tsunami

In a dramatic escalation of Japan's nuclear crisis, officials warned of elevated radiation levels after another explosion and reactor fire rocked the earthquake-damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, the third explosion in four days.

In a nationally televised statement reported by the Associated Press and other news agencies, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said radiation has spread from four reactors at the plant.

"The level seems very high, and there is still a very high risk of more radiation coming out," Kan said. "We are making every effort to prevent the leak from spreading. I know … Read more

Rescue robots are making their way to parts of Japan affected by the massive earthquake and tsunamis that devastated coastal areas Friday and in the days following, leaving nearly 6,000 people dead or missing.

A team from Tohoku University led by Satoshi Tadokoro is apparently en route to Sendai with a snakelike robot that can wriggle into debris to hunt for people.

The Active Scope Camera, seen in the 2008 vid below, is a 26-foot long fiberscope covered with a special servomotor system. It has hair-like structures that vibrate to move it forward at a top speed of 2.7 inches per second.

The Scope was used in the collapse of the Berkman Plaza parking garage in Jacksonville, Florida in 2007, penetrating 23 feet into the rubble and relaying images to rescuers.

Tadokoro and Japanese colleagues were apparently in Texas for a workshop when the quake struck Japan, but immediately returned to their country on hearing the news.

Fellow researcher Eiji Koyanagi of the Chiba Institute of Technology's Future Robotics Technology Center, meanwhile, is gearing up to deploy a robot called Quince that can probe hazardous sites after a disaster.

Quince rolls on treads and can sense chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear dangers in areas that firefighters can't reach. It has an onboard camera and can move about 5.2 feet per second. … Read more

The fuel used in the Japanese nuclear reactor where an explosion occurred today is more volatile and toxic than the fuel used in the other reactors there, a Japanese nuclear expert warned.

At a press conference in Tokyo, Masashi Goto, who worked for Toshiba as a reactor researcher and designer, said the mixed oxide (MOX) fuel used in unit 3 of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant contains plutonium, which is much more toxic than the fuel used in the other reactors.

MOX fuel is a mixture of uranium and plutonium reprocessed from spent uranium, and is sometimes involved in the … Read more

Links from Monday's episode of Loaded:

Google compiles pre- and post-earthquake images of Japan

AT&T allows U.S. customers to call and text to Japan for free through the end of March

Rumors circulated over the weekend of a new Google social network called Circles

Sony temporarily shuts down Final Fantasy MMO games to help Japanese utility companies save power

Netflix is not interested in selling movies

GPS manufacturers protest the LightSquared broadband spectrum

The iPad 2 sold like gangbusters this weekend

Buildup of hydrogen gas at a Japanese nuclear reactor caused an explosion today, but as with an earlier explosion Saturday, the reactor's containment vessel remains intact, the International Atomic Energy Agency said.

The explosion took place at the unit 3 reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi at 11:01 a.m. local Japan time, the United Nations agency said in a statement. And Tokyo Electric Power, which operates the plant, said in its own statement, "The status of the plant and the impact of radioactive materials to the outside environment are presently under investigation.

"All personnel at the … Read more

The estimated death toll from Japan's crippling earthquake and tsunami was revised to more than 10,000 today as officials worked to prevent a nuclear disaster.

"The earthquake, tsunami and the nuclear incident have been the biggest crisis Japan has encountered in the 65 years since the end of World War II," Prime Minister Naoto Kan told a news conference today. "We're under scrutiny on whether we, the Japanese people, can overcome this crisis."

Some 200 bodies were recovered today, and the official death toll from the earthquake and subsequent tsunami stood at 1,… Read more

While the damage and casualties in Japan are still being assessed, one bit of good news concerning the events in that country is that one key piece of infrastructure has managed to stay up and running despite the massive earthquake and tsunami waves: The Internet.

The folks at Internet research firm Renesys, who first gained attention for tracking Egypt's disconnection from the Internet, and then similar events in Libya, say they're surprised by how little the quakes have affected the undersea Internet cables that keep Japan connected to the rest of the world. Only a small fraction of … Read more

Updated throughout with new details at approximately 11:10 a.m. PT on Sunday.

A Saturday explosion at a closely monitored nuclear power plant in northern Japan and the expectation of another explosion at a second reactor are further distracting rescue efforts of thousands of stranded and missing in the aftermath of one of the largest earthquakes on record.

Officials initially reported that a meltdown at the first crippled reactor was not imminent, but on Sunday admitted that partial meltdowns may have occurred at two reactors, reported The New York Times. By Sunday afternoon local time, The Washington Post reported … Read more

AUSTIN, Texas--There may not be a more Net-connected group of people than the tens of thousands that have descended here this week for the South By Southwest Interactive Festival (SXSW). And in an attempt to harvest the collective power of these digital powerhouses to help out with relief for the disasters that hit Japan on Friday, conference organizers quickly took action.

Today, SXSW Interactive director Hugh Forrest announced SXSW4Japan, a Web site where conference attendees are being asked to donate a total of at least $10,000 for relief efforts in Japan.

"Can the SXSW community raise $10,000 … Read more