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27th November 2009 
Unintended Consequences: American Football Helmets
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/10/19/091019fa_fact_gladwell
TAGS: American Football
Could an increase in head injuries and neurological problems in NFL players be an unintended consequence of making a better helmet? Recent debates have shed light on studies supporting this claim.
“This football season, the debate about head injuries has reached a critical mass. Startling research has been unveiled. Maudlin headlines have been written. Congress called a hearing on the subject last month.
As obvious as the problem may seem (wait, you mean football is dangerous?), continuing revelations about the troubling mental declines of some retired players—and the ongoing parade of concussions during games—have created a sense of inevitability. Pretty soon, something will have to be done. Counterintuitive, or just plain dangerous? WSJ's Reed Albergotti discusses with colleague Chaz Repak why some experts think an NFL without helmets would vastly reduce on-field injuries in American football.
But before the debate goes any further, there's a fundamental question that needs to be investigated. Why do football players wear helmets in the first place? And more important, could the helmets be part of the problem?”
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2009 
American Football Helmet to better protect athletes against concussion
Xenith has embedded 18 shock absorbers into a flexible cap that lines the inside of a helmet. The shock absorbers are made out of a plastic that is elastic and flexible, thus it can accept a wide range of forces and return to its original shape instantaneously. The shock absorbers are hollow discs featuring a tiny hole to allow air to flow in and out. Upon impact, the walls of the discs collapse to absorb and dissipate the energy.
"When you force air or any fluid to flow through a small hole, you get an adaptive response: the harder [the disc] is hit, the stiffer it behaves, because you are generating more resistance inside the disc," says Ferrara. "You want a system to behave softly under low energy, but under high energy, you want it to get progressively stiffer so that it does not collapse down to nothing."
For more information please click the link. Images and information reprinted from technologyreview.
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2009
Riddell develop concussion-monitoring helmet
Riddell have developed the Revolution IQ HITS (Head Impact Telemetry System) helmet that can store impact data from over 100 impacts. This will help to improve research into the area of impact protection and injury prevention.
For more information please click the link. Images and information reprinted from Riddell.
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