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June 30, 2006

Strange But True!

Q. From an evolutionary standpoint, why might it be so difficult for baseball batters to hit a good curve ball? Early humans certainly didn't have to deal with one of these back during the Stone Age.

A. The human visual system just isn't equipped to track the curved course of a fast-spinning ball, whether a baseball or a soccer ball, says Queen's University, Belfast psychologist Cathy Craig in “New Scientist” magazine. She recalls watching Roberto Carlos score a mesmerizing goal for Brazil in 1997, when everybody felt the ball was going wide of the mark until it curved in at the last instant. But don't overhastily blame the goalkeeper, she says. She tested experienced soccer players to see if they could follow (predict) the trajectories of balls with rapid sidespin of 600 rpm — via a virtual reality display — and they couldn't. Sidespin creates a “Magnus force,” just what a baseball pitcher relies on for a curve ball. This force accelerates balls in a direction we humans are unable to process because spinning things don't occur naturally, meaning we have had little evolutionary experience with Magnus. Catching fly balls is different: We've had to anticipate the effect of gravity on moving objects throughout our long history.


 
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