Science of the Olympics

August 22, 2012 8:00 am

SteveSpanglerScience (flickr)Can you help but be amazed by the high-tech science that was seen at this years Summer Olympics? The name of the game in so many of the sports is to reduce any opposing resistance.

In some instances, the athlete can actually use other competitors to block the wind (drafting in cycling). What does any of this have to do with floating beach balls and flying toilet paper? That fast-moving air flowing around the object creates an area of lower pressure and gives the athlete an advantage.

Steve Spangler is a celebrity teacher, science toy designer, speaker, author and an Emmy award-winning television personality. Spangler is probably best known for his Mentos and Diet Coke geyser experiment that went viral in 2005 and prompted more than 1,000 related YouTube videos.

Spangler is also the founder of www.SteveSpanglerScience.com, a Denver-based company specializing in the creation of science toys, classroom science demonstrations, teacher resources and home for Spangler’s popular science experiment archive and video collection.

They have developed more than 140 educational toys and science-related products featured by mass-market retailers like Target, Wal-Mart, Toys R’ Us, Discovery Channel Stores and over 1,400 independent specialty toy stores.

His recent appearances on the Ellen DeGeneres Show have taught viewers how to blow up their food, shock their friends, create mountains of foam, play on a bed of nails, vanish in a cloud of smoke and how to turn 2,500 boxes of cornstarch and a garden hose into a swimming pool of fun.

Image provided by SteveSpanglerScience


ARB Team
Arbitrage Magazine
Business News with BITE.

Liked this article? Hated it? Comment below and share your opinions with other ARB readers!

Featured Posts

  • Business Interview The Secret to Small Business Success: Sell What You Love

    The Secret to Small Business Success: Sell What You Love

    Staff writer Jaron Serven has an intimate conversation with Russ Leimer passion and its relationship to achieving success as a small business owner.

    Read more →
  • Finance & Economics General Wise Ways to Invest Your Money

    Wise Ways to Invest Your Money

    These great tips will help you understand what are the different investment possibilities at your disposal.

    Read more →
  • Asia International Affairs Malaysia Dedicated to Clean and Fair Elections

    Malaysia Dedicated to Clean and Fair Elections

    Despite a disappointing election, Malaysians remain dedicated to the fight for a fair vote By: Maureen Lu, Staff Writer For the first time, registered voters looking to vote on Malaysia’s 13th general election were able to do so overseas at Malaysian diplomatic missions. Eileen Yong is an Australian-based Malaysian. Like a lot of her peers in both Malaysia and overseas, she is enthusiastic about Malaysian politics. She voted in Melbourne on May 4th 2013, one day before the formal election [...]

    Read more →
  • Guest Contributor Student Resources Confused Arts Grads, Try a Career in Mediation

    Confused Arts Grads, Try a Career in Mediation

    Fear not, young arts grad: Mediation could be the career answer for you First published in jobpostings magazine careers. education. ideas. all of it. By Rebecca Feigelsohn What in the heck is mediation, anyhow? So, you have a bachelor of arts, and sometimes, you wonder why you didn’t study business or engineering—your friends in those faculties had secured jobs months before graduation. By now, you’re sick and tired of being asked if you are going to law school or teachers college, but [...]

    Read more →
  • Culture General Is Sugar as Addictive as Tobacco?

    Is Sugar as Addictive as Tobacco?

    The negative impacts of sugar upon health have been well documented, but do concerns about health give officials the right to restrict our consumption of sugar?

    Read more →
  • Politics Global Engineering Innovation Challenge Aims to Solve Public Transit Woes

    Global Engineering Innovation Challenge Aims to Solve Public Transit Woes

    By Ani Hajderaj, staff writer Public transit was the theme of this year’s Global Engineering Innovation Challenge, as aspiring engineers were faced with the task of finding a solution to traffic congestion and to make Toronto a more transit-friendly city. The challenge was open to “anyone interested in taking an active role towards innovative solutions to real-world problems.” The team with the most feasible and inventive solution was awarded a $2,000 prize. The event was held on Mar. 23 at [...]

    Read more →
  • Science & Technology Hadfield’s Star Rises High with Return to Earth

    Hadfield’s Star Rises High with Return to Earth

    Astronaut returns as the Canadian Space Agency faces challenges By: Sarah Hartwick, Staff Writer Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield sang his goodbyes to the International Space Station on Sunday night with his own version of David Bowie’s Space Oddity. The video, created by Hadfield and his son Evan, features the astronaut portraying the fictional ‘Major Tom,’ singing and playing his guitar. Shots of his performance, as he floats “in a most peculiar way,” are interspersed with scenes of the Earth below. [...]

    Read more →
  • Business TTC Pedals towards a Merge with Bixi Toronto

    TTC Pedals towards a Merge with Bixi Toronto

    TTC’s Potential Merger with Bixi – a Questionable Move By Viviane Fairbank, Staff Writer Bixi Toronto’s financial troubles may soon be over as the TTC explores the possibility of a merge between the two public transit systems. Karen Stintz, chair of the TTC, told CP24 that she intends to “move a motion to request a review of whether the TTC could actually take over the BIXI portfolio” during a recent council meeting. Stintz reasons that an added component of Bixi [...]

    Read more →
  • International Affairs Middle East Israeli Attack on Syria Seen as Declaration of War

    Israeli Attack on Syria Seen as Declaration of War

    An Israeli air strike has infuriated Syrian officials, who call the strike a declaration of war By Sarah Munn, staff writer An unnamed top Syrian official is calling Israel’s latest attack on the country’s capital, Damascus, a “declaration of war.” The statement came in an exclusive interview with CNN. Syria was not a good place to be on May 5. Structural damage and casualties were caused in what the Syrian government says is the second Israeli airstrike in three days. [...]

    Read more →
  • Africa Finance & Economics Economic Tides: Africa Rising

    Economic Tides: Africa Rising

    It seems that Africa’s economy is starting to grow: but will this prove fruitful for the population? By Jordan Smith, staff writer According to Yun Sun’s article China’s Increasing Interest in Africa: Benign but Hardly Altruistic, Chinese president Xi Jinping recently committed another $20 billion for development projects in Africa. “China usually attaches a significant amount of such funding to infrastructure projects, which forms the foundation for Africa’s industrialization and economic development” states Yun. “Anaemic growth in the rich world [...]

    Read more →