gliding
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Carnegie Mellon robot jumps up, jumps up and glides down (video)
We can handle the imaginary terror of UFOs and nightmarish, flying mammals. But, robots that can jump like a human and then glide like a colugo? Now you're just filling Mr. Spielberg with even more sci-fi, end of days fodder. Carnegie Mellon researchers Matthew Woodward and Metin Sitti have crafted a prototype jumping and gliding bot at the university's NanoRobotics Lab that springs into action using a pair of human knee-like joints. The automated hi-jinks don't end there either, as the duo's invention then spreads its legs to catch some air and glide on back to terra firma. The project isn't just some bit of engineering whimsy; the team plans to adapt this tech for use in "unstructured terrain" -- i.e. non-level, wargadget territory. For now, this lord of the leaping gliders can reach comfortable human-sized heights of up to six feet. Give it some time, however, and we're sure this lil' android'll give Superman a bound for his money. Click on past the break for a real world demo.
Blade and Soul videos feature PvP, gliding
Blade & Soul's first Korean closed beta phase may be over, but apparently the video drops are just beginning. Hot on the heels of last week's YouTube class showcase come some new clips courtesy of MMO Culture. This time around, we get a good look at the game's PvP action as well as some unique mechanics that appear to take both PvE and PvP engagements off the beaten path. The first clip shows off an interesting glide mechanic that owes a debt to both DC Universe Online and Aion, as the player character leaps tall mountains in a single bound and subsequently power-glides over, around, and into various scenic peaks. The second clip features a 1v1 PvP scrum, while video number three shows us a frenetic group engagement and more gliding shenanigans. Check out the three clips after the cut, or head to MMO Culture for further details.
Dojo update: Gliding
Many of the characters in Super Smash Bros. Brawl have wings. Most things with wings (aside from, say, penguins, or emus, or certain kinds of fasteners) use their wings to fly. Apparently, someone at Sora figured out what wings do, and that none of the winged characters in Brawl are penguins or emus or wingnuts, and thus we have flight.The winged characters can glide, pulling up to lift up and down to dive, much like Mario with his cape. No, we don't know if Mario will have his cape in Brawl. We also don't know if any of the characters will be given anti-aircraft missiles to compensate for this new ability in others.
Mysterious Mysteries: Fel Reavers on wheels!
The Burning Legion's dreaded (and sometimes dancing) Fel Reavers have been seen gliding around Hellfire Peninsula for the last week without appearing to walk! Adventurers everywhere have been trying to puzzle out how this could happen, but Lebowski, the Grand Master Engineer at Honor Hold, seems to have come up with the most plausible explanation:"Using my specially-engineered-for-super-stealth [Silent-Strider Kneeboots]," he told Mysterious Mysteries, sporting some very nasty cuts and bruises all over his body, "I managed to get underneath a Fel Reaver before it spotted me! I saw very clearly the roller-skates underneath its feet before it saw me and trampled my body into the dust!" Fortunately, his wife, a night elf priest, came looking for him soon after this horrible accident, and raised him back to life. "At least Lebowski didn't die in the house this time," she said. "The last time he invented something, he got bodily fluids all over our family rug!" Have you noticed any odd creature movement happening around Azeroth or Outland? Creatures jumping up and down in some sort of twisted and evil exercise program as they come into your field of view, perhaps?
