A bowling ball might look round on the outside, but inside there is a distinct departure from spherical symmetry. That is what I learned from reading a wonderful article on the physics of bowling balls – written by Brendan Koerner and published on the Wired website.
Called “One man’s amazing journey to the center of the bowling ball”, the article looks at the career of Mo Pinel, who revolutionized the design of bowling balls. In the early 1970’s he began experimenting with reducing the rotational symmetry of bowling balls. He first did this by drilling holes into the balls and filling them with materials with different densities. He realized that his modifications could improve how a ball was rolled but then drifted away from the idea to run a bowling-related business.
Fast forward many years later and Pinel decided to take a chance and commercialize his ideas. He created a ball with an asymmetric core that began to wobble back and forth (or flare) as it approached the end of the alley, knocking down more pins as a result. If you want to know the physics behind flaring, read Koerner’s article.
Hawking’s office
The cosmologist Stephen Hawking died in 2018 and now his archive, some personal belongings, and the contents of his office at the University of Cambridge have been acquired for the people of the UK in lieu of taxes owed by Hawking’s estate. The office contents will go to the Science Museum in London to settle a £1.4 million tax debt while the archive will go to Cambridge University Library to settle £2.8 million.
According to The Guardian, the office contents include Hawking’s personal reference books, blackboards, coffeemaker, medals and Star Trek mementoes. The Science Museum will also get six of Hawking’s wheelchairs and the technology he used to communicate after he was unable to speak. The archive includes television scripts from The Simpsons, in which Hawking appeared.
The Science Museum will display some of the items in 2022 and plans to recreate Hawking’s office