New Florence. New Renaissance.

Crowd Simulations

"Torrens’s computer simulations let planners drop a few thousand virtual people into a burning building, then sit back and take notes—with heat coming only from the computer itself. The specific scenarios Torrens creates could show firefighters how to save the most people, tell architects where to place exits or barriers in stadiums, and guide police forces in corralling unruly mobs."

"Torrens’s model, on the other hand, turns each individual into an “avatar” with an artificial mind. Avatars can plan their own route, adjust their path on the fly, and even respond to the body language of fellow cybercitizens who may be jostling them."

Discover

"The Hard Science of Videogames"

Popular Science (sub required) has an analysis on all the geekery and hard work that goes in to making video games. They list the 10 biggest challenges and related technologies and techniques:

1. Processing Power
2. Water
3. Human Faces
4. Artificial Intelligence
5. Light and shadows
6. Fire
7. Material Physics
8. Realistic Movement
9. True to life capture
10. Motion capture

When Geeks and Nerds go to the movies!

They do not leave Newton and Archimedes at home - and find fault with the "Physics of Hollywood"

Check out this Popular Science slide show of math and other bloopers in 11 popular movies.   

Learning from Online Virtual worlds

"Online virtual worlds, electronic environments where people can work and interact in a somewhat realistic manner, have great potential as sites for research in the social, behavioral, and economic sciences, as well as in human-centered computer science. This article uses Second Life and World of Warcraft as two very different examples of current virtual worlds that foreshadow future developments, introducing a number of research methodologies that scientists are now exploring, including formal experimentation, observational ethnography, and quantitative analysis of economic markets or social networks."

Science magazine (sub required)

Second Earth

MIT Technology Review

"The World Wide Web will soon be absorbed into the World Wide Sim: an environment combining elements of Second Life and Google Earth."

Surreal.