tsunami

Anxiety over Japan's damaged nuclear plant increased today as the United States' top nuclear regulator told Congress the situation was worse than reported by the Japanese government and that "extremely high" radiation levels could hamper containment efforts.

The American Embassy in Tokyo, meanwhile, recommended evacuation to U.S. citizens within 50 miles of the plant--an area much larger than the approximately 12-mile radius established by the Japanese. Still, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission maintained that there was little cause for worry about radioactive drift on the part of residents of Hawaii or the West Coast of … Read more

It's now becoming increasingly clear that the global supply chain for electronics is going to be far more affected by the earthquake-tsunami-nuclear crisis still unfolding in Japan than previously thought.

Take for example the attention today on lithium ion batteries used in notebook PCs. Demand right now is not terribly high--it's a time of the year when consumers are buying fewer PCs--but consider what happens if the crisis persists. As Taiwan's Digitimes observes, a good bit of the world's production ecosystem for lithium ion batteries used in notebooks are not only located in Japan, but many … Read more

U.S. Pacific Air Forces is sending an unmanned Global Hawk reconnaissance drone to Japan to help authorities understand the scope of damage from last week's massive earthquake and tsunami.

Kyodo News reported that a Japanese government source said the high-altitude drone may be deployed Thursday to take a closer look at the damaged reactors of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, where workers are trying to prevent a full-scale meltdown.

Images taken by the RQ-4 Global Hawk based at Andersen Air Force Base on Guam may provide a better picture of what's happening at the plant's reactors, … Read more

Tokyo Electric Power Co., operator of the collection of nuclear reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi plant suffering major problems after an earthquake and tsunami, hopes a new power line will alleviate cooling difficulties.

The plant has been without power since Friday's magnitude 9.0 earthquake, and backup generators to keep the nuclear fuel from overheating failed after the tsunamis. But the power company is working to connect new power lines, according to media reports, a move that could restore cooling systems.

The power line is almost complete, Canada's Globe and Mail quoted Tokyo Electric Power Co. spokesman Naoki … Read more

If you're trying to call friends or family in Japan following the quake and tsunami there, iPhone app ChatTime is offering free calls to the stricken nation until the end of March.

New and existing users in 48 countries can use the free app to call cell phones and landlines in Japan for free.

As the country struggles in the aftermath of the cataclysm, phone reception has been patchy at times, with many using social media to communicate.

ChatTime uses phone networks instead of VoIP; Wi-Fi and 3G service is not required, just a carrier signal. Normally, calls are … Read more

Problems are cascading at a Japanese power plant, where explosions and fires are making it dangerous for workers to try to keep new overheating problems in check.

The Fukushima Daiichi plant on the northeast coast of Japan, with six reactors, was damaged by last week's magnitude 9.0 earthquake and resulting tsunamis. When the natural disaster struck, reactors 1, 2, and 3 were running and units 4, 5, and 6 were shut down for a regular inspection.

The first overt problems appeared at the three operating reactors, where heat remains an issue even though control rods were automatically inserted … Read more

The U.S. military has blocked from its computer network several Web sites popular with military personnel, as it looks to reserve bandwidth for use in earthquake recovery efforts in Japan, according to a report.

CNN said U.S. Strategic Command had confirmed that a block had been put into place Monday on the Department of Defense's .mil computer system and that the measure pinpointed 13 Web sites because of how frequently they're accessed.

The sites are: Amazon.com, Doubleclick, eBay, Eyewonder.com, ESPN.com, Googlevideo.com, Ifilm.com, Metacafe, MTV.com, MySpace, Pandora, Streamtheworld.com, and YouTube. … Read more

Fooling people on the Internet is far from a difficult feat, but Web magicians are finding creative ways to make us question our own skepticism. Take YouTube user BITcrash44's concept video that shows him hacking video screens in Times Square.

This guy supposedly fashioned a broadcast device that pulls video data from the headphone jack in an iPhone and can hijack any feed in the process. The accompanying video makes creative use of After Effects, but real techies should be able to spot the discrepancies--even still, without dissecting it to death like everyone else has online, can we at least appreciate the humor and ingenuity in this project? Well done BITcrash44!

Unfortunately, not everyone uses the Internet in jest like our buddy BITcrash44--some people use it to exploit the philanthropy of innocent people who just want to donate money to charities in Japan to assist the relief effort. Be careful if you receive an e-mail that claims to be from the British Red Cross using the subject line "Japan Tsunami Appeal | British Red Cross"; it's a charity scam.

You should also keep a lookout for traps hidden… Read more

The intensifying nuclear crisis in Japan is raising anxieties on both sides of the Pacific over the potential impacts of radiation exposure, and a relative dearth of official information on radiation levels is leading some to turn to crowdsourced options.

Japanese officials warned residents living near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to stay indoors after a third explosion at the plant in four days, followed by elevated radiation levels around the plant, which the officials said were high enough to harm human health. Panic was reported in Tokyo, as radiation levels rose to as much as 23 times the … Read more