World Science Festival: The High-Tech Side of the Sporting Life

A baseball can't curve without its laces, a tennis ball's fuzz helps it travel further, and the dimples on a golf ball reduce drag, just like the ridges on a shark. These tidbits of trivia introduced a capacity crowd packed into the purple bleachers of New York University's Cole Sports Center to the World Science Festival's "Science of Sports" event Saturday afternoon. Former U.S. Olympic Committee director of coaching Tom Crawford led the event. The presenters opened with nutrition science, especially important for the young athletes and their families who packed the gym. Three professional basketball players, Leilani Mitchell and Lisa Willis from the WNBA's New York Liberty and Brevin Knight of the NBA's Los Angeles Clippers, helped about 10 elementary school-aged participants pick healthy food from a table. (Here's a tip: After a workout, drink chocolate milk. Besides refueling you with proteins and carbohydrates, it's delicious.) But the presenters ...