After a landslide of negative news about the upcoming Olympics in Beijing, the hosts finally got a breath of (sort of) fresh air this week by opening the doors to the much-anticipated Bird’s Nest stadium. Nicknamed after its unique structure of woven steel, the stadium stands 230 feet tall and will seat 91,000 spectators. At a cost of nearly $500 million, the stadium, which went under construction in December of 2003, was completed just 14 weeks behind schedule thanks to a largely migrant force of nearly 7,000 workers.

Even we didn’t guess it would be this good. When I wrote last month about Speedo’s latest swimsuit—an extremely high-tech full-body wonder—three world records had already been broken by LZR-clad swimmers. Coincidence? Maybe. But, after eight more records fell in the past month, the suit is causing some serious waves.

British swimmers are known for their good form, and they’ll enhance that reputation this summer as they train for the Beijing Olympics using novel motion tracking technology. Research funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), in collaboration with UK Sport, will use water-resistant markers drawn on the swimmers’ bodies to provide real-time feedback to coaches and athletes. Unlike the spherical markers used in other motion tracking, the Brits’ markers are painted on to eliminate any effect they might have on drag.