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"  Adidas really wants us all to know that it has figured out the science of a soccer ball in flight. In fall 2013, when debuting Brazuca\u2014the ball designed specifically for this summer&amp;#039;s World Cup in Brazil, officials proclaimed that the new six-panel design (the first time a soccer ball has had so few panels) was the optimal engineering for aerodynamic continuity and flight speed. Adidas said it tested the ball in wind tunnels and in games, secretly dressing the ball in panel-hiding camouflage for the international U-20 World Cup. And the German manufacturer told us that the symmetrical shape of the six thermally bonded, propeller-like pieces produces a flight that should make athletes happy. It seems that the claims stand up. A new study released by University of Tsukuba (Japan) researcher Sungchang Hong, published in the journal Scientific Reports, backs up Adidas&amp;#039; boast. Hong says the new ball has a &amp;quot;stable flight trajectory thanks to the shape and number of panels that it is constructed from.&amp;quot; The characteristics of the panels on a soccer ball have a &amp;quot;substantial impact on how the ball travels through the air,&amp;quot; Hong says. Hong and Takeshi Asai tested the balls by mounting them in a wind tunnel to test aerodynamic properties. They also used robots to kick the ball toward a goal 25 meters away and measure ball rotations, final impact point, and trajectories. Curiously, while Adidas has been steadily reducing the number of panels over the years, the scientists found that less isn&amp;#039;t always more. While the six-panel Brazuca was the best performer, a conventional 32-panel ball followed it closely, the study says. Adidas is happy to forget the eight-panel knuckling Jabulani from the 2010 World Cup in South Africa\u2014goalkeepers decried its fluttering and strikers lamented its inconsistency.  The Brazuca and the 32-panel ball had &amp;quot;relatively stable&amp;quot; data, whereas other balls in the study differed greatly based on how the ball&amp;#039;s panels were facing prior to the robot&amp;#039;s impact. &amp;quot;The changes in the flight characteristics (points of impact) of Cafus and Teamgeist 2 with the panel orientation were particularly drastic, which indicated that their panel orientation significantly affected their flight characteristics,&amp;quot; the researchers say. Antonio Zea, Adidas&amp;#039; director of soccer, says reducing panels to six for 2014 was &amp;quot;all about seam geometry and how we create seams.&amp;quot; Now we&amp;#039;ll see how the ball handles on the feet of the best players in the world.  Tim Newcomb covers infrastructure and sports for Popular Mechanics. Follow him on Twitter at @tdnewcomb. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://popularmechanics.com/adventure/sports/a12962/world-cup-ball-really-is-the-most-aerodynamic-ever-16839854/>