Science of Stupid (2014) s08e13 Episode Script
Beach Driving, Running and Freediving
1
DALLAS (off-screen): This
is the Science of Stupid.
DALLAS (off-screen):
Yes, this is the show that draws samples of science
from the veins of stupidity.
Watch as ordinary people
take extraordinary risks
for the sake of
who knows what.
We'll explain what went wrong
and why with the help of
some of sciences best
loved principles,
such as impact force,
velocity
and, my friend
and yours, momentum.
Physics has a mean
streak, so watch out it's the Science of Stupid.
DALLAS (off-screen): In this
show we'll be analyzing the material strength of concrete,
pondering the limits
of automated response.
(laughter).
DALLAS (off-screen):
And ruminating on the parabolas of chair jumpers
but first this.
DALLAS: Sunbathing, oh,
sunscreen stinging your eyes, sweat drenching the pages of
your copy of Galileo
Galilei's Sidereus Nuncius.
There are way more exciting
things to do on a beach.
DALLAS (off-screen): These
guys don't read, they ride.
The endless horizon, the
sea breeze whipping past,
surf lapping at the wheels.
(screams).
DALLAS (off-screen): The
delicious taste of sea water.
DALLAS: Whether on two wheels
or four driving on a beach is alas rather more hazardous
than lounging on one
thanks largely to the potential for low traction
and high ground pressure.
DALLAS (off-screen): Ground
pressure is a vehicle's weight divided by the surface area
supporting that weight, so a
rider and lightweight bike with skinny tires may actually
exert more ground pressure
than a heavy truck with wide
tires and run more risk
of sinking in the sand.
Below the high tide mark the
sand tends to be wetter,
firmer and relatively better
suited to driving on but the
looser dry sand further up the
beach can more easily shift
under the tires, resulting
in a loss of traction.
DALLAS: Experienced sand
drivers often deflate their tires for more contact with
the surface and
less ground pressure.
You can even get purpose
built sand bicycles with huge fat tires.
DALLAS (off-screen):
And this isn't one of them.
His bike may be lightweight
but narrow bicycle tires exert a lot of ground pressure and
so sink in, as does his face.
Okay, let's try something
heavier like over twenty times heavier,
luckily those wide tires
keep the ground pressure low and the wet sand is firm
and less likely to cause
a loss of traction, unless of course you do that.
And from one truly awful idea
to a man in a plastic box.
Light weighted design,
a relatively high surface area in contact with
the firm wet sand.
Has this young genius
discovered the future of beach transport?
MAN: Oh.
DALLAS (off-screen):
No, of course he hasn't, which was evident as he swung
out and sped up, tilted
to one side, applied more ground pressure here,
dug in and then got to spend
a few moments contemplating why
no one else had put their
hand up to sit in the box.
So, what if we take
our vehicles a little further inland?
Like 100 miles inland
where the sand is dryer
and somewhat bumpier.
MAN: Are you ok?
MAN 2: Yeah.
DALLAS (off-screen): And that
is a flipping miracle because this was not the look of
someone who would be okay.
So, don't try any
of this yourself.
DALLAS: And now we briefly
interrupt our critique of the extra silly to
salute someone extra special.
Now, if I suggested a sport
that literally drained your body of life-sustaining
oxygen, edging you to the
very brink of existence, you'd probably say,
'No, thanks.'
DALLAS (off-screen):
But then you're not Alessia Zecchini aiming to
dive deeper on one breath than
any female free diver has before in her category.
Even at the surface the
average person runs out of breath after little more than
a minute but Alessia
is far from average
and down at 351 feet,
almost the length of
a football field, she breaks the record.
Surfacing after a
single breath hold of 3 and a half minutes.
DALLAS: It's easy to
forget how dangerous swimming under water can be.
DALLAS (off-screen):
It can feel tranquil, almost womb-like
until you hit a problem.
DALLAS: Which in
freediving can result in oxygen starvation,
nitrogen narcosis,
decompression sickness, black out,
all the bad stuff but whilst
I wouldn't advise trying to beat Aleccia's record
I would recommend learning
the science behind the feat.
DALLAS (off-screen): As our
free diver dives his body consumes his oxygen supply,
which can lead to a
potentially lethal blackout.
In his favor is an
evolutionary response, called the mammalian dive reflex,
which diverts oxygen rich
blood to the vital organs
and reduces the heart rate,
lowering
oxygen consumption.
Efficient monofin technique
also helps, its large surface
area displaces a lot
of water, propelling him
forwards with minimal effort
thereby conserving oxygen.
DALLAS: Okay.
Nearly ready to break some records?
It's time for a
quick kit check.
Flippers work on the same
principle as monofins,
displacing water to
generate propulsion.
WOMAN: Honey!
DALLAS (off-screen):
Not so good on land though.
Alright, let's dive
down where the mammalian dive reflex kicks in,
even at shallow depths.
Not exactly what I meant by
mammalian dive reflex and whilst they'll still be
experiencing the reflex
they're rather wasting its oxygen conserving effects.
That's better, making the most
of the propulsion generated by his flippers with gentle
rhythmic kicks, conserving
precious oxygen for the swim back up or for riding a bike.
Okay, let's head up but calmly
and oxygen efficiently so as to avoid that thing all free
divers fear, I was actually
thinking of blacking out
but on that
evidence I think we
should leave
Aleccia's record well alone.
DALLAS (off-screen): Soaring
the skies like the majestic eagle but can you predict the
scientific principle this sky
diver is about to encounter?
DALLAS (off-screen): Now, did
you guess the science this sky diver is going to demonstrate?
No? How about now?
(screams).
DALLAS (off-screen):
Yes, that's right.
It's aerodynamic drag.
Our skydiver pulls hard on the
brakes increasing aerodynamic drag on his parachute which
decelerates him, but
not soon enough, so he overshoots his landing area
and finds another
way to slow down.
Is he okay?
MAN: Wooo!
DALLAS (off-screen):
Well, sounds like it and it'll be a fun surprise for
the house owner too.
DALLAS: What am I?
I was pioneered by the
Romans over 2,000 years ago, I'm now the most commonly
used manmade material on Earth.
I might be responsible for
as much as 8% of the world's carbon dioxide emissions
and I can also be
DALLAS (off-screen):
Quite heavy.
DALLAS: Oh, yes.
I am, of course, concrete made
of a simple mix of aggregate, like gravel and sand,
cement and water and science.
DALLAS (off-screen): As
water is added to concrete mix a chemical reaction,
known as hydration, causes
crystals to grow in the cement as it hardens locking together
the aggregate particles.
Its ability to be poured makes
concrete highly moldable and once its set it has a high
compressive strength so it can
withstand enormous forces applied directly through the
concrete but its
tensile strength
is only about a tenth
of its compressive strength,
so it's weak against
forces trying to pull it apart or bend it.
DALLAS: Moldable when wet,
strong when dry, these are qualities that made it
popular amongst trade
professionals and amateur enthusiasts.
MAN: He's plowing, he's plowing.
MAN: He's going to go for it.
DALLAS (off-screen): These
concrete fans are hoping to see if that recently
laid mix has cured.
MAN: He's going to go for it.
MAN: Oh yes!
MAN: Jeez!
DALLAS (off-screen):
It hasn't cured.
MAN 2: Did you get that?
Did you get that?
MAN: I sure did!
DALLAS (off-screen):
Handy because now we see how the tires sink in,
so the chemical reaction
is still happening but when it hardens those cement
crystals will bind the
aggregate together with a lovely new tire pattern
and not everyone likes patterns.
He hates them.
Oh, he hates them.
MAN: He's thrown the hat.
MAN: Throw that hat, yes!
DALLAS (off-screen):
Maybe they should have blocked it off,
like with a concrete barrier.
You see, that would have
worked because while the car applies a large force to the
barrier this is strongly
resisted by inertia due to its heavy weight,
resulting in a large amount
of compressive stress, which as we all know
concrete can handle.
Cars, meh, not so much.
So, lads, you've seen
how high concrete's compressive strength is,
what about its
tensile strength?
Yep, it's about
ten times weaker.
As it hits the ground part
of it is compressed and part of it is stretched.
That's the tensile
stress, which concrete doesn't like at all.
DALLAS: The high jumper,
the long jump, hurdles.
There are a number of official
athletics disciplines that cater for those with a talent
for leaping and not one
of them involves chairs.
DALLAS (off-screen): Not that
he cares because when it comes to the distinctly unofficial
sport of chair jumping this
guy is in a league of his own,
and this student
of chair Olympics,
he's in a
different league.
A rubbish one.
DALLAS: Leaping over chairs is
highly unsafe, unwise but not in the least unscientific,
as our expert free runner
will kindly demonstrate.
DALLAS (off-screen):
The faster he runs the more horizontal velocity he
generates and the more
downwards force he applies with his launching foot the
more of that horizontal
velocity he converts into vertical velocity.
The perfect balance results in
a parabolic trajectory with his apex in the middle of the
chairs so he can
make the distance.
By extending his legs forwards
he lands with his center of mass just behind his base of
support, which helps
him control his momentum.
DALLAS: My favorite chair
technique is the one with no parabolic trajectory
whatsoever, or as
I call it, sitting.
But for those who can't help
but leap it all starts with horizontal velocity, i.e.
DALLAS (off-screen): A run up.
(laughter).
DALLAS (off-screen):
Typically followed by vertical velocity, i.e. a jump.
Onto two chairs now and I'll
be interested to know how this piece of cardboard
is going to help.
Yup, I'm still interested.
Because he was messing around
with that cardboard rather than extending his legs
forward he landed with his
center of mass in front of his base of support,
so his momentum
carried him into the table.
MAN: You missed everything.
DALLAS (off-screen):
He didn't miss the table.
Three chairs with desks
and a new approach but will jumping from a height mean
he won't need as much
vertical velocity?
Who knows but he did need
more horizontal velocity.
We now have four chairs.
(laughter).
DALLAS (off-screen):
And now back to three.
Parabolas are symmetrical so
if the apex of the trajectory is here and not here in the
middle the end will be there.
(laughter).
DALLAS: As our lives become
ever more robotic, automated
and arguably less humanized
should we be worried?
It's a subject that inspired
science fiction writer, Isaac Asimov,
over half a century ago
as he set out his three laws for robotics.
DALLAS (off-screen): First, a
robot may not injure a human being or through inaction
allow one to come to harm.
DALLAS (off-screen):
Oh, broke that law.
Next, a robot must obey orders
given to it by human beings.
Or at least try.
And finally a robot must
protect its own existence as long as such protection does
not conflict with the
first or second law.
Yeah, we're not
doing very well, are we?
DALLAS: Maybe the problem
is those robots were largely controlled by human beings,
so prone to user error but
advances in automation and artificial intelligence mean
we could be moving towards
a future where human control is obsolete.
Way more comforting, right?
DALLAS (off-screen):
Teleoperated robots are controlled directly by humans,
automated technology brings
various levels of decision making with some machines
programmed to
react to stimuli.
Whilst artificial intelligence
allows machines to mimic functions we associate with
learning, ranging from
cognitive intelligence using past experience to make future
decisions to emotional
intelligence using a recognition of human emotion
to inform decision.
The gateway possibly
to self-awareness.
DALLAS: The term 'robot'
emerged in the 1920s from the Czech word 'robota' meaning
'forced labor', describing
beings that would unquestionably do our bidding
to carry out essential tasks.
MAN: It's midnight and we are
cooking an egg with a robot.
DALLAS (off-screen): Not
particularly essential but will his teleoperated robot
improve
efficiency in the kitchen?
No but that's not its fault.
MAN: Robots are as
smart as the user.
DALLAS (off-screen): Yeah,
teleoperated robots maybe but not automated robots,
like this vacuum, which makes
navigation decisions as it bumps into stuff but without
cognitive intelligence it
can't learn from experience.
So, whilst these cats
(laughter).
DALLAS (off-screen): Can learn
to hate vacuum cleaners, this automated lawnmower will
always be
indifferent to moose.
What's that?
ROBOT: I see a carton
of matcha green tea, a refreshing beverage.
DALLAS (off-screen):
Sounds delicious.
A sophisticated array of
recognition sensors give him more points of reference to
make more complex decisions.
MAN: Your matcha
green tea drink, Tony.
DALLAS (off-screen): It's
Dallas, actually, but it's not quite emotional intelligence
or self-awareness.
ALEXA: What makes
you think I not you?
ALEXA 2: Do you believe
it is normal to be not me?
ALEXA: Does someone else
believe I believe it is normal to be not you?
DALLAS (off-screen): These AI
PAs aren't self-aware either,
they're just having an
algorithmic moment.
ALEXA 2: We were
discussing you, not me.
DALLAS (off-screen): Charming
but with robot intelligence still in its infancy.
GIRL: Hi robot. Hi robot.
DALLAS (off-screen):
Should we be worried?
GIRL: Hi robot.
DALLAS (off-screen): Or should
we embrace our brave new world of automated efficiency.
GIRL: Ahh.
GIRL: I love you robot.
DALLAS (off-screen):
Unfortunately discarded water heaters can't love back.
DALLAS: Fight or flight,
the biological survival response to a threat common
throughout the animal kingdom.
Now, when it comes to the
flight element we homo sapiens don't quite have the
acceleration of, say,
the cheetah at 0 to 60 in three seconds.
We're more about distance.
DALLAS (off-screen): Where
it pays to carefully moderate your pace and to
look where you're going.
DALLAS: Distance running
is largely aerobic rather than anaerobic,
and that means our body
uses the oxygen we breathe in to release the energy
stored in glucose.
It's more fuel
efficient than the mostly anaerobic sprinting,
which helps you go the
distance but to win the race you also need
an efficient technique.
DALLAS (off-screen):
An energy efficient stride favors horizontal
motion over vertical.
Our runner maintains
a high cadence, almost 180 steps per minute,
and strikes with
the ball of her foot.
This reduces contact time
with the ground and impact force running up through
her knees and hips.
She's also keeps an upright
trunk and strikes the ground almost directly beneath her
center of mass, which utilizes
more of the force from pushing off to propel her forwards.
DALLAS: Ostriches can run over
distance at 31 miles an hour, an impressive 15 minute marathon
pace, but when it comes to
ultra-long distances it's actually we homo sapiens who
are believed to set
the gold standard.
DALLAS (off-screen): But even
an ostrich would tell you it's vital to get into that
efficient stride
right from the start.
WOMAN: Come on, Hannah.
Go Hannah.
DALLAS (off-screen): Let's
move on to some good, efficient strides.
Trunk upright, foot strikes
just ahead of center of mass, high cadence,
pretty efficient.
CROWD: Oh, oh. Oh.
DALLAS (off-screen):
Yep, that was less efficient but sometimes we do need
to change it up.
Here's the 400 meters where
poor Alison is floundering at the back.
Well, perhaps she's just
trying to economize her pace initially,
maintaining energy
levels before
MAN: Turn on the jets Alison,
turn it on!
DALLAS (off-screen): That's
right and now Alison swiftly moves from a more aerobic pace
to a more anaerobic pace, less
fuel efficient but it gives her the boost she needs to
annihilate the
opposition with her jets.
Still, there are races where
it's quite hard to adopt an efficient stride.
I mean, trunk, the opposite of
upright, far too much contact time with the ground
and that arm cadence is awful.
You can't get worse than that.
DALLAS (off-screen):
Oh, maybe you can.
DALLAS: For years it was
widely believed that the dramatic rise and fall of
Norwegian lemming populations
was due to the creatures willfully flinging themselves
over cliff edges but thanks to
proper scientific analysis we now know this to be hokum.
I mean, what kind of species
would do something so stupid?
WOMAN: Honey!
(music plays through credits)
♪
GIRL: I love you robot.
Captioned by Cotter
Captioning Services.
DALLAS (off-screen): This
is the Science of Stupid.
DALLAS (off-screen):
Yes, this is the show that draws samples of science
from the veins of stupidity.
Watch as ordinary people
take extraordinary risks
for the sake of
who knows what.
We'll explain what went wrong
and why with the help of
some of sciences best
loved principles,
such as impact force,
velocity
and, my friend
and yours, momentum.
Physics has a mean
streak, so watch out it's the Science of Stupid.
DALLAS (off-screen): In this
show we'll be analyzing the material strength of concrete,
pondering the limits
of automated response.
(laughter).
DALLAS (off-screen):
And ruminating on the parabolas of chair jumpers
but first this.
DALLAS: Sunbathing, oh,
sunscreen stinging your eyes, sweat drenching the pages of
your copy of Galileo
Galilei's Sidereus Nuncius.
There are way more exciting
things to do on a beach.
DALLAS (off-screen): These
guys don't read, they ride.
The endless horizon, the
sea breeze whipping past,
surf lapping at the wheels.
(screams).
DALLAS (off-screen): The
delicious taste of sea water.
DALLAS: Whether on two wheels
or four driving on a beach is alas rather more hazardous
than lounging on one
thanks largely to the potential for low traction
and high ground pressure.
DALLAS (off-screen): Ground
pressure is a vehicle's weight divided by the surface area
supporting that weight, so a
rider and lightweight bike with skinny tires may actually
exert more ground pressure
than a heavy truck with wide
tires and run more risk
of sinking in the sand.
Below the high tide mark the
sand tends to be wetter,
firmer and relatively better
suited to driving on but the
looser dry sand further up the
beach can more easily shift
under the tires, resulting
in a loss of traction.
DALLAS: Experienced sand
drivers often deflate their tires for more contact with
the surface and
less ground pressure.
You can even get purpose
built sand bicycles with huge fat tires.
DALLAS (off-screen):
And this isn't one of them.
His bike may be lightweight
but narrow bicycle tires exert a lot of ground pressure and
so sink in, as does his face.
Okay, let's try something
heavier like over twenty times heavier,
luckily those wide tires
keep the ground pressure low and the wet sand is firm
and less likely to cause
a loss of traction, unless of course you do that.
And from one truly awful idea
to a man in a plastic box.
Light weighted design,
a relatively high surface area in contact with
the firm wet sand.
Has this young genius
discovered the future of beach transport?
MAN: Oh.
DALLAS (off-screen):
No, of course he hasn't, which was evident as he swung
out and sped up, tilted
to one side, applied more ground pressure here,
dug in and then got to spend
a few moments contemplating why
no one else had put their
hand up to sit in the box.
So, what if we take
our vehicles a little further inland?
Like 100 miles inland
where the sand is dryer
and somewhat bumpier.
MAN: Are you ok?
MAN 2: Yeah.
DALLAS (off-screen): And that
is a flipping miracle because this was not the look of
someone who would be okay.
So, don't try any
of this yourself.
DALLAS: And now we briefly
interrupt our critique of the extra silly to
salute someone extra special.
Now, if I suggested a sport
that literally drained your body of life-sustaining
oxygen, edging you to the
very brink of existence, you'd probably say,
'No, thanks.'
DALLAS (off-screen):
But then you're not Alessia Zecchini aiming to
dive deeper on one breath than
any female free diver has before in her category.
Even at the surface the
average person runs out of breath after little more than
a minute but Alessia
is far from average
and down at 351 feet,
almost the length of
a football field, she breaks the record.
Surfacing after a
single breath hold of 3 and a half minutes.
DALLAS: It's easy to
forget how dangerous swimming under water can be.
DALLAS (off-screen):
It can feel tranquil, almost womb-like
until you hit a problem.
DALLAS: Which in
freediving can result in oxygen starvation,
nitrogen narcosis,
decompression sickness, black out,
all the bad stuff but whilst
I wouldn't advise trying to beat Aleccia's record
I would recommend learning
the science behind the feat.
DALLAS (off-screen): As our
free diver dives his body consumes his oxygen supply,
which can lead to a
potentially lethal blackout.
In his favor is an
evolutionary response, called the mammalian dive reflex,
which diverts oxygen rich
blood to the vital organs
and reduces the heart rate,
lowering
oxygen consumption.
Efficient monofin technique
also helps, its large surface
area displaces a lot
of water, propelling him
forwards with minimal effort
thereby conserving oxygen.
DALLAS: Okay.
Nearly ready to break some records?
It's time for a
quick kit check.
Flippers work on the same
principle as monofins,
displacing water to
generate propulsion.
WOMAN: Honey!
DALLAS (off-screen):
Not so good on land though.
Alright, let's dive
down where the mammalian dive reflex kicks in,
even at shallow depths.
Not exactly what I meant by
mammalian dive reflex and whilst they'll still be
experiencing the reflex
they're rather wasting its oxygen conserving effects.
That's better, making the most
of the propulsion generated by his flippers with gentle
rhythmic kicks, conserving
precious oxygen for the swim back up or for riding a bike.
Okay, let's head up but calmly
and oxygen efficiently so as to avoid that thing all free
divers fear, I was actually
thinking of blacking out
but on that
evidence I think we
should leave
Aleccia's record well alone.
DALLAS (off-screen): Soaring
the skies like the majestic eagle but can you predict the
scientific principle this sky
diver is about to encounter?
DALLAS (off-screen): Now, did
you guess the science this sky diver is going to demonstrate?
No? How about now?
(screams).
DALLAS (off-screen):
Yes, that's right.
It's aerodynamic drag.
Our skydiver pulls hard on the
brakes increasing aerodynamic drag on his parachute which
decelerates him, but
not soon enough, so he overshoots his landing area
and finds another
way to slow down.
Is he okay?
MAN: Wooo!
DALLAS (off-screen):
Well, sounds like it and it'll be a fun surprise for
the house owner too.
DALLAS: What am I?
I was pioneered by the
Romans over 2,000 years ago, I'm now the most commonly
used manmade material on Earth.
I might be responsible for
as much as 8% of the world's carbon dioxide emissions
and I can also be
DALLAS (off-screen):
Quite heavy.
DALLAS: Oh, yes.
I am, of course, concrete made
of a simple mix of aggregate, like gravel and sand,
cement and water and science.
DALLAS (off-screen): As
water is added to concrete mix a chemical reaction,
known as hydration, causes
crystals to grow in the cement as it hardens locking together
the aggregate particles.
Its ability to be poured makes
concrete highly moldable and once its set it has a high
compressive strength so it can
withstand enormous forces applied directly through the
concrete but its
tensile strength
is only about a tenth
of its compressive strength,
so it's weak against
forces trying to pull it apart or bend it.
DALLAS: Moldable when wet,
strong when dry, these are qualities that made it
popular amongst trade
professionals and amateur enthusiasts.
MAN: He's plowing, he's plowing.
MAN: He's going to go for it.
DALLAS (off-screen): These
concrete fans are hoping to see if that recently
laid mix has cured.
MAN: He's going to go for it.
MAN: Oh yes!
MAN: Jeez!
DALLAS (off-screen):
It hasn't cured.
MAN 2: Did you get that?
Did you get that?
MAN: I sure did!
DALLAS (off-screen):
Handy because now we see how the tires sink in,
so the chemical reaction
is still happening but when it hardens those cement
crystals will bind the
aggregate together with a lovely new tire pattern
and not everyone likes patterns.
He hates them.
Oh, he hates them.
MAN: He's thrown the hat.
MAN: Throw that hat, yes!
DALLAS (off-screen):
Maybe they should have blocked it off,
like with a concrete barrier.
You see, that would have
worked because while the car applies a large force to the
barrier this is strongly
resisted by inertia due to its heavy weight,
resulting in a large amount
of compressive stress, which as we all know
concrete can handle.
Cars, meh, not so much.
So, lads, you've seen
how high concrete's compressive strength is,
what about its
tensile strength?
Yep, it's about
ten times weaker.
As it hits the ground part
of it is compressed and part of it is stretched.
That's the tensile
stress, which concrete doesn't like at all.
DALLAS: The high jumper,
the long jump, hurdles.
There are a number of official
athletics disciplines that cater for those with a talent
for leaping and not one
of them involves chairs.
DALLAS (off-screen): Not that
he cares because when it comes to the distinctly unofficial
sport of chair jumping this
guy is in a league of his own,
and this student
of chair Olympics,
he's in a
different league.
A rubbish one.
DALLAS: Leaping over chairs is
highly unsafe, unwise but not in the least unscientific,
as our expert free runner
will kindly demonstrate.
DALLAS (off-screen):
The faster he runs the more horizontal velocity he
generates and the more
downwards force he applies with his launching foot the
more of that horizontal
velocity he converts into vertical velocity.
The perfect balance results in
a parabolic trajectory with his apex in the middle of the
chairs so he can
make the distance.
By extending his legs forwards
he lands with his center of mass just behind his base of
support, which helps
him control his momentum.
DALLAS: My favorite chair
technique is the one with no parabolic trajectory
whatsoever, or as
I call it, sitting.
But for those who can't help
but leap it all starts with horizontal velocity, i.e.
DALLAS (off-screen): A run up.
(laughter).
DALLAS (off-screen):
Typically followed by vertical velocity, i.e. a jump.
Onto two chairs now and I'll
be interested to know how this piece of cardboard
is going to help.
Yup, I'm still interested.
Because he was messing around
with that cardboard rather than extending his legs
forward he landed with his
center of mass in front of his base of support,
so his momentum
carried him into the table.
MAN: You missed everything.
DALLAS (off-screen):
He didn't miss the table.
Three chairs with desks
and a new approach but will jumping from a height mean
he won't need as much
vertical velocity?
Who knows but he did need
more horizontal velocity.
We now have four chairs.
(laughter).
DALLAS (off-screen):
And now back to three.
Parabolas are symmetrical so
if the apex of the trajectory is here and not here in the
middle the end will be there.
(laughter).
DALLAS: As our lives become
ever more robotic, automated
and arguably less humanized
should we be worried?
It's a subject that inspired
science fiction writer, Isaac Asimov,
over half a century ago
as he set out his three laws for robotics.
DALLAS (off-screen): First, a
robot may not injure a human being or through inaction
allow one to come to harm.
DALLAS (off-screen):
Oh, broke that law.
Next, a robot must obey orders
given to it by human beings.
Or at least try.
And finally a robot must
protect its own existence as long as such protection does
not conflict with the
first or second law.
Yeah, we're not
doing very well, are we?
DALLAS: Maybe the problem
is those robots were largely controlled by human beings,
so prone to user error but
advances in automation and artificial intelligence mean
we could be moving towards
a future where human control is obsolete.
Way more comforting, right?
DALLAS (off-screen):
Teleoperated robots are controlled directly by humans,
automated technology brings
various levels of decision making with some machines
programmed to
react to stimuli.
Whilst artificial intelligence
allows machines to mimic functions we associate with
learning, ranging from
cognitive intelligence using past experience to make future
decisions to emotional
intelligence using a recognition of human emotion
to inform decision.
The gateway possibly
to self-awareness.
DALLAS: The term 'robot'
emerged in the 1920s from the Czech word 'robota' meaning
'forced labor', describing
beings that would unquestionably do our bidding
to carry out essential tasks.
MAN: It's midnight and we are
cooking an egg with a robot.
DALLAS (off-screen): Not
particularly essential but will his teleoperated robot
improve
efficiency in the kitchen?
No but that's not its fault.
MAN: Robots are as
smart as the user.
DALLAS (off-screen): Yeah,
teleoperated robots maybe but not automated robots,
like this vacuum, which makes
navigation decisions as it bumps into stuff but without
cognitive intelligence it
can't learn from experience.
So, whilst these cats
(laughter).
DALLAS (off-screen): Can learn
to hate vacuum cleaners, this automated lawnmower will
always be
indifferent to moose.
What's that?
ROBOT: I see a carton
of matcha green tea, a refreshing beverage.
DALLAS (off-screen):
Sounds delicious.
A sophisticated array of
recognition sensors give him more points of reference to
make more complex decisions.
MAN: Your matcha
green tea drink, Tony.
DALLAS (off-screen): It's
Dallas, actually, but it's not quite emotional intelligence
or self-awareness.
ALEXA: What makes
you think I not you?
ALEXA 2: Do you believe
it is normal to be not me?
ALEXA: Does someone else
believe I believe it is normal to be not you?
DALLAS (off-screen): These AI
PAs aren't self-aware either,
they're just having an
algorithmic moment.
ALEXA 2: We were
discussing you, not me.
DALLAS (off-screen): Charming
but with robot intelligence still in its infancy.
GIRL: Hi robot. Hi robot.
DALLAS (off-screen):
Should we be worried?
GIRL: Hi robot.
DALLAS (off-screen): Or should
we embrace our brave new world of automated efficiency.
GIRL: Ahh.
GIRL: I love you robot.
DALLAS (off-screen):
Unfortunately discarded water heaters can't love back.
DALLAS: Fight or flight,
the biological survival response to a threat common
throughout the animal kingdom.
Now, when it comes to the
flight element we homo sapiens don't quite have the
acceleration of, say,
the cheetah at 0 to 60 in three seconds.
We're more about distance.
DALLAS (off-screen): Where
it pays to carefully moderate your pace and to
look where you're going.
DALLAS: Distance running
is largely aerobic rather than anaerobic,
and that means our body
uses the oxygen we breathe in to release the energy
stored in glucose.
It's more fuel
efficient than the mostly anaerobic sprinting,
which helps you go the
distance but to win the race you also need
an efficient technique.
DALLAS (off-screen):
An energy efficient stride favors horizontal
motion over vertical.
Our runner maintains
a high cadence, almost 180 steps per minute,
and strikes with
the ball of her foot.
This reduces contact time
with the ground and impact force running up through
her knees and hips.
She's also keeps an upright
trunk and strikes the ground almost directly beneath her
center of mass, which utilizes
more of the force from pushing off to propel her forwards.
DALLAS: Ostriches can run over
distance at 31 miles an hour, an impressive 15 minute marathon
pace, but when it comes to
ultra-long distances it's actually we homo sapiens who
are believed to set
the gold standard.
DALLAS (off-screen): But even
an ostrich would tell you it's vital to get into that
efficient stride
right from the start.
WOMAN: Come on, Hannah.
Go Hannah.
DALLAS (off-screen): Let's
move on to some good, efficient strides.
Trunk upright, foot strikes
just ahead of center of mass, high cadence,
pretty efficient.
CROWD: Oh, oh. Oh.
DALLAS (off-screen):
Yep, that was less efficient but sometimes we do need
to change it up.
Here's the 400 meters where
poor Alison is floundering at the back.
Well, perhaps she's just
trying to economize her pace initially,
maintaining energy
levels before
MAN: Turn on the jets Alison,
turn it on!
DALLAS (off-screen): That's
right and now Alison swiftly moves from a more aerobic pace
to a more anaerobic pace, less
fuel efficient but it gives her the boost she needs to
annihilate the
opposition with her jets.
Still, there are races where
it's quite hard to adopt an efficient stride.
I mean, trunk, the opposite of
upright, far too much contact time with the ground
and that arm cadence is awful.
You can't get worse than that.
DALLAS (off-screen):
Oh, maybe you can.
DALLAS: For years it was
widely believed that the dramatic rise and fall of
Norwegian lemming populations
was due to the creatures willfully flinging themselves
over cliff edges but thanks to
proper scientific analysis we now know this to be hokum.
I mean, what kind of species
would do something so stupid?
WOMAN: Honey!
(music plays through credits)
♪
GIRL: I love you robot.
Captioned by Cotter
Captioning Services.