US Military Going Green

Top tacticians say energy efficiency can save lives

After several years of fighting wars around the globe, the US military is taking steps towards improving it’s energy efficiency in an effort to save lives.  

“The greatest threat to the nation is probably our dependance on foreign oil.”

Senior Logistician under Gen. Petraeus and Retired Brig. Gen. Steve Anderson, made this statement on NPR's Science Friday on Dec. 3, 2010.  Throughout the broadcast, he and Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus talked with Science Friday host Ira Flatow about the collateral dangers of by energy inefficiency faced by troops.

One of the many challenges faced by the US military in Afghanistan and other theaters is the process of transporting fuel and resources to remote bases.  The fuel is transported by truck convoys that are often attacked and casualties are common

In a study released by the US Army, the average factor of casualties per fuel resupply were calculated to be .042.  Do the math, and that means that a casualty is suffered per roughly every 24 resupply convoys.

This study was discussed at length throughout the broadcast, during which time Mabus and Anderson both contributed their own knowledge and pointed out things that the military is doing to help fix this problem in the future.

“We’ve had over one thousand Americans killed while moving fuel since the war began.”  Brig. Gen. Anderson said.  

Brig. Gen. Anderson argued that both soldiers and civilians are in danger from moving fuel, and that such dangerous trips are only taken as often as they are because the military is not as energy efficient as it should.  Bases need fuel to power the air conditioned tents in desert environments, power vehicles, and more.  If tents are better insulated and vehicles are made to run on biodiesel or hybrid engines, convoys would have to deliver fuel and therefore expose themselves to elevated danger levels less often.

Another intriguing point behind the military’s movement towards more efficient energy is that it could potentially make energy efficient systems and technologies more marketable in the private sector.  Mabus explains that this is not an uncommon phenomenon, and that many common items that civilians take for granted in their everyday lives were originally designed with military applications. 

Mabus stated that by 2020, at least half of all the energy used by the Navy will come from non-fossil fuel resources.  Mabus hopes that through military refinement of technology, energy will overcome both the price and infrastructure issues needed to make energy more marketable.

However, not all of the military’s changes in energy efficiency will occur a decade from now.  According to the New York Times, Company 1, Third Battalion, Fifth Marines,  will soon be the first to take new technology like solar panels and energy saving lights into the battlefield and use them to power their camp.

If Company 1’s equipment proves successful in the field, other Companies will likely adopt similar technology very soon.  

While the importing of fuel is simply not something that can cease entirely, the military’s green practices will likely prove to be a key step towards the US becoming a more energy efficient country overall.

A Noble Cause

Bungie releases ‘Noble Map Pack’ for ‘Halo: Reach.’

A week ago today, on Nov. 30, 2010, gamers rejoiced around the world as Bungie, video game developer behind “Halo: Reach,” released their “Noble Map Pack.”

An expansion to the first-person-shooter’s already huge online multiplayer world, the “Noble Map Pack” is available packs three new multiplayer maps into a modest 393 MB download for just 800 Microsoft points—equivalent to $9.99.

Game Informer, a popular video game magazine and website, spoke with writer and community developer for Bungie, Eric Osborne.  Osborne spoke about each map individually, and about the many things that Bungie has in store for it’s fans.

“We wanted to make sure each map supported a large variety of popular game modes.”  Osborne said. 

The maps, as beautiful as they are well programmed and designed, are known as “Anchor 9,” “Breakpoint,” and “Tempest.”

An incredible planetary vista can be seen on the map,
"Anchor 9," as a Spartan III jet-packs through space.
Screenshot by Mike Choromanski

“Anchor 9,” located in a space station orbiting the fictional planet, Reach, is a mostly indoor map with no vehicles or mountains to get in the way of a perfect kill.  Just pulse-pounding twists and turns throughout a maze-like facility.  This sets players up to run into danger around every corner, and allows enemy players to easily sneak up from behind.

From a technical perspective, “Anchor 9” is incredibly impressive.  The symmetrical, compact layout of the map enables players to be both hidden and exposed at once, no matter where they are. This turns combat in to a frantic explosion of chaos that can provide for an exciting gaming experience.  Also commendable about the programming is the fact that players can leave the orbiting station and fight in space.  The blend between gravity and lack there of flows beautifully and any player is sure to enjoy the feeling of gliding through the vacuum of space, blasting away opponents.

“Breakpoint,” an asymmetrical arena located deep within the bowels of Reach’s ancient caverns, is the polar opposite of “Anchor 9.”  In the dim glow of crystalline ice, “Breakpoint’s” sheer size is enough to overwhelm even veteran gamers.  The map is so large, that even tanks can sometimes look like dots in the distance.  While this becomes problematic when searching for a specific goal or enemy player, “Breakpoint’s” colossal expanse allows players to feel as though they are in a battle of epic proportions.

Two players run towards an objective on "Halo: Reach's"
newest map, "Breakpoint."  Screenshot by Mike
Choromanski

From a technical point of view, “Breakpoint” makes remarkably efficient use of it’s space.  The map may have huge snow-covered mountains and buildings, but it is honeycombed with creepy tunnels and secret rooms saturated with hidden weapons.  “Breakpoint” also has a multitude of vehicles that players can take control of take into battle.  

The final map, known as “Tempest,” takes place on an alien construct a valley of abandoned ancient ruins, paying homage to some of Bungie’s “Halo” games of the past.  

From a design perspective, “Tempest” serves to further prove Bungie’s layout genius.  Players are put into separate teams with bases on opposite sides of the ruins.  While the bases are far apart, daring players can launch themselves directly into battle with cannons that launch them across the map.  While the outskirts of the map offer plenty of cover behind rocks, the center of the map is an open field and turns into an absolute blood-bath during gameplay.  Since the map is only medium sized it can efficiently accommodate both large and small battles, depending on how many players there are.

The “Noble Map Pack” isn’t the only thing that Bungie has in store for it’s fans, however.  When players download the pack, they will also unlock extra achievements, or special goals, in “Halo: Reach.”  Bungie will also be updating their playlists to further expand “Halo: Reach’s” online playground.

“Soon after, we’ll also introduce the official MLG Playlist and begin rolling out multiple Grab Bag playlists, beginning with Firefight Versus.”  Osborne said.

“Halo: Reach” may now be out for nearly three months, but despite fierce competition from other new games like “Call of Duty: Black Ops” and “Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood,” Bungie’s release of the “Noble Map Pack” is proof that players’ passion for online “Halo” action still rages on.

For those that are still curious, Bungie’s official “Noble Map Pack” Trailer can be found here.

Habitable Zone of Imagination

We my not be as lonely as we think

After collaborating more than a decade’s worth of astronomical research, Astronomers of the Lick-Carnegie Exoplanet Survey have identified a planet in the Gliese 581 system that could potentially support life.  

The planet, called Gliese 581g for being the sixth planet discovered in the system, is the fourth planet from the star Gliese 581, a red dwarf located roughly 20 light years from Earth.  Because it is located outside of Earth’s solar system, Gliese 581g is known as an “exoplanet.”

Where Gliese 581 g would be located if it were in our solar system.
Model not to scale.  Graphic by Mike Choromanski

Gliese 581g intrigues astronomers because it falls within it’s stars habitable zone, an area close enough to provide proper heat energy, but far enough away to not be cooked, meaning that liquid water would exist there.  Liquid water may be common on earth, but it is very rare in the universe as a whole, and all known life on Earth requires water to survive.  Planets that exist in this “just right” zone are also know as “Goldilocks planets.”

According to the exoplanet survey team, Gliese 581g is roughly only three times the size of our own planet, and has a minimum mass indicative of a rocky planet with gravity strong enough to create a defined surface.  This also means that the Goldilocks planet would be able to hold in an atmosphere.

In many ways, It’s just like Mother Earth.

According to NASA, Gliese 581g was discovered using 11 years worth of observational spectroscopy data taken from the Keck I Telescope in Hawaii, gathered by analyzing Gliese 518’s radial velocity.  Since stars are pulled slightly by the gravity of their satellites, they vibrate slightly when they move across a line of sight as seen from Earth.  By observing this motion, astronomers can detect planets.

What is truly intriguing about Gliese 581g however, is that Astronomers like Stephen Vogt, professor of astronomy and astrophysics at UC Santa Cruz and co-discoverer of Gliese 581g, speculate that Earth-like planets may not be as rare of a phenomenon in the universe as people generally believe.

Vogt lead the exoplanet survey team along with Paul Butler of the Carnegie Institution. The team’s findings were published in The Astrophysical Journal.

In the journal, Vogt argues that if such potentially habitable planets are so rare, there would have been no way for astronomers to find a Goldilocks planet so quickly and so close to earth.  Due to this conclusion, Vogt speculates that a substantial percentage of star systems in the universe may contain habitable planets.

The location of Gliese 581 in the night sky.
Graphic by Mike Choromanski.

“If the local stellar neighborhood is a representative sample of the galaxy as a whole, our Milky Way could be teeming with potentially habitable planets.”  Vogt said.

While Gliese 581g cannot be seen by the naked eye, even an amateur can easily locate its location in the sky.  In for one to gaze into the general direction of Gliese 581, one must simply locate the constellation, Libra.  The goldilocks planet is located just above Libra’s beta star, Zubeneschamali.

If Vogt’s prediction is true, there’s no telling how many beautiful, Earthlike planets there could be drifting around in the cosmos.  The evolutionary possibilities of alien life would be endless, and many a sci-fi fantasy could become a reality.

Digital Discrimination Exacerbation

Microsoft’s Xbox Kinect battles racist accusations

On Nov. 2, Microsoft launched its newest expansion to the Xbox 360, the Xbox Kinect.  In an effort to compete with motion-sensitive games like the Nintendo Wii, Kinect uses motion sensing technology to enable gamers to control video games with their whole bodies instead of just their hands.

What is important to understand about Kinect is that unlike Wii and Playstation Move, Kinect does not employ the use of any controller or body attachments in order to work—only the player’s body.  The Kinect sensor simply detects motion and light to capture the player’s actions and facial features.

While some criticism was expected, surely no one could have guessed that Xbox Kinect would be accused of racial discrimination.  Gamespot.com, a popular video game news and review website, published an article by Brendan Sinclair on Nov. 3 suggesting that Microsoft’s new gaming apparatus has trouble recognizing the faces of “dark skinned users.”

Sinclair also states in the article that the Kinect “may be more accessible to some than others.”  Reffering to the race of the person using the technology.

The Kinect was apparently tested on a multitude of Gamespot employees.  While the tests in other areas worked fine, Sinclair argues that the Gamestop staff ran into problems when testing out the Kinect’s facial recognition abilities.  

According to the article, two “dark skinned” employees had trouble getting the Kinect’s facial recognition software to recognize their faces as opposed to the lighter skinned employees who did not experience any problems.  It should be noted however that the Kinect was able to identify another dark skinned employee without incident.

This argument may seem preposterous, because it is.  

Even without acknowledging the fact that such a claim cannot be taken seriously with such meager evidence, bussinessinsider.com claims that Consumer Reports have not been able to emulate the same facial detection bug that Gamespot employees allegedly experienced.

The racially biased Kinect theory can also be debunked through the use of elementary science.  While a more in depth explanation can be found here, Kinect essentially uses a range imaging camera that detects the distance of objects based on their relative brightness.  Logic dictates that if there is no light energy, or at least very little, being directed at the Kinect sensor, the Kinect’s camera would be as good as blind.  

A little background knowledge in the physics of wavelength tells us that when an objects displays color, it is because the atoms that compose the object absorb some wavelengths and reflect others.  Brighter objects emit more light energy, whereas darker colors emit less light energy.  Since Kinect “sees” things by absorbing this energy, it would be naturally more difficult for it to detect darker hues.

Therefore if anyone runs into problems with their Xbox Kinect, a simple way to remedy any problems with facial recognition would be to try to adjust the lighting in the room where they are trying to play the game.  If this does not work for some reason, players may then want to try re-calibrating the distance between themselves and the Kinect sensor.

The claim that Microsoft has designed a racially biased motion-based gaming accessory is no more than an exaggerated rumor with poor evidence to support it.

iCompete

Is Apple slipping?

   Apple's  financial prowess is largely due to it's
 many successful products like the iTouch,
MacBook, and iPod Nano.
Photo by Mike Choromanski  

For any Mac user, it is difficult to watch your tech brand of choice as it staves off an onslaught of competition.  As successful as Apple’s products might be, it’s hard to look past some of the recent events that make it seem as though the company’s dedication is slipping.

In recent years, Apple has a nearly countless variety of extremely popular products, successfully coating the world with it’s signature “i” brand on everything.  On the current trend however, products like the Motorola Droid are rapidly catching up with Apple’s iPhone based on overall sales.

In addition to Apple’s iPhone being answered by the Droid, which uses Google’s similar Android operating system, is the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Tab, or simply, “the Tab.”  

The Tab is the do-it-all tablet-shaped machine that will compete with Apple’s iPad.  In comparison to the iPad the Tab may be tiny, but don’t let its size fool you.  It’s no pushover.  Unlike some of the competition’s products, the Tab is supposed to hit store shelves very soon, quite possibly by Black Friday according to Product Reviews.

In an column published in Nov. 11, Principle Technology Columnist for the Wall Street Journal, Walter S. Mossberg said that the Tab is a good product and will be able to do everything that the iPad can do and then some.  In addition to having a camera and being much lighter, the Tab will be able to launch with several wireless carrier options.  An optional feature for the iPad.

In his column, Mossberg states that the Tab is being introduced by three major wireless phone carriers within the week.  Mossberg, who has personally tested the Tab, claims that Samsung’s product will be more than equipped to compete with Apple’s iPad.

“It includes the three most-requested features missing in the iPad: a camera (two in fact); the ability to run Web videos and applications written in Adobe's Flash software; and multitasking.”  Mossberg said.

While the Tab can’t keep up with the iPad’s processing speed, durability, and battery life, there’s no doubt that it will have a fair chance at outselling it, especially with a slightly cheaper price tag.  Although no one can argue that the iPad wins the battle of quality, Apple’s products have been successful in the past by being both quality and efficient.

In addition to the imminent Tab/Pad battle, Apple is also disappointing both loyal and potential consumers by delaying the release of the Verizon Wireless version of the iPhone.  

Although the product has been confirmed, Verizon Communications Inc. President Lowell McAdam refused to comment on the matter to the New York Times and Apple refused to talk to both the Times and the Wall Street Journal.

The trouble is, no one knows for sure when the product will be available.

While there is a fail amount of rumor and speculation surrounding the matter, most sources, including The Wall Street Journal, agree that the product will not be available to consumers until early 2011.

This both frustrates consumers and makes them question the companies’ intelligences.  Verizon Wirless, the largest wireless carrier in the U.S. by subscribers, being paired with Apple’s iPhone, seems like common sense.  However, the delayed combination will surely cost both companies a fair amount of potential revenue in the upcoming holidays season.  Particularly those who have been wanting to have and iPhone for a long time, but live in rural communities and must stay with Verizon due to the fact that it is the only service that they can get.

Apple is by no means in any danger of dying.  But if they’re not careful, they may not be the big dog for much longer.