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Can this piece of art predict the future?
On the heels of my blogging about Tringo, a brilliant updating of the game Tetris, here’s an equally smart updating of another classic game — Plasma Pong. The concept is pretty simple: It’s a game of Pong played in a plasma field, where each paddle can generate waves that pulse through the field and interact with the ball. This allows you to produce some totally crazy effects: You opponent will bounce the ball towards you, but you’ll inject so much plasma into the field that the ball turns around midway and reverses direction.
Still, my favorite part of this isn’t the gameplay: It’s how nakedly psychedelic it is. The plasma effects — which apparently were inspired by the creator, Steve Taylor, reading this paper on “Real-Time Fluid Dynamics for Games” — make the average round look like the cover of an Iron Butterfly album. Every once in a while, I’d charge up my paddle and blast a shockwave into the plasma … then become so smitten with the teensy glowing blowback particles that I’d space out, miss the ball coming back to me, and lose the round. It’s that pretty!
(Thanks to Peter for this one!)
I'm Clive Thompson, a writer on science, technology, and culture. This blog collects bits of offbeat research I'm running into, and musings thereon.
Currently, I'm a contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine and a columnist for Wired magazine. I also write for Fast Company and Wired magazine's web site, among other places. Email or AOL IM me (pomeranian99) to say hi or send in something strange!
The “Milky Way Transit Authority” map
Should automobile software be open-sourced?
My Bookforum review of Jaron Lanier’s “You Are Not A Gadget”
Molecular secrets of the “iron-plated snail”
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January 31, 2010 » 07:29 PM
V. A. To me death seems to be an evil.
M. What, to those who are already dead? or to those who must die?
A. To both.
M. It is a misery, then, because an evil?
A. Certainly.
M. Then those who have already died, and those who have still got to die, are both miserable?
A. So it appears to me.
M. Then all are miserable?
A. Every one.
January 24, 2010 » 03:22 PM
One of the more interesting trends is family, which came in at number five. Specifically, discussion about family, moms, dads, daughters, etc. jumped during 2009. With Facebook users getting older, this isn’t a big surprise. However, the fact that the mention of “kids” jumped by a factor of five this year is rather dramatic. It’s tough to know what this means, though. (via Facebook Unveils Most-Mentioned Topics of 2009
)
January 15, 2010 » 01:36 PM
BEYOND AWESOME. They are announcing a recall of the Plush Uterus “due to a potential choking hazard for children”. To apply for it, “Please send an email to the address below with the subject line, ‘UTERUS OPT OUT’”.
January 14, 2010 » 10:04 PM
“To order, please TYPE “YES” IN CHECKBOX BELOW TO AGREE YOU UNDERSTAND THIS PLUSH MUST BE KEPT AWAY FROM KIDS (it is a sex organ, after all). If it is not checked, WE WILL NOT SEND THE UTERUS.” (via @ibogost)
January 11, 2010 » 01:45 PM
I watched Space: 1999 back in the day, but I swear to god I do not remember this scene.
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