"See the Ball, Hit the Ball"

(NEWSER) - Branch Rickey once complained that “there is nothing on earth anybody can do with fielding,” but that's about to change thanks to a complex new camera and computer system, the New York Times reports. The system, which will be unveiled for baseball executives tomorrow, records the exact speed and location of every ball and every player, giving stat geeks a mountain of new data. The idea is to get a better handle on intangibles such as which outfielder has the best arm. More»

(NEWSER) - The NFL is embracing new technology and exploring the possibility of broadcasting games in 3-D, the Wall Street Journal reports. Select industry insiders and executives have been invited to watch the Dec. 4 Chargers-Raiders game live at private screenings in theaters in LA, Boston, and New York. "We want to demonstrate this and let people get excited about it." says an NFL exec. More»

Radio hookup aims to keep foes (ie, Patriots) from stealing signals

(NEWSER) - NFL defenders are hearing voices in their heads—often the screams of their coaches. An off-season rule change allows select defensive players to use the same helmet communication devices quarterbacks have long been using, USA Today reports. While kinks are being ironed out, the system means incidents like the Patriots’ stealing of opponents’ hand signals will be a thing of football past. More»

'Systemic discrimination' should keep nation out: Human Rights Watch

(NEWSER) - Saudi Arabia should be banned from participating in the London Olympics unless it includes a female athlete, says a scathing new report from Human Rights Watch. The nation is one of three that regularly participate in the games that has yet to send a women to the Olympics. Saudi Arabia's "systemic discrimination" against women in sports amounts to an "effective ban" on its participation in top-level competitions, says the report. "Saudi Arabia is an outlier in the international sporting community, and it’s a black eye to the sporting community to have such an outlier participate in the upcoming Olympics,” Human Rights Watch researcher Christopher Wilcke tells the New York Times . More»

Uses sound to activate visual cortex

(NEWSER) - Remember the iconic Star Trek visor that allowed a blind engineer to see? A team of scientists in Israel has developed something like a real-life version of the gadget, the Daily Mail reports. The Sensory Substitution Device turns visual information into sound that blind people can interpret after a little training. The noises activate portions of the visual cortex, which are normally dormant in the blind; this allows them to detect shapes and people around them—and even read. More»