The rich history of sport has provided mankind with decades of arguments over who’s better, faster, stronger, while the present interpretation of rules provides the fan with something to debate while enjoying cold beverages. The future, on the other hand, may just make history obsolete because of one thing…
Nanotechnology is described as the following: The branch of technology that deals with dimensions and tolerances of less than 100 nanometers, especially the manipulation of individual atoms and molecules.
Sports from tennis and skiing, to swimming, cycling, and golf have all experienced the nanotech revolution, mainly for performance enhancement. Now, sports like football are toying with nano-possibilities, but for vastly different reasons.
This molecular level technology has the ability to change the landscape of sports forever. The question is, should we allow that to happen?
Where We Are
Nanotechnology also has the ability to make tennis balls last longer, produce more power in golf clubs and hockey sticks, create a more hydrodynamic swimsuit, and reduce the weight of a bicycle frame enough so that it can be held up by just a pinky finger.
For example, cycling frames are now relying heavily on carbon fiber for its strength to weight ratio, which is explained by Livestrong as 18 percent higher than aluminum and 14 percent higher than steel.
Resin (a binding matrix in carbon fiber) is often comprised of carbon nanotubes – a cylindrical nanostructure. All together, using carbon fiber makes a bicycle frame not only strong, but effectively light. Frames can now be produced to weigh under 15 pounds, but often reach the 15+ pound limit in order to remain eligible for competition.
For professional cyclists, going light has proven advantages, which has clearly been proven by assistant professor for the department of exercise and sport science at the University of Utah, James C. Martin, PhD. After measuring a cyclist’s time on a 7 percent incline over 5 kilometers with a 15 pound bike, Doctor Martin repeated the test with an added five pounds.
The results showed that the lighter bike produced about a six second differential in favor of the lighter bike. These results alone should be enough to convince sports fans that nanotechnology has the ability to change the outlook on competition.
In case the cycling example isn’t enough, the next example is sure to drop jaws. As explained by The Guardian: After 168 world records were broken by competitive swimmers wearing suits coated with water-repellent nano-particles, the sport’s international governing body banned them for giving competitors an unfair advantage.
These suits were Speedo’s LZR Racer bodysuit, which were worn during the 2008 Beijing Olympics and produced more than 90 percent of the gold medals won. Not only did the suits use water-repellent nanoparticles, but they increased buoyancy and reduced drag because of their unique polyurethane panel construction.
What has been dubbed an “unfair advantage” in this case, can be directly attributed to nanotechnology. Because of this, sports and their international governing bodies may have a new debate on their hands that walk a moral line.
In the Midst of a Debate
It’s called “technology doping”. In our own outlook of the sports world, we are developing a need to distinctively separate human athleticism from technological marvel.
The World Anti-Doping Agency has begun to keep a watchful eye on developments within the science community to ensure fairness in competition. But, as Jim Parry, visiting professor of olympic studies 2012 at Gresham College, London explains:
“There’s a distinction between doing something that’s against the rules, and introducing some new thing that’s not actually (yet) against the rules.”
Ultimately, the rules of play are decided by international sporting associations. And as we’ve seen in the swimming example, these groups are responsible for allowing or not allowing the use of nanotechnology within their respective sports.
At some point, everyone may start to question whether a record was broken because of the athlete’s skill or a marvelously engineered piece of equipment. However, there are ways that nanotechnology can help in the betterment of sports.
Where Nanotechnology Can Take Us
Tony D’Amato (Al Pacino’s character in Any Given Sunday) may have said it better than anyone: “You find out that life is just a game of inches. So is football. Because in either game, life or football, the margin for error is so small. I mean one half step too late or too early and you don’t quite make it. One half second too slow or too fast and you don’t quite catch it. The inches we need are everywhere around us. They are in every break of the game, every minute, every second.”
Football has been a game of inches since its inception. But with the onslaught of concussion cases rising, nanotechnology may be at the forefront of a new movement: Football could become a game of…100th the size of a human hair – err, the title will need some work.
In any case, atomic-sized tech is being used by researchers at Brigham Young University (BYU) to help monitor and collect data on head trauma. This nanotechnology-based project is being conducted in-line with the NFL’s “Head Health Challenge”, which aims to better understand concussions.
By injecting nanoparticles into foam much like the stuff already present in football helmets, any impact will create an electric output, or a charge so to speak. This new foam is being called ExoNanoFoam. Not only is it protective, but it’s informative as well.
Microcontrollers placed in each helmet will then transmit a signal to a handheld device that is able to deliver real-time data on any given hit. Jake Merrell, a student at BYU who developed the technology, explained in a press release:
“A coach will know within seconds exactly how hard their player just got hit. Even if a player pops up and acts fine, the folks on the sidelines will have data showing that maybe he isn’t OK.”
Because the ExoNanoFoam is actually in contact with the player’s head, the measurement of forces being applied is much more accurate than older methods, such as accelerometers.
It’s a Fine Line, But Someone Has to Walk it.
So not only can nanotechnology be used to gain a competitive edge, but it has the ability to help in the betterment of sports as a whole. Concussion testing is only the start. The problem is, we may be walking a moral line. Sure, nanotech can be used to gain an advantage, but where do we stop? In the process of creating a lighter bike frame or a more hydrodynamic bodysuit, we run the risk of blurring the line between athletic speed and manufactured speed.
Technology is a landscape that is continually evolving and producing results. It’s easy for mankind to become entranced in the latest and greatest tech that is suitable for making life easier or safer.
But at what point do we say “you know what, we’ve gone too far this time”. At what point do we become more machine than athlete?
Of course, nanotechnology that transforms humans into bionic athletes may still be a long way off. And the solutions it’s about to offer us are great, let’s not get confused. However, it’s important to think ahead and be prepared to make a decision when the time comes.
If this technology continues to evolve at it’s current pace, eventually football and cycling won’t be enough to challenge athletes. Who’s up for some Tron?