Deep Dive
Shownotes Transcript
From the brains behind Brains On, this is the Moment of Um. Moment of Um comes to you from APM Studios. I'm Anna Weigel. Wait a minute. Is that Anna Goldfield over there? By a campfire? With a guitar? I wonder what that's about. Hi, Anna G. Oh, hi, Anna W. Why the sad face, pal? Ugh.
I've been working on my boomerang throat all day, and I just can't get the dang thing to come back. I mean, that's what they're supposed to do, right? And mine just won't. So I wrote a ballad about it. You want to hear? Definitely. I try and I try to do this thing right. But you spin through the air on a fast one-way flight. My poor little...
heart will just have to learn that my boomerang will never return
Oh my goodness, that's heartbreaking. I have so many boomerang feelings now. But don't despair, buddy. Listen to this question from Moses and the answer from boomerang champ Logan Broadbent. My name is Moses Black from Indianapolis, Indiana. My question is, why do boomerangs come back? What actually makes a boomerang return is something called aerodynamics.
And it works off of scientific principles like gyroscopic precession, differential lift, centrifugal force, moment of inertia, angle of momentum, torque. Sorry, I tried to say that in one breath. My name is Logan Broadbent, and I'm actually a world boomerang champion. I'm a member of the U.S. national boomerang team. We're the current defending world champions, and I finished second in the world as an individual.
all boomerangs are thrown straight up and down, nice and vertical. And the reason for that is because each wing of a boomerang, when you look at a boomerang, some boomerangs have two wings, some boomerangs have three wings, and each of those wings is almost like an airplane wing. So each wing generates lift. But
When you're throwing a boomerang, the direction of lift is to the side rather than up in the air. So instead of the boomerang going straight up and coming down and crashing, a boomerang is thrown vertically, so the direction of lift is to the side, which causes it to curve and come all the way back.
And using Bernoulli's principles of lift, which talks about how fast-moving molecules over the top of the wing creates low pressure, and slow-moving molecules create high pressure from underneath. That's what allows a multi-ton aircraft to fly in the air. It's what allows airplanes to work. And it's the same thing that allows a boomerang to come back.
The original returning boomerang actually came from Australia. The Aboriginal people, the native people of Australia, were the ones who invented the returning boomerang. They were actually developed...
from something called a throw stick, a hunting stick. In Australia, they called it a kylead. And those were actually used as multipurpose tools. So those were used for hunting. They were also used as musical instruments for cracking together. They were used to dig up water roots in the arid desert. It was the Aborigines' version of a Swiss army knife. Um... See, there's hope for you yet, Anna G. Whew!
Still having some boomerang feelings over here. There's a second verse. You want to join in? Yeah, I really do. I don't understand. It just isn't fair. My feelings for you are all up my poorly heart. We'll just have to learn that my boomer will never return.
If you like this episode, take a second to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. Did you know this answer originally appeared in a Brains On episode about roller coasters? And what a coincidence! Just today, Smash Boom Best released a brand new episode all about roller coasters and mini golf. Check it out!
This is Anna Weigel cutting in here to say that I'm debating the roller coaster side in this episode of Smash Boom Best. And it's my fifth time debating and I lost the four times before this one. Will I lose again? You'll have to listen to find out. Just search for Smash Boom Best wherever you listen to podcasts. Okay, back to Anna Goldfield.
If you have a moment of um question, we'd love to help you answer it. Drop us a line by going to brainson.org slash contact. See you next time, because like a boomerang, we're coming back. Is there a teen in your life who needs a little extra help learning how to manage their finances? Financially Inclined from Marketplace is a podcast you can trust to help Gen Z get serious about money.
I'm the host, Janelia Espinal, and each week I talk to experts about essential and practical personal finance topics, like choosing a college that you can actually afford, finding internship opportunities, and how to start a business while you're still young. Let's make sure the next generation gets these financial lessons sooner than we did. Listen to Financially Inclined wherever you get your podcasts.