Second Ave creates Star Formation game for Discover magazine
ROCHESTER, NY - March 26, 2009 - Second Avenue Software, a Pittsford-based software development company specializing in interactive software and media production, has created a new game for the website of Discover magazine.
The game, called Star Formation, is designed to demonstrate the coalescing of interstellar particles to form stars. It was designed in collaboration with Adam Frank, professor of astronomy at the University of Rochester, based on his article for the February 2009 issue of Discover.
Frank's article "explains how our understanding of star formation has changed dramatically in just the last few years," says Frank. "By combining the words and images in that story with Second Avenue's delightful and interactive game, people can not only read about science, they can experience it for themselves in an immersive kind of environment. Nothing else like this has ever been done before."
The gameplay allows the user to trigger supernovas in a cloud of cosmic particles, so that each supernova scatters particles away from itself. The user's goal is to use these explosions to push quantities of matter together, resulting in the formation of new stars.
This game demonstrates the ability of educational interactives to simulate events that cannot be experienced in a physical lab. It is not possible to observe the life cycle of a star within a human lifetime, or to interact with cosmic events across interstellar distances, but a computer game allows students to engage with scientific concepts in a meaningful way.
"The collaboration between Discover magazine, The University of Rochester Astrophysics group, the National Science Foundation and Second Avenue Software is unique and innovative," says Frank. "By creating science-based games to go along with stories in Discover, we are giving people a whole new way to understand the way science works."
The article can be read at: http://discovermagazine.com/2009/feb/26-violent-mysterious-dynamics-of-star-formation.
The game can be played online at: http://discovermagazine.com/2009/interactive/star-formation-game/
About Second Avenue Software
Second Avenue Software is a new media production company focused on the development of creative interactive media which marries compelling visual and educational content.
The game, called Star Formation, is designed to demonstrate the coalescing of interstellar particles to form stars. It was designed in collaboration with Adam Frank, professor of astronomy at the University of Rochester, based on his article for the February 2009 issue of Discover.
Frank's article "explains how our understanding of star formation has changed dramatically in just the last few years," says Frank. "By combining the words and images in that story with Second Avenue's delightful and interactive game, people can not only read about science, they can experience it for themselves in an immersive kind of environment. Nothing else like this has ever been done before."
The gameplay allows the user to trigger supernovas in a cloud of cosmic particles, so that each supernova scatters particles away from itself. The user's goal is to use these explosions to push quantities of matter together, resulting in the formation of new stars.
This game demonstrates the ability of educational interactives to simulate events that cannot be experienced in a physical lab. It is not possible to observe the life cycle of a star within a human lifetime, or to interact with cosmic events across interstellar distances, but a computer game allows students to engage with scientific concepts in a meaningful way.
"The collaboration between Discover magazine, The University of Rochester Astrophysics group, the National Science Foundation and Second Avenue Software is unique and innovative," says Frank. "By creating science-based games to go along with stories in Discover, we are giving people a whole new way to understand the way science works."
The article can be read at: http://discovermagazine.com/2009/feb/26-violent-mysterious-dynamics-of-star-formation.
The game can be played online at: http://discovermagazine.com/2009/interactive/star-formation-game/
About Second Avenue Software
Second Avenue Software is a new media production company focused on the development of creative interactive media which marries compelling visual and educational content.