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Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag Details Revealed

More details have been revealed about Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, the sixth major installment in Ubisoft’s popular action adventure open world video game franchise. Lead scriptwriter Darby McDevitt recently explained that the two main themes of the game will be sexual immorality and repentance.

That explains why the first trailer for the pirate-themed game showed the leading character, pirate Edward Kenway, involved in different acts of depravity, including a sexual encounter with two scantily clad women and plenty of murder. Kenway’s encounters with other women are an essential plot detail, given that he is a married man who has an already strained relationship with his wife. In fact, one of the main motivations of the character is that he wants to become a rich man and prove himself to his family, McDevitt said.

Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag Details Revealed

The game will be pre-scripted, so players will not have much of a choice when it comes to Kenway’s relationships. In terms of gameplay, McDevitt says Black Flag was designed to be more open and free than any previous installments, which suggests that players will nonetheless be given some decision-making power.

Like in previous episodes of the series, players will be able to use non-playable characters to achieve various goals. For instance, Kenway will use one of the two female non-playable characters seen in the trailer to seduce and distract his target later on in the game.

In terms of plot, Black Flag is a sequel to the modern story and a prequel to the ancestral storyline of 2012’s Assassin’s Creed III. The story is divided between the present day and a past historical setting, with events in each influencing the other. The historical storyline is the one that focuses on Kenway and is set in the Caribbean, thus offering 50 locations to visit and both land and naval exploration opportunities.

Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag is scheduled to be released in the United States on October 29. It will first be available for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, WiiU and PC. Developers recently announced that Black Flag will also be available for next generation consoles such as Sony’s PlayStation 4 and Microsoft’s future Xbox, but no official release date has been announced for these platforms. Furthermore, Ubisoft will again partner with Sony to bring exclusive content to PlayStation gamers.

[Image via PC Gamer]

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Cadillac Super Cruise: Semi-Autonomous Driving

The self-driving car may still seem the stuff of science fiction, but the technology to make this real is actually close than you think. After Google revealed its work on self-driving vehicles, U.S. carmaker General Motors announced that it has already successfully tested semi-autonomous driving technology on a Cadillac.

But this doesn’t mean the Super Cruise system is ready to go. The technology still has to undergo extensive testing, and Cadillac expects it to be ready for widespread use within the next decade. So far, GM tested the Super Cruise on closed courses and sophisticated driving stimulators, with plans to take it out on real roads very soon.

Cadillac Super Cruise Allows Semi-Autonomous Driving

The Super Cruise is actually a complex system of radar, cameras, ultrasonic sensors and GPS map data. The technology is capable of various semi-autonomous driving operations, such as lane following, speed control and braking. For the time being, the system is designed to work on freeways only, either on long road trips or in traffic jams, but it still requires the driver’s attention. If the road is covered by snow or affected by inadequate maintenance, the system will not work.

For lane centering and orientation, the system uses the GPS map data, but also forward-looking cameras and other sensors to detect markings, curves in the road and other road characteristics. The Super Cruise is also provided with an alert system to communicate with the drivers in order to make sure they are still paying attention to the road.

The technology is based on already existing features of the Driver Assist Package on some models, such as for instance, the safety alert seat which lets drivers know if they’re drifting out of their lane by vibrating their seat.

But General Motors and Cadillac are not the only auto manufacturers exploring the possibility of autonomous driving technology. Ford already has an adaptive cruise control that is able to keep a designated distance from the vehicles ahead and an automatic parking feature. Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo are also developing similar systems.

cadillac super cruise

GM said the Super Cruise may be available by 2020. Until then, the researchers will continue testing the technology for various lighting and weather conditions and will also try to find ways to make it more autonomous so as to require less attention from the driver.

[Images via Extreme tech & Digital trends]

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Glowing Plants Can Act as Natural Night Lights

Scientists have been trying to create glowing flora artificially for some time now. Are you wondering why? Well, we don’t know either, but a new bioengineering project actually has what it takes to be successful and create a glowing plant that can provide a sustainable light source.

The Glowing Plant Project is already a big hit on Kickstarter, where it raised four times more funds than its initial goal of $65,000. It is currently at over $264,000, with about 4,600 backers, and one more month to go. The team is now hoping to raise $400,000 in order to expand its research.

Glowing Plants Can Act as Natural Night Lights

The research team, headed by synthetic biologist Omri Amirav-Drory, tech entrepreneur Antony Evans and botany expert Kyle Taylor, is planning to create bioluminescent plants that can glow bright enough to be clearly seen in the dark, with the help of improved DNA sequencing and printing.

The project is inspired by firefly DNA. Researchers will take luciferase, a protein commonly found in fireflies and other glowing bacteria, and break it down to create luciferin. Researchers have already designed the necessary DNA sequences to inject the plants, with the help of the Genome Complier program. In the final stage, the DNA will be printed and transferred to the plants.

Researchers will begin the process with a small plant named Arabidopsis, which was chosen because it is easy to experiment with and has virtually no risk of spreading into the wild. The first stage is known as the Agrobacterium method: the synthetic DNA will be inserted in a special kind of bacteria which can pass on its own DNA to the plant. The plant’s flowers will be then dipped into a solution that contains the bacteria in question. The bacteria will inject their DNA into the plant, and from here it reaches the seeds, which will then grow into glowing plants.

It is unclear how much light the plants will produce, at least in the first stages of experimentation. Scientists are hoping to be able to pre-set the intensity of the light and even the color of the glow in the future. If the project meets its $400,000 stretch goal, the team will start working on creating a glowing rose, as a more commercially appealing alternative to the Arabidopsis.

The results of the process will be released open source. The rewards offered to Kickstarter backers already include a DIY kit to transform your own plant or even the possibility of having a message inscribed in the DNA of the plant.

[Image via Glowing plant]

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