Sports Science
Can anyone accurately forecast the result of the London Olympics while they are a week away?
Even more daring, can they forecast results without in depth knowledge of athlete training?
Economists at Ruhr-Universität Bochum are taking a shot at it and, if it sounds like complete madness, we'll go ahead and spoil it and tell you they believe that China, USA, and Russia will top the score table with 102, 100, and 71 medals, respectively, so you can move on to another article.
But if you are interested in the nuts and bolts, read on. You can decide if this is mumbo-jumbo or solid…
The two most common swimming strokes used by athletes training for the Olympic Games either pull the swimmer through the water like a boat paddle or whirl to the side like a propeller.
Which arm motion works best is a big argument among elite swimmers and their coaches but a university research study has picked a winner - which will be no comfort at at all to actual athletes and their coaches.
In the 1960s, the sculling stroke gained popularity thanks to the late James "Doc" Counsilman, then the head men's swimming coach at Indiana University. Counsilman, highly regarded for his science-…
Athletes sometimes 'choke' - succumb to pressure and underperform - in key situations. How can an athlete be among the top 1,000 participants in the world at a task and be paralyzed by situations in a game they play with expertise?
Choking happens to lots of people. We've all heard people say they can't take tests, for example. A new analysis from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) suggests that when there are higher incentives to succeed, people can become so afraid of losing their potential reward that their performance suffers.
It's counterintuitive. Clearly…
The so-called 'reality-based community' hates popular culture, unless they like it ironically. Sports most of all.
But, argues George Washington University Professor of Anthropology Jeffrey P. Blomster, the ballgame is associated with the rise of complex societies, so understanding its origins also illuminates the evolution of socio-politically complex societies.
Blomster's latest research explores the importance of the ballgame to ancient Mesoamerican societies - and the discovery of a ballplayer figurine in the Mixteca Alta region of Oaxaca demonstrates the early participation of…
You likely knew that professional boxing causes brain damage but a new study shows it is more than just an assumption, even about amateurs. Researchers analyzing 30 top-level Swedish boxers found changes in brain fluids after bouts, which indicates nerve cell damage. It has been debated for quite some time whether Olympic (amateur) boxing is hazardous to the brain. Researchers at the Sahlgrenska Academy, Gothenburg University, joined with colleagues at the Faculty of Health Sciences at Linköping University and the Swedish Boxing Association in conducting a unique study of 30 top-level…
Both testosterone and cortisol levels increased for Spaniards who watched as Spain beat Holland during the 2010 World Cup. In this study, they analyzed the psychobiological response of men and women watching sports - when the competition’s outcome, victory or defeat, is basically out of their control. Fifty supporters of the Spanish team watched the final in a public space or at home, with their families or friends. The researchers asked for their expectations and feelings before the match, and they checked their testosterone and cortisol levels before, during and after the match.…
As the London marathon gets underway, there are going to be lots of people getting high- 37,500 according to one recent BBC article. However, this is a different “high” than those individuals who partook, or attempted to, in massive marijuana festivities of April 20th, such as the 2011 University of Colorado demonstration to legalize marijuana that was 10,000 people strong.
The “high” marathoners will experience is well known- a release of chemicals called endocannabinoids. An article in the April 14th issue of The Economist reviews research from the Journal of Experimental Biology that…
It's baseball season. That means some time this week you are sure to witness the following; a pitcher hits a player with the ball. The opposing pitcher retaliates by hitting another player with a ball. The benches look like they are about to clear, an umpire will issue a warning (or not) and things will escalate until, surely, a fight breaks out.
The Iron Dice of World War I and the many mysteries of how it actually came to fighting has nothing on the psychological machinations of America's national pastime.
Brown University psychologist Fiery Cushman studies moral judgment…
As you know, 74 people were killed this Wednesday when Egyptian soccer fans stampeded into a bottleneck after a 3-1 hometown upset win. While certainly tragic, it’s far from irrational: it turns out the behavioral economics were stacked against them.
Take the link between football and domestic violence. In2011 economists Gordon Dahl and David Card showed that when a home team loses, domestic violence in the home city increases by 10- percent. On police reports, you can see reports start to rise in the final quarter as a loss looks likely. Then reports peak an hour after the game and return to…
The inaugural season of intercollegiate football took place in 1869. It consisted of two games: Rutgers played Princeton, and then a week later, they played again. Each team won once, so the “national championship” (awarded retroactively) was split. And despite the schools’ bitter rivalry, the Rutgers newspaper reported an “amicable feed together” after the contests. Since then, the business of selecting a national champion in college football has grown considerably more complex.
Controversy has long come with the territory. In 1932, for example, the national championship was awarded to…