Pink Tentacle

+ Video By fading back and forth between scenes of pre- and post-quake Tokyo, this time-lapse video by YouTube user darwinfish105 shows how the metropolitan nightscape has been affected by Japan's ongoing power shortages and conservation efforts.

The much-anticipated Quakebook (2:46: Aftershocks: Stories from the Japan Earthquake) -- a wide-ranging collection of personal accounts and reflections about the massive earthquake that struck Japan on March 11 -- is now available as a Kindle eBook on Amazon, and the entire purchase price ($9.99) goes to the Japanese Red Cross Society to assist those [...]

In November 1855, the Great Ansei Earthquake struck the city of Edo (now Tokyo), claiming 7,000 lives and inflicting widespread damage. Within days, a new type of color woodblock print known as namazu-e (lit. "catfish pictures") became popular among the residents of the shaken city. These prints featured depictions of mythical giant catfish (namazu) who, [...]

These high-resolution aerial photographs of the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant were taken on March 20 and 24, 2011 by a small unmanned drone operated by Air Photo Service, a company based in Niigata prefecture. Click [Enlarge] under each image for the full version. [Enlarge] Unit 3 (left) and Unit 4 (right) - March [...]

Breakbeat duo Hifana (a.k.a. KEIZOmachine! and Juicy) mellow out in a rainy day session with Keisuke Muto (sitar), U-zhaan (tabla) and Izpon (percussion). Just chill. + Video

In the early 1990s, Japan's Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation (PNC) -- a nuclear energy research organization which is now part of the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) -- created a pro-nuclear PR cartoon entitled "Pluto-kun, Our Reliable Friend." The aim of the animated film, which features the company mascot Pluto-kun, is to [...]

SWITL -- an impressive "robot hand" tool developed by factory equipment manufacturer Furukawa Kikou -- seems to defy the laws of nature by picking up deposits of gels, sauces and other soft semi-liquids without smearing them or altering their shape. This demo video shows how well the tool handles mayonnaise and ketchup. Details about the [...]

World Order -- the celebrated music/dance performance group led by former martial artist Genki Sudo -- has released a fabulously choreographed video for the track "Machine Civilization," along with some words of hope following the recent devastation in Japan. + Video Sudo's message in the YouTube video description: The unprecedented disasters unfolding in Japan; earthquakes, [...]

In Tokyo and surrounding areas, signs of electricity conservation are visible everywhere. Rolling blackouts are in effect, train services have been scaled back, stores and businesses are using fewer lights, advertising signs and escalators have been switched off, and even some pachinko parlors have cut their hours of operation. On Twitter, a community of graphic [...]

"Sometimes just focusing our thoughts on something, in a positive or unique way, provides the energy for new ideas to manifest themselves in the toughest of times," says Brooklyn-based sound composer Charles Edward Fambro. On March 3 -- a week before disaster hit Japan -- he released "Vudu Ceremony On Mt. Fuji," a free improv [...]