Helmets may save lives, but they become less effective when they develop even small cracks. So in an attempt to alert bicyclists, motorcyclists, and construction workers when their helmets should retire, researchers in Germany are developing helmets made of polymer materials that start to smell foul when they crack. The bigger the crack, the fouler the odor.

How foul? Think formaldehyde. Which is somehow both absurd and brilliant--absurd because no one wants to reek of formaldehyde, and brilliant because, well, no one wants to reek of formaldehyde.

"Cyclists often replace their helmets unnecessarily after dropping them on the ground, … Read more

VI Fit, a video game research project at the University of Nevada, Reno, could help people who are visually impaired stay fit with active games modeled on the Wii that do not require vision (of the literal variety, that is) to play. They do require Wii remote controllers and a Windows PC with Bluetooth support or a USB Bluetooth dongle, but the games can be downloaded for free at vifit.org.

"Lack of vision forms a significant barrier to participation in physical activity, and consequently children with visual impairments have much higher obesity rates and obesity-related illnesses such as … Read more

For those with weakened leg muscles who don't need or want to use wheelchairs, there's a strange-looking new mobility device on the market, and Honda is its maker. As the Japanese multinational corporation (and the world's largest manufacturer of motorcycles) writes on its Bodyweight Support Assist product page, "Most people think of Honda as an automobile company. But our main focus is and always has been human mobility."

Potential users can be assured that what Honda didn't spend on a catchy name campaign it did invest in the design. The Bodyweight Support Assist device … Read more

The Withings scale, already breaking waves as the first Wi-Fi body scale that uploads weight and body mass data to personal online accounts, announces this week a new partnership with Gym Technik, enabling much easier tracking via pretty much any smartphone on the market.

Via Gym Technik, users can set up workout routines online, track daily progress via their smartphones, peruse an exercise library for workout tips, and upload before/after photos. Synching this with the Withings scale now allows users to instantly track their weight, body fat percentage, and BMI stats just by standing on it.

This is probably … Read more

If you're looking for a weight loss boot camp, the Tent City Jail in Phoenix may be your solution. Controversial Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who dubs himself "America's toughest sheriff," is providing the inmates there with a new amenity: cable television. But to watch their favorite shows, they're going to have to pedal.

Arpaio installed an energy-generating stationary bike (PDF) attached to a TV when he found that 50 percent of the inmates were overweight, many morbidly so. As long as an inmate is pedaling, the bike will produce 12 volts of energy--just enough to power a 19-inch tube TV. But if an inmate stops pedaling at a moderate speed, the TV shuts off.

Because inmates can't be forced to exercise, access to cable TV could provide incentive for them to do so. Female prisoners will test the program first, because they were more receptive to it, Arpaio says.

This isn't Arpaio's first attempt to trim inmates' waistlines. Some years back, he cut inmates' food intake from 3,000 calories to 2,500 calories. "You're too fat," CNN reported Arpaio as saying to the inmates. "I'm taking away your food because I'm trying to help you. I'm on a diet myself. You eat too much fat."

"America's toughest sheriff" hasn't always had an easy time implementing his standards, which have included assembling a female chain gang and making inmates pay $10 every time they need to see a nurse. Human-rights groups consider Tent City jail to be among the harshest in the nation, according to CNN, and numerous civil-rights lawsuits have been filed against the sheriff.

The program that Arpaio is calling "Pedal Vision" might be received with less criticism, though. Watching TV while serving time is a privilege, not a right, so inmates are choosing to take advantage of it. But what if every prisoner pedaled to produce energy? … Read more

This just in from Japanese health monitor manufacturer Tanita, a sensor mat that monitors the quality of your sleep.

The device is called Sleep Scan, and the idea is simple enough. Place the mat beneath your mattress and it tracks your body motion, breathing, and heart rate throughout to provide a sleep score.

Sleep Scan stores data on a secure digital high capacity (SDHC) card, and Tanita suggests that the 2GB SD card can store about 500 sleep cycles of data, unless you're like me and turn over like meat on a stick every five minutes, in which case … Read more

If roller skating is one of the fun physical activities you hate to give up as you age, and you care more about your health than what you look like maintaining it, the just-released Skaters Coach might be for you.

The device, which looks like what might happen if a walker and a tricycle got together and made babies, is bound to turn heads as you flex your age-defying muscles to the delight of passersby. It's neither as lazy as steering a Segway, nor as crazy as staying upright on a unicycle.

"It's a perfect tool for … Read more

For those who question whether handshakes can heal, here's a piece of literal evidence.

Shaking hands with a robotic arm could help stroke patients re-learn how to use their hands, arms, and even shoulders, according to researchers whose pilot trial results appear in the Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation.

The idea is for patients to try to guide the robot, nicknamed "Braccio di Ferro" (Iron Arm, also the Italian's name for Popeye), in a figure-eight motion above a desk. The arm pulls if they are moving in the correct direction and resists if they are moving … Read more

For years, people with broken bones have had to suffer through not only the pain of the break, but also the long process of healing, often with the help of titanium screws. Typically, patients must then undergo more surgery to remove the titanium.

When my mom broke her knee in the '90s, they rigged her with so many screws and bars that her X-rays looked more robot than human. She predicted rain with eerie accuracy.

This month, researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Applied Materials Research (IFAM) in Bremen, Germany, are unveiling a new type of screw … Read more