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This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Steve Mirsky. Got a minute?

Baseball players sometimes cheat! One popular method has been to cork¹ the bat. You drill out some of the core of the bat, and replace the heavy wood with light cork. You can then swing the lighter² bat faster, and thus hit the ball further.

Of course, most ballplayers aren't physicists³, so they don't realize that by making the bat lighter, they're reducing the collision efficiency. You swing faster, but get a limper contact. In theory, anyway.

So physicists led by the University of Illinois’s Alan Nathan tested corked⁴ bats under controlled conditions. The doctored lumber⁵ actually usually causes the ball to go less far, they found. The work appears in the online forum⁶ the Physics arXiv. So for a power hitter to cork his bat is a bad idea.

But the researchers note that, ironically, a corked bat might result in more homers from non-homer hitters. Who can watch a pitch slightly longer before swinging, make up for the lost time with a faster swing and achieve more solid contact more often. So a corked bat is a bad idea for Sammy Sosa, who got caught using one. But a good idea for, say, Bucky Dent⁷.

Thanks for the minute. For Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Steve Mirsky.

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收听单词发音

1 cork
n.软木，软木塞
参考例句：
We heard the pop of a cork.我们听见瓶塞砰的一声打开。 Cork is a very buoyant material.软木是极易浮起的材料。

2 lighter
n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级
参考例句：
The portrait was touched up so as to make it lighter.这张画经过润色，色调明朗了一些。 The lighter works off the car battery.引燃器利用汽车蓄电池打火。

3 physicists
物理学家( physicist的名词复数 )
参考例句：
For many particle physicists, however, it was a year of frustration. 对于许多粒子物理学家来说，这是受挫折的一年。来自英汉非文学 - 科技 Physicists seek rules or patterns to provide a framework. 物理学家寻求用法则或图式来构成一个框架。

4 corked
adj.带木塞气味的，塞着瓶塞的v.用瓶塞塞住( cork的过去式 )
参考例句：
Our army completely surrounded and corked up the enemy stronghold. 我军把敌人的堡垒完全包围并封锁起来。来自《简明英汉词典》 He kept his emotions corked up inside him. 他把感情深藏于内心。来自《简明英汉词典》

5 lumber
n.木材，木料；v.以破旧东西堆满；伐木；笨重移动
参考例句：
The truck was sent to carry lumber.卡车被派出去运木材。 They slapped together a cabin out of old lumber.他们利用旧木料草草地盖起了一间小屋。

6 forum
n.论坛，讨论会
参考例句：
They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。 The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

7 dent
n.凹痕，凹坑；初步进展
参考例句：
I don't know how it came about but I've got a dent in the rear of my car.我不知道是怎么回事，但我的汽车后部有了一个凹痕。 That dent is not big enough to be worth hammering out.那个凹陷不大，用不着把它锤平。