Among these swimmers - Michael Phelps, who won his seventh gold medal yesterday, tying Mark Spitz's record * Phelps helped develop a spacesuit that used materials developed and tested at NASA's Langley Laboratory
Swimmers from all over the world tried last week to break records in the swimming pool in Beijing while wearing a swimsuit made of fabrics tested at NASA. Among the gold medal winning swimmers who wore Speedo's suits were the American Michael Phelps who is the athlete with the most gold medals in modern times and Natalie Coughlin. Both helped develop the tight body suit.
Together with them, aeronautical engineer Steve Wilkinson from NASA's Langley Research Laboratory in Hampton, Virginia, also participated in the development. Wilkinson, who is not a swimmer, is watching the Olympics with excitement. "I religiously follow the achievements of the swimmers" says Wilkinson. "I am amazed that so many athletes are wearing a fabric that I tried in my laboratory in the Hamptons." said.
Researcher Wilkinson tested dozens of weaves in the tiny wind tunnel measuring 18 by 28 centimeters. "This is a basic research facility," Wilnikson says. "We are looking for materials that have less drag on an otherwise smooth surface. To do this, we study basic physics - the interactions between the flow and the surface." The fabric has been offered by Speedo for sale since February and even before the Olympics it has already helped to break 48 world records.
But how did NASA become involved in the most talked about swimsuit since the invention of the bikini? Varanso, the American franchisee of the Speedo swimwear brand, suggested that NASA's Langley Center try textile samples, as Langley has been researching friction reduction on airplanes and even ships for decades. "We evaluated the effect of surface roughness on about 60 types of fabrics, in one of the smallest slow wind tunnels in the world" said Wilkinson. "We evaluated which weaves and in which wave conditions would have the lowest drag. The experiments showed us that the smoother the weave, the lower the drag."
Just as drag reduction helps airplanes fly more efficiently, drag reduction helps swimmers swim faster. The studies showed that the drag on the skin and clothing make up about a third of all the forces acting on the swimmer. The wind tunnel experiments measured the friction on the surface of the fabric.
"The fabrics came in the form of small diameter tubes," said Wilkinson. "We stretched them on top of our flat and smooth model - aluminum plates. We prepared the edges so that they would be straight and square without protruding corners or edges that would interfere with friction on the surface."
The plate goes into a small wind tunnel, a light breeze passes over it. Wilkinson operated the wind tunnel at different speeds and with the help of the sensors he measured the friction on the surface of the surface. He recorded the data and sent it to Speedo researchers. The team of researchers at Speedo's marine laboratory, Aqualab, used the data to design a "space age" swimsuit.
Wilkinson said he never thought he would be experimenting with swimsuit fabrics when he started his job at NASA 30 years ago. He added that he was laughed at by his colleagues. When he watched the Olympic Games, he realized that he had played a small role in the history of swimming. It is therefore possible that Wilkinson had the last laugh.
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to the cool commenter,
Thanks, I'll try.
Hahaha, strong..
If grandma had wheels, slash, if Michael Phelps had a biosuit and implanted gills.
To Hogin and Monin.. of Odin..,
I have to tell you that at first, when you started writing comments, I couldn't stand your comments. I slowly began to understand the style and it dawned on me that you have quite high-quality responses (maybe except for the unnecessary punctuation). The difference is in the content. At first I didn't see any logical content in your comments, now with the activation of the brain I recognize content, a bit fragmented and a bit with holes. Your responses are like a trail that starts somewhere and continues through many things in an associative thought order.
My only criticism of your comments is that many times they have holes in content and content that is not understood. I would appreciate it if you invested a little so that your response would be a little clearer, and decisive in its content. Although it will hurt the artistic style a bit.
Thanks, cool
Host of the Universe:
I think I read that that runner actually received approval but did not achieve the Olympic minimum.
I'm not sure, but I think I've seen such news once.
In any case - in my opinion there is no chance that this will lead to an organ transplant and there is also no chance that such a transplant will be approved. It was said "if grandma had wheels..."
The improvement of the swimsuit is not unusual in historical view.
In the ancient Greek Olympics, wrestlers used to anoint themselves with oil
So that it will be more difficult for the opponent to engage them. This is also a form of using artificial materials to create a better result, or an advantage over the opponent.
In the first Olympics in modern times, they used to swim in the open sea, and the pool is a "refinement" that improved the dangerous swimming in the sea. In the past, the start was done together with "simultaneous" pressing of the stopwatch, while today the start of the watch is automatic, determining the winner with the precision of hundredths of a second is also an improvement that did not exist before.
That is, apart from the specific matter, there is no real revolution here in relation to sports, the various technological improvements will continue to improve the results.
A real revolution will come, when in the near future the amputee runner, who runs with springy artificial legs made of carbon fibers, will be approved to run among the healthy runners. Here will come a tremendous turning point. Following him, athletes in the more distant future will implant artificial organs in order to achieve better results....
point:
I repeat my previous statement that everything is relative and this time on a more interesting topic.
If we take your joke seriously for a moment then we have to take into account the fact that biological creatures with shoton will stick out into the water.
Bumping them into the water will create drag.
In order for the whip to eliminate this drag and even gain an advantage, he would have to allow the tiny creature to swim faster than the swimmer himself.
There are no creatures in nature of such a size that are able to move in water faster than a swimmer, therefore any such coating will harm the swimmer and not benefit him.
I was thinking of a biological swimming suit coated with biological creatures that have a rod to help the swimmer.
Hugin:
it's all relative.
I excel in every sport, but…..
Relative to my age.
I am no longer a child.
In cycling I am probably still good even relatively to young people.
However, with all the impression you may have formed, I am not a competitive type and I do not like to participate in competitions - neither in sports nor in anything else.
You already used phrases borrowed from sports when you said I wanted to "win".
This is an inaccurate description of motives.
What motivates me fundamentally is the search for the truth, but there are things that derive from this search, the most prominent of which is an unqualified aversion to lies and liars, which create the impression of competitiveness.
Well...we already agreed a long time ago, that Michael is not a layman at all, he will be punished, as long as he doesn't go down
upon us, and tries to take us down from the experience learned here.
And by the way, Michael? In what sport do you excel, except here.. maybe we'll arrange
What a little Olympics..for the sake of the place and the time..what are you saying?.?Seriously.
point:
I think there is no other choice.
After all, it is not possible to force all swimmers to use the same type of swimsuit, if only because of the size.
That is why they will always use different swimwear.
This means that a specific swimmer (or a specific country - East Germany is important) will always be able to conduct research and open secret and equip himself with a swimsuit that looks like other swimsuits but gives him an advantage.
It can't be exceeded and it's not even possible to set rules to prevent it.
That is why it is better that every development is published and everyone can equip themselves with any technological innovation that is not specifically disqualified.
I'm talking about the option of specific disqualification because it was possible to specifically disqualify a certain fabric and then it could be checked, but defining other criteria - such as the drag coefficient of the fabric seems illogical to me - and what about the drag coefficient of the swimmer's skin? Maybe he uses a special cream that smoothes it?
There is no escape, in my opinion, from defining completely specific limits, because even the border between food and drugs is blurred in principle and can only be clarified if you specifically define which substance is a drug and which substance is normal food.
As for the depth of the pool - it can be limited, but if everyone swims in the same pool it is not important in the competition itself and it is only interesting in the context of comparison with other competitions.
This comparison is problematic anyway because of differences in the amount of oxygen and air pressure as a function of altitude and the strength and direction of the wind at different times and places.
to the point,
I also had the thought of this, at the first moment, but I remembered that, for example, at
Runners, have been using for many years, types of sports shoes that help
A. I started off better. and b. to remove an unnecessary gravity system from the runner.
That is, the different developments create different benchmarks from competition to competition,
And so it actually turns out that technology and science are part of those Olympic competitions
Of various kinds.
One of the taboos, which must not be crossed, in all types of competitions, including with the animals
It is the use of internal substances, readable, stimulant drugs, which enslave you
The competitor, that is, harmful to their nature.
In any case, the simplicity of the researcher Wilkson in basic physics, he says
Checking the interactions between the wind currents and the surface, in order to
To reduce levels of readable friction, lower levels of drag, is a breakthrough
Significant regarding our insights, looking at mobility, aviation
And as far as our dreams..the seemingly wild ones in the matter.
History will remember him, precisely because of his genius simplicity...which we need.
From here, I should move on to the necessity of the nanoparticles, which are part of the process
The requested…
But this is not the wisdom of the swimmer. No he is the champion. It's not like in the case that it depended only on his physical fitness. It's no longer a sport, and it's better if they make a competition between scientific developments. It will be much more interesting and the child will be named.
per person,
I'm not an aerodynamics expert but it's not as trivial as it sounds. Even an ideally perfectly smooth surface will have drag. It is possible that a certain type of roughness will reduce the general drag even though theoretically something smoother will have less local drag. In the end it is a matter of a certain speed (i.e. the drag that is calculated here for the speed of an Olympic swimmer in water and not, let's say the drag of a racing boat whose dynamics are certainly different) as well as a certain shape that is related to the shape of the human body and perhaps also the style of swimming. It is not trivial to say - as much as something The smoother the drag the lower its drag.This can turn out to be incorrect when it comes to the overall drag on the swimmer.
Greetings friends,
Ami Bachar
Wilkinson says:
The experiments showed us that the smoother the weave, the lower the drag.
It took him 30 years to get there?
point:
On the contrary - it is actually wisdom. Once upon a time only physical fitness was needed to break a world record and today wisdom is also used.
I know I used the word "wisdom" in a different way than you intended but it seems to me that it still illuminates things in a more positive light.
By the way - how do you relate to improving style by scientific means or to real revolutions like the Fosbury jump?
Roy:
You're right.
A special bathing suit, a 3 meter pool (instead of 2), all kinds of "nutritious" substances, it is not wise to break a world record like that.
As far as I know there is either or both or both, neither, correct me if I'm wrong...
As of this moment, I am the one who had the last laugh.
This will of course change later.
Very nice.