If you are a science and sports junkie like we are, then you’ll probably like this ScienceDaily article, which discusses the physics of the soccer ball that will be used in this year’s World Cup (click here to view the article).

In the article, entitled “Will the new World Cup soccer ball Bend?” Derek Leinweber (the Head of the university’s School of Chemistry and Physics who studied the ball with Master’s of Philosophy in Physics candidate Adrian Kiratidis) states that the Adidas-manufactured Jabulani (pictured below) is significantly rougher than the Teamgeist ball that Adidas made for the 2006 World Cup, and that the Jabulani’s aerodynamic ridges “are likely to create enough turbulence around the ball to sustain its flight longer, and be a faster, harder ball in play.”

Leinweber also says that “by the time the ball reaches the goalkeeper, the Jabulani will have swerved and dipped, arriving with more power and energy than the Teamgeist.”

It should be interesting to see how the Jabulani plays in South Africa this year, in addition to whether or not the majority of the Cup’s stadiums being located at high altitudes has an affect on the footballers.