I’m a Scientist is like school science lessons meet the X Factor! School students choose which scientist gets a prize of $1000 to communicate their work.
Scientists and students talk on this website. They both break down barriers, have fun and learn. But only the students get to vote.
This zone is the Boron Zone. It has a range of scientists studying all different topics. Who gets the prize? YOU decide!
I don’t really know the answer to this other than to say that some people have better overall balance. This could have a genetic component, it could be practice, it could be linked to anatomy & physiology of vision and ear/nose/throat structures. People also lose their balance as they get older.
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Not really my area of expertise, but I imagine to a large extent it is a matter of practice. You can train your body to balance better – just like you can get better at computer games. Some people are naturally better than others initially – perhaps because they do more activities that involve similar skills. I’m sure there is also a genetic component that determines overall how good you can be.
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A physiology question I can answer! 🙂
A person’s balance is guided by three main things: a part of the inner ear called the vestibular system; sensory nerves in your muscles, tendons and joints; and your eyesight. I think that different people have different levels balance due to the co-ordination of these things. I think that dancers would make great skateboarders, since they also need a high level of co-ordination. Many of the surfers I know started out as skateboarders, so they must share similar skills.
In the end, I think how well you co-ordinate these three things is a matter of genetics and training. The latter will probably tune the former. So if you have or need glasses, you may not be that great a skateboarder I’d say!
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