The pole vault is all about energy conversion. The kinetic energy built up during the vaulter’s run turns into potential energy stored in the pole as the vaulter bends it nearly 90 degrees. When the pole recoils, it unleashes that energy to help propel the vaulter up and over the bar. Of these stages, Peter McGinnis, a professor of kinesiology at the State University of New York at Cortland, has found that the most important is the speed of the vaulter just before he plants his pole. The energy built up during the run accounts for almost 60 percent of the vault’s height.

You've ditched your Hummer, recycle with a vengeance, and read your Hemingway by candlelight. But what kind of shoes are you wearing? Brooks Running launched a shoe this week containing its new midsole, called BioMoGo, which degrades 50 times faster than a normal one. According to Brooks, a standard shoe can last 1000 years in landfill, while BioMoGo will be gone in just 20. Brooks estimates it will save 30 million pounds of landfill waste over a 20-year period.

In Olympic shooting, athletes have to think fast and shoot faster. The double trap event involves two clay targets fired simultaneously at 50 miles per hour at different angles, so getting off both shots quickly, and in the proper rhythm, is incredibly important. But how fast is fast enough? The British Shooting Team brought that question to the scientists at BAE Systems.

Real time biofeedback from athletes is popping up everywhere. From heart rate monitors to electrolyte sensors, there’s a push to know what’s happening inside the body. For each sensor, a good ‘connection’ to the body is critical for obtaining accurate data but that often requires that something be stuck to the athlete. Now, a new technology developed by ConText, a European research collaboration, hopes to monitor EMG signals without attaching to, or getting under, an athlete’s skin.

After years of trying, and often failing, to play catch-up with drug cheats, anti-doping authorities signaled Thursday that they may actually be pulling ahead, with reports that a high-profile cyclist at the Tour de France has been busted for a drug so new few people had even heard of it.

The slingshot move of a pro pitcher’s shoulder is the fastest recorded action in sports. A pitch’s power, however, is generated by his entire body. For a right-handed pitcher, the chain of kinetic energy starts as soon as he lifts his left leg and faces third base. The energy of that foot landing transfers into the rotation of the trunk and then finally unleashes in the arm whipping around at the elbow.

From horseshoes to cornhole to bocce ball, every red-blooded American enjoys some form of lawn game during a summer barbecue. Each generation, innovators and entrepreneurs attempt to capitalize on a family's desire to relax outside, with a cold beverage in one hand, while competing in a game that doesn't require breaking a sweat. There is perhaps no more notorious failure in fulfilling these requirements than lawn darts. While the foot-long spears satisfied our need to compete, they ignored the fact that flying sharp objects, running kids, and that aforementioned beverage don't mix well.

The Tour de France has made a critical change in protocol that could greatly alter race strategy, regarding how it provides real-time updates. For a decade, attacks by specific riders were immediately broadcast over an official communication channel, Radio Tour, and directly into the follow cars where directors for each team were listening. Depending on the specific rider(s), the specific team, and the size of the lead, directors in each car would instruct their team through helmet-mounted radios on whether to give chase or lay back.