Latest news with #Langill
Winnipeg Free Press
23-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
Thrill of the carnival ride comes down to physics: Calgary professor
EDMONTON – Gregg Korek knows a thing or two about roller-coasters. As vice-president of client services for North American Midway Entertainment, he has been part of bringing rides and attractions to one of Edmonton's signature summer events for nearly five decades. Korek said his company has brought back a lot of fan favourites for KDays, the decades-old exhibition that draws thousands yearly to Alberta's capital for rides, games, food and live music. There are familiar coasters, such as the Star Dancer and Crazy Mouse. For those who want something wet and wild, there's the Niagara Falls Flume. Others, such as the Polar Express, are geared towards fast-paced thrill-seekers. The best rides are the fast ones and the ones that go upside down and backwards, Korek said. 'When you're coming down the very first hill on that Crazy Mouse roller-coaster, you're alive,' he said Tuesday. 'The Wave Swinger, that's always been my favourite. It always reminds me of … those dreams that you have where you're flying.' That feeling of hurtling through the air at breakneck speeds is all about physics and your brain fooling you, says a Calgary physics professor. Dr. Phil Langill, an associate professor in the department of physics and astronomy at the University of Calgary, is an avid thrill-seeker and has closely studied midway rides. Langill said it all comes down to gravitational force, or G-force, which measures the acceleration or deceleration relative to the Earth's gravitational pull. When you get on a ride, he said, it's designed in such a way that the seat you're in makes you feel heavy or light. That translates to a feeling of being smashed into your seat and feeling heavier, or of weightlessness, as if you're going to fall out, he said. 'The rides try to play with your psychological being,' Langill said. While many chase the thrill of the ride, carnival classics like the ferris wheel continue to be enjoyed by people like Chris Scheetz, who is on a quest to ride it for 54 hours straight to raise $54,000 for chronically ill children. A self-proclaimed lover of rides, Scheetz said he's done a bunch of 'wild and wacky' stunts dating back to his time as a radio host, such as when he drove a Zamboni from Calgary to Edmonton. When his family found out his plan to break the 53-hour record ferris wheel ride, 'they went, 'Oh, no. Not again,'' he said. Aside from five-minute bathroom breaks every hour, he hasn't stepped off the wheel, even sleeping on it at night. Scheetz said he's had no trouble passing the time, between rides with sponsors, celebrities and media interviews. He's also had children on as part of the Alberta Dreams charity. His ride is expected to end late Wednesday afternoon. KDays runs through Sunday. — With files from Bill Graveland in Calgary This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 22, 2025.
Hamilton Spectator
23-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Hamilton Spectator
Thrill of the carnival ride comes down to physics: Calgary professor
EDMONTON - Gregg Korek knows a thing or two about roller-coasters. As vice-president of client services for North American Midway Entertainment, he has been part of bringing rides and attractions to one of Edmonton's signature summer events for nearly five decades. Korek said his company has brought back a lot of fan favourites for KDays, the decades-old exhibition that draws thousands yearly to Alberta's capital for rides, games, food and live music. There are familiar coasters, such as the Star Dancer and Crazy Mouse. For those who want something wet and wild, there's the Niagara Falls Flume. Others, such as the Polar Express, are geared towards fast-paced thrill-seekers. The best rides are the fast ones and the ones that go upside down and backwards, Korek said. 'When you're coming down the very first hill on that Crazy Mouse roller-coaster, you're alive,' he said Tuesday. 'The Wave Swinger, that's always been my favourite. It always reminds me of ... those dreams that you have where you're flying.' That feeling of hurtling through the air at breakneck speeds is all about physics and your brain fooling you, says a Calgary physics professor. Dr. Phil Langill, an associate professor in the department of physics and astronomy at the University of Calgary, is an avid thrill-seeker and has closely studied midway rides. Langill said it all comes down to gravitational force, or G-force, which measures the acceleration or deceleration relative to the Earth's gravitational pull. When you get on a ride, he said, it's designed in such a way that the seat you're in makes you feel heavy or light. That translates to a feeling of being smashed into your seat and feeling heavier, or of weightlessness, as if you're going to fall out, he said. 'The rides try to play with your psychological being,' Langill said. While many chase the thrill of the ride, carnival classics like the ferris wheel continue to be enjoyed by people like Chris Scheetz, who is on a quest to ride it for 54 hours straight to raise $54,000 for chronically ill children. A self-proclaimed lover of rides, Scheetz said he's done a bunch of 'wild and wacky' stunts dating back to his time as a radio host, such as when he drove a Zamboni from Calgary to Edmonton. When his family found out his plan to break the 53-hour record ferris wheel ride, 'they went, 'Oh, no. Not again,'' he said. Aside from five-minute bathroom breaks every hour, he hasn't stepped off the wheel, even sleeping on it at night. Scheetz said he's had no trouble passing the time, between rides with sponsors, celebrities and media interviews. He's also had children on as part of the Alberta Dreams charity. His ride is expected to end late Wednesday afternoon. KDays runs through Sunday. — With files from Bill Graveland in Calgary This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 22, 2025.
Hamilton Spectator
14-07-2025
- Science
- Hamilton Spectator
‘You have an asteroid named after you': UCalgary prof surprised with celestial honour
During grad school, Jeroen Stil nearly had an asteroid named after him. Sadly, his last name, Stil, was too close to Still, an asteroid that had been previously named. Now, nearly 30 years later, asteroid 611064, or Jeroenstil, orbits our galaxy. Dr. Jeroen Stil, an associate professor in Physics and Astronomy at the University of Calgary was nominated for the honour by Dr. Phil Langill, an associate professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy in the Faculty of Science and director of the Rothney Astrophysical Observatory . They now both have asteroids in their name. Asteroids are typically named by their discoverers, and in this case, astronomer David Balam — credited with hundreds of minor planet discoveries — had the naming rights for both asteroids after confirming their orbits. Balam first went to Langill, honouring him with the name. Balam asked Langill if another UCalgary faculty member was worthy of the honour for his second asteroid. 'When Dave asked me if there was somebody in your department that I would like to nominate, I was recalling all of Jeroen's great background in astronomical history and the cool things he's done. I thought, 'yeah, let's, I'll put forward Jeroen Stil.' That being said, all of my colleagues in the department really are doing outstanding stuff like, unbelievable,' Langill said. The pair is often in friendly competition. Langill thought that secretly nominating his colleague for the honour could finally be his opportunity to one-up his rival, without knowing Stil's grad school story. 'He always bested me. It was so aggravating, like when something cool happened, or I saw something, or I discovered something, he always had me better. So, it kind of ticked me off a little bit, but it's just kind of a friendly competition. I don't even know if he knows that. In my mind, we have a competition going on. But I mean, he's a really cool guy,' he said. Stil was born and raised in the Netherlands and received his PhD at the University of Leiden before moving to Canada. Stil has been in Calgary since 2008. A bio of the namesake, filled with information Langill did not have, is needed for the naming process. Stil said he was confused when Langill asked for his birthdate, but never thought it would be for the asteroid. 'He asked me for my birthday a while ago, but he wouldn't say what it was for. So, I thought, 'well, I don't know, maybe they're counting the days to my retirement,'' Stil joked. When Langill got the notice that their asteroid names were official, he couldn't wait to share the news. Sadly, Langill was busy on campus while Stil was working from home. Eventually, they got on a Zoom call, and Langill shared the news. 'I could just see his face drop and his eyes kind of bug out a little bit,' Langill said. 'I think it took him a minute to process what was going on. I didn't know the story that he almost had an asteroid named after him already. That's just another one of those examples of how he bugs me. I think I saw him wiping a couple of tears from his eyes a little bit because he was pretty slammed with the news that there was an asteroid. It was fun to see his reaction.' Both asteroids, Langill and Jeroenstil, are far away and hard to spot and will stay that way for the foreseeable future. 'Space travel is a lot of fun. I liken it to a nice ride on a very scary roller coaster. I would be happy if somebody, sometime, took a close up image of it with a satellite or something that just happened to be passing by, just to get a glimpse of what it looks like up close, because right now, it's just a dot on a telescopic image,' Langill said. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
Yahoo
09-02-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Parade of planets: Multiple celestial bodies will be visible to the naked eye in February
Multiple planets will appear to be aligned in the night sky in a parade of planets throughout February, astronomers say, an event that many will be able to see with the naked eye. According to NASA, planetary alignment itself is not unusual, but being able to see several planets simultaneously with the naked eye is a rarer occurrence. The U.S. space agency says planets always appear in a line in the night sky because they orbit the sun in a relatively flat, disc-shaped plane. When viewed from Earth's perspective, the planets appear lined up. This month, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn can be seen in the night sky with the unaided eye, while Neptune and Uranus require a telescope to view. Philip Langill, director of the University of Calgary's Rothney Astrophysical Observatory, says four planets will be visible with the naked eye at the same time after sunset throughout February, although they started becoming visible in mid-January. A visual representation of Venus shining in the night sky from Multiple planets will be visible to the naked eye in a parade of planets through much of February, according to experts. (NASASpaceNews/YouTube) "It's not a really like super carefully timed thing. It spans many, many weeks," Langill said. "Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn [are visible] — Uranus and Neptune, if you've got the right equipment. Mercury is whipping around like crazy, and sometimes it's in the picture, and sometimes it's not." He adds to distinguish between planets and stars without using binoculars or a telescope, look for the brightest dots in the sky. "When the sun goes down and the sky is starting to get dark, the planets will be the first thing to pop out," Langill said. "As the sun sets further and the sky gets darker, the stars will come out, but the planets will outshine all of the stars. And because they are big round balls of light and as opposed to a little dot, they don't twinkle." Depending on the night and if the viewer is using a telescope, seven planets potentially can be seen, according to NASA, although Mercury and Saturn will be difficult to spot at the same time as the others. Saturn, in particular, will be hard to spot as it sinks lower in the sky each night, while Mercury, the seventh planet joining the parade, can be seen in the post-sunset glow at the end of the month. The space agency says both planets will likely be too low in the sky and faint for most people to spot. The planetary parade will be most pronounced shortly after sunset on Feb. 28.
CBC
09-02-2025
- Science
- CBC
Parade of planets: Multiple celestial bodies will be visible to the naked eye in February
Planets can be seen as a line in the sky, experts say Multiple planets will appear to be aligned in the night sky in a parade of planets throughout February, astronomers say, an event that many will be able to see with the naked eye. According to NASA, planetary alignment itself is not unusual, but being able to see several planets simultaneously with the naked eye is a rarer occurrence. The U.S. space agency says planets always appear in a line in the night sky because they orbit the sun in a relatively flat, disc-shaped plane. When viewed from Earth's perspective, the planets appear lined up. This month, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn can be seen in the night sky with the unaided eye, while Neptune and Uranus require a telescope to view. Philip Langill, director of the University of Calgary's Rothney Astrophysical Observatory, says four planets will be visible with the naked eye at the same time after sunset throughout February, although they started becoming visible in mid-January. "It's not a really like super carefully timed thing. It spans many, many weeks," Langill said. "Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn [are visible] — Uranus and Neptune, if you've got the right equipment. Mercury is whipping around like crazy, and sometimes it's in the picture, and sometimes it's not." He adds to distinguish between planets and stars without using binoculars or a telescope, look for the brightest dots in the sky. "When the sun goes down and the sky is starting to get dark, the planets will be the first thing to pop out," Langill said. "As the sun sets further and the sky gets darker, the stars will come out, but the planets will outshine all of the stars. And because they are big round balls of light and as opposed to a little dot, they don't twinkle." Depending on the night and if the viewer is using a telescope, seven planets potentially can be seen, according to NASA, although Mercury and Saturn will be difficult to spot at the same time as the others. Saturn, in particular, will be hard to spot as it sinks lower in the sky each night, while Mercury, the seventh planet joining the parade, can be seen in the post-sunset glow at the end of the month. The space agency says both planets will likely be too low in the sky and faint for most people to spot. The planetary parade will be most pronounced shortly after sunset on Feb. 28.
