Various: It’s still too dangerous for humans to look inside three reactors at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Instead, robots and remote cameras will give operators details of the conditions. Other remote tools, such as unmanned fire engines, will help douse the reactors, writes David Hambling for New Scientist. This may be the start of a long robotic engagement. “I would anticipate that we are going to see a phenomenal enterprise of remote work systems that are brought to bear over the weeks, months, and years of recovering Fukushima,” says Carnegie Mellon University robotics researcher Red Whittaker to NPR’s Geoff Brumfiel.
The finding that the Saturnian moon may host layers of icy slush instead of a global ocean could change how planetary scientists think about other icy moons as well.
Modeling the shapes of tree branches, neurons, and blood vessels is a thorny problem, but researchers have just discovered that much of the math has already been done.
January 29, 2026 12:52 PM
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