Antonella Crescimbeni | Vox

Why the “wolf turn” is such a big deal

2021-08-02T11:41:02-04:00

Every Summer Olympics, gymnasts amaze viewers by performing incredibly complex and dangerous skills. As these routines get more and more complicated, they become harder to top. The latest way to add value and distinguish a routine is a tricky skill called the wolf turn.

The wolf turn has been around for decades, but recently it’s become a favorite in balance beam and floor routines. A gymnast will get into a squat position with one leg stretched out. She’ll then stretch out her arms and wind them up. Once she finds her balance, she’ll start spinning. Finally, she’ll stop and return to her original stance.

Seems pretty simple, but the movement relies on a delicate balance of mass and inertia. One wobble and things fall apart. Of course, there’s a reason gymnasts perform this delicate balance: points. The turn is used strategically because its relatively high difficulty level means judges value it more than a regular turn.

To read more about how judges score gymnasts, check out this article from USA Gymnastics and this one from The Balance Beam Situation.

What tennis pros look at when they choose a ball

2021-06-17T18:36:04-04:00

Before each serve, most professional tennis players go through a ritual to get in the zone. Novak Djokovic will bounce the ball with his racket, then with his hand. Rafael Nadal will usually pull at his shorts and the sleeves around his shoulders, then touch his nose and tuck his hair behind his ears. Each has a very distinctive routine. But there’s one tennis ritual nearly every pro tennis player does: choosing a specific tennis ball. A common belief among players is that the ball they choose can help them win.

But there’s real physics at play behind this ritual — and It all comes down to the fuzz. For a faster serve, players try to find a compact ball. For a slower serve, they feel for more fuzz. The idea is that a fluffier ball is more likely to be slowed by drag as it travels through the air — and that choosing the right level of fuzz can help the serving player defeat their opponent.

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Why the US has two different highway fonts

2023-07-06T13:53:12-04:00

When you head out on the highway in the United States, you’re probably paying attention to the signs above your car and on the side of the road — the ones that direct you to your destination. If you’re looking for an exit or a rest stop, chances are you’ll see the typeface Highway Gothic. It became the highway standard in the 1950s, born out of an initiative from the California Department of Transportation to develop a clearer and more flexible standard for highway signs.

But for the past decade, a new typeface has been trying to take its place: Clearview. This new typeface boasts wider spaces inside of letters and less chunky letterforms, and tries to solve some of Highway Gothic’s readability issues. Learn more in the video above.

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How trucker country music became a ’70s fad

2021-04-22T18:09:13-04:00

“Ah, breaker one-nine / This here’s the Rubber Duck / You got a copy on me, Pig Pen, c’mon?”

This jumble of words is the first line of the song “Convoy,” a No. 1 country hit from 1976 that tells an action-packed story from the perspective of a truck driver. Songwriters Chip Davis and Bill Fries filled “Convoy” with banter and lingo based on communications they heard between truck drivers on CB radio during the 1973 oil crisis.

The epic orchestration and colorful and quotable lyrics made “Convoy” an unlikely hit, but the song actually tapped into a long history of country music that put the spotlight on the solitary lives of long-haul truck drivers. In the video above, Estelle Caswell breaks down the golden era of trucker country with country and folk music scholars Travis Stimeling and Nate Gibson.

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How museum gift shops decide what to sell

2023-07-06T13:52:04-04:00

Gift shops are like the final exhibit of an art museum. They’re often located toward the exit and are unmissable on your way out the door. Souvenirs inside can range from Vincent Van Gogh socks to giant stuffed soup cans to Mona Lisa rubber ducks. But how do gift shop curators decide what to sell?

Stocking decisions often revolve around how curators want visitors to perceive the art lining museum walls. When you see a certain piece of art on a lot of merchandise, that usually means curators think that artwork is important. And thanks to a psychological phenomenon called the mere-exposure effect, the more you see that art, the more you may begin to think it’s important.

For more on museum gift shops, The Goods has an explainer by Micaela Marini Higgs.