The Earthquake Check In thread

Back on Topic. Today they found a young man alive in a house. He had been there for 9 days! He must of had some food but it would have been bitterly cold. He's now in shock as you would be but at least he's alive. Here's hoping he'll recover soon.

Yakumo

 

Hey did the gundam statue get destroyed? i know its irrelevant but im a gundam fan need to know

 

No, but it's nice to know you have your priorities.

 

Well then good luck japan on re-building

 

I just talked to my mechanic from when I lived in Sendai. He owns a shop up there and he told me that somebody came in and stole all of his gasoline. He has a lot of cars on the premises and somebody, or somebodies, siphoned all of the gasoline from all of the cars.

 

It seems most educational institutions in America are recalling their students and cancelling all exchange programmes, regardless of what part of Japan they are placed in. Pretty much all of my American friends have been called home by their home universities, their flights home already booked before they were even notified of this, and they lose all support (financial or otherwise) from their university if they refuse to come home. Just to emphasise - I live in bloody Kyoto. God knows why the American institutions are reacting in such a way.

Thankfully most UK educational institutions are being a tad more rational.

 

They're probably worried someone will try to sue them for radiation poisoning or something stupid.

 

So much for the "Japanese don't do crime" shit that my wife keeps saying. Well, on the bright side, at least it was only fule, something which they do really need. Now, if thery had stolen a car or damaged them, that would be wrong.

Yakumo

 

I don't know the situation of your friend in Sendai, but maybe the thief needed it badly. At least the media keeps reporting about the gravity of the fuel shortage.

 

They probably learned how to do it from foreigners.

 

Good news everyone:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/03/19/501364/main20045000.shtml

The reactor is "relatively stable" as they've put it. I've been kinda curious as to why they haven't modified a few vehicles to be remotely controlled given Japan's burgeoning robotics industry. Probably a good reason I'm sure.

And in related news, the video further back in this thread where the camera crew stumbled upon the dog who wouldn't live his fellow canine buddy? Apparently the crew took them both to a shelter where they both have been receiving treatment. The injured dog isn't doing as well as the one who was able to walk but from what I heard on the radio they're both expected to be just fine.

 

Well, I guess it was just a matter of time. The looting in Miyagi Prefecture has begun.

Storefronts are being smashed, name brand goods are being swiped along with cash in the registers.


http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20110320-00000017-jij-soci

 

Okay, so "250 counts" so far. Does this qualify as looting? Also, no violence. While by dictionary term it might qualify, the image of looting I have is from what I've seen: the bullshit in LA and New Orleans, specifically. Where there's a natural disaster and people fucking loot TVs.

Interesting to see how it plays out.

 

The electronics would need to be rad-hardened. There are also things a robot can't do that takes a person. There's a reason astronauts put together the ISS and do repair work on Hubble.

 

Yes, like almost anything. We are in 2011, people. Not fucking Star Trek.

 

However remote controlled air drones are in place and remote controlled vehicles
With remote controlled vehicles you would not have needed to put a limit on the amount of times they went and fired water into the nuclear plant

(though the vehicles would be spreading radiation elsewhere)

 

I'm guessing most of you have yet to see MythBusters where they can rig RC controls to a car under the hood to control throttle and steering. Add something to aim the water cannon and done.

That is all I meant but somehow it was taken as "send in Data to bend the reactor into shape! Then have him meet me in my ready room with Earl Grey to resume his role as a foot stool".

People have to work the controls, but people don't HAVE to drive the car.

http://xkcd.com/radiation/

Handy chart for visualizing the radiation levels.

 

Having personally worked with urban search and rescue (USAR) robots, I can tell you it's not just a simple matter of sending them in.

 

You'd need to have them programmed to do something specific: like spray water. If we needed to send them in and blow the place to smithereens, I'm sure there are tons of drones that could handle that.

 

They tried using robots in Chernobyl to clean up bits of graphite spewed from the reactor on the rooftop. Eventually all of them stopped functioning from the high radiation levels.

I know it's not no the same level, but If one was to be implemented it would have to have a way of shielding itself from high level radiation to protect it.