earthquakes
Gadgets
Japanese Vending Machines Dole Out Free Beverages During an Emergency
1:10AM Adam Frucci | Some new vending machines in Japan are designed to hand out free drinks to all comers—but only in case of an emergency. More »
Robots
Meet the Newest Member of Yokohama’s Mechanised Earthquake Rescue Brigade
2:10AM John Mahoney | After you’re discovered by this horrifying cilia-covered snake bot, this robotic coffin-on-treads will help extricate you from the earthquake rubble, measuring your vitals all the while. It’s soon to be deployed in Yokohama. [New Launches] More »
Science
Massive Hydroelectric Dams Could Have Caused the Sichuan Earthquake
3:00PM Elaine Chow | Some scientists are claiming that the Sichuan Earthquake, which killed over 70,000 people, might have been caused by a 150m-high dam constructed just 170m from the fault line. More »
Gadgets
Tokyo’s E-Paper Disaster Signs Help You Escape Earthquakes, Godzillas
10:44PM John Herrman | While we’re still fawning over tiny e-paper displays in e-book readers, the Japanese government is installing panels in Tokyo to aide evacuation in disaster situations—a very good idea, as it turns out. More »
Vehicles
Old Beijing Subway Trains Get Second Life As Homeless Shelters
2:30PM Elaine Chow | Ever wonder what happens to old subway cars when subway lines upgrade to newer trains? In Beijing at least, the ones used pre-Olympics have been shipped to Sichuan and converted into temporary winter shelters. Ten DK-16 trains, each with six cars, are now in Guangyuan, a city north of Sichuan’s capital Chengdu. More »
Vehicles
Notes: Greetings From Japan, Land of Earthquake Education Trucks
6:50AM Brian Lam | Hello there, I’m in Tokyo for a few weeks. The remnants of the summer heat linger like a mosquito; even as it rains you can feel. My first morning here, a 4.8 earthquake rumbled through the city. Judging from the poise Lisa’s family displayed, Japan’s citizens are far better at responding to earthquakes than even Californians. Part of that comes from the common frequency of quakes in the region, but I’d also like to give credit to the good old Earthquake simulation truck, pictured in the video above. Advanced technology, indeed. More »
Hardware
SentrySafe Hard Drive Endures Trial by Fire (and Water)
12:15AM Wilson Rothman | Whenever our journalistic brethren get to set something on fire and douse it with water, we like to commemorate the moment. Wired’s Gadget Lab just performed such a battery of tests on the SentrySafe fire-and-flood proof hard drives, ones we first saw almost a year ago. On one hand, the test went as predicted, but on the other hand, data doesn’t seem as protected as you might think. More »
Cameras
Humanity Will Record Apocalypse with Mobile Phones
12:00AM Jesus Diaz | After yesterday’s California earthquake everyone and their dogs* is posting videos online. Mobile Phones, camcorders, digital cameras, or CCTV, it doesn’t matter: like the following clips show, it looks like this era of democratised gadgetry has made humans eager to record their own destruction, perhaps as a last chance to leave a notch in History. I can see it already, when the fourth angel sounds the trumpet, people will take out their mobile phones and start recording a video of the Apocalypse. Except iPhone users, who would only be able to take photos. That and change their Facebook status to “is watching the asteroid falling.” More »
Networks
California Earthquake: Don’t Make Phone Calls, Use Text or IM Instead
7:58AM Matt Buchanan | You might’ve noticed that the ground got a little rumbly California. You also might’ve noticed that the phone lines are basically blowing up. AT&T is officially recommending to only “make emergency or urgent calls” and use text messaging instead, to keep lines open for emergency personnel. Facebook and Twitter are other options (if you’re one of those people), or reader Paul used his phone’s IM client to talk to people. If you’ve got other non-phone suggestions, drop ‘em in the comments, though stuff should be normal soon. [AP] More »
Gadgets
