Posts Tagged ‘science’

Video: How Sodium Silicate (Water Glass) Stopped Fukushima’s Radioactive Water Leak

Over the weekend, workers at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant struggled to plug of a crack that was causing highly radioactive water to leak into the Pacific Ocean. After a few failures, they finally succeeded by injecting large amounts of sodium silicate (“water glass”/”liquid glass”) into the leaking storage pit.

Japanese TV news programs have explained the situation with small demonstrations of sodium silicate leak-plugging power. The following clip combines two such demonstrations, from ATV and TBS:

As you can see, when enough sodium silicate is injected into water, it solidifies very quickly and stops leaking.

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Hachiko Died of Cancer?

The original medical examination that took place shortly after the dog’s death ruled that the filarial worms in his stomach were the cause of death. Because Hachiko’s was so famous, his body was stuffed and put on display at Tokyo’s National Museum of Nature and Science and his internal organs were preserved in jars.

Last year, a team of researchers decided to use modern medical technology to reexamine the dog’s organs. Using an MRI scan and some microscopes, they discovered cancer in Hachiko’s heart and lungs. The new finding means that Hachiko that filariasis and/or cancer caused the dog’s death.

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Project X Documentaries

If you want to learn more about the birth of Japan’s high tech industries, head on over to YouTube and check out some of the English language versions of N-H-K Project X documentaries that are available for viewing.

As an example, here’s their documentary about Toyota:

See more videos here.

[via Reddit]

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A Motor Bike Powered by Salt Water?

ATV news interviews Masahide Ichikawa, an inventor who claims to have created a motor bike that only needs salt water as fuel:

Using some sort of solar-powered heater, Ichikawa evaporates salt water and creates sodium metal. Inside the bike, the sodium metal and water are mixed, creating a chemical reaction that apparently powers the bike’s engine.

Ichikawa proclaims that his invention will stop global warming. He thinks his discovery is on par with Nobel’s invention of dynamite. What a modest guy.

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Should Japanese Scientists Leave Japan?

NTV’s “Bankisha” takes a look at the state of scientific research in Japan following the Nobel Prize win of professors Akira Suzuki (Hokkaido University) and Eiichi Negishi (Purdue University):

• Of the 15 Japanese who won Nobel prizes for achievements in science or literature, six have made their careers in the United States.

• Young Japanese scientists and grad students in the sciences tend to agree that America is number one when it comes to scientific research. There is more research grant money to go around and researchers are allowed much more freedom to spend that money. [Many of those interviewed were students at MIT, so they had already made the choice to go to America.]
• One Japanese researcher at Purdue says that competition is fierce in America and there is constant pressure on researchers to show results for their work.
• At Japanese universities, younger researchers face restrictions on research funding. The annual research stipends are often less than the cost of basic lab equipment.
• The DPJ-led Japanese government has cut funding to technological research programs. It is the first funding cut in 17 years, and it has made young Japanese scientists very pessimistic about their future prospects. [ Cue clip of budget review panelist and DPJ lawmaker Renho aggressively demanding to know "what is wrong with Japan being second place" in high tech research. ]
• Over the last decade, scientific research spending by the Chinese government has skyrocketed, and it continues to grow.

• Many of the young Japanese scientists interviewed by the program want to go abroad to conduct research, but statistics show that the number of Japanese researchers who go abroad is in decline. Many fear that going abroad will make it hard for them to find employment if they ever choose to return to Japan. Japanese research institutions have a very limited number of job openings, and seem to favor people who have stayed in Japan.
• Prominent scientists such as Professor Negishi are very concerned about the lack of young Japanese researchers who are seeking the opportunity to study and work outside of Japan.

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Japanese Demaeki vs. Roller Coaster

In the cramped and crowded cities of Japan, most fast food delivery shops rely on motorcycles or mopeds to deliver their food. To keep food from spilling or getting messed up, delivery bikes are equipped with a stabilizing device called a demaeki (出前機). As bikes twist and turn, the demaeki keeps food from tipping over and spilling.

Here is a clip from a TV show that tested to see if a demaeki could prevent a bowl of noodles from spilling on a roller coaster ride:

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