Tag: sport

New Scientist Live – Maths v Sport

Come and see my talk at New Scientist Live on September 23rd as I explain how to take the perfect penalty kick, investigate whether or not humans will ever break the 2-hour marathon barrier, and examine how the Earth’s rotation affects sports as varied as Golf, Rowing and Cricket.

Use code CRAWFORD10 for 10% off your ticket price – book here!

0

The Heart of an Athlete

How does repeated exercise impact your heart? To find out I spoke to St George’s University of London heart specialist Sanjay Sharma. He’s the medical doctor for the London Marathon, the England football team and Andy Murray…

  • Professional athletes push themselves to the limits and regularly do more than 10-15 times the recommended amount of daily exercise.
  • Athlete’s heart is a medical condition that involves up to a 20% increase in the thickness of heart muscles and a 10% increase in the size of the cavities in the heart.
  • At rest the heart pumps 5 litres of blood around the body, whereas during exercise this can increase to 25-30 litres.
  • Your heart behaves like any other muscle in your body and will increase or decrease in size depending on your level of fitness.

You can listen to the full interview for the Naked Scientists here.

0

Wimbledon Tennis

Grab your rackets, your strawberries and cream and – as long as you’re old enough – a glass of Pimms; because here are the most important facts and figures from Wimbledon…

  • Rackets used to be made from wood but now carbon fibre is the material of choice
  • Top spin pushes the ball down towards the ground via the Magnus force, created by a difference in air pressure around a spinning ball
  • The balls are filled with Nitrogen gas at a pressure higher than the air outside, which causes the gas to leak out over time and is why the balls are replaced often
  • The winner of the coin toss decides if they want to serve first and statistics show that a coin has a 51% chance of landing on the side that was facing down at the start
  • 320,000 glasses of Pimms, 28,000 kilograms of strawberries and 10,000 litres of cream are sold over the fortnight – cheers!

You can listen to the full interview for the Naked Scientists here.

0

WordPress.com.

Up ↑