With the recent development of better and more immersive video games, researchers have been scrambling to find out how video games are affecting the human brain.
The growing amount of extremely immersive video games has caused scientists to conduct a study on the human brain and the effects of playing video games. German researchers found that non-violent video games, such as ‘Super Mario 64’ increase grey matter in the right hippocampus, right prefrontal cortex and cerebellum. These areas of the brain function as a memory storage area. Meaning that non violent video games increase memory. But these regions of the brain loose grey matter when gamers play games such as ‘Call of Duty,’ however violent games increase the reaction time of gamers. To find out what is occurring in the brain when playing video games, “German researchers conducted a study. They asked 23 adults with a median age of 25 to play ‘Super Mario 64’ for thirty minutes a day over two months,” says Drew Guarini (Associated Press). They found that the gaming group had an increase in grey matter when compared to the control group. A study performed by an East Carolina University found that non-violent video games can reduce symptoms of depression by 57 percent and real time strategy games can improve cognitive skills, but violent video games can negatively influence these cognitive functions. A growing body of research has also concluded that “video games can significantly improve mental and physical health in many areas,” says Greg Conan from George Fox University. As per most things video games and screen time should be done in moderation. Thanks to the recent German study on the brain, it is now public knowledge that playing cognitive and real time strategy games are acceptable, as long as they are played in healthy moderation.
The Modern Space Race
“Falcon 9 in the hangar after flight” picture courtesy: SpaceX Rocket Laboratory.
SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Boeing are all competing for the chance to resupply the International Space Station (ISS) and reaching missions that stretch further than Earth's influence.
By: CHANCELOR OLSEN
Since 2002, multiple private space agencies have been working tirelessly on their own advanced aerospace technology to compete in the modern space race. These private companies include Boeing, Elon Musk’s SpaceX, and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin. Boeing is an aircraft manufacturer with technological breakthroughs present throughout the history of space exploration, including the construction of the Mercury capsule for NASA in the 1960s, along with revolutionizing commercial flight for the Federal Aeronautics Association (FAA). Boeing has currently been developing a brand-new crew module called CST-100 Starliner, a modern take on a “crew module that is designed to fit up to seven astronauts, although the configuration could change depending on how much cargo the spacecraft would carry” states Elizabeth Howell, a writer for space.com. Unlike previous crew modules, Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner will use air cushions to softly “land on [the] expansive desert plains in New Mexico or Utah,” says Stephen Clark of the Associated Press, unlike previous American modules which were forced to land in the Pacific Ocean. Starliner will hitch a ride on the rocket called Atlas V. “Some of the Atlas V's past missions include the New Horizons probe that flew past Pluto, the Mars Curiosity rover, and the mysteriousX-37B military space plane,” states Howell. Elon Musk’s SpaceX has participated in 32 successful landings of their Falcon 9 booster, 17 of which have been re-used for missions. Musk's all time goal for his company is for humans to become a “multi-planetary species,” he states in a press conference about the Big Falcon Rocket (BFR), later dubbed the “Starship” and “Super Heavy” booster. In early January, SpaceX completed the construction of the test vehicle for the Starship in Boca Chica, Texas. This prototype appropriately named Starhopper, has a similar purpose to SpaceX’s Grasshopper, which “was a reusable vertical-takeoff-and-landing (VTOL) rocket prototype,” explains Howell. Starship is designed to be a two-stage crewed rocket, with the capability to send 100 passengers to the moon, and Mars. Unlike any other crew launch system, Starship will not need parachutes to land; instead it will belly flop through the atmosphere to bleed off velocity, then rotate tail down, burn in the opposite direction of to bleed off the rest of its velocity, then land on its three multipurpose tail fins. Last but not least there is Jeff Bezos’ secretive Blue Origin, which has been slowly and carefully engineering their New Shepard, a spaceship that has completed 10 successful flights. “New Shepard is the company's reusable suborbital flight system, designed to carry both humans and robotic payloads, and it makes its journey in 11 minutes,” says Meghan Bartels of the Associated Press. Blue Origin’s goal is orbital flight with their New Glenn concept, although it “is unlikely to fly before 2020” states Bartels. New Glenn’s first stage will be very similar to SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, which bleeds off its velocity by burning in the opposite direction of its trajectory, then carefully lands either on a landing pad or a ship out at sea. The future of space will be led by multiple commercial industries, all possessing their own advanced technologies to make space flight cheaper and more accessible to the common citizen. Who knows, maybe the first human footsteps on Mars will be in late 2020; by means of commercial spacecraft.