Japan – NerdBeach

The Caves of the Moon

Did you know that there are caves and extinct lava tubes on the Moon? In 2009, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) lunar orbiter, Kaguya, was able to take a picture of a potential entry to a cave (or lava tube). The hole in Mare Ingenii measured about 65 meters across and around eighty meters deep. Unfortunately, the picture does not not provide enough detail to see if it does lead to a subterranean passage, but given its structure there is a good possibility of it.

Such caves could provide protection from radiation and physical threats, and it could offer a shortcut to building a lasting moon base. The moon is not unique to such structures, since we have seen evidence of them on Mars before, and adopting methods to take advantage of them could pay off big dividends in space exploration.

Panasonic incorporating 1TB DVR in Viera TVs

Greg Chaffins

Panasonic recently released information about the extreme life of their new Viera Plasma TVs, but it looks like they are bringing even more to the line. The PZR900 line of Panasonic Viera TVs feature a strong list o features, including a whopping 1TB DVR (digital video recorder) built in to the units. This would give the TVs up to 121 hours of recording time. The 1920×1080 HD displays can connect to an online service ("TV Net") which offers streaming content as well as YouTube videos. There is also a card reader to view media, and Viera Link from Panasonic allows for remote monitoring of video content, such as security cameras and local media sources.

All this TV technology goodness comes with a price, and that price starts at $3,800. Currently the PZR900 line is available in Japan, and it is expected to be elsewhere soon.

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Cell phone transforms into music playing cube

Greg Chaffins

Already cell phones are doing a lot of different tasks, becoming a lot of things to their owners, virtually transforming into still cameras, music players, small computers, and even camcorders. But the KDDI AU Design Project in Japan has taken that ability to transform into the physical realm with a phone that becomes a music playing cube, complete with speakers and visual display.

Box to Play, as it is called, is a concept phone. There is no word yet as to it being produced commercially.

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Snake-like robot designed to help rescue people trapped in rubble

Greg Chaffins

What better to snake through a bunch of debris to rescue people than, well, a snake? Researchers at Japan's Tohoku University have created the Active Scope Camera, which is basically a snake-like robot with a camera.

The robot uses a fiber-optic camera and it is covered with tiny cilia bristles which allow it to move rather like a cross between a snake and a millipede, The robot has a length of 8 meters, a diameter of 2.5 cm, and it has the capability of climbing up 20 cm by extending its body.

The university recently tested the device in a collapsed building in the USA, and it passed the challenges. The team hope to have it in action next year.

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