NASA Satellite May Be Able to See Rainbows in Clouds

NASA has launched a new satellite to examine invisible specks in the atmosphere said to impact weather, climate and air quality.

According to NASA, the aerosol-detecting satellite, known in science circles as a “Hyper-Angular Rainbow Polarimeter (HARP) CubeSat”, launched from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia on November 2, 2019, ahead of its release into Earth orbit.

In orbit, HARP will filter light into four wavelengths and rotate that light to three polarization angles, creating a prism-like effect that will measure hidden properties of clouds and aerosols such as the amount and type of aerosols in the atmosphere, as well as the size of water or ice particles inside clouds.

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Nintendo Switch Sale Discounts Top-Selling Indies

A sale on the Nintendo Switch Eshop is offering solid deals on top-selling indie games. The sale lasts through midnight PT on December 28, so you only have a little while to take advantage. But it’s a great way to catch up on games you may have missed over the year and spend those eshop cards that were in your stocking.

These are all part of the Indie World library of games, which is also the name of this sale. Some highlights of the sale include Ori and the Blind Forest, Cuphead, and the standout puzzle game Baba Is You. Most of the prices are in the teens, though a few go even lower. The arcade shooter (and perfect use of Flip Grip) Downwell is less than two bucks. Two! You can check out the full listing of games and prices below.

This indies sale is running concurrently with another, even bigger Eshop sale. That one discounts a much broader range of games, including Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy IX, Ultimate Ninja Storm Trilogy, and even some other indies like Bastion and Transistor. On the whole the Eshop is offering some great deals right now so check them out.

Nintendo Eshop Indies Sale

  • Baba Is You – $12 ($15)
  • Blasphemous – $20 ($25)
  • Castle Crashers Remastered – $9 ($15)
  • Cuphead – $14 ($20)
  • Downwell – $1.50 ($3)
  • My Friend Pedro – $14 ($20)
  • Ori and the Blind Forest: Remastered – $14 ($20)
  • Slay the Spire – $20 ($25)
  • SteamWorld Quest: Hand of Gilgamech – $17.50 ($25)
  • Terraria – $21 ($30)
  • Torchlight 2 – $12 ($20)
  • Unravel Two – $5 ($20)

Now Playing: Ori And The Blind Forest Running On Nintendo Switch | PAX West 2019

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Tekken Producer Says A Possible Xenosaga Remaster “Failed Market Analysis”

Despite calling on the community for help revitalizing the Xenosaga series with a potential HD remaster collection, the project has officially fallen through the cracks. A producer at Bandai Namco has confirmed that a remaster of the long-dormant RPG franchise would be “difficult” to do based on current market analysis.

Katsuhiro Harada, a director/producer at Bandai Namco and the producer of the Tekken series, shared on Twitter that an HD Xenosaga remaster collection didn’t make sense from a profitability standpoint. Harada said that the project was progressing as a potential plan but was dropped somewhere along the process. According to Harada, resurfacing the project would be difficult to do.

Harada sent a request to fans on Twitter in 2014, asking the community to band together in the hopes of getting a Xenosaga HD remaster collection off the ground. At that time, Harada said he couldn’t “find the necessary market size” to make bringing the franchise back worthwhile. He said fan voices might chance those prospects.

Though the possible Xenosaga HD remaster collection remains left on the cutting room floor, Harada has kept himself and his team busy with Tekken 7, which received an 8/10 in our review when it launched in 2017 on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.

The critically acclaimed fighting game has revealed two new combatants for its third season, one of which is an original character added to the series. Tekken 7’s latest character, Leroy Smith, launched on December 10 for all platforms.

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