BrainCraft

How would you play catch in space?

Catch would be really boring.

I think is the ball would would it go slowly or, no, the ball will just go in a straight line.

What makes catch fun is you throw it in an arc and you run - your brain is calculating even though you don't know it, how fast you have to run to get to where the ball lands when you are there at the same place at the same time.

So this is going on with every hit to the outfield, to any hit to any player in a baseball diamond.

They are not where the ball will sometimes they are but most of the time they're not.

And so they run and they, timing the ark of the ball, and so in there is a calculation of the acceleration of gravity, the distance, how fast it's moving, and they catch the ball.

Same on a football field.

The quarterback throws it, and they throw it not to where the player is but where they will be.

So that's playing catch on Earth.

Playing catching space!

It sounds very fun because you'd be in space.

That's the difference!

Well we have this internal model of gravity in our brain.

Yes!

Basically that that's a very succinct way to say what I just said.

Yeah, they've done experiments as well in the space shuttles in the late 90s where they've shot balls and astronauts out of a ball cannon, which I just think sounds hilarious.

And they've tried to catch them, but they haven't been able to.

Because it's too fast?

Because they're trying to catch it like they would on Earth, right?

But they can't kind of anticipate the changes.

They can rejigger their gravitational brain.

Yeah so Earth gravity is interfering with zero g in their brain assessment of where the ball is and how fast it will get to them.

Maybe when they see the ball coming towards them, they want to catch it at a lower point then it's actual trajectory will take it.

Because their brain knows it's supposed to sink and that it doesn't.

So they they have to overcome the one g brain.

So maybe that's what's going on here.

But I had this idea that maybe if we have this internal model of gravity and we move in a different way, how do aliens move?

Based on where they come from.

If they come from a planet that has wildly different gravity - right but not zero g so that's that's an important distinction.

An alien, right, would not have necessarily earth gravity likely not be somewhat less or somewhat more.

So what would be funny is if they come from a gravity that's higher than ours, okay, that would mean they're stronger.

If they had our body weight.

Then you toss something to them, they'll think it's like magically going far, right?

You'll throw it and just oh my gosh!

And they'll go to where they think it should land, where it would have landed on their planet, but they got a backup 30 feet because its arc it's not falling as fast as it would have on their planet.

Aliens are notoriously stupid.

Also alien baseball, what a game!

Terrible at baseball, let's list the flaws.

To be clear, if the alien is here on Earth, they're not stupid.

Well, well they can't get your ball, so!

How do we measure intelligence?

Well because they built a ship to get here!

What if they were kidnapped?

If an alien is here they they built a ship, crossed the gap of interstellar space, we have not left low-Earth orbit since 1972.

They're smarter than us.

Terrible at Earth sports!

You know what would be fun?

Having a game of baseball with nine aliens from different planets.

Okay.

What do you think the time frame is on this?

Is that happening soon?

You know, we have to find at least one other alien so they'll be pitcher catcher.

you know.

And then you gotta fill out the rest of the positions.

That would be a while.

And they have to be like have- And meet up.

We'd have to meet up somewhere.

Would the moon be a good place?

Uh yeah but, sure, there's no air there, so you couldn't throw curveballs or anything.

Oh.

Yeah these cosmic issues, you got to think this through.

Right, right.

Yeah, ok.

So then Cleveland?

That would be funny - Aliens descend on Cleveland.

So this would be, for the first time, the World Series could be the Universe Series.

Right?

Yeah!

It could be.

It could be, and then they would mean it.

What if we didn't win?

People never talk about how much discovering aliens would really make baseball more interesting.

That's an under written about topic.

Yeah!

People don't think about that gravity brain like they should.

The gravity brain!

So that is interesting.