Category Archives: Science & Engineering

You gotta know some heavy stuff in order to build cool cars. Get your learn on.

The Physics of Motocross by Smarter Everyday

Posted on by

Smarter Everyday is a YouTube show that’s kind of like the Discovery Channel’s Mythbusters. The host, Destin, picks a topic or experiment to try and then explains the science behind why things work the way they do. In this episode, he explains how motocross riders are able to control the pitch of their motorcycles while jumping through the air. If you think about it, you can’t really exert a force on a motorcycle while it’s in the air because there’s nothing for it to push against and it doesn’t have any wings. What the riders do is they use the rotational energy in the rear wheel to change their pitch. Check out the video to see high speed footage of it in action.


Source: Smarter Everyday

Bubbles and Anti-Bubbles in Space

Posted on by

Having fun with hardcore science in outer space is a great reason to stay in school, kids. In this video, astronauts on the International Space Station play with liquid anti-bubbles (the blobs of water that float around in zero gravity) by injecting air bubbles into them. Then things get even crazier when they figure out how to use the water injector to spin the anti-bubbles. Finally they top it off by shooting lasers through it because hey, why not? They’re in space.


By the way, the answer to the question at the end is the rotation of the sphere adds a centrifugal force to the mass of water in the anti-bubble. This pushes the denser water towards the outside of the bubble which also gathers the lighter air bubbles in the center. The same type of thing happens when your washer goes through a spin cycle and all the clothes end up squished to the outside of the drum.

**UPDATE** My friend thinks the answer to the challenge question has to do with the velocity and surface tension of the water as it spins. I still think centrifugal forces separates the water and air bubbles because of the difference in their masses. What do YOU think. Add your comments below!

**UPDATE 2** I used the wrong term to describe the force acting on the water due to the rotation of the anti-bubble. It is Centripetal force, not Centrifugal force.

Source: IO9

PAL-V Flying Car

Posted on by

The Dutch PAL-V company has spent the last 7 years developing this flying car, the PAL-V 1. As a car, it works as a leaning 3 wheeler and it’s a gyrocopter in the air. The 213 hp gasoline engine has to come to a full stop to convert between ground and air operation. The transformation takes less than 10 minutes. The PAL-V requires 540 feet to take off and only 30 to land. It weighs 1500 pounds and can carry two people up to 500 pounds.


Check out the article on Gizmag for all of the details.