Coming Soon: Inside Science Takes on the Olympics

(Inside Science) -- Inside Science is not becoming Inside Sports. That name was already taken by a now defunct magazine .

But, over the next few weeks, we will release a series of news articles, blog posts, and a video news piece covering the Games of the XXX Olympiad.

Below are a few science-related articles to whet your appetite.

In the New York Times , Nate Silver, who found a bit of fame as a baseball analyst, and then became a minor celebrity during the lead up to the 2008 Presidential contest with his FiveThirtyEight blog on election forecasts, has now analyzed all Olympic sports to identify the ones that are the “easiest” in which to win a medal. He approaches the problem with the idea that the sports that offer the most medals per competitor might be the most attractive to small countries without the resources to pour lots of money into their sports programs. He calls it “Medalball,” after the baseball strategy described in the book and film “Moneyball.”

Silver’s analysis shows that Wrestling, Tae Kwon Do and Weight Lifting are the most medal-friendly.

Here’s an AP story that appeared in the San Jose Mercury News about an athlete, Oscar Pistorius, sure to gain lots of coverage throughout the games. It’s an engineering marvel that this South African 400 meter sprinter is able to run world-class times. He uses prosthetic legs below his knees, which some sports scientists say provides him an unfair advantage. The Court for Arbitration for Sport ruled in 2008 that he was eligible to compete against able bodied athletes.

And finally, if you seek intense, insightful analysis of track, swimming, other Olympic sports or even some Tour de France updates, head to The Science of Sport Blog , which is written by two exercise physiologists, Ross Tucker, and Johnathan Dugas. Surely they will have excellent Olympic coverage. Here’s their analysis of Usain Bolt’s 2008 100 meter triumph .