BP
Latest
BP unleashes saw-wielding robots in an attempt to plug the leak (livestream)
It might not look like much at the moment, but as we type this BP is sending its vicious saw-wielding robots down to the site of the oil spill in its latest attempt to scuttle the leak -- and CBS is livestreaming the whole affair! Hit the source link to see it for yourself. Update: Looks like CBS switched programming to re-runs of Becker or something. We've updated the source link.
BP's efforts to clean up Gulf of Mexico oil spill livestreamed by PBS
If you're looking to be even more depressed than usual today, you should hit up PBS Newshour's YouTube channel, where they are currently livestreaming the oil spill. That's right, you can see with your own eyes the truly stunning spew of crude happening in the ocean right now, along with BP's "efforts" to clean it up. When we checked in it was pretty quiet on the cleanup effort front, but you know, BP execs have to spend the first 21 hours of each business day counting money. Either way, we'll just have to wait and see if this so-called "Top Kill" is working out or not. PBS is also asking for reader suggestions on how to plug up the hole that's leaking all the oil, so get on over there if you have any good ideas today. Embedded stream follows.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: salad spinners, diapers, and solutions to the Deepwater catastrophe
The Week in Green is a new item from our friends at Inhabitat, recapping the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us. This week renewable energy received a giant jolt forward as Google unveiled plans to invest $40 million in North Dakota wind farms. Solar power is also having a moment in the sun as MIT unveiled the world's first solar cells printed on paper - we can't wait to see a post-it version that we can stick to our walls! Meanwhile a team of Swiss researchers are harnessing rays of light for an entirely different purpose -- they've figured out a way to create rain clouds by shooting laser beams into the sky. With the Deepwater Horizon oil spill still saturating the sea weeks after the leak sprung, we also looked at an array of innovative solutions for cleaning up the catastrophe. The first step to stemming the spill's damage is predicting its spread, which is why scientists are harnessing advanced virtual reality models to aid in cleanup efforts. We also took a look at the BP's first massive oil containment dome, which the company plans to lower 5,000 feet below the sea to plug up the leak. This week we also looked at several ingenious inventions that find incredible new uses for everyday items. Two students at Rice University have transformed a simple salad spinner into a centrifuge that can save lives by diagnosing diseases, and a Japanese company called Super Faith has invented a machine that can transform used adult diapers into an energy source. Finally, we were dazzled by two high-tech garments that harness LEDs to light up the night. Katy Perry recently took to the red carpet wearing a shimmering gown studded with thousands of blinking rainbow lights, and we were impressed by this LED-laden coat that keeps bicyclists safe when they hit the streets at night.
Black Prophecy unveils new trailer
Having now secured a publishing and distribution partner for their game, the team at Reakktor Media are working hard, polishing Black Prophecy up to a mirror shine. From what we've seen recently in our hands-on at GDC 2010, things are in excellent shape for the upcoming closed beta. With that said, the Black Prophecy team has released a shiny new video offering a look at the evolution of a couple of different types of ships, some exciting space battles, and even some interior areas -- including what appears to be a fairly wicked chase in a tunnel. If you've been waiting for more, then be sure to check out the trailer after the break, and get signed up for the beta if you haven't already.
EVE Evolved: Competition for EVE Online
Although the most popular MMOs of today are in the fantasy genre, a niche within the MMO market has always existed for sci-fi games. For quite some time, EVE Online has dominated this niche with a steadily growing playerbase that has now exceeded 300,000 paying subscribers. It's been noted that releases in the fantasy market tend not to affect EVE Online, showing that it's not directly competing with games in the fantasy market. Perhaps the target markets of sci-fi and fantasy MMOs have very little overlap or perhaps the gameplay in EVE is unique enough that no real alternatives exist. Whatever the reason, EVE has been blessed with a relative lack of competition since its release in 2003. But with four major sci-fi MMOs on the horizon, could the game's creators CCP be in for a rough ride?In this speculative opinion piece, I examine how EVE reacted to competition in the past and suggest how it may react to the next wave of sci-fi MMOs to hit the market.
The Daily Grind: Which sci-fi MMOs are you looking forward to?
Star Wars: The Old Republic, Earthrise, Fallen Earth, Star Trek Online, Jumpgate Evolution, Global Agenda, Black Prophecy, the Fallout MMO (maybe), Blackstar, Otherland, StarGate Worlds, and even more. It seems that if you're a hardcore sci-fi fan, now is a really good time to be an MMO player with all the options coming soon in terms of upcoming MMOs. You've got everything from the blended fantasy/sci-fi to favorite movie and gaming IPs to all-new concepts to dig into and enjoy. Of course, with such a large influx coming, this morning we thought we'd ask you what some of your most anticipated sci-fi MMOs are? Which ones are you trying like mad to get into the betas for? Which ones are just kind of "meh" on your radar? If you've got more than one, which one do you think might reign supreme among your choices?
E308: Black Prophecy debuts with trailer, closed beta registration
Reakktor Media, the brains behind the cyberpunk MMO shooters Neocron and Neocron 2, have recently recently a brand new movie-esque trailer for their new game, Black Prophecy.The game is a futuristic space combat game, a la Jumpgate, in design. By the look of the trailer, there's going to be dogfights, explosions, pretty planets, huge ships, and pretty much everything else you could expect. The game world has also been penned by Michael Marrak, a German science-fiction author, so we can also expect a full plotline and deep world. If the text in the trailer is to be believed, it looks like all of life might be nearing a universal apocalypse?More importantly, Reakktor has also opened the registration for the Black Prophecy closed beta on their website, so if you're interested in flying around and blowing stuff up, you might want to stop over and drop your name in the hat. There's currently no word as to when the closed beta will start up, but we'll keep our ears to the ground for you and will post up the information as we receive it.But while you're drooling, waiting for the beta, you can also look at the trailer on the Black Prophecy website, plus a couple of screenshots, to keep you guessing until the game falls into your hands. Or, maybe go check out Reakktor's other work, Neocron 2, perhaps?
SimCity Societies teaches players to think 'green'
With Maxis still hip-deep in Spore's primordial ooze, EA's decision to hand the next game in the storied SimCity franchise over to Caesar IV devs Tilted Mill was understandable, if not entirely welcome given the game's move away from being a 'realistic urban simulation,' a shift decried by fans to the tune of "you killed my baby!"In keeping with the forthcoming SimCity Societies' touchy-feely approach, which looks to abandon simulation gameplay in favor of 'social energies,' EA has announced that the game will also include 'climate education' through "low-carbon electricity choices and carbon emission monitoring" thanks to a partnership with 'green minded' alternative energy organization BP. The goal, says EA, is to give players an "accurate" look at some of the causes and available solutions to the inconvenient truth of global warming, no doubt giving Al Gore reason to smile as he continues to tango with Mizuguchi.Thankfully, according to EA, the game will not shove any eco-friendly environmentalist perspectives down players' collective throat. Instead, Societies will offer choices on how players wish to power their cities, leaving those of us who feel less at home hugging trees than we do while shoveling coal into the furnace free to do as we please when the game ships for the PC this November.
