Intel learns from Dr. Dre, wants Atom chips in NFL helmets to know when heads are ringing

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We always understood that Intel looked after the rock stars of
tomorrow, but who knew that included football players? Yup, according
to PC World, Intel is currently investigating adding Atom chips inside
NFL helmets to provide real-time impact data to medical staff on the
sidelines. While there's no explicit time frame set for this project,
we're thinking the sooner the better -- lest we forget it took the
league until 2009 to require players who display signs of a concussion
to stop playing for at least one day. This isn't the first time though
that the world's largest chip maker has actually helped make the
gridiron safer. In fact, it previously worked with helmet maker
Riddell's fittingly named HITS (Head Impact Telemetry System) and
academic researchers to run head injury simulations using linked Xeon-
powered computers. Off the field, Intel is also currently partnering
with the Mayo Clinic to boost medical cranial scans using MIC (Many
Integrated Core) supercomputer co-processors. Codenamed Knights
Corner, this hardware puts teacher's pets to shame by running
trillions of calculations per second, and apparently accelerates head
scans by up to 18 times. Sure, safety's all well and good, but we know
Intel's really just curious about how Moore's Law holds up to the
shoulder pressure of NFL d-backs.