Console games starting to explore serious issues
Games now take aim at training, health, science
Games now take aim at training, health, science
Traditional console games have been hogging the spotlight for years, especially with events such as the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) allowing vendors to hawk their wares in Hollywood. But there's a movement afoot that's quietly trying to do something more substantial. It's trying to merge the video game and the educational software markets.
Known as the Serious Games Movement, this genre is "about taking resources of the (video) games industry and applying them outside of entertainment," said Ben Sawyer, co-founder of Digitalmill Inc., and an organizers of the Serious Games Summit. This means creating games that play roles in areas such as education, health, public policy, science, government and corporate training, he says.
The Serious Games Movement got a start in 2002 when the U.S. Army released the video game "America's Army" as a free online download (www.americasarmy.com). That game "was the first successful and well-executed serious game that gained total public awareness" Sawyer said. More than 5 million people have become registered users. By exploring the video game, you experience what it is like to be in the Army.
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In 2004, the first Serious Games Summit was held at the Game Developers Conference.
As the Serious Games Movement has gained creditability, funding is starting to become available. Foundations, governmental agencies, nonprofits and venture capitalists have provided money for development of serious games. Even universities are supporting development of serious games by permitting students to produce these games for academic credit.
The Serious Games Movement got a start in 2002 when the U.S. Army released the video game "America's Army" as a free online download (www.americasarmy.com). That game "was the first successful and well-executed serious game that gained total public awareness" Sawyer said. More than 5 million people have become registered users. By exploring the video game, you experience what it is like to be in the Army.
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In 2004, the first Serious Games Summit was held at the Game Developers Conference.
As the Serious Games Movement has gained creditability, funding is starting to become available. Foundations, governmental agencies, nonprofits and venture capitalists have provided money for development of serious games. Even universities are supporting development of serious games by permitting students to produce these games for academic credit.
Welcoming The Next Generation of Science News
When you're young, Summer mornings usually mean cartoons, right? Not for this group.
Cub reporters who take part in the science.net project will be devoting their mornings to learning the profession of Journalism by interviewing scientists, researching issues, and writing stories to produce their own issue of an online science newspaper. As they work as journalists, the reporters will learn about scientific and technological issues - from nanotechnology to genetic engineering - that are becoming increasingly important to their home communities.
Science.net is part of an educational research project at the Wisconsin Center for Education Research and the UW-Madison School of Education.
Science.net is part of an educational research project at the Wisconsin Center for Education Research and the UW-Madison School of Education.
SNAIL'S PACE IS TOO FAST
Ecologists fear the potential for infestations of Minnesota and Wisconsin lakes and rivers by another exotic aquatic species.
A tiny, spiral-shaped snail has been discovered in the Duluth-Superior Harbor and the St. Louis River estuary, raising concerns about possible disruptions to the ecology of the waters.
The New Zealand mudsnail can form hundreds of thousands of clones each year. In some Western states where it has become established, the mudsnail has pushed out native insects, snails and other important sources of fish food.
More than 100 of the snails were collected last fall in Duluth by Environmental Protection Agency researchers looking for new foreign aquatic species in Great Lakes harbors. The discovery, announced Monday, is the first finding of the tiny snail in Minnesota and Wisconsin waters.
It was discouraging news for Gary Montz, research scientist for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR). "Our lakes, streams and rivers have enough stress on them and they don't need something else like this," he said.
The mudsnails were first found in Idaho's Snake River in 1987 and have spread to several premier Rocky Mountain trout streams, including the Madison River in Montana near Yellowstone National Park. They may have been accidentally introduced with stocked imported rainbow trout.
In some places the snails cover large areas of stream bottoms in densities of up to 70,000 per square foot, Montz said. They take food away from mayflies and other insects, he said, by eating algae and other microscopic aquatic plants on the bottom of streams or attached to rocks, logs and other objects. He said the mudsnails can themselves be eaten by fish, but they offer little if any nutrition.
Researchers said that Lake Superior is too cold for the mudsnail but that its harbors and estuaries are warm enough, such as in Thunder Bay, Ontario, where it was discovered in 2001. Researchers suspect that mudsnails, which have also been discovered in Lake Ontario, were carried into the Great Lakes by ships in ballast water or sludge.
Doug Jensen, aquatic invasive species program coordinator for Minnesota Sea Grant at the University of Minnesota Duluth, said the mudsnails were discovered in several locations in sediment at the bottom of Duluth harbor.
"We have an established infestation," he said. "Efforts to eradicate them would be virtually impossible."
Jensen said it's critical for boaters and anglers to learn about the mudsnails so that the invaders won't be spread inadvertently to Minnesota and Wisconsin lakes and rivers.
The snails are often attached to aquatic plants or can become embedded in mud, so Jensen urged people to take these precautions:
- Remove vegetation from boats, trailers and fishing gear.
- Rinse waders, hip boots and boat motors with hot water or let them dry for several days in the sun.
Jensen said that's the best way to kill the snails.
The New Zealand mudsnail can form hundreds of thousands of clones each year. In some Western states where it has become established, the mudsnail has pushed out native insects, snails and other important sources of fish food.
More than 100 of the snails were collected last fall in Duluth by Environmental Protection Agency researchers looking for new foreign aquatic species in Great Lakes harbors. The discovery, announced Monday, is the first finding of the tiny snail in Minnesota and Wisconsin waters.
It was discouraging news for Gary Montz, research scientist for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR). "Our lakes, streams and rivers have enough stress on them and they don't need something else like this," he said.
The mudsnails were first found in Idaho's Snake River in 1987 and have spread to several premier Rocky Mountain trout streams, including the Madison River in Montana near Yellowstone National Park. They may have been accidentally introduced with stocked imported rainbow trout.
In some places the snails cover large areas of stream bottoms in densities of up to 70,000 per square foot, Montz said. They take food away from mayflies and other insects, he said, by eating algae and other microscopic aquatic plants on the bottom of streams or attached to rocks, logs and other objects. He said the mudsnails can themselves be eaten by fish, but they offer little if any nutrition.
Researchers said that Lake Superior is too cold for the mudsnail but that its harbors and estuaries are warm enough, such as in Thunder Bay, Ontario, where it was discovered in 2001. Researchers suspect that mudsnails, which have also been discovered in Lake Ontario, were carried into the Great Lakes by ships in ballast water or sludge.
Doug Jensen, aquatic invasive species program coordinator for Minnesota Sea Grant at the University of Minnesota Duluth, said the mudsnails were discovered in several locations in sediment at the bottom of Duluth harbor.
"We have an established infestation," he said. "Efforts to eradicate them would be virtually impossible."
Jensen said it's critical for boaters and anglers to learn about the mudsnails so that the invaders won't be spread inadvertently to Minnesota and Wisconsin lakes and rivers.
The snails are often attached to aquatic plants or can become embedded in mud, so Jensen urged people to take these precautions:
- Remove vegetation from boats, trailers and fishing gear.
- Rinse waders, hip boots and boat motors with hot water or let them dry for several days in the sun.
Jensen said that's the best way to kill the snails.