Geek In Me

by Darren Murph via engadget.com

Look folks, we won’t deny that hardcore usage of the Wii could result in weight loss, but we have all ideas Japan’s Kosuke Kitajima relied a lot more on swimming laps religiously and eating a set diet than playing Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games. Nevertheless, the Olympic gold medalist, who snagged said medal in the men’s 100-meter breaststroke earlier this week, did mention that he used the game to prepare his mind. “See, Mario does the breaststroke,” he stated, “and thus, it’s perfect mental training for envisioning the actual Olympic hall.” We’d say that’s being mighty generous, but whatever gets you to the other end first, right?

by Nilay Patel via engadget.com

It seems like the endless legal struggle to be allowed to compete in the Olympics took its toll on cyborg sprinter Oscar Pistorious — he didn’t qualify for the South African Olympic team on Wednesday, after failing to run the 400 under the 45.55 second minimum required to make the trip to Beijing. Interestingly, Pistorious’s 46.25-second time was his best ever, even though critics claimed that the double-amputee’s “Cheetah” prosthetics allowed him to use only 25 percent of the energy used by traditional runners. That’s not the last we’ll see of Oscar, though — he says he’s happy with his season’s results, and he’ll be back to try out for the 2012 Games in London.

by Patrick Metzger via greendaily.com

If you’re headed to China this summer, you might want to pack a couple of cases of bottled water.

Wired reports that as Beijing gears up for the Olympic Games and an expected 1.5 million thirsty visitors on top of the 18 million regular residents, the capital is sucking up water resources from around the country.

With Beijing’s own groundwater resources largely polluted or disappearing from drought and overuse, the city is using its political clout to keep itself hydrated. In neighbouring Hebei Province, 80 billion gallons of water are being routed to Beijing from already depleted reservoirs. Rivers and canals are being diverted, and villages miles away from the capital are vanishing because their water supplies have been comandeered.

While the end of the Olympics will ease Beijing’s thirst somewhat, it’s clear that water shortages aren’t going to go away, especially in light of the immense amount of the blue stuff required to keep China’s factories churning out culottes and LCD screens. And global warming isn’t going to help any.

by Josh Loposer via greendaily.com

Despite it’s efforts to shut down its smoggy industry and alter its weather for this year’s Olympic Games, it seems that Beijing just can’t catch a break. With the games set to begin in only 2 and 1/2 months, sandstorms from Mongolia are causing Beijing’s air quality to go from bad to worse to worst — and the authorities are warning citizens with respiratory ailments to stay indoors.

Right now, Beijing’s air quality is officially rated as “heavily polluted” — not exactly the kind of environment that attracts world class athletes. Usually, these sand storms hit Beijing skies in March and April, but for whatever reason, they seem to be trying to sabotage the Olympics.

Oscar Pistorius is a sprinter with a difference: he runs on two artificial lower legs and feet fast enough that he may qualify for the Olympics. And that’s something he can now attempt, given that the Court of Arbitration for Sport has just overturned his ban. The International Association of Athletics had ruled against him competing against able-bodied runners. All because of the specialized carbon-fiber Cheetah Flex-Foot prosthetic feet he uses, which represented an unfair mechanical advantage maintained the IAAF. So the advanced artificial limbs, designed after the shape of a Cheetah’s hind leg, were put to the test in the lab.
via gizmodo.com