「经济学人」Shuttle shock

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Shuttle shock Physics reveals the best design for a badminton arena The key is minimising the disruptive effects of ventilation ANYONE WHO has tried to play badminton at the beach will be familiar with the problem of wind blowing their feathered shuttlecocks off-course. On anything other than a completely calm day, playing even a half-serious game outside is a hopeless endeavour. For that reason, all fully serious matches are played indoors. That reduces the problem of gusting shuttlecocks. But it does not eliminate it entirely. Indoor arenas must have ventilation, after all, and that sets up air currents of its own. When Annie and Kerry Xu, a pair of American players, were knocked out of the Paris Olympics earlier this year, one reason they gave was that they had not mastered the “drift” of their shuttlecocks in the newly built Adidas Arena, in the city’s 18th arrondissement. For professionals, this is simply part of the sport. But it may be a smaller part in future. In a paper ………………………………