Games and mobiles

"Breeding Evil?", a leader and special report published this month examining the virtues of video games, was my second Economist cover of the year. My first, back in March, was "The real digital divide", about mobile phones in the developing world. (I have since written more on the topic -- see here and here.) Anyway, it seems particularly fitting to me that these should be the topics of my two covers, because whenever I'm asked what I regard as the hottest topics in technology, I always reply "mobile phones and gaming". (Voice-over-broadband comes third, I suppose, and energy technology is coming up the field fast. UPDATE September 2005: Lo and behold, my third cover of the year is about VOIP.)
Mobile phones are the most numerous digital devices on the planet, and truly deserve to be called "personal computers". And games consoles are the most powerful mass-produced computers in the world. So they are, if you like, at the cutting edge of computing quantity and quality respectively. Both also have interesting social consequences. We in the developed world have spent the past few years adjusting to mobile phones, texting and so on, but their impact in the developing world will be far greater, since they are the first communications devices to become really prevalent. (By the time mobiles started spreading in the rich world, we already had fixed-line phones and the internet, so mobiles made less of a difference.) Gaming is also interesting, because it is emerging as a new medium, up there with music and movies. That was the main point of my cover article: that new art forms are often criticised by people who aren't familiar with them and consider them to be evil. Rock'n'roll in the 1950s is another example.

The gaming piece generated more letters and e-mails than anything I have ever written for The Economist. Many were from gamers, who approved of the article, though a few of them thought I should have made more of the social nature of online role-playing games, which confound the stereotype of gamers as loners. (True, but such games are still a minority sport, even among gamers.) Several readers who disagreed with the article thought I had overlooked the many studies that show a link between gaming and violence. I am aware of these studies; but there are also lots of other studies that failed to find a link. Similarly, there are meta-analyses that look across all the studies -- but they too are contradictory. Some evaluations of the literature find clear evidence that gaming causes violence, while others do not.
Sound familiar? It does to me. This is exactly what is going on in the debate over mobile phones and cancer. There is lots of anecdotal evidence, and plenty of dodgy studies which come to no clear conclusion. (See "Mobile phones are probably safe, by analogy", below.) Of course, if mobile phones really were dangerous we ought to have noticed by now; the same is true of gaming. My article included this chart, which shows violent crime in America declining over the past decade as gaming became more popular. Many anti-gaming readers wrote in to complain that this chart posits a causal link: it doesn't. I am not suggesting (though some people are) that gaming makes people less violent. I am merely noting that gaming is now so widespread that if it did make people more violent, that ought to show up in the violent-crime figures, yet they are declining. The point of the chart is to demonstrate not causation, but lack of causation. Anyway, as with rock'n'roll, this argument will only be resolved by a generational shift, as the gamers (mostly under 40) grow up, and the non-gamers (mostly over 40) die out.

SCN FIRST TO USE NEW SATELLITE TECHNOLOGY

This fall SCN will be upgrading its one-way Digital Satellite Network to a two-way satellite system, expanding the high-speed infrastructure of Saskatchewan's CommunityNet and making connectivity to rural, remote and First Nations schools more robust and cost-effective.

Minister responsible for SCN Joan Beatty said this marks the first commercial deployment in Canada of a worldwide-emerging technology standard, further advancing Saskatchewan's leadership in broadband connectivity across Canada.

"We are proud of SCN's role, building on Saskatchewan's provincial connectivity plan," Beatty said. "CommunityNet is already recognized as one of the most advanced systems in Canada."

The upgrade results from an innovative partnership between SCN, Saskatchewan Learning, Keewatin Career Development Corporation (KCDC) and Industry Canada. Cost of the expansion and operations is $5.38 million over three years and is shared by Saskatchewan Learning and KCDC.

It provides an opportunity to see rural, remote and First Nation communities become full participants in mainstream systems - utilizing technologies and systems available and in widespread use in the rest of the province. The 160 schools to be upgraded will move from one-way high speed internet with a dial-up return path, to always-on, two-way satellite service with full CommunityNet connectivity.

"The CommunityNet upgrade being completed during the 2004 fall school term will enable full access and participation in the province-wide network for all Saskatchewan schools," Learning Minister Andrew Thomson said.

"This system provides the capability to offer the latest distance and technology enhanced learning opportunities and enables us to better serve the diverse educational needs of all people."

"As the regional management organization for Industry Canada, our job is to serve the needs of First Nations schools in Saskatchewan," KCDC General Manager Randy Johns said. "Recognizing the benefits of this Saskatchewan-based network, KCDC is proud to be part of this innovative partnership because it is helping to provide improved access for 73 First Nations schools in Saskatchewan."

EMS Satellite Networks developed the new technology.

"The utilization of this two-way satellite system minimizes overall costs and allows for immediate integration into the existing network. This commercial deployment is a first for Canada, and we are proud to be part of the launch of this important service," EMS Satellite Networks Senior VP and General Manager of EMS Satellite Networks Don Osborne said.

As part of CommunityNet, SCN delivers high-speed internet access to 160 Saskatchewan schools through its Digital Satellite Network (DSN), building upon existing technology that provides video channels to deliver high school and post secondary courses and learning opportunities to over 230 classrooms in more than 200 communities throughout Saskatchewan. The combination of these networks provides increased connectivity and educational opportunities that otherwise might not exist to residents in remote communities.

Saskatchewan's provincial connectivity plan is among the most advanced within Canada. CommunityNet is available in 366 communities. This current enhancement further advances Saskatchewan's leadership in broadband connectivity across Canada, providing additional services and access to all Saskatchewan citizens.

Cosmic Vision 2015-2025: and the candidate missions are...

The first steps of the next great phase of European space science have been taken! At its meeting held on 17-18 October 2007 in Paris, ESA’s Space Science Advisory Committee (SSAC) selected the new candidates for possible future scientific missions.
"It has been an arduous process both inside ESA and in the community to get these winning groups into what I suppose can be said to be the quarterfinals of one of the ultimate competitions in world space science,” said ESA’s Director of Science, David Southwood. “We can now get glimpses of the future and it is going to be exciting!"

From a list of 50 proposals submitted by the scientific community last summer, the candidates which have made it to the next phase of selection are:
 
Solar System

Laplace, studying the Jovian system

The Jovian System, with Jupiter and its moons, is a small planetary system in its own right. Unique among the moons, Europa is believed to shelter an ocean between its geodynamically active icy crust and its silicate mantle. The proposed mission would answer questions on habitability of Europa and of the Jovian system in relation to the formation of the Jovian satellites and to the workings of the Jovian system itself. The mission will deploy three orbiting platforms to perform coordinated observations of Europa, the Jovian satellites, Jupiter’s magnetosphere and its atmosphere and interior.

If approved, the mission would be implemented in collaboration with JAXA, the Japanese aerospace exploration agency, and NASA.

Tandem, a new mission to Saturn, Titan and Enceladus
Tandem has been proposed to explore two of Saturn's satellites (Titan and Enceladus) in-situ and from orbit. Building on questions raised by Cassini, the mission would investigate the Titan Enceladus systems, their origins, interiors and evolution as well as their astrobiological potential. The mission would carry two spacecraft - an orbiter and a carrier to deliver a balloon and three probes onto Titan.

If approved, the mission would be implemented in collaboration with NASA.

It is expected that a first selection between Laplace or Tandem, i.e. Jupiter or Saturn targets will be made in consultation with foreign partners in the coming years.
 
Tandem, a new mission to Saturn, Titan and Enceladus
Tandem has been proposed to explore two of Saturn's satellites (Titan and Enceladus) in-situ and from orbit. Building on questions raised by Cassini, the mission would investigate the Titan Enceladus systems, their origins, interiors and evolution as well as their astrobiological potential. The mission would carry two spacecraft - an orbiter and a carrier to deliver a balloon and three probes onto Titan.

If approved, the mission would be implemented in collaboration with NASA.

It is expected that a first selection between Laplace or Tandem, i.e. Jupiter or Saturn targets will be made in consultation with foreign partners in the coming years.
 

Space Station Addition Should Boost Science

Before the 2003 Columbia accident, NASA used the launch date of the cargo currently loaded into shuttle Discovery as a computer screen-saver. So relentless was the march to install what will be the final U.S. component to the International Space Station, that managers overlooked blatant safety issues, investigators determined after the shuttle's demise.

NASA insists it has absorbed the bitter lessons of Columbia and despite a presidential directive to be finished with space station construction in three years, feels no compunction to be driven by the calendar.

"We feel very confident we have a vehicle that's safe to go fly. We would not launch if we didn't think that was true," said LeRoy Cain, NASA's top shuttle manager at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

On Tuesday at 11:38 a.m. NASA hopes Discovery will launch and deliver the space station's final linchpin: the school bus-sized Harmony module, which will attach to new laboratories owned by Europe and Japan.

If the 14-day flight unfolds with few delays and no major problems, NASA plans to launch the first of its partners' laboratories on Dec. 6.

The flight can't happen soon enough for the European Space Agency, which has weathered launch delays with compassion and patience even while its bank accounts dwindled. ESA's Columbus laboratory was supposed to fly in 2002. Delays with the station's Russian-owned living quarters cost ESA two years' time, which managers handled by slowing development and payments to its contractors.

The second delay stemmed from the Columbia disaster. NASA halted station assembly for three and a half years while engineers overhauled the shuttles, designed new safety procedures and equipment, and conducted test flights. Throughout the hiatus, a cash infusion from ESA member countries kept the Columbus program afloat and its science and engineering teams employed.

ESA has spent 5 billion Euros on the program so far, with another 4 billion earmarked for operations once the lab arrives in orbit.

Despite the difficulties, ESA has no regrets about joining the station program.

"Would we want to join a program where we run the risk of having delays, or having disappointments, or having downs before we have ups? That's the normal business of space," ESA space station program manager Alan Thirkettle told Discovery News.

Researchers Knock Out HIV

With the latest advances in treatment, doctors have discovered that they can successfully neutralise the HIV virus. The so-called ‘combination therapy’ prevents the HIV virus from mutating and spreading, allowing patients to rebuild their immune system to the same levels as the rest of the population.
To date, it represents the most significant treatment for patients suffering from HIV.

Professor Jens Lundgren from the University of Copenhagen, together with other members of the research group EuroSIDA, have conducted a study, which demonstrates that the immune system of all HIV-infected patients can be restored and normalised. The only stipulation is that patients begin and continue to follow their course of treatment.

HIV attacks the body’s ability to counteract viruses

Viruses are small organisms that have no independent metabolism. Consequently, when they enter the body they attack living cells and adopt their metabolism. The influenza virus occupies cells in the nose, throat and lungs; the mumps attaches itself to the salivary glands of the ear; while the Polio virus plays on the intestinal tract, blood and salivary glands. In all these instances, our immune system attacks and eliminates the invading virus.

HIV is so deadly because the virus attaches itself to a crucial part of the immune system itself: to the so-called CD4+T lymphocytes, which are white blood corpuscles that help the immune system to fight infections. The Hi-virus forms and invades new CD4+T-lymphocytes. Slowly but surely, the number of healthy CD4+T lymphocytes in the blood fall, while HIV relentlessly weakens the body’s ability to defend itself from infection. Finally, the immune system erodes to such an extent that the infected patient is diagnosed with AIDS. The Hi-virus mutates constantly as it forms and this is why, scientists face a constant battle to find a cure or a vaccine.

Combination therapy knocks out HIV

Combination therapy prevents the virus from forming and mutating in human beings. When the virus is halted in its progress, the number of healthy CD4+T cells begins to rise and patients, who would otherwise die from HIV, can now survive. The immune system is rejuvenated and is apparently able to normalise itself, providing that the combination therapy is maintained. The moment the immune system begins to improve, the HIV-infected patient can no longer be said to be suffering from an HIV infection or disease, already declining in strength.

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