Grass
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Scientists discover shortcut for turning grass into plane fuel
It takes millions of years for natural processes to convert plants into crude oil (which is refined to gasoline), but researchers at Ghent University have figured out how to do it much faster. By pre-treating grass to make it break down quicker, and then adding Clostridium bacteria similar to that found in your gut, they produced decane, one of the main ingredients of gasoline and jet fuel. While decane is a polluting fuel, commercial jets will need it for at least the next few decades, and the researchers believe their process is efficient enough to make it commercially feasible.
ICYMI: Birds the magical flying machines
try{document.getElementById("aol-cms-player-1").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: There are three main theories of flight and it turns out, Stanford has poked holes in them by simply training a mini parrot to wear tiny safety goggles, then fly through a laser sheet. The video is more adorable than you could probably imagine so feel free to get your fix here. Meanwhile, NASA's new jet engine could make waves in both increased fuel efficiency and plane design since it relies on slower-moving air currents. The Arctic Sea Ice video is here, but the must-watch in this scenario is the Weather Channel take-down of Breitbart News. The video of the lawn picture maker is here. As always, please share any interesting tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
Grass Charging Valet doesn't actually charge your gadgets, isn't really grass
Wouldn't it be great to be able to just toss your various gadgets into a nice little bed of grass and have them instantly recharge themselves through the magic of some WildCharger-style cordless charging technology? Of course it would. Unfortunately, this new so-called Grass Charging Valet available from Taylor Gifts won't let you do any of that. It will, however, let you conceal your current entanglement of chargers beneath a tasteful patch of 100% faux grass, and set you back a mere $30. Hit up the link below to get your order in if you're feeling so inclined, and look for it to start shipping next week.[Via Red Ferret]
GreenWorld mod spruces up Fallout 3's wasteland
There are many accolades one can lay upon Bethesda's post-apocalyptic RPG Fallout 3, but it's impossible to commend the game for its lush, rich environments. Pools of standing, radioactive water? Yuck. Shelled-out buildings inhabited by sallow-skinned mutants? No thanks. Go ahead and say it was intentionally designed that way to create an unsettling, hopeless atmosphere -- we know a sorry excuse when we hear one.Thankfully, a modder by the name of Khyrin recently released "GreenWorld," a Fallout 3 patch that brings some much needed arboreal splendor to Washington D.C.'s unsightly landscape. You can download the mod here, then watch as Fallout 3's grotesque, sepia toned pallette is exchanged for something a little more viridian.[Via Ripten]
Anti-Aliased: Who decided brown was such an awesome color? pt. 2
BrownQuest 2 ended up proving that too much of something was bad -- horribly, horribly bad. BrownQuest 2 could barely run on most systems because no one could handle the "extremely, super cool, melt your face" graphics and ended up sitting on the shelves that holiday season. The new rationale about the game was that it had future-proofed itself, lying in wait for computers to exist to run it at its graphical peak.That peak came, and no one rushed to buy the game. People came in and people left, and the game didn't turn out to be the huge blockbuster it was anticipated to be. And now, 4 years later, I turn on my computer and run BrownQuest 2 at maximum graphics easily, and I'm just not fully impressed. Are they good graphics? Sure they are. Are they so amazing that they make me run around my room screaming so loud that I can drown out Lewis Black? (NSFW) No, not really.So, with all of that in mind, let's turn to something more relevant. Let's turn to World of Warcraft. Say what you will about the game, but I think we can all agree that the game design of WoW is solid. It's not the holy grail, but it's certainly good enough to make 11 million people play it. Now ask yourself the question: "Would WoW be as popular and as good if it sported the extreme graphics EverQuest 2 did?"If you're hijacking my brainwaves, you know the answer already. Of course WoW wouldn't be popular if the graphic requirements were through the roof. Even if it was an amazing game, no one would be playing it because no one would be able to run it. In these times, we can't afford to go running off and upgrading our video cards just because we want to play that one game, *cough*Crysis*cough*.And is World of Warcraft a beautiful game? Of course it is! The vistas, the sunsets, the snow, the shattered landscapes. And for being so "cartoony" it can still pull off some really imposing places, like Blackrock Mountain, Hellfire Peninsula, Netherstorm, Icecrown Glacier, and many others. Certainly, the graphics have improved in the latest expansion, but the other areas of the game just don't scream "I'm dated" as loudly as "realistic" games can.Say what you want about graphics that don't push the edge of technology, use bright colors, and attempt to engage us in veritable water-colored landscapes. The truth is these things make sure that the game still looks good and appealing to us years down the line, they let the tone and aristry of the game shine through in ways that realistic graphics cannot, and they make sure that you can still play with your friends without spending wads of cash to upgrade your rig.Because, in the end, isn't that what a massively multiplayer game is about? Playing and enjoying the world with other people at your side? Colin Brennan is the weekly writer of Anti-Aliased who believes games need to grasp the imagination, not your video card. When he's not writing here for Massively, he's over running Epic Loot For All! with his insane roommates. If you want to message him, send him an e-mail at colin.brennan AT weblogsinc DOT com.
World of WarCrafts: Garden art
Every Thursday, Shelbi Roach of The Bronze Kettle guides you in creating WoW-inspired crafts using real world mats with World of WarCrafts.If you're looking to enhance your home away from Northrend, you might find these WoW-themed glass and brass garden sculptures to be right up your alley! Constructed with solid brass, these stakes are said to be wind and water proof. FeralGlass offers a variety of punctuation, including yellow, gold and blue question and exclamation marks.
How well do you know your Zelda grass? [update]
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/nintendo/How_well_do_you_know_your_Zelda_grass'; So, you think you're a hardcore gamer? Maybe you are. But, how well do you know your grass samples?These posters, which are being sold at a Viennese store called Subotron for €12 ($19 USD) each, will really put you to the test. To help you out a bit, there are two samples from The Legend of Zelda and Zelda II: The Adventure of Link The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, while the other four are from Terranigma, Illusion of Gaia, Seiken Densetsu 2 (Secret of Mana), and Seiken Densetsu 3 (Secret of Mana 2). All the games without the word "Zelda" in them were published by either Squaresoft or Enix, which is why we haven't gotten them (and might never get them) on the Virtual Console.See if you can figure out what game each sample belongs to (despite the poor resolution). Don't worry if you can't discern which is which, though -- we've posted the answers after the break.
Wii Warm Up: Wii Sports, tournament style
The folks from Geekanerd, who made a strong showing at yesterday's Wiimbledon (good on ya!), tipped us off that they had some sweet pictures from the event, which of course, made us even more sad that we could not attend. However, they also hinted that this will not be the only such tournament -- only the first. We like the sound of that ... but do you?Notice the turf that was rolled out for the players. We wondered if the organizers would go this extra step. It's just not Wiimbledon without the players throwing down on grass.
