The International Space Museum

 

By Bixyl  Shuftan

 

With some big stories behind me, I thought it was important to take a look at a few must-see places that haven't been in the paper for a while. One that came to mind was the International Space Museum, in Spaceport Alpha.  

 

 The place has been in Second Life since it's early days, first going up in September 2005. So it will be 20 years old next month. While some of the builds are old by today's standards, it's very well done, and always informative. 

 

Near the middle of the Spaceport Alpha sim is a seating area. Some rocket launches, notably manned ones, are televised, and people come here to watch them, as well as discuss them. There's also occasional broadcasts from the International Space Station.  

 

At what used to be an official entrance is a circle of flags of all nations that have launched rockets into space. Some had less peaceful motivations than others. 

 

 While many of the exhibits are from around the museum's first years, there's an interactive one that isn't: the Space X Dragon capsule rocket ride. 

 

 To start, just get in the capsule, right-click and sit, and it will soon launch into the air ...

 

 And into space, the rocket soon falling away ...

 

 

And soon the Dragon capsule comes to dock at the International Space Station, humankind's current permanent manned location in space. 

 

There was a teleport to start a tour of the planets, starting with Mercury, the closest to the sun, which is basically a heat-blasted rock. 

 

The tour takes you to all eight major planets, Jupiter of course being the largest.

 

Uranus is the strangest, with it's rocky rings and tilted on the side. And of course the name that makes it the "butt" of jokes. 

 

 The tour also took you to stars and galaxies.

 

And after the tour, you can take the Dragon Capsule back down to Earth. 

 

 The last part of the rocket falls away as it heads back to Earth ...

 

 

 Entering the atmosphere, the friction gets so hot, the capsule would be burned up without the heat shield.

 

And eventually the parachutes open to slow your descent ...

 

 And a safe touchdown.

 

 There are numerous other exhibits, though the most visible is clearly the ring of rockets.

 

 So what did it take to get a two foot metal ball with instruments and antennae into space in the 1950s?

 

 This rocket in the middle, you can compare it to my avatar next to the green capsules to it's left.

 

About once a week, the National Space Society group in Second Life meets at the ring for it's "Tea and Rockets" chat.

 

There are many more, but to keep the article short, I'll have to leave them out.

 

On a final note, the museum is still in need of help.  It still needs people, whether builders, scriptors, educators, and others to help with new, and remodeling, exhibits. And donations are generously accepted.

 

WE NEED YOU! The International Spaceflight Museum (ISM) is always growing and needs volunteers of all types to help "make it so". Whether your strengths are in SL building or scripting, public relations, research, education, engineering, giving presentations, space art and design, administration and management, writing, imagining, or providing feedback, we'd like to work together to share the dream.

We need donors, too. ISM is a tax-exempt, non-profit organization dedicated to presenting information and experiences of past, present, and near future space hardware to the public. It has been a fixture in Second Life since 2005, built by a cadre of volunteers.

 

For more information, feel free to contact Kat Lemieux, the Director or Shanna Starship, the museum Officer. 

 

 http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Spaceport%20Alpha/128/128/22

 

 http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Spaceport%20Alpha/35/95/22 (teleport pad)

 

Bixyl Shuftan

 

Antiochia: A Sim and a Scholarship Trust

By Bixyl Shuftan

Earlier this month, the Antiochia sim officially opened. The sim is named after the ancient city of the same name, founded as a Greek colony, and thrived during Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine times despite being hit with earthquakes. There are a number of builds representing structures of the historic city around, which one can walk about and explore.

The sim is backed by the Antiochia Scholarships Trust, of which the staff of it's group there arranges events for students coming to Second Life through them.The landmark I was given led to the Porta Aurea, or "Golden Gate," of which a couple prim guards stood by. There were people nearby, so I headed over to the info center to the east. It was there I ran into the one who had invited me over, Alex Olteanu (alexolteanu.unplugged). His display name is the same as his real-life name. He welcomed me to the sim and offered to show me around. Alex explained that Antiochia was founded by Seleucus, one of Alexander's generals. It would become the capital of his empire, which was the easternmost and largest of the post-Alexander Hellenic kingdoms.

We headed back to the Porta Aurea. Looking around, I found a level that when pressed opened a door to a secret stairway leading down. In the room underneath, there were three maps on the wall, representing the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East during the Alexander the Great's campaigns, the Hellenic kingdoms that followed, and the Roman Empire around the fourth century, split into Western and Eastern halves, of which Antiochia would be part of the Eastern, which would later become the Byzantine Empire (the name would be given to them by scholars as they continued to call themselves Romans). On another wall was a painting of the city, "That's how it looked at it's height." On a third wall was a door to a tomb.

Opening it led to a build of Alexander's Tomb, "reproduced exactly in accordance with the old historians accounts." The place was a mixture of Greek and Ancient Egyptian influences, with both hieroglyphics and Greek murals. Alexander's body was still in his Greek armor, "He declared himself to be the son of Ra, and was buried in Alexandria Egypt, but he remained Greek (laughter)."

Olteanu explained, "What we tried to do here, contrary to most other historical sims, is not to have a monoculture like Roma. I love Roma, but its not reality. Each place has layers of history, multiple waves, one after theo ther. So here, we have Phoenician ruins, a Greek port, a Roman center, and a Byzantine fortress wiith Arab influences. The time of this build is 600 AD, Justinian's time, just before the Arab conquests. So we have some Arabic mosaics, but no Islamic theme. Because there was no Islam yet (laughter)."

We then headed to the Byzantine fortress, the main part of the sim, "the bridge is an exact replica of the Alcantara bridge in Spain." Around the place are occasional white circles with the letter "i" surrounded by blue. Clicking them will get you a notecard with some information about an object it's on or near. Getting inside the citadel walls, Olteanu told me, "this is the heart of the sim, the Acropolis." He pointed to the cathedral. Unlike those made later in Western Europe, this was a structure topped with golden domes, "the Cathedral is a take on Hagia Sophia in Constantinople. ... The coupola is really special." Inside, the "Redemption Cathedral," as it was called in the notecard, was decorated with a number of early Christian murals. The notecard explained the cathedral "attempts to re-create the feel and atmosphere of the Haga Sophia Cathedral in Constantinople," only one of them having been done there. The rest were from various buildings in Ravenna, Rome, Sinai, Grad, and another church in Constantinople. It is listed as "the most surviving work of Byzantine architecture" there. It was finished in 537 AD.

Olteanu told me, "below we have a cistern than still exists today." He pressed a door-shaped mural, and a secret passage was revealed. It led to stairs that went down to where the fresh water was stored, "the water from the aqueduct comes here." Going back up, he made a turn in a different direction, "and here is a secret passage back to the entrance." Going through a false wall led to a secret door that led back outside. "The other major building is the Magnaura," Olteanu pointed to a domed brick-colored building next to a park area, "the political center. It is also from Constaniople. It no longer exists today, but this is what it would have looked like. This is where we meet and govern the sim. *chuckle* "

Nearby was the Antiochia School and Trust Square, which had a mosaic pattern floor, a display screen on the higher wall, and seats on the side opposite it. In the middle of the floor was a water fountain.  There, Olteanu asked, "Lets go sit and chat a bit so i can tell you why this (the sim) is here." So we sat down, and he explained, "So I am a lawyer and a Business Management teacher by profession. Two years ago, I spent a year in Erbil Iraq teaching, and met a huge diversity of students, ethnically and religious, especially a lot of Christians. They all were eager to learn English and study abroad, especially in Canada where I am from. When I returned to Vancouver, I set up the Antiochia Scholarships trust. I named it after Antochia because it was such a multicultural diverse and cultured city. AST helps students from the Greater Middle East to realize their dream to study at universities in Canada. We pair students with universities and donors so they can come to study.

"I had experienced Second Life before. I created Al Andalus in 2008 with Rose Springvale, and I knew the potential of the platform. So we are using Second Life and this sim to create a virtual community of students before they arrive, help them improve their English and leadership skills and get ready for Canada. So this is fully integrated into our real life project and provides a unique platform that other media cannot do in a historical environment, which makes it both fun and educational. We have other partner institutions with their own projects, like Kelmen College across the river. So we are not in the business of renting land, but finding the right partners to develop synergies to promote Education - Creativity Citizenship and Diversity. That's the short version of it." He then chuckled a bit.

I asked, "How much experience with computers do your students usually have?" Alex answered,

"Quite a bit," Olteanu answered, "We have IT majors for example. But it is a steep learning curve to join Second Life. So we are training a few students to be a welcoming committee,  to provide support for those who will join later, and make is as easy as possible."

"The place looks very interesting and detailed," I told him and asked, "How long did it take to design and build it?

"Two months," he answered, "The Main architect is Alexia Carnell. She owns the Time Machine Studio in Second Life and is specialist in antiquity. The landscaper is Butterfly Summers, and the Terraformer is Bagheera Kristan. We starred on Oct 22 and finished on Jan 4. (There are) still some details and content to do, but its essentially done."

"The two main ideas I'd like you to remember if possible.  1. We use Second Life as an integral part of a real-life project to help real-life students pursue their education from the Middle East in Canada.  2. We have here a multi-layered cultural landscape trying to represent the reality of cultural diversity and hybridization that exists in the Middle East from Phoenician ruins to Greek ports to Roman aqueducts to Byzantine cathedrals and Arabic baths and squares. And water is the theme that brings it all together from the sources in the mountains and rivers and cistern to the aqueduct and ports and sea. It gives it a unity and coherence across time and space."

I then asked, "Are recent events complicating getting the students over?"

"Yes and no," Olteanu responded, "Yes because there are careful checks. But Canada is welcoming students from abroad, including the Middle East. So its much easier than in other countries, and they are already admitted by universities. So they are clearly students qualified to study here. A lot are Christian, not just Muslim."

My next question was, "So they already have the attention of universities and colleges?"

"Yes, "he answered, "We are partnering up with a number of Canadian universities. You can find out more information on the website of the real-life Antiochia School and Trust." He then displayed it as http://home.antiochiatrust.org . The website includes a page about it's location in Second Life. The main webpage has a youtube of Alex Olteanu speaking about his vision for his organization. In the recent past, Alex has also been a news announcer for Rompost, a Romanian language television show in Vancouver.

Antiochia officially opened on Sunday January 12. For over twelve hours from 10AM to after 10PM, there were various events, from singers such as Maximillion Kleene, speakers such as the noted Gwyneth Llewelyn, who talked about developing governmental participation in Second Life, and Alex Olteanu himself talked about his vision of helping Middle Eastern students. The SL Enquirer wrote about the event in an article (here).

There was more on the sim to explore. Later on I found a rideable horse that one could mount and go about on. I still have yet to visit the lighthouse, Posiden's Temple, the port and harbor, and a number of other places here.

Website: http://home.antiochiatrust.org .

Location: Antiochia (136, 249, 31)

Bixyl Shuftan

Virtual Hallucinations

Schizophrenia is a mental illness that many people know little about. In Second Life, an exhibit was built in the Sedig sim to help visitors gain some understanding of what those who suffer from the condition go through. Recently Gentle Heron took people on a guided tours through the small but informative facility, one of which I joined.

"Schizophrenia is a severe mental disability," Gentle addressed the small group, "People with schizophrenia have trouble determining whether their life experiences are real or not. In the classical stereotype, they hear 'voices' giving them negative information and directives, and they don’t know whether to trust them and follow those directions or not. Of course this means that people with schizophrenia can’t think clearly. In order to be a clear thinker, you need to trust the information you receive. It also means that people with schizophrenia often don’t act normally in social situations. They won’t have predictable emotional responses to stimuli, because they don’t know if those stimuli are real or not. People with schizophrenia may have trouble keeping friends and staying employed. They may also have problems with anxiety and depression, and often have suicidal thoughts or actions."

Gentle described schizophrenia as falling into four types. With paranoid schizophrenia, people afflicted can feel anxious, angry or argumentative, and that others are trying to harm them or friends/family. People with disorganized schizophrenia may have problems thinking and explaining thoughts clearly, show little emotion, and display childlike behaviors. Catatonic schizophrenia can mean lack of activity, rigid muscles and posture, odd facial expressions, and being unresponsive to others. Fourth is undifferentiated schizophrenia, which may include symptoms of more than one of these.

"Schizophrenia is an equal opportunity disability. It affects both men and women, and usually develops in late teens or early twenties. It develops slowly, with the severity of symptoms increasing and decreasing. It is difficult to diagnose. There are no medical diagnostic tests for schizophrenia. Usually, a psychiatrist makes the diagnosis based on interviews with the patient and family members. Antipsychotic medications are the most effective treatment for schizophrenia. These drugs change the chemical imbalance in the brain. That is how they help control symptoms of schizophrenia." Gentle did note medications can have "significant" side effects.

"When the schizophrenia is active, termed an 'episode,' the person may need to be hospitalized for their safety. When the disorder is less active, support groups, behavior therapy, social skills training, and support and education for family members of persons with schizophrenia are all important. What causes schizophrenia? Nobody knows. It does appear to have a genetic component. If you have a relative with the mental disorder, you are more likely to develop it. And people who have the genetic susceptibility seem to respond to triggering events."

Before going into the exhibition, Gentle warned us some people found the experience deeply disturbing, as it was meant to simulate the hallucinations schizophrenics have. Getting the experience involved clicking on a yellow can, getting a yellow badge, and wearing it. Once inside, activating the badge fully meant clicking on another yellow can and choosing male or female. It was then that the badge I wore began spouting voices, full of negativity and depreciation, "you're worthless!" "You disgust me!" "Kill yourself."

Gentle told us for anyone who found the experience too much could always detect the badge to stop the voices. The exhibit had several rooms, with occasional blue cones that when clicked explained some of schizophrenia's symptoms. Gentle told us the place was built from actual patient experiences. One room showed laptop computers flapping open and shut. With one poster, the words seemed to change to from a similar-sounding obscenity. One room described an incident in which one
schizophrenic was urged by his voices to pull a gun on some police. The voices went, "you have five seconds to get the gun, get the gun out of the holster, get the bloody gun and shoot yourself … shoot all the bastards."

"How would it be to live like this," Gentle asked us, "with no knowing if it's real or not?"

One lady in the group described one family member who had the illness, "(I) had a brother who heard these voices. (I) took care of him all my life. He also saw things. All this was real to him. He did not ever hear the voice to hurt others. But he did hear the ones directed toward him." When asked about what advice she had for others, she answered, "understand they do not have control over the voices. Sometimes the voices tell them not to take the medications too." She described at times having to urge him to bathe, shave, and eat, despite that she was almost to feet shorter than he. At one point, he disappeared for almost two years and was found in Alaska in the dead of winter in December.

Virtual Hallucinations was built by professors and honors students from the University of California, Davis.

Sedig (27, 44, 22)

Bixyl Shuftan

NOAA Island - Virtual Weather

I first reported on NOAA Island in March 2008 for Second Life Newspaper, set up by the The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, the government agency in charge of research of the oceans and weather. The Meteroa sim, about a year old at the time, was interesting then, and three years later still has much to offer those wanting to know a little more about meteorology and oceanography.

To get there, just type "Meteora" on your map and teleport over. The sim will automatically place you in the entry point. Just north of the entrance is the Real-Time Weather map. A map of the United States (save Alaska and Hawaii) shows the temperature and cloud cover & rain over the country. The map is not static, but updated as conditions change about every eight minutes, the data recieved by NOAA.

South of the Weather Map is Science on a Sphere, which contains a hologrpahic display sphere viewed from inside. To the east is the Tsunami simulator. Activating it, a siren goes off, and under the surface the ocean floor shakes. This is followed by the water drawing away from the beach, then a massive wave crashing down and wrecking the nearby buildings. This is probably one of the more entertaining places on the island, and I've seen at least one youtube poking fun at it.

To the south is the Sea Life area, where one can take a sub to observe plant and animal life, a hydrothermic vent, and a cave. To see inside the cave though, you need to either exit the sub or pan around in. The southwest corner of the island has the glacier simulator. Activating it, the hillside (and anyone standing on it) get encased in ice, and the water level nearby drops.

The northwest part of the map has the Hurricane Plane Ride and the Weather Balloons. By grabbing a balloon, or getting on the Orion hurricane hunter plane and taking off, one can fly up to see the hurricane high up in the air near the island (or you could just fly up their on your own).

Both the submarine and hurricane plane can be quirky. The first time I used the plane, somehow it got it’s tail caught in the hangar and would not move further. When I tried it more recently, it took off normally, then in mid-flight near the hurricane, it vanished, leaving yours truly to free-fall into the water below. The sub was stuck in the docks when I got there, so couldn’t use those either.

What has changed since March 2008 is the sim now has some neighbors. North of Weather Island, one can take a look at an Alaskan port and go on a virtual crab fishing trip. To the west is Okeanos, or NOAA Second Island. There, one can go on a survey vessel, clean on oil spill, study algae blooms, and look at coral. There was also an archeology dig. Curiously, there were some purple "streamers" nearby, but I didn't find out what they were for. South of Okeanos is the Second Earth sim, which offers a gigantic globe.

To the east of Meteora is Energy Island, which had what looked like a supercollider wraped around the place. Strangely, the Island was blocked from entry. There was, however, a smaller floating island overhead with a few exhibits. Why the main island would be blocked to most if the purpose of the place is education is unclear (though probably one can work in a joke about government agencies).

Despite those small flaws, the NOAA region can only be considered first class, even after a few years. It is a must-see for any Second Life resident even remotely interested in science.

To get there, head to Meteora (176, 160, 27). You can also find it in the Destination Guide.

Bixyl Shuftan

Alamo Exhibit Opens in UT Arlington

On Tuesday May 4, the University of Texas officially opened its Alamo exhibit in Second Life. The unveiling began with a Grand Opening event on the exhibit grounds, with live music and some dancing. Following that, the creator of the build, Lora Chadborne, offered tours.

The exhibit was open at 2:30 PM SL time. Getting there, it took a little time for everything and everyone to rezz. And there was an unusual “bounce” effect on the avatars, feel sinking into the ground for a split second then being shoved hack up. Group chatter had a few reports of glitches elsewhere, so it seemed a few of the gremlins showed up at the opening event as well. At about 3 PM, a patio with a piano appeared in front of the Alamo. A musician, Brookston Holiday then sat down and began playing and singing. Most people just listened, but some were dancing.

At 4 PM, the music was over. And Brookston wished everyone well and left. But Lora Chadborne stepped by the entrance and offered tours of the Alamo. Lora was the woman whom had built the Alamo exhibit. She had recreated historical settings in Second Life before, notably the Mayflower and Plymouth and the Apollo 11 moon landing area.

Near the entrance was a sign that explained the shortage of pictures from inside the real Alamo: they were prohibited. But Lora told be she had no problem: the sign was there because the real-life Alamo had one.

The inside had the same fine detail as the outside, or as Rocket Sellers put it, “this Alamo is unforgettable. Touching parts of the exhibit often gave you a notecard explaining the event. The baptistery and confessional near the entrance converted to powder magazines. The main room had photos of the real Alamo through history, portraits of Jim Bowie, Davy Crockett, and William Travis, a plaque of Travis’ last letter to Sam Houston, as well as a number of flags. Others included one with a flintlock on display, the Sacristy where the women and children hid during the final siege, which had a painting of Santa Anna ordering the bodies of the defenders burned in a mass funeral pyre.

In the back of the main hall was an 18 pounder cannon, the largest of those the Alamo had, a case with a newspaper account of the battle written 18 days later, and another comparing the fight to the Battle of Thermopylae of Ancient Greece. Nearby was the “Pop Culture” corner, with a movie poster and a kid’s toy Alamo set, “from the Davy Crockett craze of the 1950s.”

Nearby, Lora showed a recreation of the Alamo's well. In a nearby building, there was an art gallery, including photographic pictures of the actors playing the roles of David Crockett, Jim Bowie, and others. The building also had a gift shop. Lora gave me a coonskin cap for free as a souvenir.

A notecard gave this brief history of the “Mission San Antonio de Valero: Erected in 1718 by Franciscan missionaries bringing the Christian faith to Tejas (Texas), this mission served for decades before being abandoned and secularized. In 1803, the decaying site was used as barracks by the Spanish army, who renamed it 'the Alamo' after the Spanish word for 'cottonwood tree.' When the merciless Santa Anna discarded the Mexican Constitution of 1824 and became a dictator, American (and Mexican) settlers in Texas rebelled. Those of the nearby town of San Antonio de Bexar moved into the Alamo fortress, where they stood against the advancing army of Santa Anna -- outnumbered twenty to one.”

After 13 days, the 189 defenders, Texans and Mexicans opposed to Santa Anna, were overrun and all killed but the women and children, whom were let go.

More info on the Alamo exhibit can be found on it’s webpage: http://www.uta.edu/secondlife/alamo/


The Alamo exhibit is at UTArlington III (161, 113, 22).

Bixyl Shuftan

Space Destiny Island Sim Closing Down March 1

Checking out Daniel Voyager’s Blog, I read about a science sim that I hadn’t heard from in a while: Space Destiny Island. One of the “Sci-Lands” sims, it is a great sim with places that both inform and entertain. Unfortunately, it is about to vanish from Second Life.

Porting in at the LM given for Space Destiny (85, 94, 24), a short distance to the south is the Liyana Hall, which offers a sign and notecard explaining about the sim, and has a small picture gallery with a few exhibits. Also hear the entrance is a display explaining about the Sci-Lands in general, along with flags of the countries of people whom sent donations to help pay for the sim. Down a trail to the west is the Solar Hazard Research Center, which explains sun-related dangers such as solar flares. Over looking it on a hill is a planetarium.


Going east of the entry point across a bridge, one will find Sustainable Communities, which explains a little about how certain skills familiar to 19th century pioneers and the Amish will prove useful again to planetary colonists, notably the need to be self-reliant with just the resources at hand. The Midrivers Project Space Center discussed health and well-being in space, mentioning of the “vibrating dumbbell” on TV commercials, saying its origins were in the space program. It also mentioned Tuna Oddfellow’s Odd Ball, saying the psychological effects the show has on some people could prove useful for researchers looking for drug-free ways to relive stress and homesickness on astronauts. North of that on the coast were displays of aquaculture (farming in the ocean), and “Sea-steading” - structures for living and research built over the ocean like oil rigs.

The northeast part of the sim is Skylon, it’s huge rocket plane visible on the map. Here one will find exhibits on aircraft and ariel science, as well as a flying carpet to take you around. Down the east coast are exhibits on space stations and rockets. In the southeast corner of the sim is the Study Centre for Food Production in Controlled Environments. There, one will find exhibits on agriculture in space, notably a centrifugal force chamber to simulate gravity in a space station (plants don’t get dizzy). There was also a link to a Youtube of the University of Arizona’s CEAC Lunar Greenhouse (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4Dbh0nvh-4).

Just down a path west from the Food Production Center is a recreational area with lounge chairs and dance floor. Looking around, I found a notecard with a LM to a Trek roleplay area over the sim (157, 207, 2048). Going there, I found a Trek space station: Outpost 17. Looking around, I found a dispenser that could manufacture phasers, datapads, and Starfleet uniforms: gold, blue, and of course red. While there, I ran into two members of the RP, Flea Habilis and Yoiko Hax. “We've about two days left,” Yoiko explained, “Still not sure exactly what's gonna happen to our station here. ... At least everything's backed up. Even a lower prim version -just- in case. ... I feel worse for everyone on ground level. As many times as Space Destiny seemed to change direction, they all preserved.” Their RP was also known as Space Station Hideki.

Exactly why the sim is closing was not explained, though they did say everything was being set up on Opensim, with people invited to contact Silviana Jenvieve (Dr. Jenny Oliver in RL). So those able to go to Opensim will still be able to see it. For those who can’t, Monday February 28 is the last chance to see this educational sim.

Once again, the entrance is at: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Space%20Destiny/85/94/24

Source: Daniel Voyager's Blog

Bixyl Shuftan