This Is Absolutely Insane! The Magnus Effect.

This is one of the most awesome science experiments of the year!  Earlier in the month, veritasium did a similar experiment 1.0 which deserves respect a well.  What is displayed in the video is something called the magnus effect.  Here is the description from wikipedia:

The Magnus effect is the commonly observed effect in which a spinning ball (or cylinder) curves away from its principal flight path. It is important in many ball sports. It affects spinningmissiles, and has some engineering uses, for instance in the design of rotor ships and Flettner aeroplanes.

In terms of ball games, topspin is defined as spin about a horizontal axis perpendicular to the direction of travel, where the top surface of the ball is moving forward with the spin. Under the Magnus effect, topspin produces a downward swerve of a moving ball, greater than would be produced by gravity alone, and backspin has the opposite effect.^[1] Likewise side-spin causes swerve to either side as seen during some baseball pitches, e.g. slider.^[2] The overall behaviour is similar to that around an aerofoil (seelift force) with a circulation which is generated by the mechanical rotation, rather than by airfoil action.^[3]

Let’s watch this guy throw a ball off a cliff and see this effect in the video on page 2

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