Sneak Preview of New Features
Aug 26th
Here are a couple screenshots of some of the new lighting features I’ve been working on.
There’s still quite a bit to do: stomping out various bugs, solving edge cases, and integrating the new features into the user interface. I plan to release these new features in the next update of both the free and premium versions of Universe Sandbox 2.
One the left is Wolf 359 one of the closer stars to Earth at only 7.8 light years away next to Saturn and its rings. Wolf 359 really is that small, just a bit larger than Saturn and I’ve brightened it up (as it is really dim in reality). On the right I’ve added a second Wolf 359 and changed its temperature to a much hotter color.
Let me know what you think of the new lighting features in the comments…
New Website
Aug 25th
The new website for Universe Sandbox is now live.
Compare screenshots of the old site (left) and new site (right):
Click on the image to zoom.
Details of the website transformation:
- Simplified the overall look. Moved to a white page (vs black).
- Consolidated the FAQs into a single page.
- Added new screenshots of the version 2 interface.
- Site now folder based (no file extensions like htm, html, or php)
- New header and background for both the forum and blog.
- Revised Install button and added it to the blog and forum headers.
- Set width of blog to 960px (like both the forum and the main site)
- Fixed forum main page title (was ‘Universe Sandbox – index’, now ‘Universe Sandbox | forum’)
- Fixed problem with icons never appearing for forum actions, like ‘New Post’.
- Updated favicon for the site.
Let me know what you think in the comments. I value feedback.
We Landed on the Moon 41 Years Ago
Jul 20th
Today marks the 41st anniversary of humanity landing on the moon. Let’s go back soon.
More information
NASA Releases Free Video Game
Jul 6th
NASA has just released a free multiplayer video game called Moonbase Alpha.
You play as an astronaut on the moon repairing damage to your base after an asteroid hits nearby. Moonbase Alpha showcases a small piece of a more comprehensive multiplayer astronaut game that’s in the works called Astronaut: Moon, Mars and Beyond.
What do you think of the game? Let everyone know in the comments below.
Learn more about Moonbase Alpah on the official NASA website
Astronaut: Moon, Mars and Beyond
Visitors From All Over the World
May 2nd
I’m always amazed at how a single site on the internet is discovered by people all over the world.
Here is a world map of the last 1000 visitors to this site:
Our Sun is Amazing
Apr 21st
NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, a brand new spacecraft launched in February, has began sending back the most amazing and highest quality images of the sun ever taken by humanity.
More amazing images and video
http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2010/21apr_firstlight/
Official site of the spacecraft
http://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/
Wikipedia Article
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_Dynamics_Observatory
Our Earth is Constantly Bombarded
Apr 15th
Space is constantly raining down about 100 tons of interplanetary material each day. Usually it’s just dust, but sometimes it’s in larger chunks that crashed into the State of Wisconsin (United States) last night (on April 14, 2010).
Our World is Warming
Mar 17th
Scientific insight from the group (NASA) that uses science to successfully launch rockets shows that our world is warming.
This past year, 2009, and 2005 were the warmest years recorded since humanity started keeping track. This past decade, 2000-2009, was the warmest decade on record.
NASAs new website, A Warming World, is a wonderful collection of “articles, videos, data visualizations, space-based imagery and interactive visuals that provide unique NASA perspectives on this topic of global importance.”
http://climate.nasa.gov/warmingworld/
Despite the fact that it snows, our world is warming. The evidence is overwhelming.
Learning How To Make Software
Mar 4th
My first experiences in computer programming were in QBasic, a simple DOS based version of BASIC. Qbasic has evolved into VB.NET and it’s sister C# and the development software Visual Studio. While an amazing tool set it just isn’t as simple as it once was. It would likely have overwhelmed me as a 7th grader.
Check out Microsoft’s Small Basic. It makes learning to program simple again, it has a built in turtle (for those that remember LOGO), and it’s free.