Worldwide Contest Challenges Participants to “Save the Earth”
By ICEO/CS , posted on February 23rd, 2009 in Articles, Earth Observation, Technology
The IEEE Committee on Earth Observation (ICEO) has launched its “SaveEarthGame” competition, two international computer game design contests – with the top prize of $20,000 USD – that challenge participants to demonstrate how real-world events affect the Earth and impact people. A panel of specialists will award prizes for the two different contests.
The first contest, which began Feb. 9, is open to all age groups, and is for the development of a game concept. It does not require any computer programming skills, just imagination and ingenuity. Contestants will create a computer game concept using Earth Observations to contend with a myriad of environmental issues that impact Earth: disasters, health, energy, climate, water, weather, ecosystems, agriculture and biodiversity. Entries should be submitted by April 10, 2009. The winners will receive a Computer Game Development Workshop Class and cash prizes ranging from $100 to $1000.
The second contest, which kicks off May 1, 2009, is to design a playable, prototype computer game and requires game development skills. Contest participants are encouraged to use Earth observation data as a means to forecast and respond to environmental challenges. Contestants will be able to communicate globally with IEEE engineers, GEO teams and scientists as mentors and as an additional resource in game development. Proposals must be submitted by June 30, 2009. At that time, judges will identify finalists who will have until August 2010 to create and submit functional, playable games. The winner receives a $20,000 (US) prize plus an expense-paid trip to the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) Summit.
Contest updates will be provided on the contest’s official Web site, www.SaveEarthGame.org.
“We created these contests to stimulate minds around the world into coming up with unique ideas or concepts for understanding and dealing with vital issues facing our planet and challenge the ingenuity of young people. It’s a unique way to apply gaming technology for humanitarian and educational efforts.”
— Scott Tamashiro, IEEE Senior Member
The game competition is sponsored by the following international organizations:
- The IEEE Committee on Earth Observation
- IEEE Computer Society
- DigiPen Institute of Technology
- 1st Playable Productions
- GEO, Group on Earth Observation
- IGDA, International Game Developers Association
- GLOBE, Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment.
One Prior Response to “Worldwide Contest Challenges Participants to “Save the Earth””
NASA Daily Image
Remnant of a Supernova
Vital clues about the devastating ends to the lives of massive stars can be found by studying the aftermath of their explosions. In its more than twelve years of science operations, NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has studied many of these supernova remnants sprinkled across the galaxy. The latest example of this important investigation is Chandra's new image of the supernova remnant known as G350.1-0.3. This stellar debris field is located some 14,700 light years from the Earth toward the center of the Milky Way. Evidence from Chandra and from ESA's XMM-Newton telescope suggest that a compact object within G350.1+0.3 may be the dense core of the star that exploded. The position of this likely neutron star, seen by the arrow pointing to "neutron star" in the inset image, is well away from the center of the X-ray emission. If the supernova explosion occurred near the center of the X-ray emission then the neutron star must have received a powerful kick in the supernova explosion. Data suggest this supernova remnant, as it appears in the image, is 600 and 1,200 years old. If the estimated location of the explosion is correct, this means the neutron star has been moving at a speed of at least 3 million miles per hour since the explosion. Another intriguing aspect of G350.1-0.3 is its unusual shape. Many supernova remnants are nearly circular, but G350.1-0.3 is strikingly asymmetrical as seen in the Chandra data in this image (gold). Infrared data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope (light blue) also trace the morphology found by Chandra. Astronomers think that this bizarre shape is due to stellar debris field expanding into a nearby cloud of cold molecular gas. The age of 600-1,200 years puts the explosion that created G350.1-0.3 in the same time frame as other famous supernovas that formed the Crab and SN 1006 supernova remnants. However, it is unlikely that anyone on Earth would have seen the explosion because of the obscuring gas and dust that lies along our line of sight to the remnant. These results appeared in the April 10, 2011 issue of The Astrophysical Journal. Image Credits: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO/I. Lovchinsky et al; IR: NASA/JPL-Caltech
It is a nice competition..You will join this game at the same time you will have a great fun.:)