Science explains the myth of Santa Claus
The mystery of how Santa Claus carries out this particular task each year for Christmas has been demonstrated by the scientist Katy Sheen of the University of Exeter (UK). Science therefore explains the mysteries behind the myth of Santa Claus and his famous reindeer.
According to Sheen, it is possible to find a scientific explanation for why children do not hear Santa Claus slipping through chimneys around the world to leave his gifts. The reason - which she explained to the children attending the Science of Christmas Festival at the University of Exeter- is that Santa Claus and his reindeer move at such a speed that according to the theory of special relativity devised by Albert Einstein, he would shrink or lose weight in the direction in which they are traveling, which would allow him to introduce the enormous bag of gifts through the chimneys without making any noise and without being seen; him nor his reindeer.
Moreover, Sheen also explains why Santa Clause has not aged over the years and it is because relativity can also slow down time.
According to Sheen’s calculations, Santa Claus would have to travel about 10 million miles an hour to deliver the gifts on time to all the children expected to celebrate Christmas. Assuming all children have behaved well, Santa Claus would have to move at higher speeds and the children would be unable to recognize him as he would appear as a blur of rainbow colors that would eventually disappear for the human eye. Physics explain why Santa Claus is rarely caught red-handed by the little ones, as he would travel more than 200,000 times faster than Usain Bolt, the fastest man in the world.
Physics calculated how fast Santa Claus would have to travel by calculating the number of homes likely to be celebrating Christmas around the world, along with the number of children likely to be in them. Sheen hopes that her explanation for Santa’s secret delivery system - and therefore his very existence - will inspire children to take a greater interest in physics.
