与其说张艺谋导演了开幕式，不如说高科技精确地造就了一台精美地视觉大餐. 同样, 与其说现代奥林匹克运动是体力和运动技能竞技, 不如说是在一定程度上的高科技的比拼, 从仿生泳装到高精设计的运动器械(帆船 自行车 网球拍等). 这些高新技术的加入直接可以提高运动员的成绩, 帮助他们挑战一个又一个的生理极限.  美国<Physics today>杂志撰文: 

http://blogs.physicstoday.org/newspicks/2008/08/special_beijing_olympics_2008.html

Special Beijing Olympics 2008 issue: Science and sports

Physics Today: 2008 北京奥运

As thousands of competitors gather in Beijing, China, for the 2008 summer Olympics, many of them over the coming weeks will be either using scientific advancements to gain a perceived performance edge, such as a new high-tech swimsuit, or applying physics subconsciously, to sail, ride, or play baseball.

Over the years the way athletes conduct sport has changed. In 708 BC, athletes would carry weights in the ancient form of the long jump. The weights, made of stone or lead, improved the jumpers' performance, reports Steven K. Blau.

The recent Wimbledon and French Open tennis championships raised questions concerning the high-speed nature of the serves. Should drag be increased on the ball to slow the serves down? Or the tennis racket be made smaller to increase the skill required to play the game? Howard Brody from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia believes practice is more likely to win championships, not high-tech rackets, after attempting to design the perfect tennis racket. And Rod Cross takes a detailed look at ball bounce in his discussion ofthe physics of the game.

Although technology might not help tennis players, it will destroy the game of baseball, predicts Robert K. Adair from Yale University. Adair has spent years studying baseball and why aluminum bats should be banned from the game.

David E. H. Jones pondered some time ago the perplexing question of how does a bicycle keep its stability? The answer involves torsorial forces, although some centrifugal forces will be keeping the speed cyclists on the Olympic raised track.

But air quality may prove to be the most significant factor in the athletes’ performance, and a risk to the spectators, despite the attempts by the Chinese government to reduce pollution by closing factories and banning cars. Richard Stone from Science magazine asks what happens after the games finish?

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