01x01 - Dancing Disasters

[bunniefuu]

This is the Science of Stupid.

This is the show
that combines stupidity...

...and science in a mix so hot,

it'll grab you by the pants.

Over the next half hour, we'll show you

- acts of jaw-dropping stupidity.

And then we'll explain the science
behind what went wrong.

We'll tell you stuff you
never knew about torque...

and the conservation
of angular momentum.

Try to break the laws of science,
and they'll break you.

So watch in awe as have-a-go
heroes from around the world

learn about combustion...

- and gravity...

- ...the hard way.
- Aah!

Yes, science
will whup you wherever you are.

Welcome to the Science of Stupid.

On this show, we'll see the consequences

of misjudging your parabola...

...why you should never
let torque take over...

...and how to beat Newton's Third Law.

But first, this.

Gymnastics, not for your average guy.

But that doesn't stop your average guy

attempting that classic
of gymnastic moves,

the back flip.

So, let's see one.

The classic double back flip.

Or back flop.

So how do you learn to back flip?

First, head down to the gym
and get yourself a good coach.

And maybe a crash helmet.

Okay, back flipping is clearly

best left to trained gymnasts.

Here's the science behind their success.

This may look like one simple movement,

but it's not.

There are two parts
to the perfect back flip.

Part one, from a solid base,
he jumps straight up,

using legs and arms for maximum height.

Part two, now the rotation bit.

He tucks his knees into his
chest to accelerate the spin.

It's the Law of Conservation
of Angular Momentum.

When you halve your length,

you quadruple your spin speed.

That's how the experts back flip
and land safely on their feet.

Failure to understand the science

sees gymnasts landing
on their faces instead--

an altogether more painful experience.

A vaulting horse,

a fence, a bridge.

Are these really
the best places to back flip?

Oh! Ohh!

Do something!

Don't just stand there.

Oh, you-- Hey! You idiot!

Gymnasts always pick
a proper launch pad.

That's better-- a wall.

Nice and solid.

Oh!

Unlike his front teeth.

He nearly nails it,

if only he'd tucked in tighter
and rotated faster.

Here's a back flipper who appears
to love this religious building so much

that he'd rather kiss the flagstones

- than his girlfriend.
-You good?

But where did he go wrong?

Well for a start, look at him
leaning back before jumping.

He's mixed his jump up with his rotation.

Doesn't tuck in, therefore,
he doesn't spin enough.

Oh, dude.

Hence his
impersonation of his holiness.

And remember, boys, back flipping

is a great way to meet girls...

in the law courts.

If you're into bike jumping,

a pair of wheels is almost
as good as a pair of wings.

Up in the air, the wind in your face,

flying like a bird.

Well, that's the idea.

To avoid hitting the deck
like a sack of bricks,

here's how highly trained bike jumpers

go about their business.

This is a 60 foot bike jump

with a drop-in speed
of over 20 miles per hour.

But the principles are
the same whether you jump

six or sixty feet.

So how does he do that?

Every jump follows a symmetrical path.

It's called a parabola.

Inertia keeps you moving forwards,

and gravity accelerates
you down at a constant rate.

They work hand in hand to create the arc.

The sweet take off angle
for maximum distance

is 45 degrees.

Time to get airborne.

It's simple-- just hit
the ramp with a bit of speed.

What could go wrong?

Oh, you forgot to take your bike.

Are you all right?

I'm good!

No good at demonstrating
your take off, though.

Let's see how this man does.

Yeah, pre-- pretty badly.

A trained bike jumper also needs to judge

the distance to landing.

It's a skill gained
through years of experience.

A slow take off means hitting
the lip of this landing ramp.

That's a kiss he'll remember.

Whoo!

Great speed here,

but the speed also means distance.

Too much distance.

Perhaps you shouldn't use
the roof of your neighbors shed.

The final element of the perfect jump

is the landing.

In order to come painlessly back to Earth,

you need a landing ramp at the same angle

as the take off ramp.

Hit this right, and your momentum

will be conserved for a smooth landing.

Meet Greg.

He's attempting what skateboarders call

the legendary San Francisco Clipper Ledge.

Looks like a set of concrete steps
to me, though.

Whoo!

Aah!

Ohh!

He's demonstrating
what can happen

when there's no landing ramp
to conserve all that momentum.

But there is the ground...

and a painful impact force.

Oh, my God that sucked!

Thanks for the demo, Greg.

What could possibly go wrong here?

What law of science
could make his pogo a no go?

Find out soon.

Who guessed the fate of the pink pogoer?

Hooke's law says compression of a spring

is directly proportional
to the force applied,

if the force is applied straight on.

Otherwise, all that force is applied...

to his face.

Power lifting, how hard can it be?

It's just picking stuff up, isn't it?

It should be as easy as pie
if you've got the muscles.

I said, "if you've got the muscles."

Actually, power lifting
is not just about muscles.

There's plenty of technique
and loads of science.

Most power lifters
breathe in before they start

and breathe out during the lift.

But some think that holding their breath
against a closed throat gives extra power.

Pressure in the torso supports the spine,

but stops blood circulating,
so the heart beats like crazy.

Cue red face and high blood pressure.

Now for the nasty surprise.

If you exhale rapidly
when you put the weight down,

your heart rate drops,
blood pressure plummets,

and the brain is suddenly
deprived of oxygen.

Result-- syncope, or black out.

You keel over and hit the floor.

So no matter how big and strong you are,

keep breathing,
or you could faint like a big wuss.

Let's see some power lifters
holding their breath, shall we?

-Nice.
- Whoo!

Oh, that was heavy.

- Time for a nap.

Oh, those pillows are hard.

Come on, Calvin!

There's cheers of
encouragement from his fans

as Calvin attempts a 660-pound lift.

I can do this!

Sure, you can, Calvin,
but for goodness sake, keep breathing.

Calvin, breathe,
breathe, breathe.

Oh, oh, dear.

And fainting's not the only
result of holding your breath.

This will surprise you.

And now he's fainted, too,
face-down in his lunch.

♪ Straight to the nitty-gritty ♪

So how does holding
your breath when weightlifting

make you vomit?

More science, please.

It's biology.

Straining hard pushes against the stomach.

It has no muscles that can
prevent it being squashed,

so it can't resist the pressure.

So when you squeeze this bag,

the contents spill out
into your buccal cavity,

or mouth, and beyond.

If you're eating, look away now.

Down!

This is a great
example of displacement.

The compressed air is displacing
his stomach contents.

Had he exhaled during his lift,

he would have relieved
the pressure on his stomach

and saved his protein shake.

Do we call a doctor or a plumber?

Come on, Joe!

Okay, now here's
a really stupid activity.

There's a shockingly dangerous trick

that's attracting interest from
a few crazy individuals.

It's called car jumping.

Car jumping requires muscular energy,

timing, and practical application
of Newton's laws of motion.

Otherwise, it's just like being run over.

Well, it is being run over, actually.

But let's be realistic about this.

If you are going to run
towards a moving car...

- ...what do you expect?

There goes his no-claims bonus.

Car jumping is something
you must never try yourself.

Avoiding serious injury or death

relies on some very
precise scientific principles.

Here's how an expert might do this
without getting k*lled.

First, the step before the jump

charges up the leg muscles
with elastic energy,

meaning he can spring
powerfully onto the car.

Second, his timing's perfect.

He's got just 300 milliseconds
to step off before impact.

And thirdly, he accelerates
by taking big strides.

He has to because contact
with the car pulls back his feet,

but not the rest of his body.

It's Newton's first law of motion.

A body will move at constant velocity,

unless acted upon by a force.

He's almost made it look easy.

But it's not.

That hasn't stopped a small number

of scientifically-challenged people
having a go.

Don't ever try this.

Stand by to witness
acts of total craziness.

Take a car moving at 20 miles an hour

and a misguided amateur physicist.

-Dude, dude.
-Are you all right?

What happened?

Are you all right?
Are you all right?

Well, you got run over,

which is what happens
when you make the following mistakes.

[/i]Oh!

Bad timing.

Too small a stride.

- Not accelerating.

And using your mum's car.

It takes over a ton of
impacts to smash a windshield.

Car jumping is dangerous.

Please don't do it.

And some folks are even
daft enough to attempt this

in the rain.

With disastrous results.

Ready for some scientific analysis?

The rain decreases the friction
coefficient of his trainers,

which are unable to maintain grip
on the surface of the car.

His body rotates,
which brings his center of mass

out beyond his base of support, his feet,

at which point he loses balance and falls.

In other words,
he has gone base over apex.

g*ns, dangerous and best avoided.

In the wrong hands,
just pulling the trigger of a g*n

can be almost as dangerous as being shot.

If you don't control a little
reaction known as recoil,

it'll kick you like a mule.

Put your tongue
back in your mouth.

Recoil is
measured by the energy needed

to move a pound weight one foot.

This heavy caliber automatic

generates 25 foot-pounds
of recoil with every shot.

A shotgun can have twice the recoil.

So watch how you hold it.

So you get the picture.

g*n recoil can do almost as much harm
to the person behind the weapon

as to the target.

In fact, with those people,

I'd say the targets were pretty safe.

Lock, load, and take aim on this.

The force needed to send
shot out of this barrel

at 900 miles per hour

impacts back onto the sh**ter.

It's the perfect example of
Newton's third law of motion.

Every force has an
equal and opposite force.

So to avoid being
thrown back by the recoil,

the sh**ter should adopt a stable position

and lean forwards.

And to avoid being hit by the g*n,

it should be held into the shoulder.

The tighter, the better.

Hey, it's just three simple rules.

But never undervalue
the science of stupid.

Hold the g*n tight into the shoulder.

-Oh, you okay, bro?
-Not the face.

A 12-gauge shotgun generates
over 50 foot-pounds of energy.

Which is one way to get a nose job.

When dealing with
amateur marksmen or women...

...it also pays
to keep your distance.

There's that annoying
third law of motion again.

So we need to counter
the force of the recoil

with an equal and opposite force.

The g*n doesn't stand a chance.

This is the largest caliber
center-fire r*fle ever made.

The caliber is nearly one inch.

This r*fle's gonna help us
remember those rules.

One, there's a stable position,

sitting down.

Two, you need to lean
forward to counter the recoil.

Yeah, baby!

That recoil is 277 foot-pounds,

five times more than a powerful shotgun.

And don't forget rule three,

keep the g*n locked into the shoulder.

Yeah, baby!

It kicks like a mule!

Oh, my God.

Gentlemen, you're facing
the dreaded midlife crisis.

Get yourself down to the showroom
and buy a big motorbike.

It'll allow you to impress
younger women with stunts,

like the wheelie.

Oh, that's coming out of his pension fund.

To avoid humiliation,
expense, and a trip to A&E,

for middle-age men everywhere,

let's separate science fact
from science stupid.

The wheelie has two distinct parts.

First, getting the front wheel up.

To get onto the back wheel,
rapidly increase the power

until the torque acting on the back wheel

overcomes the weight
of the rest of the bike.

Now you're up.

Staying up is all about
balancing torque and weight,

a delicate interaction of throttle,
modified back brake,

and your center of gravity.

And delicate is the word.

It's almost balletic
but it can be pathetic.

Hey that rhymed.

I predict trouble here.

Rev, it my son. You need to overcome
all that weight.

Give it some throttle.

Give it some proper throttle.

Give it some thr--

Oh, too much throttle, yeah.

This wannabe wheelier is being helped
by a glamorous assistant.

That's not a nice way
to dump your girlfriend.

But she got the message.

Let's see a proper wheelie.

Yeah, this is the man.
This is the dude.

The torque on the back wheel
has overcome the weight of the bike.

Now he only needs to keep
his center of gravity

over the back wheel.

I wonder if getting
high-fived by a superbike

was included in the ticket price.

This guy is so confident,
he's wearing shorts.

Now he's wearing tarmac.

Ah, a grand master of the wheelie.

Perfect control of the clutch, throttle,
and back brake.

He's got his center of gravity
directly above the back wheel.

If only the audience
could have a closer view.

Oh,!

Too close.

So what went wrong?

He loses his balance
when his right foot misses the left peg,

and the bike's out of control.

Unfortunately the thing
he's got to hang on to is,

yeah, you guessed it, that pesky throttle.

Look out, peanut vendor.

Yeah, maybe he was just hungry.

I've got it all on camera.

That's enough bruising, bouncing,
bashing, and headaches.

Hopefully you've been persuaded
not to try any of this stuff at home.

Science can be a cruel mistress.

Cross her at your peril.



-Don't just stand up.
Oh, you-- Hey!

You!





-Oh,!

-I'm good.