earthquake
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Disastrous AFKs
While I'm sure we've all had the experience where a crucial group member went away from their keyboard at a bad time, a whole different type of disastrous AFK was brought up on the WoW forums the other day. An earthquake in the San Francisco area was cause for a lot of sudden AFKs for many posters, including Delthen who started the thread. It seems that many of the posters actually told their group that they were going away from the keyboard. Apparently they failed to read the recent article on the subject by our own Robin Torres. Nethaera chimed in with her own story of a group member needing to leave the game due to a tornado warning, one which I've seen occur in-game myself. Personally, the worst thing that's suddenly taken my attention from the game is my dog getting sick or maybe a desperate cry for me to kill a spider that's harassing my wife. What's the worst thing that's caused you to go AFK?
Enryu T-53 service robot cleans up Japan post-earthquake
It's been far too long since we've seen the Enryu support robot out on the streets of Japan, and unfortunately, it was called into action once again recently after an earthquake reportedly rocked Niigata. The newest edition, dubbed the T-53, has received a number of improvements over the prior T-52 model, and aside from being able to hoist 220-pounds per arm without a stressing a joint, this rendition is supposedly a registered, street-legal vehicle to boot. Check it in the work zone after the break.
Hello Kitty emergency gadget saves lives, looks real cute
If you live in a place like Japan, there are two things that probably pop into your head from time to time. One is earthquakes, because the little island has been home to some of the biggest over the years, and the other is Hello Kitty -- and she needs no introduction. Sanrio, in its infinite wisdom, has sought to join these two disparate elements by creating the Hello Kitty emergency gadget. In the event of some type of catastrophic event, Hello Kitty will be there with her hand crank USB cell phone charger, LED flashlight, AM/FM radio. hazard siren, and compass -- all in one super-cute pink package. Of course, once rescue workers find you, you still might die... of humiliation.
Japanese mobiles could make satellite calls to massive dish
When you're already tracking every kid out there to make sure no one gets into too much mischief, you definitely need a way to make a call whilst in "mountainous areas or at sea," right? Apparently the Japanese government thinks so, as it's planning on bringing satellite calling to the masses by launching a bird that's 50-meters in diameter in order to enable "ordinary handsets" (you know, the ones without the mile-long antennas) to make satellite calls in times of emergency with just slight modifications. The aforementioned sat would be over twice the size of the 19-meter Kiku No. 8, which currently holds the crown for the largest launched by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, meaning that the newfangled equipment would fit nicely within the confines of today's increasingly shrinking cellphone and still find signal. Interestingly, the ministry isn't looking to get the service going before 2015, so we just might be looking at mainstream antenna-less iterations by that time anyway.[Via DigitalWorldTokyo, photo courtesy of SatellitePhones]
Regenerative house to grace Greece mountainside
You've got plenty of options when it comes to healing your own body, but patching up your domicile usually requires days of back-breaking labor and gobs of cash to boot. Thankfully, that awful process could be nearing its end, as a £9.5 million ($18.64 million) European Union-funded project sets out to develop self-healing walls for your average home. The idea is to develop "special walls for the house that contain nano polymer particles, which will turn into a liquid when squeezed under pressure, flow into the cracks, and then harden to form a solid material." The technology would prove quite useful in areas where earthquakes are prominent, and in an effort to test things out before shoving it out to contractors everywhere, a swank villa is being erected on a Greece mountainside to collect information. The house's walls will be built from "novel load bearing steel frames and high-strength gypsum board," but more importantly, they will contain a smorgasbord of wireless sensors and RFID tags meant to collect, store, and disseminate critical data regarding "any stresses and vibrations, temperature, humidity, and gas levels." Now, who's the lucky lad(s) that get to call this their home research dwelling?[Via Physorg]
Japan's earthquake warning system tested out
It's a good thing that Japan's Meteorological Agency actually had the nationwide earthquake warning system ready to rock in March, as the fiber optic system was put into use this month in an attempt to warn citizens of an imminent tsunami. Reportedly, a "huge tremor" struck and triggered the system, which allowed warnings to be beamed out en masse "within a single minute." Although the system was tested before in false alarm fashion, this was the first time it had been used in a legitimate emergency, and it beat the previous options "by around one to two minutes." Sadly, it still wasn't quick enough to save everyone from the 6.9-magnitude quake, as 170 people suffered various injuries while one individual passed away, but the statistics could've been much worse had the speedy system not kicked in at all.
How would your DS fare ... in a volcano?
That's one of the many tough questions Robert Falcon asks over at modojo.com. He decided to analyze the DS and PSP's ability to survive various natural disasters, including floods, earthquakes, and blizzards. Keep in mind that if your DS Lite somehow manages to find its way into a pit of boiling lava, you need to take pictures so we can post them. Seriously, that stuff is blogging gold.On a slightly more serious tack, has anyone had a DS or DS Lite miraculously survive when it had no right doing so? Let us know![Thanks, Justin!]
Ubukata offers up compact smoke / earthquake detector
While we've seen detectors from nearly every angle imaginable, Ubukata Industries Co. is helping us all to consolidate just a bit by cramming two of the most important sensors into a single, compact device. The multi-tasking earthquake detector and alarm comes in a variety of colors and is compact enough to mount on a ceiling without drawing too much unwanted attention, and it also features built-in lighting to brighten your way in case you lose power. Furthermore, this gizmo sniffs out unpleasant drafts of smoke and feels the rumbles of earthquakes with magnitudes of five or higher, setting off a presumably piercing alarm to let you know something's going down. Of course, the price of a twofer doesn't run cheap, as this two-in-one emergency mainstay demands ¥14,700 ($124). [Warning: PDF link][Via I4U]
Scientists use earth-embedded GPS antennae to improve quake understanding
While GPS can do pretty much everything from provide basic map locations to help us engage in fun activities like geocaching, it had never occurred to us that it could also be used in seismology. Fortunately for folks living in quake country, geophysicists have figured out how to do just that. According to a paper that was just presented at the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco, a joint team from Stanford University and from the University of Indiana have figured out a way to use GPS antennae lodged deep in bedrock that can provide a new model for assessing risk of future earthquakes. Armed with these tools, scientists can now determine how quickly various points on the earth are moving, which allows for a better understanding of how tectonic faults shift. But if anyone's knowledge of earthquakes can be improved, it's certainly ours -- we had no idea they get shaken up occasionally over in Indiana.
Italian scientists develop quake detection theory
If research at the University of Naples and the National Institute of Geophysics and Vulcanology in Rome proves to be accurate, folks who live in earthquake country may eventually have a few more seconds to respond to oncoming earthquakes. New research published later this month in Geophysical Research Letters shows that primary waves (P waves) from earthquakes contain enough information about its magnitude and destructive potential to alert potential victims about their impending situation about 15 seconds beforehand. While that may not seem like very much time to dive under a table, it may be enough for automated systems to shut off gas pipelines or to halt high-speed trains. This sounds very much like that Japanese system we spotted in October -- whichever one is deployed first, we'll be glad to see it. [Via Slashdot]
Japan Meteorological Agency develops earthquake warning system
Okay, so JMA's newest pre-quake warning system doesn't cover as much ground as SMS alerts, but with only 10 to 20 seconds of available panic time before an earthquake hits, we'd probably be toppling over one another before we could even find our cellphone anyway. Japan's Meteorological Agency is currently testing a prototype system which detects the oh-so-subtle "P Waves" that precede the destructive "S Waves," and alerts major operations to halt their hustle and take cover. Since the primary waves travel more quickly than the comparatively sluggish secondary waves, the system picks up on the magnitude and speed at which the quake is approaching, and beams the data over fiber optic networks to emergency relay stations setup in corporate towers, governmental buildings, hospitals, and transportation venues such as railways. The typical alert allows under half a minute to shutdown operations and dash for safety, but the agency claims this crucial shred of time can be enough to scurry away from any treacherous hazards nearby. The government plans to expand a fully-featured system to provide alerts via television, radio, and "wireless communications" by March 2007, but until then, we suspect the ole "ear to the ground" method is the best you've got.[Via Pink Tentacle]
New system warns of potential bone fractures
While ultrasonic stimulation may now be an FDA approved method of healing bone injuries, a team of researchers at Purdue University and the University of Toledo have developed a prototype system that will hopefully keep you from requiring such treatment. The group is designing a wearable device that alerts a person engaged in rigorous activities (read: Dance Dance Revolution contests) when a stress fracture is immanent so they can cool their jets before it's too late. The system records "acoustic emission data" (sound waves creates by tiny bone fissures) the same way a machine monitors the integrity of bridges to detect harmful amounts of pressure before disaster strikes, and the data can be quickly analyzed via PDA software to determine if you're pushing things beyond recommended limits. The same techniques used in measuring earthquakes will potentially be used on athletes, runners, dancers, soldiers, and even horses in order to mitigate those oh-so-troublesome hairline cracks. While we don't intend for this to discourage you from remaining faithful to that newly-devised exercise plan, at least you would have an excuse to quit know when enough's enough, as you definitely don't want to end up hospitalized under this RN's care.[Via MedGadget]
Ubisoft looks for more female players -- Alive coming to Wii
Ubisoft is shaping up to be one of our favorite companies. Their fresh and innovative view of games and this industry as a whole has impressed us time and time again. Plus, they seem to be female friendly seeing as how their US office was headed by a woman named Christine Burgess-Quémard and they are also the parents of the lovable, kick ass gaming team, the Frag Dolls. Something else Ubisoft is doing to make us like them more is develop awesome Wii games. Rayman Raving Rabbids, Splinter Cell, Far Cry and their newest take on earthquakes and how to survive them -- Alive. Not much has been revealed about Alive and it was only recently confirmed by Yves Guillemot in an interview with International Herald Tribune. Alive doesn't focus so much on shooting as it does on character survival. How this is going to attract more female gamers we aren't certain but it is definitely something to find out. [Via IGN]
SeisMac
Living in San Francisco is great; the weather is fantastic, the people are friendly, and I challenge you to find a city with a higher concentration of geeks. However, one does have to keep in mind that although this town may seem perfect, a deadly force lies dormant beneath my feet, waiting to unleash its fury upon this techie metropolis in a few seconds of violent earth shaking. In plainer words; this here is earthquake country. Lucky for those of us who spend working hours staring at our 'Books, Suitable Systems has released SeisMac, a new program which takes data from the motion sensor in your later model PowerBook, MacBook, or MacBook Pro, and presents it as a fancy-shmancy scientific seismograph. SeisMac is available as a free download.Via Infinite Loop
Discovery HD Yogyakarta Earthquake special: Panic in the Ring of Fire
During last weeks devastating earthquake in Indonesia, Discovery HD was actually on the ground filming a television special about the (still) ready-to-erupt volcano Mount Merapi. The morning of the quake they got to the affected area, Yogyakarta, within minutes and recorded the destruction all in HD. The one hour special airs Sunday at 7 p.m. on Discovery HD.[For more information on how you can help the victims of the earthquake, you can check out the Red Cross' website]
