In addition to photographing each event, they have time lapse footage of the process, which is pretty neat to watch. Not So Noisy has done this three times—once with cars and trucks, once with RetroBuses and once with people. I love each one equally. [Not So Noisy]

They broadcast a 30 second video (what format isn't clear; I hope the aliens have VLC!) into space which was voted on by the British to best represent life on Earth, or at least the moments of life on Earth that involve trying to sell unhealthy corn chips. Peter Charles, Head of the "Doritos Broadcast Project" can apparently still sleep at night after saying "We also shouldn't be too surprised if the first aliens start arriving on planet Earth immediately demanding a bag of Doritos." If so, the universe is more doomed than I thought. [Physorg]

A lot can go wrong when you're trying to reach 130,000 feet up in the air. At above 40,000 feet, there's no longer enough oxygen to breathe. At 12 miles up, the air pressure can cause blood to boil. Fournier will be taking the trip in a special space suit, but if it malfunctions, he'll be dead within seconds.

If he makes it, Fournier will set records for falling the longest, farthest and fastest of anyone in history. The fall will be the cumulation of 20 years of research and physical and emotional preparation. To pay for his training and equipment, Fournier has sold almost all his belongings and spent roughly $20 million, mostly raised from private donations.

Fournier has insisted that he's not free falling to break world records. And though the data collected from the jump could have ramifications on aerospace escape procedures, many argue that there is very little to be gained scientifically.

Rather, this experiment probably has its roots in something much more basic and instinctual, despite its decidedly high-tech makeup. Fournier is out to fulfill his all-too-human need to find and, hopefully, exceed his own limitations. [NYTimes and Le Grand Saut]

Remember, kids: don't try this at home, unless Red Bull throws a sponsorship your way, in which case go nuts. [Autoblog via Didn't You Hear?]

After successfully landing the 360-degree backflip three times into the cardboard boxes in training, I am disappointed that our last jump ended in an accident. As I lay here in the hospital with three broken vertebrae in my neck and two compressed and broken vertebrae in my back, I am also disappointed that we cannot perform the 360-degree Red Bull Experiment on New Year's Eve, but I'm happy that I will be able to walk again.

Yes, during ESPN's New Year's Even No Limits broadcast, he's gonna attempt a full backflip in an off-road racing truck off a specially-built jump designed just for this task. Since he's just sitting in the truck, it seems like most of the work will be done on the jump, so it's not like he's got to do a lot except for keep his gigantic balls strapped down. But still, it's crazy and impressive. I don't know the mechanics of how the jump will work, but I'm assuming it'll actively flip him into the air. The tricky thing will be the timing, getting the flip right so he lands wheels down and not on the front of the truck. In any case, it should make for some good YouTubing the next day whether he's successful or not. [Red Bull Experiment via Didn't You Hear...]

He was wrong. Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis claimed him, a year short of his prediction, at the age of 69. Throughout the decades that mattered, however, he did seem immortal. The frailty of his equipment was the thing that failed him, time and time again. Attempting to pop a wheelie on an earth mover while working at the Anaconda Mine Company he hit a power line, depriving Butte of its power for eight hours, and him of his job.

It was the same at Caesar's Palace in 1967, when he attempted to jump the fountains (useless-fact fans will appreciate that Linda "Krystle Carrington" Evans worked the camera during the stunt) in front of the casino. As Knievel hit the ramp, he felt his bike, a Triumph 650 Bonneville, decelerate suddenly. The subsequent crash crushed Knievel's pelvis and femur, caused fractures to his hip, wrist and both ankles, and left him in a coma for 29 days.

Knievel shopped around for bikes, using Nortons, Triumphs and Harleys for his jumps, which earned him an estimated $30 million during his heyday (although he claims he spent more than he made on usual suspects such as yachts and Ferraris and, more improbably, snakeskin boots and fur coats). But perhaps his most famous ride was the X-2 Skycycle, on which he attempted to jump Snake River Canyon. (His earlier dream, of leaping the Grand Canyon astride a Norton Atlas Scrambler, fell through after he realized that the US would never allow a leather-clad superstar to commit suicide, however spectacular the stunt might be, in front of a large audience.)

The X-2 Skycycle was a steam rocket designed by former NASA engineer Robert Truax (whom Knievel later described as "an egotistical little bastard who burned up Gus Grissom on the launch pad.") Just three of the Truax-designed steam rockets were made, at a cost of $250,000 each. After two of them were totalled during testing, Evel, ever the risk-taker, decided that it was now or never and, selling the visual rights for an estimated $4 million, scheduled the jump for September 8, 1974.

Again, the equipment let him down. Three of the bolts that secured the cover of the Skycycle's parachute sheared off with the force of the blast, activating the 'chute. Although the rocket had made it across the canyon, the drag caused it to turn on its side and float down to the river beneath. Knievel, who walked away with minor injuries—for a change—cheated death when he avoided drowning by just a few feet.

"God never made a tougher son of a bitch than me,"he boasted last year, already laid low by lung disease. But he was right— jail, the IRS, bankruptcy, booze, not to mention his death-defying leaps— couldn't kill Evel Knievel off. His funeral takes place tomorrow in his hometown of Butte, Montana; I, for one, will be donning a cape and revving my Evel Knievel Stunt Bike in his memory.

Family sues Calif. radio station after woman dies [Reuters]

Update: And the plot thickens. Commenter Auger282 found this live recording of the actual show where the DJs joked about water intoxication, and emphasized the fact that release forms were needed to be signed. Just go take a listen for yourself and prepare to be shocked.

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–Travis Hudson

Ten Sacked over U.S. Water Wii Contest [Metro]

A Night in the Box [Laptop]