALLAS (off-screen): And
sometimes into spare parts.
You see, while some rally
events cater for your spec'd
up pro cars, others specialize
in vehicles that, well,
look a bit more like your
granddad's old bucket.
To win any rally it helps
to stay on the track and
professional rally cars are
packed with modifications to
help them navigate and
survive the toughest of races.
DALLAS (off-screen): Pro rally
cars have specially designed
tires with grippier
tread patterns,
and they're made from a softer
rubber compound that conforms
to a range of surfaces
to maximize traction.
Many pros also use
four-wheel drive,
distributing torque which
improves traction to aid
cornering and reducing the
risk of an unwanted understeer
or oversteer.
Shame that one was
a two-wheel drive.
In the professional realm
those enhancements are very
much standard and expertly
engineered to perfection.
DALLAS (off-screen): In the
amateur world it's more about
crossing your fingers.
The lack of traction in this
old car's hard skinny tires
causes it to oversteer and
when the driver tries to
correct this he
makes it worse,
which is why these purist fans
have decided to turn on him.
I'd run if I were you.
And it's why many rally
drivers favor the four-wheel
drive, of which that is not.
Front-wheel drives are more
prone to understeer as the
front wheels can lose
traction on the corner.
Luckily it won't be too
expensive to replace.
Hmm, lose gravely surface,
that should help us
drift into a ditch.
High performance rally
cars can hug a corner
at high speed.
This little hatchback
prefers to oversteer and
cuddle the ditch.
But upgrade that run-around
with all the right bits and
the trophy is in the bag.
He kept the steering
wheel right.
DALLAS: Surfing, exhilarating
stuff but sadly we don't all
live near the beach and surfing
without surf just isn't
the same, is it?
DALLAS (off-screen): Or is it?
It's not.
Nevertheless, it turns out
that surfing on grass is a
thing, not a particular safe
or advisable thing but a
thing, nonetheless.
Whilst there are less sharks,
the stopping bit can really
bite thanks to the dead eyed
fun killer we call 'friction'.
DALLAS (off-screen): An
initial input of forward
velocity, like
a running start,
will help overcome the static
friction with the grass and
then gravity can provide
additional momentum.
The lower the coefficient of
kinetic friction between the
grass and the board the more
effective gravity will be as
he glides over the grass.
Sitting or lying is easier
than standing as upright
surfers have a higher
center of mass,
which is trickier to keep
over their base of support.
Basically it's pretty much
the same as water surfing,
just a lot less salty
and a lot more hurty.
Okay, first up we need to
overcome static friction.
A little run up will do
but even better if we catch
ourselves a tube.
I mean, hill.
DALLAS (off-screen): Like
this one but without the
gigantic bush.
Gravity caused this rider to
pick up velocity very quickly
and his momentum meant he
couldn't stop in time to avoid
the shrubbery.
Maybe next time try
somewhere with less shrubs
and more space.
That's better.
Hang on, that's cheating.
Yeah, serves you right.
He appears to hit a rough
patch and the increased
kinetic friction
slows the board,
making it very hard to keep
his center of mass over his
base of support.
So, what if we lower that
center of mass by lying down?
Well, he didn't fall over
but since the wet weather
decreased the friction
between him and his board,
when the board stopped sliding
his momentum kept him going.
I made exactly the same
mistake this morning.
Get the friction right and
it's amazing what momentum can
do on grass.
Sand, that's a
whole other science.
If I asked you to stop
what you're doing,
get up off the sofa and do the
splits you would naturally ask
me to be more specific.
DALLAS (off-screen): Do I mean
a passive split where you use
the weight of your body?
No muscle work, just gravity?
Okay, I think we
get the point.
Or the split leap which
you perform in the air?
Less annoying
but probably more tiring.
I think let's look
at the leapy ones.
Now, the pinnacle of the
leaping splits is obviously
the grand leaping gracefully
into the air like a bird in
flight and landing with
the lightest of touches.
Of course, to master it
you need to understand
the science.
That's vertical velocity,
angular momentum and our old
chum base of support.
DALLAS (off-screen):
First she generates enough vertical velocity
at take-off for
sufficient airtime to fully extend her legs,
meanwhile generating plenty
of angular momentum
to bring both legs 90 degrees
to the upper body.
As she lands she uses the
muscles and joints in her legs
like shock absorbers, bending
to reduce the impact force
whilst insuring her center of
mass comes over her base of
support for stability.
And don't forget the
coefficient of friction
between the dancer's
feet and the ground.
In other words, don't slip.
DALLAS (off-screen):
Well, someone wasn't
paying attention.
Generating too much angular
momentum is practically a
guarantee of a center of mass
outside of base of support
style landing but whilst you
can reduce the impact force
with your legs, your
face is less effective.
Maybe try it without
so much spin.
Maybe try it without
smashing onto the floor.
Same problem, yep.
That's way too much angular
momentum and that is
definitely not landing
over your base.
Okay, maybe the
wood's too slippy.
How about a different
wood altogether?
Nice angular momentum,
room for improvement.
Her grand jetes were good
but her spatial awareness
needs a bit of work.
Maybe we should just forget
about all the jumping and
instead allow gravity to
ease us into our splits.
Well, they don't call
them splits for nothing.
Your leaping days
are over, my friend.
And that's it, we've done
all we can to help the
scientifically challenged.
Please do not attempt any of
the dangerous stunts you have
just seen.
As Benjamin Franklin is
alleged to have said,
'We're all born ignorant,
but one must work hard to remain stupid,'
and guess what?
These guys have
worked really hard.
(music plays through credits).
Captioned by
Cotter Captioning Services.