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First Person Shooters (Games)

Submission + - Screen with 180 degress field of view (jdome.com)

Submitted by
emj
emj writes: "Who wouldn't want to be immersed in a 3D world, a gamer has actually has invented just this, jDome a 180 degree FOV screen. All you need is a semi-transparent back projected dome, and setting the in game field of view to 180. At a preorder cost of just $200, it is a lot of immersion per dollar, considering that a full VR-cube will cost you a million bucks. Watch the high res video of jDome or settle for the YouTube version on the home page."
Sci-Fi

Submission + - Twentieth Century Fox Confirm 'X-Files 2'

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: After years of speculation, the Studio officially announced that production of the long-awaited X-Files sequel will commence December 10th, with a release date set for July 25, 2008. David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson are signed to reprise their roles as Mulder and Scully. The story is to be a standalone rather than a continuation of the long-running Mytharc of Alien conspiracies. [URL:http://www.variety.com/VR1117975124.html]
ePlus

Submission + - Chefs as Chemists

Submitted by
circletimessquare
circletimessquare writes: "Using ingredients usually relegated to the lower half of the list of ingredients on a Twinkies wrapper, some professional chefs are turning themselves into magicians with food. Ferran Adrià in Spain and Heston Blumenthal in England have been doing this for years, but the New York Times updates us on the ongoing experiments at WD-50 in New York City. Xanthan Gum, agar-agar, and other hydrocolloids are being used to bring strange effects to your food. Think butter that doesn't melt in the oven, foie gras you can tie into knots, and fried mayonaise. Time for a snack."
Education

Submission + - Germans Break the Speed of Light

Submitted by Crash McBang
Crash McBang writes: From the article:

A pair of German physicists claim to have broken the speed of light — an achievement that would undermine our entire understanding of space and time.

Personally, I can't wait to get home before I leave...
Space

Submission + - New Theory Explains Periodic Mass Extinctions

Submitted by i_like_spam
i_like_spam writes: The theory that the dinosaurs were wiped out by an asteroid impact, the K-T extinction, is well known and supported by fossil and geological evidence. Asteroid impact theory does not apply to the other fluctuations in biodiversity, however, which follow an approximate 62 million-year cycle. As reported in Science news, a new theory seems to explain periodic mass extinctions. The new theory found that oscillations in the Sun relative to the plane of the Milky Way correlate with changes in biodiversity on Earth. The researchers suggest that an increase in the exposure of Earth to extragalatic cosmic rays causes mass extinctions. Here is the original paper describing the finding.
Education

Submission + - Monkeys and humans learn the same way (sciencedaily.com)

Submitted by
Lucas123
Lucas123 writes: "A new study from UCLA showed that monkeys, like humans, learn faster by being actively involved in the learning process rather than just having information placed before them, according to a story in ScienceDaily. In the study, two rhesus macaque monkeys learned to put up to 18 photos on an ATM-like touch screen in a row. 'The monkeys did much better on the first three days when they had the help than when they didn't, but on the test day, it completely reversed.'"
Lord of the Rings

Submission + - The Lord of the Rings Online Stress Test Event

Submitted by
Meghan Rodberg
Meghan Rodberg writes: "Gamers who want to try out The Lord of the Rings Online(tm): Shadows of Angmar(tm) for free for the weekend should sign up at Gamespot to receive their Stress Test Event keys.

After registering their keys, participants can log in and play as much as they like any time between 12:00PM EST on Friday, February 23rd and 9:00AM EST Monday, February 26th. Turbine will be running several live events during the weekend, so gamers should be sure to play during those times for their chance to win prizes. Playing for at least 2 hours each day during the Stress Test also makes them eligible to win an NVIDIA GeForce 8800GTX.

The Stress Test is open to residents of North America, Australia, and New Zealand. For more information about the Stress Test Event, including instructions for downloading the game client, please visit http://www.lotro.com/stresstest"
Robotics

Submission + - Fish-like sensors for underwater robots

Submitted by
Roland Piquepaille
Roland Piquepaille writes: "Today, both submarine and surface ships use sonar for navigation. But sonar and other vision systems face various limitations. So why not imitating fish? For millions of years, fish have relied on 'a row of specialized sensory organs along the sides of their bodies, called the lateral line' to avoid predators or to find preys. So engineers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) have decided to build an artificial lateral line for submarines and autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). The first tests have been successful, and we can now envision a day where AUVs could detect and track moving underwater targets or avoid collisions with moving or stationary objects. Read more for additional details and a picture showing a future model of autonomous underwater robot using a artificial lateral line."

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