Could Any NFL Players Outrun Usain Bolt? The Internet Tries To Find Out [Usain Bolt]

Yesterday, Tennessee Titans running back Chris Johnson told the Tennessean that he thought he could beat Usain Bolt in a 40-yard dash. Johnson said:

I feel like if I would have kept training for track I'd have a chance, but I play football and he runs track, so it's totally different. I think I could still probably beat him in the 40. If I actually trained for the distance he trained for, I think I'd have a chance.

Gauntlet thrown! Since Johnson made those comments, the internet has been abuzz with speculation about how Bolt's speed would stack up in a 40-yard dash, and other NFL players and personalities have weighed in.

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review solicited comments from Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown:

Randy Moss is really fast. Mike Wallace is pretty fast, too, But no question (an NFL player could hang with Bolt). Could I? Possibly, uh, no question.

Right. So Brown could possibly "hang" with Bolt in a race, no question. Possibly.

Former NFL coach and current analyst Brian Billick gave us his thoughts as well, coming to his decision with the help of some mysterious mathematicians:

Based on Bolt's previous 100m times clocked at world championships, mathematicians estimate he would run 3.97 elec. #NFL style 40-yd. dash!

— Brian Billick (@CoachBillick) August 5, 2012

So that's what math has to say about it! But what does Falcons wide receiver Roddy White think?

White isn't known for making sense on Twitter, but he may actually be close to hitting this one on the nose. NFL.com's Dan Hanzus tracked down Mark Gorsack, the official starter for the 40-yard dash at the NFL combine, and got his expert opinion. When asked if Bolt could break a sub-4.0 time in the 40, Gorsack was skeptical:

I don't think so...Also, when you break down Usain Bolt, first of all he's on an ideal surface. Second of all, he's in starting blocks. Then you got to look at spikes. Those spikes get a chance to grip in the ground, which gives you more force to push off. When people wear spikes, they are faster.

[...]

Is he fast? Oh yeah. Is he as fast as other National Football League players? Most likely, but I'm not sure. Running in our conditions, he'd be completely out of water.

So there you have it. The answer to the internet's most pressing question is basically: Who knows?

[Tennessean, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, NLF.com, Twitter]

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Defcon’s NinjaTel cell network could solve real-world problems

The Defcon security and hacker conference in Las Vegas is home to a unique cell network built using GSM and Wi-Fi. The private network was built for fun, but it could have a serious purpose when governments try to lock down cellular communications.

At the Defcon hacker convention going on now in Las Vegas, roughly 650 attendees received a custom phone that allows them onto a secret local cell network called NinjaTel. Both Ars Technica and The Verge have stories offering screen shots and details, but I’m curious about the real world implications of this experiement.

Ars Technica says the network uses both a GSM network (not sure what frequency it’s operating in, or if it is indeed a real “pirate” network as The Verge asserts) and secured portions of the conference Wi-Fi :

For redundancy and reliability, Ninja Networks engineers took advantage of a feature added to the Ice Cream Sandwich release of Android that makes it easy to route calls over GSM or, using the SIP, or Session Initialization Protocol, over a private portion of the Defcon WiFi. As each subscriber was added to the network, a syncing app added the user to the list of contacts contain on all other phones, giving each person a way to text or call the other. An app contained on the custom phone made it easy for other users to write apps for the device.

Those with phones can only use voice or SMS, and are all visible as contacts on the network at any one time. There are peer-to-peer modes where folks can converse without going over the wider network as well as apps that let users interact with each other or other Ninja-approved devices. But outside creating some fun for hackers at a security conference, this type of network might be useful for places like Syria or Egypt where governments can control and shut down cellular networks as a means to cut off unrest.

I’ve written about a variety of projects–from Serval to OpenGSM — that could be used to create peer-to-peer or actual cell phone networks for groups of users to rely on when their own communications are spotty or compromised by hostile governments. Such networks could be a boon for democracy and freedom worldwide, but could also easily become a headache for law enforcement when in the wrong hands.

But the implementation of such networks by technologists, much like the development of the Internet, could provide a platform that helps democratize the flow of information. And trying that out, and possibly making versions of it that are ever easier to use on handsets could create yet another avenue for information sharing.

And for those who think that such technology isn’t needed in the U.S. or developed countries, just recall when the Bay Area Rapid Transit authorities shut down cell phone access on platforms because it was concerned about protests or when India wanted the ability to snoop on BlackBerry devices. So NinjaTel may be a cool one-off experiment today, but with time and work it may become the next-generation’s Internet. A massively democratic and redundant way to share information — even when governments would rather shut such information sharing down.

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