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TECHNOLOGY Monday 19 June 2017

Swimming robot set to explore

damage at Japan nuclear plant

By MARI YAMAGUCHI
Associated Press
YOKOSUKA, Japan (AP) — A Japanese industrial
group unveiled Thursday a robot designed for under-
water probes of damage from meltdowns at the Fu-
kushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant after the March 2011
earthquake and tsunami.
Remote controlled robots are key to the decades-
long decommissioning process for the plant. But su-
per-high radiation and structural damage inside the
reactors hampered earlier attempts to inspect areas
close to the reactors’ cores.
The developers say they plan to send the new “mini
manbo,” or “little sunfish,” probe into the primary
containment vessel of Unit 3 at Fukushima in July to
study the extent of damage and locate parts of melt-
ed fuel thought to have fallen to the bottom of the
chamber, submerged by highly radioactive water.
The robot, about the size of a loaf of bread, is
equipped with lights, maneuvers with tail propellers Two phones show the old version of the Twitter app, right, and the new version, left, in San Fran-
and collects data using two cameras and a dosim- cisco, Thursday, June 15, 2017. Twitter has unveiled a new look, and much like some previous
eter. changes the company has made to its short-messaging service, it’s not going over so well with
During Thursday’s demonstration at a test facility near the Twitterati.
Tokyo, the probe slowly slid down a rail and glided (AP Photo/Stephanie Mullen)
across the water. A team operated it remotely, with
one guiding the robot while another adjusted a ca- Twitter unveils new look; users quickly mock
ble that transmits data and serves as the robot’s life-
line. The probe entered a mock-up of a containment SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Deck, and Twitter Lite in the Users also tweeted their dis-
vessel, its lights glowing in the murky water. Twitter has unveiled a new coming days and weeks. may when the company
Officials want to send the probe swim deep into the look, and much like some Twitter users immediately rolled out its “Moments”
reactor to illuminate the area underneath its core. previous changes the com- responded Thursday by feature, and when it got
“The major advantage is it can avoid various obsta- pany has made to its short- tweeting jokes and memes rid of its star icon signifying
cles,” said Tsutomu Takeuchi, a senior manager at messaging service, it’s not critical of the changes. a “favorite” tweet, in favor
the nuclear energy division of Toshiba, the electron- going over so well with the There were almost 30,000 of a heart icon, similar to
ics and energy company charged with helping clean Twitterati. The San Francis- tweets about the new Facebook’s “like” button.
up the plant. co company says the new user interface, or UI, within The redesign is Twitter’s lat-
Japan hopes to locate and start removing fuel from design emphasizes simplic- hours of the change, the est attempt to freshen the
the reactors after Tokyo’s 2020 Olympics. ity, making it faster and vast majority of them either messaging service, which
Snake and scorpion-shaped robots tested earlier easier to use, with bolder complaining about the has struggled to attract
became stuck inside two reactors. The scorpion ro- headlines and more intui- new look or mocking it. A new users at the same pace
bot’s crawling function failed and it was left inside tive icons. It also changed popular image was a sud- as Instagram, Facebook
the plant’s Unit 2 containment vessel. The other, de- users’ profile images from denly round SpongeBob and Snapchat. Twitter rev-
signed to clear debris for the “scorpion” probe, was square-shaped to round. SquarePants. enue growth has stalled for
called back after two hours when two of its cameras The company said the new Twitter also took heat from years, and the company
stopped working after its total radiation exposure user interface will roll out on users last year when it has cut costs and shuffled
reached 1,000 Sievert — a level that would kill a hu- twitter.com, Twitter for iOS, changed its algorithm that executives while still never
man within seconds. Twitter for Android, Tweet- orders the tweets users see. posting a quarter of profit.