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How Sperm Whales Offset Their Carbon Footprint 150

Posted by samzenpus
from the all-natural-solution dept.
Boy Wunda writes "Scientists at Flinders University in South Australia found that in an awesome example of design by Mother Nature, Southern Ocean sperm whales offset their carbon footprint by simply defecating – an action that releases tons of iron a year and stimulates the growth of phytoplankton which absorb and trap carbon dioxide. If only we humans could say the same for our poop, which really doesn't do much more than just sit there." I'm going to do my part by buying some iron supplements and a can of chili, and heading off toward the ocean.
Math

First Self-Replicating Creature Spawned In Conway's Game of Life 241

Posted by Soulskill
from the emergent-gameplay dept.
Calopteryx writes "New Scientist has a story on a self-replicating entity which inhabits the mathematical universe known as the Game of Life. 'Dubbed Gemini, [Andrew Wade's] creature is made of two sets of identical structures, which sit at either end of the instruction tape. Each is a fraction of the size of the tape's length but, made up of two constructor arms and one "destructor," play a key role. Gemini's initial state contains three of these structures, plus a fourth that is incomplete. As the simulation progresses the incomplete structure begins to grow, while the structure at the start of the tape is demolished. The original Gemini continues to disassemble as the new one emerges, until after nearly 34 million generations, new life is born.'"
First Person Shooters (Games)

Dedicated Halo 2 Fans Keep Multiplayer Alive 239

Posted by Soulskill
from the never-surrender dept.
On April 15th, Microsoft terminated Xbox Live support for the original Xbox console, marking the end of online multiplayer for many older games. However, a group of Halo 2 players have refused to give up online play by leaving their consoles on and connected since then. Overheating consoles and dropped connections have taken their toll, but at present, 13 players are still going strong.

Comment: Newer Games Should Take Lessons (Score 3, Interesting) 65

by NBarnes (#28511181) Attached to: <em>Serious Sam</em> Remake Coming In Fall

I wish more games would take the 'more is more' approach to enemies that Serious Sam did. I loved the HUGE SCREAMING HORDES of bad guys that would try to zerg you down. It was a nice change of pace from, say, Unreal's 'kill a bad guy, which triggers another bad guy, because the engine chokes and dies if two mobs are on the screen at the same time'. And I liked Unreal. More games should have more swarms.

The Internet

Internet Hunting Must Stop, if It Ever Starts->

Submitted by
mikesd81
mikesd81 writes "The Wall Street Journal reports that the Humane Society of the United States last year mailed more than 50,000 people an urgent message, underlined and in bold type: "Such horrific cruelty must stop and stop now!" The "horrific cruelty" is of course Internet hunting, which the animal-rights group described as the "sick and depraved" sport of shooting live game with a gun controlled remotely over the Web. However, nobody actually hunts animals over the Internet. Although the concept — first broached publicly by a Texas entrepreneur in 2004 — is technically feasible, it hasn't caught on. How so many states have nonetheless come to ban the practice is a testament to public alarm over Internet threats and the gilded life of legislation that nobody opposes. Internet hunting was first put forth as an idea in November 2004, when John Lockwood, an insurance estimator for an auto-body shop in San Antonio, launched live-shot.com. For $150 an hour and a monthly fee, users could peer through the lens of a Webcam and aim a .30-caliber rifle at animals on a hunting farm in central Texas. Mr. Lockwood said he wanted to help the disabled experience the thrill of hunting."
Link to Original Source
Portables (Games)

Apple iPhone hacked to run id Software Doom 3D->

Submitted by
Dionysus
Dionysus writes "Some folks specifically asked for it, and the iPhone hackers/programmers (can't figure out which they really are — considering they're making homebrew software for a supposedly locked out for third party software version of Apple's Mac OS X) community delivered. The latest classic game ported to the Apple iPhone is id Software's classic cult shooter Doom 3D. Spoiler: The controls don't work as of yet, but you can already see the game demos while the porting project is in progress, so you can be sure that soon enough you'll be able to play Doom 3D with your Apple iPhone touchscreen. You can grab the iPhone Doom port and required .wad Doom file here — http://www.iphoneworld.ca/news/2007/08/10/id-softw are-doom-on-iphone/ and give it a try for yourself."
Link to Original Source

Harrisberger's Fourth Law of the Lab: Experience is directly proportional to the amount of equipment ruined.