Seasons Online

From Sandra Rooney

It was just a year ago that the world was stunned by the devastating power of the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan. Recovery efforts continue, but more than recovery, the earthquake and tsunami have spurred innovations to help deal with future disasters.

Shoji Tanaka, who was one of the many volunteers who went to the disaster zone to help with the clean-up, said he was “appalled by the horrifying damage.” However, the experience provided a creative incentive for Mr. Tanaka, who is both an inventor and the president of a Japanese engineering company.

A picture in the New York Times last month shows Mr. Tanaka standing amid several large yellow spheres. He calls his creation “Noah.” It’s his version of a modern ark and his answer to the possibility of another deadly tsunami. Made of fiber-reinforced plastic, the bright yellow globe, four feet in diameter, can withstand blows from a sledgehammer. Designed to hold up to four people, the pod automatically rights itself in water and can survive a 33 ft. drop.

The Noah, which has small air vents and a small window, is intended to be a temporary refuge in the event of a tsunami. People can get inside and be carried along by the water for one or two hours, until help arrives.

The Noah is already on the market, selling for $3,800. Mr. Tanaka has more than 1000 orders for the pods in Japan. He hopes the Noah will become a standard safety item in Japanese households.

Other innovations have resulted from Japan’s twin disasters. Yoshiyuki Sankai, an engineering professor, has been inspired to transform a device called a Hybrid Assistive Limb (HAL) which was initially designed to help patients who can’t walk by monitoring signals sent from their brains to their muscles. Sensors in HAL respond to the signals and then, basically, walk for the person. The robot suit is being used in hospitals in Japan.

Mr. Sankai was approached by a company involved with the cleanup of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. They needed a way to help workers who had to wear extremely heavy, anti-radiation tungsten vests at the site. The weight inhibited their ability to move about. Mr. Sankai is currently working on the prototype of a modified HAL. It is an upper-body frame, which supports the tungsten plates, which can weigh up to 132 pounds, shifting the way the weight is carried so the workers don’t feel it.

Explore…Genesis 9:8–17

How do you understand God’s presence and influence in natural disasters?

The Season of Lent can prompt sober reflection on the brokenness around us.

What is the brokenness we see in Japan a year ago and today?

What is this story of Japan’s recovery telling us about the role that creative imagination plays in rejoining that which is broken?

What does the story help us to see about the grace of new beginnings?

Prayer links…
Life-giving God, we know much that happens in our world is beyond our control. We know, too, that you equip us not only to deal with the misfortunes that may befall us, but also to make choices that will affect the future. May we turn our energies to the future and use our gifts to continuing to make the world a better place. Amen

Read more…

Article in the New York Times, January 22, 2012

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From Sandra Rooney