Tehran
Latest
Iran says it will launch an observation satellite 'in the coming days'
Iran is set to become the latest country to launch an observation satellite, according to the country's national space agency. The satellite, named Zafar (which means victory in Farsi), began development three years ago. It will be launched by a Simorgh rocket 329 miles above the Earth, and will make 15 orbits daily, collecting imagery to help with the study of natural disasters and agriculture.
'1979 Revolution' arrives on iOS following Iranian ban
Shortly after its release in Iran, the country's government banned the sale of 1979 Revolution, a game that allows players to witness the unrest as a photojournalist. Created by former Rockstar Games developer Navid Khonsari, the title combines video games and documentary filmmaker for a first-hand look at the events in Tehran in the late 1970s. The Iranian government didn't think too highly of the project, as the National Foundation for Computer Games (NFCG) announced a plan to block sites like Steam and others that were selling the game less than two days after its April release. The NFCG called it "Anti-Iranian" and proceeded to confiscate copies of the title as well.
Not every house has rooms that turn 90 degrees, but this one does
It would seem that when Iran isn't busy putting the kibosh down on social media, its architects are designing some pretty crazy ways to beat the weather. Case in point: a seven-floor house in Tehran with three rectangular rooms that can rotate up to 90 degrees in accordance with the season. As Slate tells it, the design was inspired by Iranian mansions of yore that had separate living rooms for both summer and winter. When extended outward, the spaces offer each floor its own terrace. Besides being one hell of a bragging right for its homeowner, the rooms serve a functional purpose as well: the lowest is a breakfast area, the middle a home office and the top was planned as a guest room. How's it all work? Custom CNC-machined mechanisms that function a lot like the turntables used at auto shows do the heavy lifting... err, turning. This isn't the firm's first project to push architectural boundaries, either -- it's also done some bananas design on a house with curved concrete façades and interiors. [Image credit: NextOffice]
Battlefield 3 effectively banned in Iran
A new report picked up by the Associated Press suggests Battlefield 3, which partially takes place in Tehran, has been prohibited from stores, even though EA has no official resellers in the region and many stores didn't bother hunting for stock in the first place. However, local police have apparently already raided a few shops for selling pirated copies of the game. "We understand that the story of a videogame is hypothetical," an online petition filed by an Iranian youth group read. "We believe the game is purposely released at a time when the US is pushing the international community into fearing Iran." If there's a silver lining in this, it's that a lot of Iranians won't be subjected to Battlefield 3's lackluster single-player campaign.
Iran's got a walking humanoid robot, too (update: video!)
Two years ago, Iranian students built Sorena, a white humanoid machine that reportedly wheeled about via remote control. For 2010, robots experts at Tehran University decided to update the creature -- and apparently, channel a little bit of Asimo. Surena 2 was unveiled by Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad this week, its purpose unknown. Named after a famous Persian warrior, the robot stands 4.7 feet tall, and can walk about slowly carrying its own weight of 99 pounds. Gulf News reports the robot will get vision and speech modules later on down the road. If it ends up conducting orchestras or performing show tunes, we'll be sure to keep you informed.
