The Physics of Skating, Curling and Luge with Neil deGrasse Tyson & Charles Liu - Cosmic Queries

What’s ice skating like on Titan? On this episode, Neil deGrasse Tyson and co-hosts Chuck Nice and Gary O’Reilly answer fan questions about the physics involved in the Winter Olympics with Charles Liu.
Does the ice temperature differ for different events? What is slow ice versus fast ice? We break down the physics of how pressure melting works and the different properties of water that make ice so special. What is ice like on other planets?
How do Newton’s three laws apply to curling? Are there other laws of physics involved? Find out the intricacy of curling and its history. Do we know everything there is to know about ice? We discuss the amount of Gs a bobsledder experiences.
How insane are luge and skeleton? We slide in with a few more takes on sled-based sports. What are the craziest sports to be in the winter olympics? Charles runs us through his favorite one from the Olympics’ past. How will climate change impact winter sports? All that, plus, we dive into adaptive sports and para-athletes and the advantages they might have in space.
Thanks to our Patrons Boris Maganic, Joshua Morgan, ymc98, Josh Wittlieff, Rick Carlson, Vaibhav Kumar, Orry B, Walt Miller, Krzysztof Nadolski, and chris for supporting us this week.
NOTE: StarTalk+ Patrons can watch or listen to this entire episode commercial-free.
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About StarTalk:
Science meets pop culture on StarTalk! Astrophysicist & Hayden Planetarium director Neil deGrasse Tyson, his comic co-hosts, guest celebrities & scientists discuss astronomy, physics, and everything else about life in the universe. Keep Looking Up!
#StarTalk #NeildeGrasseTyson
0:00 - Introduction
3:27 - Why Must the Ice Temperature Vary Per Sporting Event?
9:54 - Does Skiing Involve Pressure Melting or is Snow Different?
16:28 - How do Newton's Three Laws Apply to Curling?
24:49 - How Many G's do Bobsledders Experience?
27:35 - Don't the Luge and Skeleton Events Seem Like Drunk Dares?
31:42 - What Are the Craziest Events to be Featured at the Winter Olympics?
36:37 - How Will Climate Change Impact the Winter Olympics?
38:52 - Will Para-Athletes Have an Advantage in Space Games?
42:41 - Closing Notes

[@StarTalk]

What is your favorite Winter Olympic event?

[@SnoBear626]

Alpine skiing! BTW as to ski racing, they salt the courses to make them icy.

[@210FMcometh]

Luge, Skeleton or Biathlon

[@gavinbamber6082]

Hockey

[@roydunn2865]

Coco drinking contest.

[@danielvezina5521]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/bXS4oJ2Dhsx3pq8 4 Bobsleighs can pull between 5 and 6 G's

[@E-__]

This Charles is a keeper. This whole group is solid.

[@MikeNmurdoc]

Yup, this is the dream team!!

[@mrmileskp]

Not just a keeper, a StarTalk legend.

[@zoubtube]

Charles is such a pleasure to listen to. Always enjoy him on the show. 👍 btw, based on my experience with skeleton, luge and bobsledding, skeleton is safer than luge imo. Easier to predict and manage control. Bobsled is an amazingly aggressive experience, absolutely love it. All three are super addictive

[@iamdb1990]

I'm not a big sports person, but I enjoy Gary and Charles every time

[@markpodesta4605]

Chuck Nice is so funny! He should be on all the time. 🤣👍

[@jimweaver8405]

Chuck is a treasure, for sure.

[@Fister_of_Muppets]

He's so nice

[@will9678]

He should be a comedian

[@jimweaver8405]

@@will9678 He is a comedian. Ever heard of Google?

[@CompaCookies]

@@jimweaver8405 I think he was being sarcastic

[@jeanadams1667]

The only time that I enjoy sports is watching Cosmic Queries - Sports edition. :)

[@mattevans-koch9353]

Gentlemen and Lord Nice thank you for a fantastic StarTalk. The four of you always make for a great episode. Take care all.

[@gorak9000]

In before IOC gets the video taken down for unauthorized use of the olympic rings logo...

[@StarTalk]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@kristkriegel4721]

"theirs almost as much stars in the universe as their is unsolved murders in Chicago" truly amazing. Thank you black science guy for teaching us stuff.

[@marqetteliz]

Charles is my favorite guest on the show

[@muhammadassiddiq1208]

It's always a blast when they're together talking about science.

[@perm1730]

Charles Liu is as smart as he is caring. What a gem of a human. Much respect to you brother.

[@TheRabbitRonin]

These four together is very entertaining to watch/hear.

[@kittiruffle4488]

Can't get enough of Chuck looking directly into the camera. His eyes are sooo dreamy! Like pools of chocolate that I would pay to swim in!

[@nicflatterie7772]

Curling is super complicated from a physics standpoint. You can look up papers from physics researchers that try to explain everything that is going on with regards to ice, pressure, friction, weight, … On tv yesterday they mentioned luge got 3G.

[@lasma.a]

I like when this particular group of people are discussing things 😊

[@eddiemasa77]

Love it when Charles lui is in episodes! Don’t forget about Dr stone Dr lui and Dr Tyson

[@medicwebber3037]

Fascinating and fun! Posted a blurb about this episode on my fb page with a link. More people need to enjoy you and learn from you. Thanks to all of you!

[@StarTalk]

Thanks for getting the word out! Information learned is best shared!

[@infinatep1mp737]

Also happy to watch and never surprised to learn something every episode. Thanks for keeping our days interesting 👍

[@gusgarcia150]

These four are just brilliant! I could listen to them for days!

[@michaelanegus9900]

OMG they asked my question first! That made my day--thank you!

[@aungthuhein007]

Couldn't have clicked on this faster after seeing Charles

[@silvja8868]

I love every episode! especially when Charles Liu is a guest

[@rosenhoffer8575]

Hello from România , ur amazing to watch and listen to , and chuck is crazy funny, thank you

[@robpatty6062]

Love me some Charles Liu 😜😜

[@Volamek]

What a cast! Way to bring in the A list!

[@Huknu2]

Great show guys! I wish it could have been twice as long.

[@StarTalk]

Life-Hack: Queue up an old episode after this one.

[@kitschypea3884]

Tri-freakin-ecta. Soooo geeking out right now 💀

[@jacobokpara7618]

Thanks NDT for the new word of the day "Sqozen"

[@seandepoppe6716]

One of the best I have seen. Thank you all

[@EliasBac]

Such an awesome episode. As always ! Special thanks to our man Chuck who makes every episode hilarious. Cherry on the cake (that’s a French expression I’m not sure we say that in English lol)

[@ja7561]

"Cherry on top" is a more common expression in the U.S. I think everyone would know exactly what you mean though, even if they have never heard it that way.

[@EliasBac]

@@ja7561 right ! Heard that before indeed. Thanks for the reminder 😊

[@kristkriegel4721]

"theirs almost as much stars in the universe as their is unsolved murders in Chicago" truly amazing. Thank you black science guy for teaching us stuff.

[@stephanienirenberg7426]

Love Sports Talk with a passion.

[@kraka2oanIner]

Curling is HILLARIOUS to watch. I love it!!

[@michaelallen2501]

I wanna see Chuck play hockey lol.

[@SerDunk]

More Charles Liu!!!😊

[@sayeager5559]

Charles Liu podcast sounds terrific.

[@Fiction_Beast]

Such a cool bunch of dudes here. Science, comedy and sports.

[@danielhernandez4394]

Love this atmosphere

[@user-iy1hq9gp6d]

Спасибо большое за вашу работу! Успехов Вам и здоровья!

[@petercrizer6102]

This is absolutely fascinating . . .

[@markitalian3806]

You guys are the best, obviously Tyson it's famous and the man but his friend on this show is hilarious and perfect. I hope to see more of you guys.

[@gdasailor4634]

About the question of breaking forces: THE loads on the wheels are not just dependent on the weight distribution (typically heavy on the front wheels), but also the balance of forces caused by breaking. Breaking force is applied at ground level, well below the CG, which sets up a moment which must be balanced by the front wheels taking relatively greater ground reaction than the rear wheels. The potential breaking force is directly dependent on the ground reactions therefore for typical vehicles (not sports cars) the front breaks are designed to apply 65 to 75% of the total breaking force - for example disk breaks on the front and drums on the rear.

[@toby9999]

I believe longer blades would provide greater stability at speed while shorter blades would be more manourerable, therefore better for ice hockey. Works similarly in roller sports i.e. inline speed skating (long wheelbase) vs figure skating (short).

[@DaBlondDude]

How many people could blithely say "I just worked it out in my head in the last 30 seconds and bobsledders have up to 3 or 4 Gs"? I'm impressed

[@kitschypea3884]

Heeeyyy! I live curling. Thank goodness for youtube because I used to have to stay up to see it.

[@themanundead]

Love the content❤❤❤

[@coder001]

Charles Liu is a genius

[@barnard-baca]

Yay CUNY Grad Center and CSI. Saludos desde MX

[@bigwill123ism]

Whoop whoop. Charles Liu!!

[@dunderwood4444]

Lord Nice does not do snow Ski industry. Bless up from Brooklyn NY #Dr.CharlesLu #Dr.Tyson #GaryO #LordNice outstanding episode

[@jayt4677]

Hey neil, I’ve just watched a video about space expanding faster than the speed of light. How do we know this? Also how do we know if space has stopped expanding?

[@Logan.]

@23:00 brakes are actually tuned in almost all cars so that the front brakes apply more force than the rear. Typically around an 85/15 split.

[@petercrizer6102]

re: para+ athletes in space > > could you see a curling event, in space, in a tube, '5-D Olympics'? This discussion was fascinating, thanks to all . . . . .

[@benetton6617]

Chuck is a humble man I think he's great and funny. 🙂

[@coarsegrind]

The rear of the curling rock determines direction of curl. The running surface has 3 speeds if you were to use vector quantities. One side is travelling faster than the other relative to the speed of rock. The slower side adheres to the surface longer than the faster side. So like ABS brakes drags the rock in that direction.

[@botcrack]

CHUCK! I'm watching Kevin Can Wait. I didn't know you played the IT guy for Golden Pheonix Security! LOL. Nice.

[@Optimus19]

If you want to understand curling and skates vs ice, watch smarter everyday. Good explanation there as well

[@janicechildress2952]

Only DeGrasse Tyson and team can diversify from Stars to SarsCOV19 to Olympics! Will check out the Luniverse, sp? Lu is AWESOME 🤗

[@beadyeyez]

Off topic... but Neil.. the pillar in your background looks to be heavy architecture in a small space. Could we get a visual tour of your studio space for some context?

[@jameskesterson5348]

The front brakes are set to do most of the stopping power. That’s why they wear quicker. If the back brakes are set the same as the front , when the weight shifts to the front the rear wheeled will lock up (less weight) it’s for safety

[@Logan.]

Yes! Haha love to know at least a few of us know something than a world renowned scientist doesn't lol

[@petersage5157]

Regardless of where the engine is in a car, unless you're always braking on a steep uphill grade (and why would you need to, with gravity providing so much drag?) the front brakes will always wear first because the center of momentum shifts forward. Any bicyclist can tell you that you get more braking force before locking up the front wheel than the rear, even though the bulk of the rider's mass is over the rear wheel. Rear wheel drive traditionally is preferred for sports cars for the same reason; when accelerating, the center of momentum shifts towards the rear. This is also why the front of a car rises during acceleration and dives during breaking, and why wheelies and stoppies are possible on a bike.

[@nri518]

Sir can you please explain atmospheric temprature

[@jandrews6254]

I usually had a fairly shallow grind for my skates as a dancer/figure skater. The one time I had to compete on a rink used mostly for ice hockey, I had to get a deep grind because the ice was so hard

[@janicechildress2952]

Remembering when my blades NEEDED sharpening. Did I really want to dull them on a backyard rink? Would love to have those choices to make again. Dogs and kids 💞Adore the ❄️ winter. Now I adore Neil and Team Olympian '22. Golds for each, the American way of judging ⛷️

[@robby3467]

Nothing wrong with curling. I love it.

[@MisterTee2010]

I believe the sport that is affected the most by the condition of the ice is Curling.

[@coarsegrind]

The surface temperature of curling ice monitored meticulously. Surface temperature also decides pebble water temperature. While driving on winter roads it is nice to hear the ice cracking because then you know it’s freezing and getting colder especially at night.

[@roseredsky727]

I know this is off subject,but is there a star talk episode on the subject of the gaint filaments in the center of the Milky way?

[@akshaaysharmas]

Chucks back !!

[@EliasReaper]

Nice Dahlias Neil!

[@tchevrier]

curling: No, the sweepers are not taking away the pebbling. The pebble creates a very low surface area for the rock to contact the ice. As the rock slides across the pebble, it's weight creates a small film of water on top of the pebble to reduce the friction even more. Sweeping helps melt the ice to further reduce friction. In a way that's removing pebble, but it's not the primary reason. If there was no pebble the rocks would not slide as far.

[@douglasyoung927]

I wonder if the lower coefficient of friction plays the same role in speed skates being longer and faster that it does for a longer faster kayak. Maybe in addition to the ability to push harder.

[@justchaz.]

Chuck's back! lol Homage. He'd hem and haw, building your anticipation for what is to come out of his mouth, then land a massive one on you and you end up spilling your formerly mouthed drink all over your keyboard. Love it though. Ancestral homage, I will borrow, to replace the "I'm tropical" I'd used before. Such an oasis show.

[@archerychampion]

Ice temperature is CRITICAL for curling, as well!

[@georgeemeny6123]

Never thought about ice being different temperatures.

[@methedudeful]

hot dam Nice, good question! "ice so hard you can't turn on it". Seriously, I was like whaaaaaat. It didn't cross my mind that a skater is able to turn because of friction and i didn't associate hardness of ice to a lack of friction. pretty cool

[@EdNutZ100]

Can we make a make a cosmic queries/grab bag edition of the physics of automobiles and automotive technology. And maybe what commuting/ traveling on other planets would look like.

[@killshot2333]

Chuck is back 🤣😂🤣😂

[@HululusLabs]

Most cars also bias the front brakes to clamp harder as well, since locking up the rear while braking could lead to some fun Initial D moments

[@localbgr4074]

You guys are nice.. damn sometime we have to thank technology allowing us to hear great minds chat.

[@Fister_of_Muppets]

Chuck is nice

[@thetommantom]

In ski racing they have a flip 15 or flip 30 the first isn't always the best maybe like 3-7 and then they put the best guy at 15th for the second run also the further down the more tore up the course gets so they try to give the up and coming people a better chance better experience while giving the better guys a handicap and a more challenging course and as for weather the first guy might have to plow the course and it might actually get better the more people there are there's all the different ways

[@EliasReaper]

Chuck Niiiiiiiice

[@wittolwanderer6358]

The last question, haha! I'm a bi-lateral above knee amputee. I used to jokingly tell people that NASA wanted me to join because I took up less space :D

[@FirstWayHockey]

Neil by brooming they don't slow it down, it just decelerate less faster. And the curling name doesn't come from the verb to curl but from the old english to curr (to make a murmuring sound), the sound made by the material they were using before granit stone.

[@Rob.DB.]

Neil needs to not interrupt people so much. I don't like the sound of his voice as much as he does, for sure. Chuck needs to say "Hush up, Neil!" , and probably often, for me to continue watching this series.

[@denisenj7648]

Only half way through and I've already heard Neil say squoze and brooming. I knew those were real words! 😋

[@Testa717]

13:11 ❤

[@earthdimensionc-1378]

Modern cars are designed to apply more braking power to the front. It’s easier to stop something by applying brakes this way. Front can account for roughly 70% of stopping power.

[@ctndiaye1]

Hey, Chuck! I love you.

[@thejoshbtv]

The front brakes on a car always wear out more than the rears. It doesn't matter where the engine is mounted, what the drives wheels are, etc. They wear out because, and they should know this, an object in motion tends to stay in motion unless acted on by an outside force. Hitting the brake pedal and clamping down on the rotors/drums is the outside force. Every other piece of the car wants to keep moving, so all of that inertia moves to the front as far as the suspension will allow and then the weight dives. This puts the vast majority of the stress on the front brakes, causing more wear and wearing them out faster. That is why all vehicles, any vehicle has the better brakes on the front. Either disks up front and drums in the rear, or discs all around with larger rotors and more pistons in the front. (this excludes older vehicles that only had brakes on the rear wheels because everyone was learning). There are only two ways for the rear brakes to wear out faster: You drive in reverse exclusively, which won't happen. Or the other option is to have a torsion style suspension that will actually lift the front of the car when the weight shots forward to help through it back to the rear. But by doing something like that, you lose the weight over the front wheels which is imperative for steering. Now as far as curling goes, quit hating. It is mesmerizing to watch.

[@desireeeisaman4713]

Yes different metals are added and their temperature change are the patterns of which heat and fire are created by vibration of flint composition by a cubit of air pressure to earth ratio. So fire can be manifested at speed of light and gravity can disappear at the vibration speed of planet by air to earth to water ratio on this planet doubled by vibration of a pattern of flint. Snow is expanded ice so in 392 pattern which is solid water or ice weight to air expanded by speed of light to heat. On each planet is the vibration of numbers to distance from sun to blackhole waves from pattern of ice and weight is heat of sun by freezing point of all gases on different planets.

[@resonant_theories]

a change in "pressure" would resolve to energy change... if volume doesn't change.. frequency must increase in vibrating atom..

[@PaolaBarrientos]

Thanks!

[@StarTalk]

Thanks for your support!

[@defiantnature27]

Lord Nice🤴🏿

[@bshandyateverything]

CHUCK IS hilarious!

[@jimweaver8405]

Reminds me of Kurt Vonnegut Cats Cradle with ice nine

[@zack_120]

ST gets more spicy and interesting 👍

[@desireeeisaman4713]

Yes...curly hair is the sequence of speed of motion by mass by sound of a clap of the pattern of speed. A spiral or circle speed depends of composition of rock used because of pattern of vibration. So adjust energy by weight of stone by heat to change earth to liquid. It can dissapear and rearrange by calculating the color speed and weight by pressure of air by volume of shape by weight and speed of pattern of chemical composition of what you're rearranging.

[@okaydetar821]

Wat.

[@desireeeisaman4713]

So 3 x the speed of sound what sound become Watts energy light @ the vibration of the heat of the sun.

[@desireeeisaman4713]

So 3x the speed of sound from the distance between the sun and blackhole is the sound vibration equal to the temperature of the sun in space. Which is the ratio of sun/moon and body temperature

[@roobscoob47]

NdGT and C-Nice~ Liu, C and Gary, Too!

[@GH-oi2jf]

Isn’t zero Celsius the point of maximum density of water?

[@baileescott401]

I never knew how dangerous the Luge is!

[@skipper7882]

Yeah!!!!!

[@HGerow]

Should have had a Canadian sports person on to explain this....Especially on curling...

[@tomanders4740]

Hey Neil 👋🏾