Anyone remember the glory years of American mountain bike racing? Didn’t think so. Well, Dylan Dean of Dean Racing Development has seen the lows and what passes for highs, and he’s launching a new downhill and super D series next year in an attempt to do right by racers. The U.S. Grand Prix of Mountain Biking will focus on the gravity events first, then add XC and gates as momentum builds. 5 to 7 events are slated and locations will be announced next month.

You know where would be a great place to live if you wanted access to the best skiing in Utah but cheap rent (and meth)? West Valley. It’s true, I read it in the paper. It seems the mayor of West Valley has come clean about writing several news stories about how great the city is for the local Deseret News. How could someone get away with this? Well, it’s quite easy. First you need your local paper to layoff most of their staff and then rely on unpaid contributors for loads of their news. Then, as a fake reporter, all you need is an email account and a Facebook page. You’re hired!

While U.S. ski resorts are tentatively pressing representatives on the effects of climate change, Europe is much further ahead of the curve (it helps that leaders there aren’t casting doubt about whether or not climate change is “real”). The European Environment Agency is currently looking at the effects of climate change on snowpack in the Pyrenees, both because scientists there are saying that temperatures are rising faster in alpine zones and because resort areas will lose big Euros. And urban areas could suffer, too — as in the American West, snowpack in much of Europe stands in as “reservoirs” and too-rapid snowmelt is leading to summer droughts.

If you fall where gravity is lower, does that make you more of a klutz? Oh, man, this is a good — a strangely compelling series of video clips of astronauts falling down on the moon. We’ve been there, brothers, we’ve been there, only the getting up afterward isn’t quite so easy. The best comes at :50, when he spits the dummy, loses it, and hucks incredibly expensive NASA gadgets to the dark side of the moon on his way down.

Photo by suneko

Shark attacks are rare though there’s something about them lurking beneath the sea that plays to our fears. Several inventors have sought to create devices that play on that fear, though none has ever stood out as an ultimate solution to the fear of swimming in the ocean (and keeping away sharks) that their inventors have claimed. The latest is the Electronic Shark Defense System, a $473 gizmo that emits electric pulses designed to interfere with the system sharks use to find prey. Scientists are not so sure it’ll work. One summed up its potential effectiveness nicely, “A shark doesn’t care if something is metaphorically banging on its head. Sometimes they turn away but sometimes they don’t notice it.” I hope that brings you peace of mind.

via Wend