YSM Issue 87.4

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BY SIENNA LI
The 2014 Rio World Cup saw the
gathering of top soccer stars from around
the globe. There was one new player in
particular that caused quite a stir. His
name? The Brazuca. This soccer ball,
made especially by Adidas for the 2014
World Cup, proved to be a star performer
in the games, rehabilitating Adidas’ image
after the poorly-received Jabulani ball of
2010.
The Brazuca has been praised for its
predictability and consistency on the
field. Its design incorporates a number
of new features to improve the ball’s
performance. Most noticeably, the
new ball has only six panels, versus the
Jabulani’s eight and a standard ball’s thirtytwo.
Fewer panels means fewer stitches,
which cuts down on friction between the
air particles and the surface of the ball
What makes the World Cup ball special?
IMAGE COURTESY OF NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
The new Brazuca ball design, with six panels
and a rough surface, moves through the air
predictably and with astonishing accuracy.
when it is in motion. Less friction results
in decreased turbulence and makes the
ball’s movement more predictable.
However, smoother balls tend to
experience more drag, a force that
causes the ball to swerve unexpectedly.
The Jabulani’s practically uninterrupted,
8-paneled surface was too smooth, causing
it to dip randomly in the air. To counter
this effect, the Brazuca is covered with
little bumps that create a rough surface.
Players are thus able to get a better grip
on the ball, and there is reduced drag.
The Brazuca also features long, deep
seams along its panels that disrupt the
smoothness of the ball to enhance its
aerodynamic movement.
The Brazuca was well-received at the
2014 World Cup, garnering positive
reviews from players, coaches, and fans
alike. The question now is: what’s next for
soccer ball design?
What happens in the brain when we watch a movie?
BY AMANDA MEI
Next time you find yourself in a movie
theater, consider this: You are probably
sharing more than an armrest or a bag of
popcorn with the person next to you; you
are likely sharing brain activity, too.
In one fMRI study, moviegoers who
watched The Good, the Bad, and the
Ugly experienced increases and decreases
of neural activity in tandem. As much as
70 percent of their cerebral cortex was
synchronized at any given moment. This
synchronization happened especially in
brain regions responsible for processing
sights and sounds, but was also evident
in regions associated with emotion.
Researchers observed correlations in the
fusiform face area when subjects saw faces
on screen. They saw synchronized activity
in the limbic system’s cingulate gyrus, which
connects actions with emotional responses.
ART BY CHRISTINA ZHANG
Moviegoers may experience similar
increases and decreases in neural activity
when they watch visually-stimulating
movies together.
But why does this happen? Researchers
attribute these correlations to the fact
that people watching the same movies
experience the same stimuli.
Movies that direct audience attention
with structural devices are more likely
than unstructured videos to elicit brain
synchronization. Cuts and angle shifts
greatly influence viewers’ eye movements,
and information collected by retinal cells
passes through the thalamus into the visual
cortex at the back of the brain. Regions of
the visual cortex have functions ranging
from pattern recognition to motion
perception. As a result, movies that exert
more control over viewers’ perception have
a greater impact on their brain activity.
Unstructured videos like comedy shows, by
contrast, elicit only 5 to 20 percent cortical
synchronization among viewers.
Great films may not be mind control,
but they certainly come close.