More sport science: Bats and black eyes

If you're looking for answers to all of your kid's questions about puberty, just find our new show, Brains On Universe presents puberty, the podcast. Designed for kids age 7 to 12, the show answers their questions in a straightforward and digestible way. Puberty the podcast is hosted by me, Molly Bloom of the award-winning science podcast, Brains On, and co-hosted by high schoolers who've just been through it. Experts are on hand to provide science-filled explanations. Search for Brains On Universe presents puberty, the podcast. Brains On Universe. You're listening to Brains On! We're serious about being curious. Science and sports go hand in hand. Yeah, every game is a complex mix of physics, material sciences, statistics, and more. And scientists love to study sports. After all, games are fun and so is learning about them. That's why we're back again talking softball and baseball. We're gonna learn about bats. And that black paint some players use under their eyes. Yeah, what is that all about anyway? We're gonna find out. Keep listening. Hey, Sandin here. You know before Brains On, I was a science reporter. I wrote about cool animals like legless lizards, which are not just snakes, by the way. I wrote about mind-blowing inventions like robots to help the elderly. I even once met a Mars rover before it was sent into space. I had to wear like a special suit that covered my whole body when I went in to see it too, because those rovers have to be absolutely sparkling clean before we send them to another planet. We wouldn't want to spread our germs to Mars and then think, hey, we discovered some life forms on Mars, but it turns out it was just germs that came on a rover because some reporter forgot to put their big white suit on before they went and took pictures of it. Anyway, I still like to keep up on what's happening in the world of science. And like you probably know, that world is struggling. There's less support for research every year. It makes me feel even more dedicated to Brains On. We need to encourage everyone to be into science. And it helps when people find that love early. That's why I'm asking you to join SmartyPass. You'll keep me Molly and Mark busy making episodes, answering questions and spreading our love of science to more people. Plus, when you join, we give you cool things like access to our book club, invites to online smarty parties, discounts on merch. You can even get a message from me, Mark or Molly. So sign up at SmartyPass.org and help keep the light of science burning bright. Thanks. You're listening to Brains On, part of the Brains On universe. I'm Molly Bloom and my co-host today is my pal, Keras from Minneapolis. Hi, Keras. Hi, Molly. I'm so happy to be co-hosting this episode. All right. So Keras, you play softball, right? Yes. For people who don't know, how is baseball different than softball? Well, I think in softball you have different like ball sizes, but also you pitch on your hand in softball and in baseball you pitch overhand. Yeah. What is your favorite position to play? I like being pitcher. Oh, tell me why. I like being pitcher because it's really fun and I don't know, I just like being able to get batters out. Yeah. And is there a catcher who catches the ball that you're pitching? Do you look at the catcher? You're looking at the batter like where are you looking? I'm looking at home plate. Oh, okay. Because you want it over home plate? Yes. And it's slow pitch, right? Yeah. So when you're pitching it has to kind of go in like an arc, right? Yes. Is it have to go like a specific height? Yes. It can't be like too high. Otherwise it will count as a ball. Gotcha. And it can't be like too flat either, right? Yeah. Do you like hitting or fielding better? Hitting, definitely. Okay. So what are some tips you have for hitting? Well, keep your eye on the ball. It helps a lot. If people who don't keep their eye on the ball, they usually can't hit it. But when you keep it your eye on the ball, it goes usually pretty far. Tell me what you're feeling when you hear that like really satisfying sound where the bat hits the ball. When I hear that and I don't even see the ball like flying in the air, I just go. Yeah. Even if it's a foul. Yeah. Because you got to. Because you got to make it to first base, right? All right. Well, let's get to some sporty questions. Like this one. My name is Logan. I'm from Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. My question is, what does eye black do for baseball players? Eye black is the name of that black paint some players put under their eyes. Like they put a big thick line of it horizontally under each eye. Keras, have you ever used eye black? No. Do you want to? Yes. I well, I don't know. I think it kind of looks it would probably look weird on me. Really? I think you'd look awesome with it. Super tough, ready for anything. I wonder if it like makes more sense in some positions more than others. Like I feel like maybe as a pitcher, it might get in the way. Yeah. I feel like if you're like fielding. Like about field or something, that makes sense. Some players say it helps them see better. Hey, Molly and Keras, I heard you're talking about eye black. Well, I use it all the time. To help you see better? No, so I can look more like a raccoon. I'm in a raccoon racquet club. Yeah, we play pickleball together and all the other players are raccoons. Sometimes I feel kind of left out with my lack of gorgeous black stripes near my eyes. So I use eye black, you know, to fit in. Makes sense. Anyway, since I use it so much, I've been reading up on eye black. And let me tell you, the science behind it is fascinating. Oh, do tell. Well, for starters, using eye black goes way, way back. Hundreds of years ago, people in ancient Egypt would put black paint around their eyes. It's called coal. It looked good. And people said it helped protect the eyes from the sun's harsh glare. Coal sounds cool. In baseball, some people say the tradition goes back to a guy named Babe Ruth. Oh, he's a really famous player. Yeah, he was a star in Major League Baseball from 1914 to 1935 and broke records for hitting tons of home runs. Yeah, his nickname was the Bambino, which has nothing to do with eye black, but is just super fun to say. Bambino, Bambino, Bambino. Anyway, people say Babe Ruth used black smudges to help cut down on glare from the sun. Glare is when light is reflected back at you. It can make it really hard to see when there's like a really bright light. Yeah, like when the sun bounces off glass and it shines right in your eye. It can make it super hard to see. Exactly. Players in an outdoor field or, you know, under big stadium lights, they have to deal with a lot of glare. So over time, eye black got more and more popular. These days, you'll see all kinds of athletes using it. There's even anti-glare stickers if you don't want to use greasy paint. It makes sense players would use black paint to stop glare. Yeah, black is a color that absorbs a lot of light. So imagine a little beam of light from the sun. Hello. It's cruising along through the sky and head straight for your cheeks. Normally, it might bounce off that cheek and go into your eyes. Bounce. Right in your peepers. So annoying when you're trying to catch a ball. Now imagine you have black paint on your cheeks and black absorbs light. So when that little light beam comes, watch out. I'm headed your way. It hits your cheeks and gets soaked up by the black paint. What happened? I didn't bounce. Oh, fully. Less is reflected into your eyes and you can see that ball better and hopefully catch it. So that's the theory. But how well does it work? Yeah, can players actually see better with eye black on? It seems like they can, but scientists aren't sure how much it helps. There've only been a few studies that looked at this and they both did suggest that eye black can help you see. But one of those studies found that it wasn't as helpful for people with blue eyes. Blue eyes? Why didn't help them? Well, blue eyes are more sensitive to bright light. They have less of a stuff called melanin in them. Melanin is what helps give darker eyes their color. It's also in our skin. Melanin is super important and super cool. We have a whole episode about it. Anyway, melanin helps absorb sunlight like a natural sunscreen. Yep. Blue eyes naturally have less melanin, so they absorb less light. Maybe eye black can't cut enough glare to make a difference for blue eyes, but there's a whole other reason players like to wear eye black besides the glare because it looks cool and it can intimidate your opponents. I mean, you look tough like you didn't get enough sleep the night before and you're super grumpy. Or you can look like a raccoon. Nature's lovable scamp and as everyone knows, fantastic pickleball players. Very interesting. Thanks for helping us answer that question, Sandin. No problem. Now, I got to go finish making my striped tail for the big raccoon racquet club kickoff party tonight. I don't want to be that guy who doesn't have a tail again. Yeesh. All right, later. Seems like a good time to take a break and guess the... Mystery sound. Charis, are you ready for the mystery sound? Yes. Here it is. What? What do you think? I have no idea. I have no idea either. When it first started, I thought it was a lion. Maybe like a car? I don't know. Yeah, for some reason, I was like, that is a really long lion roar, but I think we need to hear it again. Do you think? Yeah. I have no idea, but it'll look like you think you know. Yeah, maybe like a lawnmower? Oh, I like that. Like turning on a lawnmower? Yeah. That's a really good guess. Yeah, I have no idea. I'm going to go with an animatronic lion that's just turning on and roaring and it got stuck in the roar. And so the person's like, oh my gosh, turn it off. It's stuck. I'm just going to go for a lawnmow. Probably a better idea. All right, we'll be back to hear it again. Get another chance to guess and hear the answer at the end of the show. So stick around. We love hearing from you. Send us your questions, your ideas, your drawings. Yeah, we love to see a picture of San Indrus like a raccoon. Or you can send us a mystery sound. Just go to BrainsOn.org to get in touch. There you can also find our tour dates. We're traveling all over the US this year from Buffalo, New York to San Francisco, California. We would love to see you on the road. Go to BrainsOn.org for dates and tickets. Thanks. BrainsOn! You're listening to BrainsOn. I'm Molly. And I'm Karis. And we're talking about sports science. One part of sports I love are all the chance and cheers. Like, let's go protons. Beat those bosons. Nice callback to last week's episode. We noticed science doesn't have fun cheers like that. So we asked you to help come up with some. Science, science everywhere. Growing, testing, now let's share. Science, science, I love you. Science, science, studies you. Science, science, we like you. Science, science, you got room. Science, science, who are you? Can you teach me a thing or two? Well, I think science is feeling pretty pumped up after those chants. Thanks to Lydia, Lula, Lucas, and Phoebe. Great stuff, y'all. Really knocked it out of the park. Now, back to your baseball questions. Let's tackle this one. Hi, my name is Liam. I am from Nevada, California. And my question is, why are baseball bats measured in ounces? Great question. Ounces are used to measure how much something weighs, just like pounds. Yeah, when I weigh myself at the doctor's office, it's in pounds, not ounces. But if you go shopping for baseball or softball bats, the weight is usually listed in ounces. So let's up with that. Well, it's all about being exact as possible without being too confusing. The weight of a bat is really important for players. If a bat is light, you can swing it fast, but it won't hit as hard. If it's heavy, it'll hit hard, but it can also be harder to swing. So players are looking for a bat that's just right for them, light enough to swing quickly and strong enough to cream the ball. You can measure bats in pounds, but it's not as easy. Ounces are much smaller than pounds. There are 16 ounces in a single pound. So a bat that weighs one pound is 16 ounces. A bat that weighs two pounds is 32 ounces. And a bat that weighs three pounds is 48 ounces. But for a player, there's a big difference between swinging a two pound bat and a three pound bat. Most players want a bat that's somewhere in between. In that case, it's easier to measure in ounces, so you can be more precise without having to use fraction of a pound. It's sort of like how we measure height in feet and not miles. Both measure distance, but one is much bigger than the other. Yeah, I'm five feet one inches tall, which means I am also 0.0009623 miles tall, which is harder to wrap your head around. So yeah, we measure bats in ounces because it's easier to understand than using pounds. What kind of bat do you like to use, Charis? I like using probably a heavier one, because when I use a lighter one, it's harder for me to hit the ball because it kind of goes all over the place. So you want something a little heavier, okay? Do you like pick up different bats and kind of swing them to see which is the right one? Yes. Do you put tape on the handle? Yes, I do. How does that help? It helps you grip onto the bat. Coming up, some cool bat facts. But first, let's check the mail bag. This is when we check out the cool stuff you've sent us. Today, we've got an idea for our new room at Brains on Headquarters. Let's listen. My name is Edith and I live in New York City. And my idea was a pizza pool with pizza slices in the pool, pizza umbrellas and pizza chairs. Okay, Eda also sent in an incredible drawing. I love the details of I think it's olives and pepperonis. Delicious. That looks like a very delicious room to hang out in. Thanks, Eda. If you've got an idea for a new room at Brains on Headquarters, send it to us. Just go to brainson.org slash contact. See you soon in the mail bag. Remember, you can get all our episodes ad free by joining SmartyPass. You'll get bonus episodes and more. Head to brainson.org slash SmartyPass to join. Thanks. Okay, back to sports science and bats. Bats have changed a lot over the years. Yeah, in the early days of baseball people made their own bats and they were all shapes and sizes. Which has led to some really wild bat designs. Some almost too weird to believe. So, Charis, I hope you're ready for a challenge because I've got a game for you. It's called Spot the bogus bat. I'm going to tell you about a unique kind of bat. You have to tell me if that bat is a real bat from history or a bogus bat that I made up. Are you ready? Yes. Awesome. Let's do it. All right, the first bat is the banana bat. This bat is designed to have a slight curve to it like the curve of a banana. The idea was it would make the ball spin more and make it harder to catch. Is that real or bogus? Um, I mean, there's probably some weird bats that have been around for a long time, but I just have to go with bogus. The answer is it was actually real. Can you believe it? No. I hope it was yellow too. It was made in the 1890s. So like way over 100 years ago, but it never really caught on, which is why we haven't heard of it. All right, the next bat is the squish bat. This bat looked normal but was made out of super squishy foam. That way when a player took a big swing, it looked like they'd knocked the ball far, but instead it would just go a few feet tricking the other team. Real or bogus? Um, it's definitely hard. I feel like it could be real, but at the same time, not. I mean, I think probably, I think it's real. It's bogus. I'm so sorry. Some players can quickly change how they hold a bat to bunt or do a small hit that doesn't go very far. Have you ever bunted before? Nope. It's tricky. It's where you like hold the front of your bat and the back of your bat kind of like across the plate. So it doesn't go very far. Okay. You ready for the next one? Yes. All right, the next bat is the zebra bat. This bat had bold stripes on it, like a zebra. The goal was to distract the pitcher. Real or bogus? Definitely bogus. I'm so sorry. I'm just failing this. It's tough because we haven't seen any of these bats. So yeah, this was brought up by a player named Goose Goslin in 1932. He sadly never got to use it because the umpire said, that's not allowed guy, not allowed. All right, we've got another one here for you. This one is called the bat bat. This bat makes a high-pitched ringing sound when it hits the ball, like a bat sonar. The sound distracts the other players, so they're more likely to miss the ball. We are bogus. Okay, please let me get this one right. Um, bogus. Correct, Karris. Yes. Yeah, it sounds like a terrible idea. So yeah, I'm glad that's bogus. All right, last one. This is the axe handle bat. This looks like a normal bat, but the handle is slanted and not symmetrical, like the handle of an axe. The idea is that it's easier to hold and swing. Real or bogus? I think real. Karris, you got it. In fact, these were really popular with players in the 2010s, so really not that long ago. And look at this. Okay, one, two, three, four. We had six. You got two right, which is an amazing batting average, right? Yes. You'd be so happy with that if that were your batting average, so I'm impressed. Let's shake hands. Excellent work. Nice job. That was... Spot the bogus bat. It's cool how we've been playing baseball for over a hundred years, and yet people are always figuring out new ways to change things up. From dreaming up new pitches to designing better bats, sports and innovation go hand in hand. Athletes use black paint called eye black under their eyes to help them see better when lights are bright. It works because black paint absorbs light and stops it from reflecting back at you. Baseball and softball bats are measured in ounces because it's easier to talk about than pounds. And there have been lots of cool and strange bats made over the years, and people will keep designing new ones too. That's it for this episode of Brains On. This episode was produced by me, Molly Bloom, Mark Sanchez, and Sandin Totten. It was sound designed by Mark Sanchez, who also wrote our theme music. We had engineering help from Willow Waters, special thanks to Vicki Lynn Tour, Meryl Dobson, Nissa Perry, and Ken Tobarski at Code of the North for their website help. Caris, are you ready for that mystery sound again? Yes. All right, here it is. Oh, okay. Caris looks like she knows. What is it? It's one of those things that you see at like pools that dry your clothes. Oh, like a swimsuit ringer outer. Yeah, one of those things. I, yeah, I love that. I don't know what they're actually called, but in my mind, they're called swimsuit ringer outer. Yeah. That's a great guess. I'm gonna stick with animatronic lion though, because I just like that idea. Okay, should we find out the answer? Yes. Here it is. Hi, my name is Josiah, and that was the sound of a swimsuit water extractor or extracting water from a swimsuit. I knew it. Caris, incredible work. High fives all around. That was really hard. But like when you heard that the last time, I saw the light in your eyes. You were like bingo. You knew. I was like, I knew I heard that from something. That's incredible. Have you used one of those before? Yes. Yeah, they have those at like public pools or places where you take swim lessons. Yeah. You put your swimsuit in and then what do you do? You, it just you shot it and then it like dries it. And it kind of like spins really fast. Yeah. Incredible work. Excellent ears. Now it's time for the brain's honor roll. These are the incredible kids who keep the show going with their questions, ideas, mystery sounds, drawings, and high fives. We'll be back next week with more answers to your questions. Thanks for listening.