Japanese officials are preparing to finally declare the Fukiushima power plant in a state of cold shutdown as early as 9am tomorrow (GMT). Now they can begin the estimated 40-year process of dismantling the site and repopulating the area.
Just look at the destruction. Seaside towns transformed into inland mountains of rubble. Google’s traveled some 44,000 kilometers through tsunami-ravaged Japanese countryside to digitally archive the immense damage. Be sure to have a hanky at the ready when exploring.
We’d all love to be able to predict earthquakes ahead of time — just think of the lives that could be saved. But toads can spot subtle changes in water chemistry before quakes way better than any scientist.
You don’t see earthquakes coming as you would with, say, a hurricane. But that may soon change with recent advancements to a “groundbreaking” early warning system developed, in part, by Google’s philanthropic arm.
Earthquake survivors buried under tonnes of rubble normally owe their lives to drinking their own pee. Not so for Japanese aid worker Miyuki Konnai, who says her laptop helped her through the ordeal.
Japan is hoping to have the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant safely shuttered by the end of the year, but a little radioactive wrench just got dropped: inspectors have discovered evidence of very recent fission. That’s bad news.
With its delicate stack of slender rings, Luke Gerram’s latest piece is a testament to both 3D printing technology and the legacy of Japan’s most catastrophic natural disaster.
The National Park Service has released a video that shows how the top of the Washington Monument looked from the inside during the August 23 earthquake. Obviously, there was a lot of shaking and people running around.
