A study published in the May issue of the American Journal of Public Health suggests that novice male cyclists go faster when they're wearing a helmet. The study, which tracked the speed of 587 French riders over two years, found that men were likely to ride 1.5 miles per hour faster while helmeted. Women also rode slightly faster with helmets, though not at a level that was statistically significant. The study may help confirm what is known as risk compensation theory, in which people behave ... Read More
On Wednesday in Ridge Wood, England, stuntman Gary Connery became the first person to successfully land a wingsuit jump without using a parachute. Connery, 42, jumped from a helicopter at 2,400 feet and used his aerodynamic wingsuit to steer himself into a landing strip of 18,000 cardboard boxes. He hit speeds of 80 mph, slowing his downward speed to 15 mph before impact. "It was so comfortable and so soft. I got my calculations absolutely right," he said. Connery, who has appeared in the Harr... Read More
A high school principal in Michigan on Tuesday suspended 65 seniors for biking to their last day of classes. Principal Katharine Pennington suspended the students for the day, told them they could not participate in Wednesday's traditional senior walk, and threatened to keep them from attending graduation. Pennington cited safety reasons and traffic delays for imposing the suspension. The students, however, had secured a police escort for the ride and were accompanied by Alpine Township's mayo... Read More
Alex Honnold and Tommy Caldwell became the first people to free climb Yosemite's El Capitan, Half Dome, and Mt. Watkins in a single day, a challenge known to rock climbers as the Triple Crown. The pair set out up Mt. Watkin's South Face route at 4:45 p.m. on Friday and climbed through the night, summitting Half Dome's Regular Northwest Face at 2 p.m. on Saturday. The linkup, first climbed by Dean Potter and Timmy O'Neill in 2001, includes nearly 7,000 vertical feet of climbing and several hour... Read More
On Tuesday, SpaceX launched a private, unmanned space capsule from Cape Canaveral, Florida, to dock with the International Space Station, the first non-governmental spacecraft ever to do so. The capsule, called Dragon, was loaded with 1,014 pounds of food and supplies for the Space Station crew, who are orbiting 249 miles above the North Atlantic Ocean, according to NASA officials. The Dragon capsule is ultimately designed for manned flights in an effort to shift space exploration to the priva... Read More
