Have you ever imagined living in a pollution free city? Free of harmful and toxic gases? Well then, your wish might just come true. Albeit, virtually! Japanese car giant Nissan, after launching their electric car Leaf, have now ventured into the world of the web. ‘The Planet Zero’, their online game aims at educating people about the ‘possibilities of a zero emission society’. Set in a futuristic, environmentally friendly world populated by strange animals, the game is targeted at school and college students. The players have to take control of a character called ‘Plug’ and travel around the world to find alternative travel technologies. Environmental online games have been creating a lot of buzz off late. While Nissan’s effort is more light hearted, there are others such as ‘Fate of the World’, a ‘dramatic global strategy game’ that gives its players the mission to save the earth. Now that’s what we call play and learn!
DOG-SIZED DINOSAURS HAVE THE ANSWER!
Based on a research of dog-sized dinosaurs that once lived in the Antarctic, scientists can now explain how dinosaurs managed to overcome dramatic climate change and dominate the planet for more than 160 million years. It was all there in their bone tissues! “Dinosaurs that lived near the South Pole, sometimes in the dark for months at a time, had bone tissue very similar to dinosaurs that lived everywhere else on the planet,” says a doctoral candidate at Montana State University, USA. What that means is that early dinosaurs and even their ancestors evolved a physiology that allowed them to exploit different kinds of environmental conditions! There, mystery solved!
SUPER-SUBS HELP YOU TAKE A TRIP TO TITANIC!
Let’s confess it. We all dream of jet setting in a private plane or cruising in a luxury yacht. Don’t we? Now, add a private submarine to that list! Yes, ‘super-submersibles’ that could help us unravel the mysteries of the ocean are now being built and sold! Noted film director James Cameron, and business giant Richard Branson are some of the people who have shown interest in buying these super-subs or funding them. Don’t you want to be a billionaire capitalist?!
NAAAAAH! MAKE IT AN ‘APP’ A DAY!
Mobile applications get an all-new purpose — to keep you fit! Yes, if you are health and fitness crazy (and even if you aren’t), this is something you need to read closely. Did you know you will soon be able to monitor your food intake by wearing an ‘intelligent bracelet’? Bye, bye dieticians! So what is this magic bracelet? Well, the band and an accompanying smartphone application is the latest from the world of mobile micro-monitoring. Packed with microchips, the Jawbone UP bracelet will monitor the health levels of its users. Manufactured by Aliph, a US technology firm, the band will be launched globally, later this year.
We all know how contaminated soil causes environmental and health problems. But did you know ‘phytoremediation’, is a new field of research that looks at using plants to remove heavy and toxic metals from the soil? Researchers have discovered alpine pennycress, a weed that thrives on soil containing high levels of zinc and cadmium. A ‘hyperaccumulator’, the weed consumes heavy metals and in the process, removes them from the soil for easier disposal! According to recent studies, these hyperaccumulators can prove helpful in getting rid of soil contaminated during nuclear mishaps. That’s the power of nature!
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