Why This Olympic Sport Bothers Physicists

This is the craziest Olympic sport by far. Trust me.
This episode is #sponsored by @NBCSports @YouTube #WinterOlympics

Every four years, people lose their minds over one Olympic sport. They make fun of it! But the more I learned about it, the more obsessed I got… and I realized that all these people making fun? They’re getting this totally wrong. This is the coolest Olympic sport by far. The sport I’m talking about is… CURLING.

From stones so unique they all have to come from one tiny island, to a tech doping scandal nobody wants to talk about. It’s a game with strategy so complicated it’s called “chess on ice”. And a physics mystery that’s gone unsolved for over a century that could one day help us design robots for space. And that’s just the start…

Trust me, you don’t know enough about Curling…YET. So I’m going to take you onto the ice at the Olympic Trials… to show you what everyone’s missing and why Curling is the Olympic sport you should be watching.

Chapters
00:00 What's the most fascinating sport at the Winter Olympics?
01:40 How do you play curling?
02:57 Why are curling stones so crazy?
04:46 Why is curling chess on ice?
05:48 Why do they sweep in curling?
08:18 What is Broomgate?
10:11 How do curling stones defy physics?
11:58 What is the science of rubbing?
15:16 Why do people make fun of curling?
15:56 :)

You can find me on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/cleoabram
On TikTok here: https://www.tiktok.com/@cleoabram
Or on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/cleoabram

Bio:
Cleo Abram is an Emmy-nominated independent video journalist. On her show, HUGE* If True, Cleo explores complex technology topics with rigor and optimism, helping her audience understand the world around them and see positive futures they can help build. Before going independent, Cleo was a video producer for Vox. She wrote and directed the Coding and Diamonds episodes of Vox’s Netflix show, Explained. She produced videos for Vox’s popular YouTube channel, was the host and senior producer of Vox’s first ever daily show, Answered, and was co-host and producer of Vox’s YouTube Originals show, Glad You Asked.

Additional reading and watching:
- Curling clubs near NYC: https://licurling.org/, https://ardsleycurling.com/
Special thanks to Long Island Curling and Ardsley Curling for all of their support in the prep and research of this episode!
-World Curling: https://worldcurling.org/
-“History of the Game” https://www.scottishcurling.org/curling-history/history-of-the-game/
-“What is Curling?” https://www.stlouiscurlingclub.org/index.php/try-curling/about-curling
- Curling Clips YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@CurlingClips
- “Study of curling mechanism by precision kinematic measurements of curling stone’s motion” https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9440934/
- “The slippery science of Olympic curling: we still don’t know how it works” https://www.unsw.edu.au/newsroom/news/2022/02/the-slippery-science-of-olympic-curling--we-still-dont-know-how-,
- Original study: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=inu.30000112841493&seq=657
- “Why all Olympic curling stones come from a Scottish island” https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-scotland-68699328,
- Kays Scotland https://www.kaysscotland.com/
- “PHOTO ESSAY: Scottish island Ailsa Craig is the granite source for Olympic curling stones” https://apnews.com/photo-essay/olympics-curling-island-ailsa-craig-scotland-photos-90cc3742fe35b63b87755ad126942c42
-“Ailsa Craig” https://science.nasa.gov/earth/earth-observatory/ailsa-craig-91856/
-World Curling “Around the House: Operation Ailsa Craig” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPMe-pElwho
-Glossary on curling terms: https://www.olympics.com/en/news/glossary-of-curling,

Vox: https://www.vox.com/authors/cleo-abram
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm10108242/

Gear I use:
Camera: Sony A7SIII
Lens: Sony 16–35 mm F2.8 GM
Audio:

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices