Japan Earthquake: Robots and Rescues

 It's not surprising that after the devastating 8.9 earthquake experienced in Japan this past week that the Geek-o-sphere (I made that up) is overflowing with news pertaining to both the relief efforts and the efforts to fend of the potential nuclear meltdown happining in the Fukushima district of Japan in the wake of the earthquake.

On top of these two things, it seems as if every Arab nation has decided that the old ways have got to go. Again, the geek-o-sphere has got this covered in terms of news, and not just normal news either, there are some truly “geeky” things going on in Japan in relation to this crisis.

At the risk of seeming like a news recycling blog (I like to think I put a personal spin on things) and taking a page from Phillip DeFranco, let's take a look at some of the things that interested me in the news this past week.

Robots. Real. Live. Robots. Well, you know, without the "living" part.

Now, OK, you might be saying “Luc, Robots aren't that special, bomb squads have been using them for years to deactivate bombs 'n stuff.”

Well you know what I say to you, smart ass?

I say that these aren't just regular Wall-E like robots that have extendable arms and are remote controlled. Although there are those too. These are robots of an entirely different sort. Snake Robots, for example. As well as underwater robots, which are probably going to be some of the most helpful considering this disaster was caused by a tsunami, although information on the underwater robots is apparently scant according to an article on the IEEE Spectrum blog.

Here's a video of that snake robot I mentioned earlier in action. 

Now, I don't know about anybody else, but if I was stuck in a situation where this snake was required to find me, and I saw it trying to find me, I might actively try to avoid being seen by this thing, because it's f'king terrifying and I've seen War of the Worlds a few too many times.

It's like being saved by the caterpillar from Alice in Wonderland, except without the hookah and rude sarcasm.

At the time of writing this post, Japanese power has been restored to the nuclear reactors that were near meltdown, and the Japanese have avoided another tragic situation, but the tragedies in Japan are still unfolding, with thousands without homes due to the tsunami, and thousands more "nuclear refugees" evacuated. It's important now to think of the Japanese people, keep them in your hearts, and if possible, donate to the Red Cross relief fund. You can donate Here.