A downy woodpecker (RaechelJ / Pixabay)

Football players are often thought of as modern-day gladiators, but even the most hard-headed linebacker has nothing on the woodpecker, at least when it comes to sustaining blows to the noggin. 

Former pro football players are joining the effort to ban tackling in youth football. We talk pros and cons of the newly introduced Duerson Act.

(Pixabay)

Nearly seven years after former Chicago Bears safety Dave Duerson took his own life, a bill bearing his name will aim to prevent the disease that is believed to have led to his suicide.

Football may be America’s favorite sport, but with the rising fear of brain injury and CTE, it’s taken a bruising. We visit a Chicago-area helmet maker to see how it’s tackling the issue. 

The Chicago Sun-Times sports columnist, a former college football player, joins Carol Marin to discuss football safety, concussions and his recent decision to donate his brain to science.

A new study offers the latest and perhaps most dramatic evidence of the neurological toll of football on those who play it.

While the new Will Smith movie has received mixed reviews from critics, Peggy Mason, a professor of neurobiology at the University of Chicago, is more concerned with the science behind the story than whether it's an Oscar contender. She joins us to discuss her thoughts on the film and to shed light on the dangers associated with concussions.

Building a Safer Helmet

Could a better helmet hold the key to reducing the epidemic of sports-related brain injuries? In this week’s edition of Scientific Chicago, Ash-har Quraishi talks with a team of university researchers who say it’s time for a new design.