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Did the Earth's rotation help the Bengals win?

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CINCINNATI – Did the Earth help the Bengals win Sunday?

Noted astrophysicist, author and TV personality Neil deGrasse Tyson thinks it may have. In a series of tweets posted after the Bengals’ incredible comeback overtime win from a 17-point deficit, Tyson wrote that the Earth’s rotation may have helped steer the game-winning field goal between the posts.

 

 

 

 

Yes, the Coriolis Effect. It’s the same force that causes large storms to spin counterclockwise north of the equator and clockwise south. Because the Earth is a sphere, points closer to the equator are spinning around its axis faster than points closer to the poles. So it makes things spin or the path of something, like a football, curve.

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As Tyson points out, Paul Brown Stadium isn’t built exactly north-south, so maybe he’s on to something.

Check out the video below for more about the Coriolis Effect: