First Blog

This is the second part* of a group of posts on the wonders of your brain.  Situation: The ball is flying toward you, but how do you know where and when it will arrive? Yes, it is all about the flying ball. One thing you know, if you’ve every played catch, volleyball, baseball, basketball, or an assortment of other sports where a ball is in play, is that it goes up and down, but more.  Here’s just a sample of what that good ‘ole brain can do.  It can compute  the speed of the ball and when it will arrive. It’s done automatically, a consequence of evolution.  Every animal can do the same thing, that is to compute when and where a moving or flying object will reach them.   For us humans, not sure about you other readers, much of this happens in the cerebellum, a part of the brain near the brain-stem. Most flying objects, like the ball, change height and speed in the air due to gravity and air resistance. Another remarkable consequence of evolution, reading this is also a skil