The mystery of how Santa Claus carries out this particular task each year at Christmas has been demonstrated by scientist Katy Sheen from the University of Exeter (UK). Science explains, therefore, the mysteries behind the legend of Santa Claus and his famous reindeer.
According to Sheen, it is possible to find a scientific explanation for why children do not listen to how Santa Claus slides down everyone’s chimneys to leave his gifts. The reason – which he has 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, they would shrink or They would lose weight in the direction they are traveling, allowing you to push the huge sack of gifts through the chimneys without making any noise and without being seen; neither he nor his reindeer. Mind you, you would have to be careful not to stop to try a cake or some sweets under the fireplace or it could go back to its normal size.
In addition, the fact that Santa Claus has not aged over the years also has its explanation and it is, Sheen explains, because relativity can slow down clocks.
According to Sheen’s calculations, Santa Claus would have to travel at about 10 million kilometers per hour to deliver the gifts on time to all the children who are expected to celebrate Christmas . If the children have been very good, Santa Claus will have to move at higher speeds and the children would be unable to recognize him as it would appear as a blur of the colors of the rainbow that would eventually disappear to the human eye. Physics would explain why then Santa Claus is rarely caught “red-handed” by 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 that would likely be celebrating Christmas around the world, along with the number of children likely to be in them. Sheen hopes his explanation for Santa’s secret delivery system – and thus his own existence – will inspire children to take a greater interest in physics.
