Monday, April 29, 2013

Apps of the Week: Plants vs Zombies, ArtRage, Iron Man 3, and more

Every week, the editors and writers at iMore carefully select some of our favorite, most useful, most extraordinary apps, accessories, gadgets, and websites. This week's selections include a few games, an art app, a fun music creation app, and an app about the most important star in the universe.

Mr. Runner 2: The Masks - Simon Sage

Mr. Runner was a pretty popular game a few years ago, netting over 5 million downloads thanks to its unique stop-and-go play style and slightly warped sense of humor. Mr. Runner is back with some decidedly richer graphics and a surprisingly interesting plot line. Mr. Runner is trapped in a dream where his head is locked in a box by the dastardly La Magie, and he's got to chase down the key. In this journey, he stumbles on the occasional mask which gives him some semblance of an identity in the meantime. The game will take players through 32 bizarre worlds with plenty of tongue-in-cheek pop culture references. Each stage has three bonus objectives to snag, which should keep you coming back for more if the unique art style isn't enough. If you're in the mood for something a little different, definitely give Mr. Runner 2: The Masks a shot.

ArtRage - Michelle Haag

My daughter is obsessed with drawing My Little Pony characters these days. She's almost 10, and asked me recently if she could have a really good art app for the iPad so she could get more comfortable when she's creating, as opposed to sitting in front of the laptop. We searched around and found ArtRage, and it has quickly become her favorite new tool when inspiration strikes.

ArtRage has a ton of built in features including numerous art tools for drawing and painting, tracing, blending, different types of canvas/papers, and one of our favorite features which is the ability to work with layers. Learning how to sketch is an important step for artists, and with the layers Abby is learning to sketch and refine her drawings. The tools are very natural and mimic real world paints and papers very well, even going so far as to judge how much paint is on your brush or canvas and reacting accordingly, among other things.

If you're interested in having an art studio that you can take with you anywhere, you should definitely take a look at ArtRage. There are so many tools and options in this app, I can't even list them all here. Some reviewers have complained about the app crashing, but we haven't experienced that. I would recommend saving your work frequently if that's a concern. ArtRage is available for iPad and iPhone, for $4.99 and $1.99 respectively.

Iron Man 3 - The Official Game - Chris Parsons

We got our first look at Gameloft's Iron Man 3 at GDGC 2013 and ever since then I've been waiting to get my hands on it. Having now arrived and readily available for download, I have to say it's pretty awesome and even better than I expected. You get to play as Iron Man through 3 different locations and fight 4 villains from Iron Man legend, all in some wonderfully graphic detail. Perhaps the best part of it all though, is gaining access to all of the Iron Man suits available. There is 18 in total that ken be discovered including Mark II, Mark III and the Silver Centurion. The game is available for free but keep in mind it does have a few in-app-purchases with it. I've not played through enough to see if they're 'required' - yet!

Figure - Joseph Keller

Propellerhead?s Figure is a great app for music creation for the iPhone and iPad. Figure gives users control over the different instruments available under the Drum, Bass, and Lead sections. Set the rhythm of each instrument, the number of scale steps between octaves, and range of the bass and lead instruments, along with basics like the key and the tempo. There are also a variety of electronic drum, bass, and lead instruments to choose from. Figure also includes support for Audiobus, allowing you to record and edit your music using other music apps like Loopy and Garageband. Try Figure if you?re looking for quick, simple electronic music creation that?s also a lot of fun to use.

Plants vs. Zombies - Ally Kazmucha

There are very few games that remain on my iPhone consistently and Plants vs. Zombies is definitely one of them. In anticipation of Plants vs. Zombies 2 which is supposedly launching sometime this summer, I've cleared out all my data and have started playing the original Plants vs. Zombies all over again.

The fact that there is no support for the iPhone 5 is definitely a downer and makes me that much more impatient for the second release. My favorite part about Plants vs. Zombies is that even after beating the entire game, you can always go back and unlock all kinds of achievements. That's what I plan to do and cross my fingers that Plants vs. Zombies 2 isn't that far off from being released for iOS. If you haven't checked it out, it's one of those iOS games that every iPhone or iPad owner should download and considering they're both at the low price of $0.99 now, there really isn't anything to lose.

Sun by KIDS DISCOVER - Leanna Lofte

I love science, and I love when kids show an interest in science, which is why I'm choosing Sun by KIDS DISCOVER this week. It teaches a lot of fun facts about the Earth's light source and includes great images, graphics, 3D models, videos, and more. And with summer right around the corner, the timing seems perfect for discussion about this season's favorite heat supplier.

If you've got kids who can read, check it out.

Google+ - Rene Ritchie

I'm still trying to figure out the whole social expectation angle -- Twitter, Facebook, Google+, App.net, Dribbble, Instagram... and the list seemingly goes on and on. There's just not enough time in the day to properly engage with all of them. I use Twitter a lot. I try to use App.net. I've pretty much abandoned Facebook. And I've neglected Google+ because every time I go there, it feels like only Google people are there.

Blame Cali Lewis and John P. Blame Phil Nickinson. Blame #TM13. But I've started trying to use Google+ again. I know I've said that before. And I might well have to try saying it again. The Google + app for iOS has come a long way however, and it's a pretty good user experience now. I guess time will tell.

The truth is I find social overwhelming right now. I think I'll primarily end up using Google+ for DSLR images and the occasional social commentary that I don't want to spam people on Twitter with.

Since I'm guessing I'm not the only one caught like a deer-in-the-social-headlights right now, let me know how you're organizing your sharing. What are you putting where, and how are you managing it all?

You can tell me, or just find me, on Google+ at +Rene Ritchie

Your choice?

Now that we've chosen our favorites for the week, we want to hear yours! Did you pick up a killer app, accessory, or game this week? Let us know in the comments below!

    


Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/1QaGTcNDibE/story01.htm

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Sunday, April 28, 2013

Plants moderate climate warming

Apr. 28, 2013 ? As temperatures warm, plants release gases that help form clouds and cool the atmosphere, according to research from IIASA and the University of Helsinki.

The new study, published in Nature Geoscience, identified a negative feedback loop in which higher temperatures lead to an increase in concentrations of natural aerosols that have a cooling effect on the atmosphere.

"Plants, by reacting to changes in temperature, also moderate these changes," says IIASA and University of Helsinki researcher Pauli Paasonen, who led the study.

Scientists had known that some aerosols -- particles that float in the atmosphere -- cool the climate as they reflect sunlight and form cloud droplets, which reflect sunlight efficiently. Aerosol particles come from many sources, including human emissions. But the effect of so-called biogenic aerosol -- particulate matter that originates from plants -- had been less well understood. Plants release gases that, after atmospheric oxidation, tend to stick to aerosol particles, growing them into the larger-sized particles that reflect sunlight and also serve as the basis for cloud droplets. The new study showed that as temperatures warm and plants consequently release more of these gases, the concentrations of particles active in cloud formation increase.

"Everyone knows the scent of the forest," says Ari Asmi, University of Helsinki researcher who also worked on the study. "That scent is made up of these gases." While previous research had predicted the feedback effect, until now nobody had been able to prove its existence except for case studies limited to single sites and short time periods. The new study showed that the effect occurs over the long-term in continental size scales.

The effect of enhanced plant gas emissions on climate is small on a global scale -- only countering approximately 1 percent of climate warming, the study suggested. "This does not save us from climate warming," says Paasonen. However, he says, "Aerosol effects on climate are one of the main uncertainties in climate models. Understanding this mechanism could help us reduce those uncertainties and make the models better."

The study also showed that the effect was much larger on a regional scale, counteracting possibly up to 30% of warming in more rural, forested areas where anthropogenic emissions of aerosols were much lower in comparison to the natural aerosols. That means that especially in places like Finland, Siberia, and Canada this feedback loop may reduce warming substantially.

The researchers collected data at 11 different sites around the world, measuring the concentrations of aerosol particles in the atmosphere, along with the concentrations of plant gases, the temperature, and reanalysis estimates for the height of the boundary layer, which turned out to be a key variable. The boundary layer refers to the layer of air closest to the Earth, in which gases and particles mix effectively. The height of that layer changes with weather. Paasonen says, "One of the reasons that this phenomenon was not discovered earlier was because these estimates for boundary layer height are very difficult to do. Only recently have the reanalysis estimates been improved to where they can be taken as representative of reality."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

Journal Reference:

  1. Pauli Paasonen, Ari Asmi, Tuukka Pet?j?, Maija K. Kajos, Mikko ?ij?l?, Heikki Junninen, Thomas Holst, Jonathan P. D. Abbatt, Almut Arneth, Wolfram Birmili, Hugo Denier van der Gon, Amar Hamed, Andr?s Hoffer, Lauri Laakso, Ari Laaksonen, W. Richard Leaitch, Christian Plass-D?lmer, Sara C. Pryor, Petri R?is?nen, Erik Swietlicki, Alfred Wiedensohler, Douglas R. Worsnop, Veli-Matti Kerminen, Markku Kulmala. Warming-induced increase in aerosol number concentration likely to moderate climate change. Nature Geoscience, 2013; DOI: 10.1038/NGEO1800

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_science/~3/dddfaVbmvBk/130428144921.htm

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Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Trouble in penguin paradise? Research analyzes Antarctic ice flow

Apr. 9, 2013 ? University of Cincinnati student Shujie Wang has discovered that a good way to monitor the environmental health of Antarctica is to go with the flow -- the ice flow, that is.

It's an important parameter to track because as Antarctica's health goes, so goes the world's.

"The ice sheet in Antarctica is the largest fresh water reservoir on Earth, and if it were totally melted, the sea level would rise by more than 60 meters. So it is quite important to measure the ice mass loss there," says Wang, a doctoral student in geography in UC's McMicken College of Arts & Sciences.

Wang will present her research, "Analysis of Ice Flow Velocity Variations on the Antarctic Peninsula during 1986-2012 Based on Multi-Sensor Remote Sensing Image Time Series," at the Association of American Geographers annual meeting to be held April 9-13 in Los Angeles. The interdisciplinary forum is attended by more than 7,000 scientists from around the world and features an array of geography-related presentations, workshops and field trips.

Antarctica is 5.5 million square miles of windswept, mountainous ice desert. The fifth largest continent is covered in a sheet of ice that is on average more than a mile thick. Across this province of penguins, outlet glaciers and ice streams funnel chunks of ice into the ocean where they eventually melt in warmer waters. If the ice begins to melt at an abnormally high rate and the sea level rises, a chain reaction of negative ecological effects could take place worldwide.

For her research, Wang uses remote-sensing images recorded by satellites to gather data on Antarctica's ice motion. She's particularly interested in determining changes in the ice flow velocity, because the faster ice moves, the faster it's lost. By calculating that velocity at different time intervals, Wang hopes to further understand the process of ice motion and be able to predict changes to Antarctica's landscape. She's planning models that simulate the ice sheet dynamics and estimate any influence on the sea level.

"I hope to provide valuable research to the academia of global change studies," Wang says.

Additional contributors to Wang's research paper were Hongxing Liu (UC), Lei Wang (Louisiana State University) and Xia Li (Sun Yat-Sen University, China).

Funding for the research was provided by University Graduate Scholarship allocations from UC's Graduate School and the Department of Geography.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Cincinnati. The original article was written by Tom Robinette.

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/5HmfGw7vemA/130409111609.htm

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