Kotaku: science is fun

Scientists in Second Life

Maggie Greene — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 11:30:00 MDT

I was recently discussing the mainstream media's love affair with Second Life, and how the bloom appears to be off the rose. The Denver Westword News recently followed around a Denver University 'media specialist' who is working on SciLands, where NASA the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other scientific groups have a virtual outpost; while Jeff Corbin, the 'media specialist,' and other academics are practically beside themselves with the potentials for nuclear research in Second Life, the other side is presented:

Now others at [Denver University] seem to be paying attention. "Can you imagine if we really succeed, if we get twenty students into this laboratory to do physics experiments?" says Hill excitedly. "Putting them into a nuclear control room and letting them do things and destroy things and not letting them get hurt? Think of what this means. Imagine how powerful this can be for education."

But not everyone was thrilled when the story hit the online newspaper Inside Higher Ed last year. "Second Life isn't stable enough to test something that important," one commenter wrote. "Why not make a program that will actually simulate that properly? Second Life doesn't even stand up to normal 'game' quality. It can't even properly simulate a car."

Zing! The accessibility of Second Life is cited as a reason institutions are having 'notable' results with their virtual counterparts, but I'd be curious to know how 'notable' is being defined.

With help from the feds, a Denver scientist helps Second Life go nuclear [Denver Westword News via TerraNova]

Large Hadron Collider - And Halo Was Its Name-O

Mike Fahey — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 12:30:00 MDT

How to you reassure the public that the giant death machine you've created is actually snuggly like a puppy? Well first off you change it's name. A poll organized by the Royal Society of Chemistry in London sought to do just that, taking suggestions from the public as to what to call the recently activated Large Hadron Collider, which I am constantly in danger of mistyping as 'Large Hardon Collider'. Suggestions ranged from whimsical Puff The Magic Hadron to the insanely fitting Black Mesa, but in the end, the winner was simply Halo.

"Halo conjures visions of radiant beauty, power and wisdom. The circle of light reflects the collider's form; it is a crowning achievement of science and engineering. It also gives more than a nod to the experiment's importance to religious debate.

Funny, for me Halo conjures images of how the world ends. Different strokes, I suppose.

Large Hadron Collider: Public chooses 'Halo' as its new name [Telegraph]

Games Can Aid In Diagnosing Depression

Maggie Greene — Sun, 17 Jun 2007 13:30:02 MDT

I'm not sure what some of the anti-video game faction would have to say about this, but researchers at the US National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, Maryland have said that using video games, or modifications of games, can not only help in diagnosing depression, but also help in determining the severity of such problems.

The volunteers were allowed to familiarize themselves with a virtual reality town such as that used in Duke Nukem, before being given 20 minutes to navigate their way around that town locating various landmarks ....
Within the [depressed] group there emerged a clear correlation between severity of depression and navigational ability, with those suffering from the most acute depression displaying the least ability to find their way around the virtual town.

Using technology to aid in medical diagnoses is nothing new, but the researchers seem excited about the potential for this sort of diagnostic tool, especially when given the difficulties of diagnosing depression in the first place. Maggie Greene

Feelings of depression? Nuke 'em! [CNN International]