American Football

University of Michigan researchers have entered the race to build a lightweight, more affordable and more effective football helmet with a system they’ve called Mitigatium that incorporates three different layers that are meant to blunt some dangerous physics that today’s helmet designs ignore.

A collaboration between the University of Washington and helmet manufacturer VICIS has led to the development of the Zero1, a football helmet designed to absorb impact more effectively than designs currently in use. It features an outer shell that yields upon impact like a car bumper.

Sports helmets usually receive impacts at an angle, with the resulting twisting of the head potentially causing brain injuries to the wearer. Now, scientists have developed something to help keep that from happening – a sticker.​

San Diego city officials have revealed some initial details concerning a planned new NFL stadium that will be home to the San Diego Chargers. Still subject to final approval, the stadium boasts a capacity of 68,000 seats and features a design that draws inspiration from the local area.

When it comes to practicing their tackles, young football players generally either tackle their teammates or go after an inanimate tackle sled. The Shadowman Junior, however, offers another choice – it's still not a person who could get hurt, but it presents a more realistic moving target.

As a way of testing new sensors and software, University of Washington seismologists have planted seismographs to study the fanmade "earthquake" caused by American football spectators.

The US Army and the US National Football League are cooperating on a project to develop better ways of preventing concussion.