Ninja Gaiden Sigma Announced for the PSP Vita

http://www.gamefront.com/ps-vita-gets-ninja-gaiden-sigma/

I really, really wish it was Ninja Gaiden Black (the definitive version of NG), but hey, this is still awesome news!

Screens:

New Ninja Gaiden 3 Screenshots

New Ninja Gaiden 3 Screens:

Saving Lives With Biomedical Engineering

When biomedical engineering scientist Erin Lavik received the prestigious New Innovator Award last year from the National Institutes of Health for her work in advancing the development of synthetic (artificial) blood platelets, she was already becoming known in biomedical circles as a rising researcher.

Erin's laboratory at Case Western Reserve University, where she is currently an associate professor of Biomedical Engineering, was attracting attention for its focus on developing new approaches to understand and treat hemorrhaging, spinal cord injury, glaucoma, and diseases of the retina and optic nerve.

Recently (as noted by the New Innovator Award), she and her team at Case Western have received recognition for using nanotechnology -- an emerging scientific field that manipulates material on very small scales -- to build synthetic platelets of biodegradable polymers which are designed to link with the body's natural platelets to slow or stop bleeding faster after injury.

Says Erin: "We were looking for ways to control internal bleeding in our experiments, and we were stunned at how limited the options are, so we built our own system." Synthetic blood platelets made with nanoparticles may help slow internal bleeding, saving lives on the battlefield and following other traumatic injuries such as those sustained in auto accidents.

Can you think of some other applications for synthetic blood platelets?

Read more about AT&T sponsored Nifty Fifty program speaker Erin Lavik here.

And watch Erin's speech on tissue engineering and treatment of spinal cord injury:

Achievements: Earned or Entitled?

Often you'll come across the following type of comments in a discussion about a particular game's achievements/trophies (I'm primarily a 360 gamer, so forgive me if/when I fail to mention trophies when I mention achievements):

Gamer A: “WHAT?!? Beat the game on the hardest difficulty without dying (or any other difficult feat)? What kind of stupid achievement is THAT? How do they expect me to earn that? That's fucking STUPID! Most people won't get that! Why would they make an achievement that's so hard to unlock?"

Gamer B: “Well, shouldn't the people who do that get rewarded for it? I mean, if someone develops the skills/takes the time to do it, why shouldn't they be rewarded? They did something awesome! They actually achieved something.”

Sine Mora: Gorgeous New Grasshopper Manufacture Downloadable Shmup

Check Out This Game:



Damn. 


Gorgeous take on the old school, with a twist (no lives, you are timed, and each enemy killed adds time to the clock).

An Old Fave: Christianity in a Nutshell.

http://magx01.blogspot.com/2010/06/christianity-in-nutshell-brand-new-not.html

Video Game Memories Pt. 4: Sixth Generation (Xbox/PS2/GCN/DC Era)

Memories

The Xbox was my favourite console last gen. I owned a Gamecube as well, although I did not get my PS2 until this generation (the seventh) was already underway. Anyways, the Xbox is from where most of the gaming memories from this generation are derived, so I will mostly focus on that.

The xbox was released in North America on November 15th, 2001. My brother and I received ours on Christmas, a day I still fondly recall. The xbox has provided me with innumerable memories, some of which I will detail here.