Where have all the robots gone?

For now, Tepco's alternatives to continuing to expose workers to radiation are few. The power company could resort to using “jumpers,” which Reuters describes as “people who rush into a highly radioactive area, do one job, and then jump out within minutes. Some in the industry even refer to them as ‘gamma sponges' or ‘glow boys' because they can absorb a year's worth of radiation in those few minutes.” In an arguably stranger twist, both Germany and the U.S. have also offered to lend Japan radiation-proof robots to take some of the burden off the flesh-and-blood workforce.

Come again? Is it really possible, given the nation's famous obsession with artificial intelligence, that Japan doesn't have its own? Japanese robots can shred the violin, play baseball, build cars and strut down the catwalk. In fact, when I was in Japan reporting on the disasters earlier this month, I saw a humanoid robot directing traffic away from a closed lane on the highway late at night. Sure, the bot robs somebody of a salary, but it also probably saves human lives. Get that traffic safety person — with the vision to apply Japan's technological proclivity to real life — over to disaster preparedness. Stat.

What's in Store for Japan's Embattled Nuclear Workers?

[I don't think that the 'glow boys' are shiny happy people though...]

Japanese: "Where Have All The Flowers Gone"