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Jul. 04, 2008
Batter Up!
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| Major League Baseball has formed a committee to investigate the safety of bats made from maple wood. Traditionally, most major-league bats have been made from ash wood, but maple bats have been rising in popularity since the first MLB-approved maple bat was introduced in 1997. The maple bats have a problem, however -- when they break, they tend to do so spectacularly, shattering into hard, pointed shards. In this segment, we'll talk about the physics and materials that go into a regulation baseball bat, and about what can be done to improve bat safety in America's pastime. We'll also find out about a threat to the traditional ash bat -- the emerald ash borer, an invasive beetle that is threatening wood supplies. |
Produced by Flora Lichtman, Correspondent and Managing Editor, Video
Guests
-
Brian Boltz
General Manager
Larimer & Norton Incorporated
Warren, Pennsylvania -
Lloyd Smith
Associate Professor, Mechanical and Materials Engineering
Washington State University
Pullman, Washington -
Sven-Erik Spichiger
Entomologist, Division of Plant Protection, Bureau of Plant Industry
Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
FEATURED READING
Scatter, Adapt, and Remember: How Humans Will Survive a Mass Extinction
by Annalee Newitz
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