Guardians of Middle-Earth Receives a Trailer
Guardians of Middle-Earth was just announced on Wednesday, but last night GameTrailers TV had the exclusive first trailer for it. This Lord of the Rings MOBA will appear on the PS3 and 360 this Fall as a downloadable title, and features over 20 characters from the Lord of the Rings universe. The trailer is pure CG and simply sets up the 5v5 battle format, but that does not mean it is low on thrills. Gandalf, Legolas, Thráin, and possibly Aragorn and Galadriel do battle against the Witch King, Gollum, an Uruk Hai, and two others, with spectacular results. Near the end, a new challenger approaches that should change the face of battle, but the game's logo appears before we see how this ends. Like I said, this trailer is pure CG so there is no actual gameplay, but Guardians of Middle-Earth still looks interesting. We just have to see how this MOBA take on the Lord of the Rings universe plays out for the console crowd.
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Gamma-Ray Beams Show a Recently Active Milky Way
When compared to our knowledge of other galaxies, like the Andromeda Galaxy, researchers know very little about our own Milky Way. This is because we are inside of our galaxy, which makes it very difficult to see the structure of the Milky Way. Still, we do know some things, including that ours is not an active galaxy, but apparently it was not too long ago.
Many of the spiral galaxies we have observed are not just simple disks as two blobs or bubbles of matter spew out above and below the main structure. These bubbles are being blown by the supermassive black hole at the center of galaxy. Even though the common mental image of a black hole is something that just devours everything around it, much of the mass that falls towards a supermassive black hole does not enter it. Instead it gets flung out into space above and below the disk of the home galaxy. Sometimes instead of just matter being shot out from a galaxy's center, gamma rays are ejected. Unlike the matter though, these high energy photons keep in a tight shape and look like a search light peering through the Universe.
Galaxies with a feeding supermassive black hole at their center are called active galaxies and they are continually making these gamma ray beams and bubbles of matter. The Milky Way is not generating these two structures though, which means it is not active, but millions of years ago it was. Researchers at Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics have discovered an after-image of two gamma-ray jets coming from the center of our galaxy. These jets are about 27,000 light years long, which matches an old bubble previously discovered, which adds support for the conclusion that our galaxy was active recently.
This is the first time such jets have been found coming from the Milky Way. The researchers estimate it required at least 10,000 solar masses of matter to fall into the black hole to create these jets.
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Soul Sacrifice Confirmed for North America, but Still No Release Date
Three weeks ago, I reported about Keiji Inafune's upcoming PS Vita game, Soul Sacrifice. Best known as the creator of Mega Man, Inafune wanted to bring "true fantasy" to video games, where great power requires great sacrifice (you can read the previous news post for all the details). At the time, only a Japan Winter release was mentioned. Today, a debut trailer was released along with the official announcement that Soul Sacrifice will be coming to the PS Vita in North America as well! If you've been on the fence about getting the PS Vita, Soul Sacrifice may be the game to push you over.
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Recovering From Spinal Cord Injury Possible
One of the most amazing characteristics of the brain is its plasticity. After even some severe traumas, like having a hemisphere removed, the brain can adapt and move functions around to continue functioning. In the past it has appeared that only the brain was plastic because the spinal cord would not adapt in a similar way to injuries. Researchers at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) have changed that though and given rats with severe paralysis the ability to walk again.
The first step of the experiment was to 'wake up' the dormant part of the spinal cord found beneath the injury. This was accomplished with a special chemical solution that replaced neurotransmitters normally released by the brainstem in order to stimulate dormant neurons. Next the researchers used electrodes to stimulate the spinal cord further, making it ready to operate.
The brain is not the only controller in the nervous system. Other networks of neurons, including the spinal cord, are able to respond to external stimuli, which is what causes involuntary motions. The researchers placed the rats on a treadmill and discovered it could walk. The spinal cord was taking in the information of the treadmill moving beneath it, and responded by having the legs move. This involuntary action was truly great to see, but the researchers, inspired by this success, decided to go a step further.
A new rig was created for the rats to use, but instead of a treadmill, the rats were gently suspended, to put all of their weight on their hind legs. With a chocolate treat at the end of the rig, the rats wanted to move forward; to voluntarily walk with their previously paralyzed legs. The rats got their chocolate, even when it required that they walk up steps.
The spinal cord, after being reactivated by the chemicals and electricity, grew new connections around the lesion that originally caused paralysis. The connection between the legs and the brain may not have been as strong as it would have been without the lesion, but it was enough for the rats to walk. It may be some time before we see humans benefiting from a similar treatment, but now we know complete recuperation of voluntary movement is possible.
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Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 Announced
GameTrailers TV was a wealth of exclusives last night and this one is no different. Konami announced Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 last night with a stunning CG trailer. Now, for anyone who has not played the first game, there are some mild spoilers shown in the trailer, so you may just want to skip on by. For everyone else, the Lords of Shadow 2 trailer shows what becomes of Gabriel Belmont and a dark secret in the family's history. There is a massive battle that unfolds, although it is pretty one-sided thanks to some special abilities. We do get what appears to be the trademark whip, although it looks a little deadlier than usual. The end has another spoiler involving a certain character, but you will just have to watch and find out.
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 will launch next year for the PS3 and 360.
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