If you have seen any Star Wars movies at all then you know that the supposed “Elite Stormtroopers” never hit anything.
Texas A&M International University recently conducted a study in which volunteers were subjected to stress, with some subjects being allowed to play video games afterward. According to the results, the game-playing group reported less stress and depression afterward.
In a conclusion contrary to many recent studies, the research conducted by Texas A&M Associate Professor Christopher Ferguson concluded that violent video games could actually combat anger and depression. The method of measurement came by subjecting four groups of predominantly Hispanic students to a scientifically-proven stress-inducer called the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Task. Afterward, two groups were given a violent game to play (Hitman: Blood Money or Call of Duty 2), one was given a non-violent game (Madden 2007) and a final group was told they wouldn’t be able to play any games due to a malfunction.
While Ferguson concluded that the game-playing groups exhibited less hostility and depression, the professor presented a caveat regarding the conclusion–that the uniqueness of the control groups could reveal different results with a larger and more diverse pool of subjects. To learn more about the study, check out the source links below. The full study will be found in volume 15 of the “European Psychologist” journal.
SOURCE: Study: Playing Violent Games Helps with Stress and Depression [Game Politics]
Google Games, built around some sort of partnership with casual-gaming company Zynga, is in the works and would be part of a larger social network called Google Me, according to technology blog Tech Crunch.
Statements from notable internet players, including Digg founder Kevin Rose and a former Facebook chief technical officer, have suggested in recent weeks that the search-engine giant is working on a social network geared toward rivaling Facebook.
TechCrunch this weekend reported that unnamed sources said Google has invested between $100 and $200 million in Zynga, the maker of successful online social games like “FarmVille” and “Mafia Wars.”
The investment part of the deal was confirmed last month and a “larger strategic project” is still in the works, according to that report.
A Zynga spokeswoman said Monday that the company has no comment on the reports. A Google spokesman referred questions to the company’s media-relations e-mail account, which did not respond to inquiries.
The popularity of Zynga’s games — more than 50 million people play them on any given day, according to developerAnalytics — could bring considerable heft to any online networking or gaming project Google launched.
The obvious question then would become whether the “Farmville” maker would pull its games from Facebook. That would be a tall order considering the success those games have seen.
The TechCrunch report also added a new wrinkle to the Google Me speculation — saying the Zynga deal would be part of a project called Google Games, according to sources.
On the question-and-answer site Quora, former Facebook technical officer Adam D’Angelo said the Google Me rumors are real. The project would build on Google Buzz, a social networking effort rolled out by Google in February, he said. Google Buzz has been widely criticized by tech pundits.
Reports have not offered details on how a Google site would look, whether it would link to Gmail and other Google pages like Buzz does, or how Google Games would integrate with it.
“This is not a rumor. This is a real project. There are a large number of people working on it. I am completely confident about this,”D’Angelo wrote.
“They realized that Buzz wasn’t enough and that they need to build out a full, first-class social network. They are modeling it off of Facebook.”
Looming ominously like a space ship from Star Wars, this is the future of unmanned flight.
Defence firm BAE Systems today officially unveiled its first ever high-tech unmanned stealth jet.
The Taranis, named after the Celtic god of thunder, is about the same size as a Hawk jet and is equipped with stealth equipment and an ‘autonomous’ artificial intelligence system.
The plane will test the possibility of developing the first ever autonomous stealthy Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) that would ultimately be capable of precisely striking targets at long range, even in another continent.
The trial aircraft cost £143 million pounds to construct and spearheads BAE’s drive to convince the Ministry of Defence to invest in the next generation of unmanned aircraft.
Almost invisible to ground radar, it is designed to travel at high jet speeds and cover massive distances between continents.
The plane is built to carry out intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance on enemy territory using onboard sensors.
And it has been designed to carry a cache of weapons – including bombs and missiles -, giving it a potential long-range strike capability.
It can be controlled from anywhere in the world with satellite communications.
Experts say the cutting-edge design is at the forefront of world technology and as advanced as any US development.
The plane began development in December 2006, and is intended to prove the UK’s ability to produce a stealthy UAV.
Taranis will be stealthy, fast, able to carry out use a number of on-board weapons systems and be able to defend itself against manned and other unmanned enemy aircraft.
Any future need hinges on the outcome of the Strategic Defence and Security Review, which will conclude around October.
Speaking at the unveiling ceremony at BAE Systems in Warton, Lancashire, Minister for International Security Strategy Gerald Howarth said: ‘Taranis is a truly trailblazing project.
‘The first of its kind in the UK, it reflects the best of our nation’s advanced design and technology skills and is a leading programme on the global stage.’
He added: ‘Taranis shows the UK’s advanced engineering, research, technology and innovation sector at its world-beating best.’
Taranis is an informal partnership of the UK MoD and industry British engineering firms including BAE Systems, Rolls Royce, QinetiQ and GE Aviation.
Rolls-Royce will focus on the next generation propulsion system for the Taranis demonstrator.
Speaking on behalf of the industry team, Nigel Whitehead, Group managing director of BAE Systems’ Programmes & Support business, said: ‘Taranis has been three and a half years in the making and is the product of more than a million man-hours.
‘It represents a significant step forward in this country’s fast-jet capability. This technology is key to sustaining a strong industrial base and to maintain the UK’s leading position as a centre for engineering excellence and innovation.”
The Taranis prototype will provide the MOD with knowledge on the technical and manufacturing challenges and the potential capabilities of Unmanned Combat Air Systems.
Test flights for the Taranis plane are due to start in 2011.
We talked about The World Cup, Predators, Mel Gibson, Lebron James, Futurama, & much more….
Direct Download
