Video games and agency in contemporary society

In recent years, the idea of player control, or agency, has become central and explicit in certain video games and genres, affecting many debates concerning the study or definitions of video games. In spite of this, the notion of agency in video games has been rarely explicitly explored or defined in relation to its sociological and political dimensions. Hence, drawing on actor-network theory, (neo-)Foucauldian governmentality studies, and empirical data gathered over a three-year period, this paper expands to our understanding of video game player agency and moreover, argues that video games provide an important example and perspective to consider the contemporary nature and political basis of agency

Mobile Asteroid Surface Scout (MASCOT) - Design, Development and Delivery of a Small Asteroid Lander Aboard Hayabusa2

MASCOT is a small asteroid lander launched on December 3rd, 2014, aboard the Japanese HAYABUSA2 asteroid sample-return mission towards the 980 m diameter C-type near-Earth asteroid (162173) 1999 JU3. MASCOT carries four full-scale asteroid science instruments and an uprighting and relocation device within a shoebox-sized 10 kg spacecraft; a complete lander comparable in mass and volume to a medium-sized science instrument on interplanetary missions. Asteroid surface science will be obtained by: MicrOmega, a hyperspectral near- to mid-infrared soil microscope provided by IAS; MASCAM, a wide-angle Si CMOS camera with multicolour LED illumination unit; MARA, a multichannel thermal infrared surface radiometer; the magnetometer, MASMAG, provided by the Technical University of Braunschweig. Further information on the conditions at or near the lander‘s surfaces is generated as a byproduct of attitude sensors and other system sensors. MASCOT uses a highly integrated, ultra-lightweight truss-frame structure made from a CFRP-foam sandwich. It has three internal mechanisms: a preload release mechanism, to release the structural preload applied for launch across the separation mechanism interface; a separation mechanism, to realize the ejection of MASCOT from the semi-recessed stowed position within HAYABUSA2; and the mobility mechanism, for uprighting and hopping. MASCOT uses semi-passive thermal control with Multi-Layer Insulation, two heatpipes and a radiator for heat rejection during operational phases, and heaters for thermal control of the battery and the main electronics during cruise. MASCOT is powered by a primary battery during its on-asteroid operational phase, but supplied by HAYABUSA2 during cruise for check-out and calibration operations as well as thermal control. All housekeeping and scientific data is transmitted to Earth via a relay link with the HAYABUSA2 main-spacecraft, also during cruise operations. The link uses redundant omnidirectional UHF-Band transceivers and patch antennae on the lander. The MASCOT On-Board Computer is a redundant system providing data storage, instrument interfacing, command and data handling, as well as autonomous surface operation functions. Knowledge of the lander’s attitude on the asteroid is key to the success of its uprighting and hopping function. The attitude is determined by a threefold set of sensors: optical distance sensors, photo electric cells and thermal sensors. A range of experimental sensors is also carried. MASCOT was build by the German Aerospace Center, DLR, with contributions from the French space agency, CNES. The system design, science instruments, and operational concept of MASCOT will be presented, with sidenotes on the development of the mission and its integration with HAYABUSA2

The SuperCam Instrument Suite on the Mars 2020 Rover: Science Objectives and Mast-Unit Description

On the NASA 2020 rover mission to Jezero crater, the remote determination of the texture, mineralogy and chemistry of rocks is essential to quickly and thoroughly characterize an area and to optimize the selection of samples for return to Earth. As part of the Perseverance payload, SuperCam is a suite of five techniques that provide critical and complementary observations via Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS), Time-Resolved Raman and Luminescence (TRR/L), visible and near-infrared spectroscopy (VISIR), high-resolution color imaging (RMI), and acoustic recording (MIC). SuperCam operates at remote distances, primarily 2-7 m, while providing data at sub-mm to mm scales. We report on SuperCam's science objectives in the context of the Mars 2020 mission goals and ways the different techniques can address these questions. The instrument is made up of three separate subsystems: the Mast Unit is designed and built in France; the Body Unit is provided by the United States; the calibration target holder is contributed by Spain, and the targets themselves by the entire science team. This publication focuses on the design, development, and tests of the Mast Unit; companion papers describe the other units. The goal of this work is to provide an understanding of the technical choices made, the constraints that were imposed, and ultimately the validated performance of the flight model as it leaves Earth, and it will serve as the foundation for Mars operations and future processing of the data.In France was provided by the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES). Human resources were provided in part by the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and universities. Funding was provided in the US by NASA's Mars Exploration Program. Some funding of data analyses at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) was provided by laboratory-directed research and development funds

Results of the FUSE Evaluation Project in France

International audienceBackgroundThe Federation of Visceral and Digestive Surgery (FCVD) is in charge in France of the continuing medical education of digestive surgeons. Since 2016 and in collaboration with SAGES, it has offered the Fundamental Use of Surgical Energy (FUSE) program as part of the continuing education for surgeons including eLearning and hands-on workshops.MethodsThe aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of the FUSE program on the participants by participating in a knowledge test and completing a survey.Results485 participants fully completed the knowledge test of 18 questions. Post-test assessment showed an increase in the mean score with respect to pre-test assessment, and the surgeons who have participated to the hands-on workshops had a better score. 304 participants filled the survey of 6 questions. The majority were satisfied by the FUSE program and felt that the objectives were achieved.ConclusionsThe FUSE program developed by SAGES and adopted by the FCVD in France was very much appreciated by the participants and achieved its educational objectives. Our goal is to spread it as widely as possible to all members of the operating room team

Michaux: xenopathic ontology

The hallucinogenic art of Michaux and other surrealists should never be regarded as advocating unbridled sensuous experimentation. The affects they generate may index absurdity, incongruity and comedy – they may ‘ridiculise’ our systematic thinking – but these affects thereby serve a more serious production of concepts. Through an abstemious aesthetics of existence Michaux becomes an ontologist of the prephilosophical sort. Carefully but ambiguously he explores the truths of matter, movement, body and modernity. As Deleuze saw clearly, the resulting ontology has strong affinities with that of Leibniz, though we have to insist on Simondon's transindividual dimension to obtain the full ontological purchase of hallucinogenic surrealisation