For you men, peeing has become complicated these days: You have to deal with everything from tests judging your ability to pick a urinal to pictures of women laughing at you. It’s about time someone put the fun back in pee time, and SEGA thinks they have just the thing: urinal gaming. As Pocket Lint describes:
This wacky video (filmed in Japan, where else?) shows off the pee-based game in which the speed and accuracy of your urine stream is judged and converted to a cartoon-like mini-game display on the LCD.
Games to play with you pee include a graffiti cleaning task, a Marilyn Monroe-esque trick that blows wind up a lady’s skirt, and a game that asks you to shoot milk from your character’s nose. You control the game by hitting the sensor in the urinal, which rates you on how long and hard you can pee. The aim of the game is to help dudes stay on target, Popular Science explains:
If you can’t go standing up, perhaps Toirettsu isn’t for you (sorry ladies, but your hands-free method allows you to play Angry Birds on the can anyhow). Toirettsu targets restaurant and retail environments, ostensibly in hopes that by giving users goal-oriented mini-games to focus on, their men’s room floors might stay a bit cleaner as gents have somewhere to aim. And, of course, it gives establishments (and Sega) somewhere to place an ad.
Have a brain for puzzles? What about ones that help advance science?
A new online game called Phylo is harnessing the power of idle brains on the Internet–asking any and all to help align genomic sequences. Human brain power is used instead of computer power because, as the researchers explain in the press release, humans are still better at some things than computers are:
“There are some calculations that the human brain does more efficiently than any computer can, such as recognizing a face,” explained lead researcher Dr. Jérôme Waldispuhl of the School of Computer Science. “Recognizing and sorting the patterns in the human genetic code falls in that category. Our new online game enables players to have fun while contributing to genetic research–players can even choose which genetic disease they want to help decode.”
Last week, an atmospheric scientist named Kyle Vandercamp stumbled across some surprising documents at his job, and decided to blow the whistle on his employer, Bluebird Lab. The privately funded lab wasn’t just researching potential geoengineering solutions–the planet hacks that could serve as a “plan B” if we can’t get globe-warming CO2 emissions under control–it was actually preparing a full-blown, unilateral tryout for one of these schemes, he said.
Freaky, eh? Might be something to be alarmed about–if it wasn’t just a game.
At first glance, it seems like every young Boy Scout’s dream come true: a merit badge for video games.
The Boy Scouts of America have finally recognized the vital importance of the pastime that occupies so much of modern children’s attention with the creation of a “video games” belt loop and pin, writes Engadget.
But before anyone goes scurrying off to embark on a marathon gaming session, here’s the rub. The awards aren’t earned by beating a high score or rescuing the princess. Instead Boy Scouts have to fulfill several dull requirements in order to get the belt loop, including:
Explain why it is important to have a rating system for video games. Check your video games to be sure they are right for your age.
With an adult, create a schedule for you to do things that includes your chores, homework, and video gaming. Do your best to follow this schedule.
Learn to play a new video game that is approved by your parent, guardian, or teacher.
To get the pin, the scout also needs to create a plan with his parents to buy a video game that is right for his age group, play the game with a family member, and play a video game that will help practice his math, spelling, or another skill that will help with his schoolwork.
Wow, with all that family time, we wonder if this is a ploy by the Scouts to drive the kids to earn other badges for outdoorsy activities (read: fleeing family, climbing tree badge).
• Back away from the game controller: Venezuela is laying out a plan for a new law that would ban violent video games in an effort to cut back on rampant crime in the country, even though studies have been unable to prove a link between gaming and violent behavior.
• Because walking, trams, and moving walkways are so last millennium, business travelers at London’s Healthrow Airport will soon be able to hitch a ride on driverless podcars. The battery-powered, robotic cars constitute the first personalized rapid transit system that lets riders control their destination.
• A popular online gamer ran up debt, stole from the virtual bank he ran, and exchanged it for actual cash on the black market. And then got busted. No doubt Paramount is buying the story rights as we speak.
Discoblog is DISCOVER's compendium of quirky, funny, and surprising science news from the edge of the known universe. It's written by Veronique Greenwood and Valerie Ross. Email tips and suggestions to vgreenwood [at] discovermagazine [dot] com.
At first glance, it seems like every young Boy Scout’s dream come true: a merit badge for video games.
• Back away from the game controller: Venezuela is laying out a plan for a new law that would 
