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‘Monument Valley 2’ gets a new chapter four years after its debut
Ustwo Games added ‘The Lost Forest’ to promote forest conservation.
The best organization apps for students
Here's a list of the best organization apps to help you organize your school life and manage your time.
Tesla receives permission to continue working on its German Gigafactory
Work on Tesla's German Gigafactory is back on. The company received permission from the Higher Administrative Court of Berlin-Brandenburg to continue clearing 91 hectares of forest in preparation for its fourth factory, where it plans to build batteries, powertrains and vehicles, starting with the Model Y.
A city covered in trees will fight air pollution in China
It's easy to find buildings laced with greenery in order to reduce their CO2 footprints. But what about an entire city? That's on its way. Construction has started on Liuzhou Forest City, a 30,000-person urban development where every building will be covered in pollution-reducing plants (over 1 million of them, in fact). They'll also rely on geothermal energy for air conditioning and pack solar panels to collect their own energy. Logically, the transportation network will be green as well. It'll revolve around electric cars and a central rail line that links the experimental space to the city of Liuzhou.
Satellite maps provide a new way to track deforestation
There's no question that deforestation is a problem, as it affects everything from climate through to biodiversity. But gauging the severity of deforestation isn't easy -- simply measuring lost forest cover doesn't tell you the effect it can have on a given area. That's where technology might save the day. Researchers have developed a new technique that uses satellite maps to track forest attrition distance, or the widening gaps between forests that can affect the environment. The overhead data can show whether tree losses are relatively mild, occurring in patches among other trees, or whether they're serious enough to create larger distances between forests.
Hiker with head-mounted cameras taught drones to fly through forests
Researchers in Switzerland have developed a drone that can navigate forest trails in search of missing hikers. According to EPFL, around 1,000 people get lost in Swiss forests every year and often need to be rescued. Rather than enlisting a search party, which are limited by the number of warm bodies on hand, a fleet of drones could cover the main trails with ease. Unfortunately, while getting a drone to fly through dense wooded forests was reasonable enough, letting it navigate the territory on its own was another thing altogether.
The environmentally friendly rainbow laser forest
Lasers might not be the first things that come to mind when thinking of the conserving the environment. Nonetheless, they're being used to manage commercial forests more efficiently. The false-color image above was captured with a "laser radar" LIDAR (light detection and ranging) system from Irish company Treemetrics. The colors are a 2D representation of 3D data that reveals how dense and straight the trees are. This allows plantation managers to understand how many logs can be harvested from any given tree, and what their quality will be.
The Daily Grind: What's your favorite MMO forest?
I love me a good forest in an MMO: One that's not too dense, not too annoying to navigate, and not too full of shrieking spiders jumping on me from above. Give me a quiet, gorgeous, lush grove to wander through and I could easily lose myself in the game. Some of my favorite forests include LotRO's Lothlorien, World of Warcraft's Elwynn Forest, and Dungeons and Dragons Online's King's Forest. Each has its own personality and absolutely beckons to be screenshotted as I softly wander through its flora. So what is your favorite MMO forest and what do you like about it? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
The Soapbox: Using MMOs to relax and unwind
Every now and then, everyone needs to take a break from the hustle and bustle of everyday life to relax and unwind. The outside world can be loud, and the stresses of work and home life can add up quickly, so it helps to be able to switch off for a while. Some of us find relaxation in sitting down in front of the TV, others in zoning out to their favourite music, and an increasing number of people now wind down with computer games. I've personally found MMOs to be incredibly effective refuges from stress and anxiety, but until now I've never really thought about why that might be. Any game can provide a few hours of escape from the daily grind, but there's something special about MMOs that seems to make them more comforting places to be. Certainly MMOs are manufactured to give a sense of solid progress as you play, a fairness that the unpredictability of real life often can't deliver, but there has to be more to it. Do the music and ambient sounds in EverQuest II's virtual forests and glens produce the same reaction as walking through a real life wood? Likewise, does EVE Online trick us into slowing down, and is spending time in a virtual world just more appealing than slogging along in the real one? In this opinion piece, I look at some of the most relaxing areas and activities I've found in MMOs and try to figure out what makes them tick.
'Redemption' appears to be Crytek's canceled PS3, Xbox 360 game
Art director Eric Cochonneau worked at Crytek from 2005 to 2009, during which time he was "responsible for the art direction on an undisclosed AAA title for Xbox 360 and PS3," and not many other games, according to his resume. That in mind, Cochonneau's portfolio shows off a large batch of detailed screenshots and concept art for a canceled PS3 and Xbox 360 game called Redemption.Redemption appears to be a forest-bound, gun-loaded romp featuring scary men and a young girl as a companion character. It's set in eastern Europe, if the cars are anything to judge by. The main character, a surly middle-aged man, has a custom pistol and his enemies have an arsenal of high-powered weaponry.While the characters are all in concept stages, the environments are at "visual benchmark" stages, complete with 3D renders of the game's water particle effects.We've contacted Crytek for more information about Redemption. Check out the entire gallery for yourself at Cochonneau's portfolio.
Alt-week 7.8.2012: Solar flares, trapping dark matter, and life-sized Lego trees
Alt-week peels back the covers on some of the more curious sci-tech stories from the last seven days. This week we swing by some superhero news, look at how solar panels might shape up in the future, explore a Lego forest and see how to grab dark matter just using some household gold and strands of DNA. Not only that, we discover how the sun likes to celebrate the fourth of July with its own firework display. This is alt-week
Tekken Tag Tournament 2 now has a dinosaur with boxing gloves named Alex
We could just tell you straight up about the five Teken Tag Tournament 2 characters that Namco revealed today, but wouldn't watching a trailer with a boxing dinosaur be more fun? What if we told you he fights a bear? What if we told you he beats the suds out of that bear? There you go!
Mystery Move game in development, courtesy of Plastic and Sony Santa Monica
Sony Santa Monica, makers of the God of War series, and Plastic, a Polish demoscene group, are collaborating on a mysterious Move title that features a floating hand getting touchy-feely with statues and trees in a fog-filled forest. The above video shows the hand reverently touching its surroundings, and at the 1:07 mark presents a Move controller in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen. NeoGAF's Toppot pointed out the connection to Linger in Shadows developer Plastic, who responded with a teasing affirmative: "We all at Plastic admire the speed and style of NeoGAF member Toppot, who managed to combine the hints and classify us as a developer of next Santa Monica Studio production." The developer hinted that it was "planting the seeds now" for the title, and "encouraged" fans to discover it.
Patch 1.8 live for Fallen Earth
It's always a nice time for a pleasant stroll through the woods. Admittedly, when the woods in question are the rather ominously named Terminal Woods and you're in the midst of Fallen Earth, that pleasant stroll might involve shooting a few bandits and mutated animals. But with all of the new toys and content added with the latest patch, it's probable you'll find at least one or two things within the forest to keep your attention. The patch has just gone live today, and it features 50 new missions, a PvP area, and a wide variety of new gear and crafting recipes. It's about half the size of a full sector, leading up to the next update that will advance the storyline of the post-apocalyptic setting even further. Fallen Earth players can log in immediately and start enjoying all of the new content -- but all things considered, you may also want to make sure you're full on ammo.
RIFT looks at Scarwood Reach
Whether or not you're looking forward to RIFT, it's hard to deny that the game makes great use of setting. The latest region revealed, Scarwood Reach, is haunting and evocative in both backstory and current events. Once an enchanted forest covered in the majestic granitewood trees, the woods have been logged to their demise, with only scattered pockets of trees remaining as a testament to what once was. But the servants of Greenscale seek to undo the damage in the only way possible -- by opening a portal to the Plane of Life that might swallow Telara whole. Aside from the abandoned shrines and local creatures harmed by the mad rush for wood and the abandonment of old traditions, the explosion of unfiltered Life at the heart of what was once forest is equally toxic. Even apart from the rifts that occasionally blossom, the forest is beset by creatures unseen in this land, coupled with crawling roots that bring searing and unwelcome new life to the barren landscape. Take a look at the gallery for a quartet of preview images, a fine preparation for the maddening environment that RIFT's damaged forest remnants are poised to deliver. %Gallery-101448%
Satellite-borne lasers tracking woodland happenings, who knows what else
It may shock your senses, but this actually isn't the first time we've heard of lasers being used to track birds and their habitats. But this go 'round, an Idaho University team is using a satellite-borne laser in an effort to "predict in which part of a State Forest the birds might be living." In particular, the crew is developing methods that'll help them track the North American pileated woodpecker, namely because these creatures are pegged as being great indicators of overall bird diversity. Currently, the laser is only capable of analyzing vital characteristics of a woodland, but scientists are using this information to take a stab as to where the aforementioned birds would be. Essentially, this laser spotting approach enables gurus to spot highly dense sections of forest -- plots where the pileated woodpecker loves to hang -- from above, dramatically cutting down the hide-and-seek that would previously take place on foot in much larger areas. Now, if only they could get lasers onto the birds, we'd have an all new brand of rave to consider.
Final Fantasy XIV releases new Gridania assets
With only a few days left until release, Final Fantasy XIV has lifted the shroud surrounding the third of the starting city-states for new characters. Gridania, nestled in the Black Shroud, is a city built into the very structure of the wood around it, filled with reverence for the spirits and creatures that dwell in the environment. The newest pictures have been put together in a gallery showing off the environment of the city -- as well as a hint of the Garlean Empire. A city of warm earth tones and expansive wooden buildings, Gridania manages to carry its own distinct feel from its sister cities, especially with the stained-glass architecture that dominates the adventurer's guild. While the preview images lack the callbacks that the recent Ul'dah reveal carried, they still show off an environment that is both engaging and alien. Take a look at the full gallery, and keep your eyes open to see if Final Fantasy XIV has any more secrets to reveal prior to next week's launch. %Gallery-102406%
Video: elaborate multi-camera rig elegantly captures giant redwood tree
For anyone who's taken a cruise down the Avenue of the Giants or went looking for Stormtroopers within Jedediah Smith Redwood State Park, you're apt to feel a great deal of appreciation for the image just after the break. Michael Nichols, a National Geographic photographer, rigged up a ridiculous camera setup that was strategically lowered from the top of a 300-foot tree to the ground in order to get an astoundingly tall (and downright breathtaking) shot. Oh, and while you're gawking at the pixels down there, feel free to mash play on that video to see how it all came together.[Via Hack A Day]
Nissan's Forest AC blows wild scents through your ride, keeps you alert
And here you were thinking Mercedes-Benz's Attention Assist system was the thing in driver alertness aides. In a rather odd, nearly jocose press release, Nissan has revived our faith in corporate R&D with the glorious introduction of the Forest AC. In short, this new air conditioning system "systematically controls cabin temperature, ventilation, aroma and humidity to create an optimal interior environment." Still bewildered? It means that the system can tap into an array of sensors in order to find out exactly what environment is best for your current state of mind, and if it needs to, it'll blast your nostrils with gusts of fresh forest in order to increase alertness while keeping stress levels down. The zaniest part of all, however, isn't the idea of using various aromas to keep one's attention; it's the fact that this system is actually scheduled for installation on a vehicle (the Fuga) that'll ship this fiscal year in Japan.
OSU foresters swap tree fibers for rubber in fuel efficient tires
Leave it to a gaggle of brilliant wood science researchers at Oregon State University to figure out that we've been doing this whole "tire" thing wrong for generations now. While studying some uses of microcrystalline cellulose, which can be made easily from practically any type of plant fiber, these Earth-loving gurus discovered that said material could actually improve the efficiency of vehicle tires when used in place of silica. Granted, only about 12 percent of the silica -- which is used as a reinforcing filler in the manufacture of rubber tires -- was swapped out, but the resulting tires gripped just as well in wet weather while decreasing the rolling resistance during those dry summer months. Furthermore, tires constructed with these fibers could be made with less energy, though long-term durability studies are still needed to prove that this whole plan is viable for more than a few thousand miles. [Via Gizmag]
