Sports

Despite being arguably one of the most well-rounded athletes in history, Michael Jordan's exploits on the baseball diamond didn't go close to matching the heights he achieved on the basketball court. Indeed, it's so uncommon to achieve world competitiveness in more than one sport, there's no word to describe (polysport?) such notables as Jim Thorpe, Lionel Conacher, Babe Didrikson, John Surtees and Denis Compton. World 2007 F1 champ Kimi Raikkonen is the latest to achieve international success in two sports, finishing eighth in the Jordan Round of the World Rally Championship this weekend, scoring world championship points in his second sport and just his third WRC rally.  Read More

Vauxhall will unveil a dramatic concept car at this year’s Geneva Show. The Flextreme GT/E uses what Vauxhall calls extended-range electric vehicle (E-REV) technology – the wheels at all times are driven by electricity, but a small petrol engine/generator provides enough electricity to extend the driving range to more than 300 miles. The Flextreme GT/E also employs active shape shifting. Above 30mph, a vertical panel extends along the body from the air extraction slot behind each rear wheel-arch, guiding high-speed airflow around the rear of the car, reducing the drag co-efficient to just 0.22.  Read More

Speedo's offering in the waterproof MP3 player arena - the Aquabeat - is submersible to three meters, weighs in at only 35g and is easily attached to your sports gear so you can have beats as you zig-zag at high-speed down the mountain or cut laps at the pool.  Read More

In many countries, wearing a bike helmet while cycling in public places is compulsory because it is proven to have saved lives. However, anyone who has ever applied one of these helmets to their heads knows that are definitely not a one-size-fits-all piece of equipment. An ill-fitting helmet means less protection, but they can require much trial and error to adjust correctly. The Regenerative Helmet overcomes this with its hard outer shell and flexible segments that allow the helmet to contort to provide a better fit. The liner uses dual density multi-impact foam to provide impact protection for both low and high speed accidents.  Read More

Sport is tough on the body, and one of the major health risks from being active is permanent damage to cartilage around the joints. Humans are unable to regenerate cartilage once they are adults and often have to live with little relief from painful joints or osteoarthritis, but researchers at Northwestern University are the first to design a bio-active nanomaterial that promotes the growth of new cartilage in vivo and without the use of expensive growth factors. Good new sports fans...  Read More

Panasonic has announced significant improvements in the toughness department with its new 14.1-megapixel LUMIX DMC-TS2. It's now waterproof to even greater depths, can survive being dropped from a height of six feet and winter sports enthusiasts will no doubt be pleased to hear that it can also withstand some seriously chilly temperatures.  Read More

Audio manufacturer Sennheiser and sporting goods giant Adidas have collaborated on a new line of athletics-oriented headphones. Called simply the Sports line, the product range includes four models of rugged sweat- and water-proof headphones designed to fit whatever type of sports activity you are into.  Read More

Speed radar technology has become pretty much ubiquitous for traffic law enforcement around the world, but there are times when you and I would quite like to know how fast something is travelling too. PocketRadar is a hand-held personal speed measurement device about the size of a mobile phone that can get you a speed reading on a car half a mile away (or a baseball 120 feet away) in less than a second from being fully shut down. It's initially targeted at sports fans and athletes, but the company has flagged the possibility of a law enforcement version as well.  Read More

In the past few years, several companies have started selling tiny, rugged, inexpensive “action” video cameras designed to be mounted on wild-n-crazy vantage points such as mountain bike helmets, hang-gliders or even model rockets (yes, it’s been done). Up until recently, however, a common complaint about these cameras was that their lenses weren’t wide enough to capture all the action. That problem was squarely addressed with the autumn 2008 release of a new camera, the GoPro HERO Wide. Now, GoPro has gone one better by introducing a High-Definition version of that same model.  Read More