Category Archives: Transhuman News

When it comes to basic sci-fi setups, nobody would ever accuse fighting for your life on a space station thats been taken over by aliens of being particularly fresh. Whether youre talking about movies, books, or games, its the kind of premise that serves as sturdy scaffolding a framework on which to hang what are (hopefully) much more interesting ideas and interactions. So when I sat down to preview the first hour of Prey, Arkane Studios upcoming reboot of the mid-aughts shooter, I didnt quite know what to expect. What I found was a first-person action game, with some solid role-playing elements, set off by some creative narrative twists. Well, enough twists for the first hour, at least.

To start off, Prey has nothing to do whatsoever with the original game, or its canceled sequel. When asked by journalists why the game has the title it does given the utter lack of connective tissue, lead designer Ricardo Bare was honest: "Because Prey is a really good name for a game." This version takes place in the year 2032, in an alternate reality timeline where the player takes on the role of Morgan Yu. (Players can select either a male or female version of the character; I went with the latter.)

When the game begins, Morgan is preparing to undergo some strange psychological and behavioral tests at the behest of her brother, Alex. Everything seems to be going fairly smoothly until an alien creature attacks one of the doctors. Soon, Morgan finds herself on the space station Talos I, which has been completely overrun by a shape-shifting alien species called the Typhon. It turns out that Morgans been the subject of these mysterious experiments far longer than she realizes, and has suffered massive holes in her memory as a result. She begins chasing down the clues and videos that shes left for herself in order to understand whats going on and, one assumes, to eventually stop the Typhon.

This isnt a horror title; its an action game

Despite the look of some of the early footage, Prey isnt a horror title; its an action game, though it does utilize handy jump scares from time to time as random objects suddenly morph into the scurrying, multi-legged Typhon for an attack. It has a semi-open-world feel, allowing players to explore the space station largely at will. Most obstacles in the game offer multiple solutions. A locked door can be accessed by finding a keycard, for example, or by exploring an alternate route to circumvent the issue altogether.

The role-playing side of things comes into play with what Prey calls neuromods. In the game, humans are able to give themselves enhanced skills by collecting what are essentially cybernetic implants. They cover a trio of skills sets hacking, engineering, and combat with branching skill trees for each discipline letting users shape their character as they see fit. Its another way in which Prey lets players solve problems in multiple ways. I unlocked a pesky door by upgrading my hacking abilities. A hard-to-reach second floor in an atrium could have been reached by upgrading ones engineering skills to repair the lift, or by creating a makeshift platform using a weapon that shoots rapidly hardening foam. (According to Bare, theres an elaborate crafting system in the game as well, though it never came up during my hour of gameplay.)

While the notion of an overrun space station isnt particularly novel, Prey does stand out by creating a world with some beautiful aesthetics that look both believably near-future, and lived in. According to the games backstory, the Talos I started as a government space station in the 60s before being taken over by a private company in 2030, and the design melds the design language of 1960s science fiction large, magnetic tape storage systems and retro hardware litter the place with the kind of wood panelling and gold trim youd expect from a gaudy hotel.

The first hour is filled with its share of plot twists and turns

In terms of sheer gameplay, nothing about Prey was particularly mind-blowing in the time I spent with the game. Its using concepts weve seen before, put together in combinations weve seen before. But theres a polish to the whole thing that makes it undeniably fun on the most basic level; the kind of game that you can just pick up and dive into with total and complete familiarity right at the top. But much like the premise itself, that easygoing gameplay feels like its there to set up some larger aspirations: the ideas behind the narrative itself.

Ive been trying to stay away from too many plot specifics, because the first hour of Prey turns out to be filled with more than its fair share of twists and turns and one of the early reveals was one of my favorite moments of the game. Its safe to say that there is an overarching mystery, and its not really about the alien creatures at all. Its about Morgan Yu herself, with the player thrown into the role of a character who cant trust her own memory or perception of reality. She ends up relying on clues she has left for herself, a kind of unreliable narrator that adds a Memento-esque twist to the fighting, exploring, and side missioning.

Arkane has also made a point of noting that players can choose either male or female versions of the lead character. Morgan was picked as the characters name precisely because it was gender neutral, and in terms of representation, the move is to be applauded. However, despite that choice, Bare says that swapping gender roles doesnt actually change the story in any appreciable way. Different pronouns are used when characters address Morgan, and family photos that appear in the game reflect the players choice. But other than that, theres nothing about the ways in which characters interact with Morgan that shifts. For a game that is purportedly about identity, it seems like it could end up being a missed opportunity particularly given that Bare says the story can be impacted by the ways in which the player interacts with various survivors they come into contact with.

Of course, depending on how the mysteries of Prey play out, that issue may not be as problematic as it seems at first. And thats assuming the narrative actually continues to fire throughout the entirety of the game in the first place. Bare says the average time to finish has been running between 14 to 16 hours, though some players have needed 20 hours or more, and that could end up being a lot of mystery to string out depending on how engaging the pure gameplay is unto itself. No matter what happens on that front, however, one things for certain: its certainly going to look glorious.

Prey is scheduled for release on May 5th for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.

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Prey puts the fun back into fighting for your life on a space station ... - The Verge

This photo released by NASA, shows the SpaceXDragon undocked from the International Space Station as it is maneuvered for its release, Wednesday, May 11, 2016. (Associated Press)

Two payloads built at the University of Colorado, one of them designed to understand and potentially combat infections such as MRSA, will be aboard the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft that's slated to launch to the International Space Station on Saturday.

The biomedical payloads are supported by CU's BioServe Space Technologies NASA-funded center in the Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences, which has built and flown more than 100 payloads on board more than 50 spaceflight missions, according to a news release.

The second of the two payloads will support research on the possible increase in the proliferation of stem cells in space, something that could aid biomedical therapy on Earth, the release stated.

This marks the ninth Dragon mission to the ISS on which SpaceX has carried CU-built payloads since 2012.

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More CU-Boulder payloads headed to space station via SpaceX - Boulder Daily Camera

Feb. 15, 2017: A team of students from Bearden Elementary entered and won the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program. Now, their test will be performed by astronauts on the International Space Station.

Michael Crowe, WBIR 7:26 PM. EST February 15, 2017

Riley Speas holds a replica of the test tube that will be sent to the International Space Station. (Photo: WBIR)

A group of Knox County students is preparing for an out of this world experience this weekend.

A team of students fro Bearden Elementary entered and won the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program. Now, their experiment on the effect of microgravity on the efficacy of antibiotics on a strain of the pink eye virus will be performed by astronauts on the International Space Station.

Students from Bearden Middle work on their experiment. (Photo: WBIR)

On the ISS, bacteria spreads much quicker because you cant use water, and its a lot harder to clean things, said Alex Hoffman, and eighth-grader at Bearden who worked on the project.

The group hopes their test could help solve one of the big problems of long-haul space travel the spread of germs on a sealed spacecraft.

Many of them could be close quarters disease that could spread really fast, said Riley Speas, another eighth-grader in the group. So to have an experiment that might help humans get to Mars faster is really exciting to think about.

Riley Speas is one of several Bearden Middle School students headed to Florida this weekend to watch their experiment launch for the ISS. (Photo: WBIR)

The students will travel to Florida this weekend for the SpaceX rocket launch, which is slated for Feb. 18. The launch has been delayed several times from August 2016.

The International Space Station. (Photo: WBIR)

The group also includes students from Vine Middle and Halls. Halls won second place, but their project will not go to space.

The Vine teams project was selected for a later launch, scheduled in June. That group is led by Melody Hawkins, an 8th grade science teacher at Vine.

Its truly a once in a lifetime opportunity for our students, she said. Im excited to see that maybe it will create a love or new passion for science they didnt have before.

The Vine experiment involved separating blue-green algae from water which could help advance water purification technology.

We focus a lot on standards, that definitely is our education model, standards based, but this gave us an opportunity to take the standard that were working on in the classroom, and extend it out into things that happen in the real world," Hawkins said.

When they found their project had been selected it was a huge surprise.

A group of students from Vine Middle School work on their experiment, which is slated to be sent to the ISS in June. (Photo: WBIR)

She passed out, laughed Sude Buyuktazeler, gesturing at Shukurani Cimpaye.

"I literally jumped out of my seat and started jumping, it was so exciting, she added.

And the educators are happy to have students taking a hands-on role in their education designing experiments and proposals that could further the future of space travel before they can drive here on earth.

It feels really, really cool because a lot of people, they don't get to help with stuff and theyre adults, said Speas. So being the age I am it's like, Woah, it's pretty awesome that I'm affecting the course of history almost.' It's pretty cool."

( 2017 WBIR)

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Knox Co. students' experiment headed to space station - WBIR.com

Last week, U.S. astronaut Peggy Whitson tweeted a picture of the Chinese cabbageshes growing on the International Space Station as part of an ongoing study called, aptly enough, the Veggie Project. Think about that: Not only can someone use social media from nearly 250 miles above the planet, they can also grow delicious vegetables there, too.

I am growing cabbage on station. I love gardening on Earth, and it is just as fun in space I just need more room to plant more! pic.twitter.com/5hGMltDVCy

Peggy Whitson (@AstroPeggy) February 8, 2017

ThisFriday, the astronauts aboard the International Space Station will harvestand eatthecabbage, a variety called Tokyo Bekana, which is the first cabbage to be grown in space (astronauts have previously growna romaine variety and some flowers, too.)

Like everything else at NASA, how Tokyo Bekana was selectedinvolves research, research, and more research. Short stature and fast growth were the two main traits scientists were looking for in a crop. A variety of plants, including Swiss chard, several lettuce varieties, spinach and beets, were tested and consideredafter all, the whole point is to get the astronauts to eat their veggies. (Just kidding. In actual fact, the project is about figuring out the best way to grow vegetables in space for long-duration trips, such as goingto Mars, and to provide the crew with a means of recreation and relaxation.)

We conducted a survey of several leafy green vegetables and looked at how the crops grew, how nutritious they were, and how a taste panel felt about them, Gioia Massa, a scientist on the project, told Modern Farmer in an email. The Tokyo bekana Chinese cabbage variety was rated as the top in growth and the favorite of tasters.

Since this is space,a special system was needed. The Vegetable Production System(nickname: Veggie) forgoes soil in favor of aplant pillow that includescontrolled-release fertilizer, water, and calcined clay, which helps with aeration. The system, developed byOrbital Technologies Corp,also uses red and green LED grow lights to replacesunlight. A new, large, plant-growing system namedtheAdvanced Plant Habitat(no nick name yet) has been developed and is expected to head up to ISS sometime this year.

According to Massa, one thing the scientist have learned is that the plants are growinga bit more slowly than expected, but are generally growing well. This is pretty much uncharted territory and things dont always go as imagined.

Our testing has revealed that leaves growing under the high CO2 of the International Space Station sometimes have yellowing and we are seeing a little of this yellowing response, she says. Being able to distribute the correct level of moisture and oxygen to plant roots has been one of the biggest challenges we face. Getting other environmental conditions optimal for plants is also a challenge.

The astronauts have already successfully grown (and eaten, and experimented on) red romaine lettuce, but this is the first time Chinese cabbage will be on the menu.Whitson, who loves to garden on Earth, too, has been in charge of growing this round of vegetables.How the crew plans to enjoy this mild and peppery green hasnt been determined. It can be eaten raw as a salad green or sautedin a stir fry. But they only get to eat half the crop as the rest will be used for experiments.

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The Astronauts on the International Space Station Are About to Harvest Chinese Cabbage - Modern Farmer