Scientists Offer Theory As To Chaos of Amusement Park Rides

[The Interpreter]

You know that feeling — your stomach is in your throat — when you're on a roller coaster and the car takes that first big plunge?

Your insides are crawling or you're losing feeling in your legs, and you think it's just nerves. But NASA scientist and trained astronaut Patricia Cowings says, no, it's real.

"Your stomach and all of your guts are really floating up under your rib cage," Cowings said. "And almost all fluids in your body move toward your head."

You're experiencing for a split second what it's like to be an astronaut in space....

http://www.kansascit...heory-into.html

[Guest rcfreak339]

Thats really awesome! From what I have heard though is that your body can get used to that feeling, the feeling as if your stomach is in you throat. Thats only if you ride coasters and other rides like it a lot, much like myself. I never experience that feeling anymore, the last time was when I rode Top Thrill Dragster for the first time.

[The Interpreter]

Note that it says NOT to close your eyes if you are afraid or get motion sick...it makes things worse...

...Tiny rocks in our inner ears sense orientation, and fluid-filled rings detect spinning. When what our eyes see and what our body does conflict with what our inner ear is reporting, we get sick.

That's why you shouldn't close your eyes, Cowings said. "That makes you more susceptible."

Children younger than 6 or 7 are immune to motion sickness because their vestibular systems are not yet mature. Studies show that susceptibility peaks around age 10 and declines into adulthood. But by then, researchers say, most adults have learned to avoid this type of situation....

http://www.kansascit...heory-into.html

[Beast1979]

I can back up the statement that closing your eyes makes it worse. On the Turkey Whirl at Holiday World, I felt sick so I closed my eyes, and it only made me closer to a protein spill. My dad has vertigo and said that it's a similar feeling.

[SOB_TOM]

While I think there is some validity in the Chaos Theory, I think that most theorists take it to the extreme. I will use the theory in the article.

Yes, the body does have its own magnetic force, it is not enough to effect a magnet, much less a piece of metal. As for the mass, one person stepping on the Earth is so small it would have no effect on the Earth, or its magnetic pull. It is just like an ant crawling on your finger. While you know it is there, you really cannot feel it crawl. So to say that a person taking two steps forward would effect the motion of the ride, well, its ridiculous. It is a Chaos Theorists taking it a step too far.

[CincyMan98]

I think I may puke, knowing actually that my insides are floating up.

[The Interpreter]

Really? Had it not been for that one butterfly in China, Son of Beast might well be entertaining guests today!

[SOB_TOM]

Nah, that butterfly caused Katrina, remember?

[DaveStroem]

I rode Chaos at CP today, got 6 full flips and 2 half flips. I have no theory as to why one ride is better then another.

[BavarianBeatle]

What they are describing is not "chaos theory," but the law of inertia that we all learned in elementary school. An object at rest remains at rest until acted upon by an outside force. Then, an object in motion remains in motion until acted upon by an outside force. Still an interesting article though. I didn't know that young children could not get motion sickness. And I laughed at the quote about how most adults have learned to avoid this type of situation. I guess the adults on this site are in the minority...