Transform

     Tokyo -  The history of Transformers is something that proves, how interconnected the toy world used to be. 
     Launched in 1980 by Japanese toy company Takara Toys, the Diaclone line was made up of robots that transformed into futuristic vehicles piloted by figures spun-off from their successful Microman line.  Microman was imported into America by Mego as Micronauts.  Micronauts was in-turn spun off from a Takara line called Henshin Cyborg, which itself came from Takara'a Combat Joe line.  In 1982, Takara expanded both the Microman and Diaclone lines by adding more transforming robots; these robots new robots, branded Micro Change (for Microman) and Car Robots (for Diaclone), changed into more up-to-date and familiar lines like, regular cars, planes, and cassette players.  A year later, representatives from Hasboro attended the 1983 Tokyo Toy Fair.  They were doing well, their G.I. Joe:  A Real American Hero line had launched a year earlier and was a large success.  They were looking for the next most popular thing.  As soon as Hasbro saw Takara's Car Robots and Micro Change toys, they wanted it.  However, it wasn't as simple as that.  Hasbro didn't want to launch two separate lines onto the market at the same time, and so decided to consolidate the two their experience with G.I. Joe, they also knew that kids wanted a story to  play along with, instead of just the toy figures the already had.  Hasbro asked Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter and editor Dennis O'Neal to come up with the entire Transformers universe prior to launching the toys. The plans Jim Shooter and Dennis O'Neal came up with were not used by Hasbro, and deemed un-worthy.  Hasbro then gave the job to Bob Budiansky, whose versions not only created the Transformers canon, but also handed him the job of Transformers comic, writer for years to come afterwards.   
     Robot models are:  Autobots, Decepticons, and Mini-Cons.  The two robot models that are in a category of their own are Unicon and Sideways.  Mini-Cons include:  High Wire, Sureshock, Grindor, Race Mini-Con Team, Air Defense Mini-Con Team, Mirror, Unicon of Light, and Dead End Drones.  The Autobots are known by the names of:  Red Alert, Blurr, Hot Shot, Optimus Prime, Hoist, Jetfire, and Sideways.  See also,  http://communicationcurrents.blogspot.com/search?q=Tokyo.              

Amphibious Monster

     Tokyo - There is no myth in Japanese culture that is specific to Godzilla (Gojira in Japanese).  Japan, like most cultures did have folk stories of rampaging monsters and giants.  Some of those stories inspired Godzilla's creators.  The Japanese knew first hand the horrors of an atomic weapon.  With the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki still fresh in the minds of the Japanese consciousness, Godzilla was conceived as a symbol of nuclear weapons. Radiation is a central theme to the creation of Godzilla, for example, Godzilla breathes fire and Godzilla's main food is radiation. 
The appearance of monsters in Westen motion pictures, in 1954, helped inspire creators Eiji Tsubaraya, Tomoyuki Tanaka, and Ishiro Honda, of the Tokyo-Takarazuka Theatre Company (now part of The Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group and known as Toho Company, Limited) a Japanese film studio headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo. 
     Godzilla has become a worldwide pop culture icon, starring in 28 films produced by Toho Company, Limited.  Godzilla's appearance has varied slightly over the years, with the overall look staying the same.  Ray Harryhausen (1920-2013), a United States motion picture model animator, inspired Tsubaraya, Tanaka, and Honda to use Harryhausen's fictional Rhedosaurus monster, to create an amphibious reptilian monster based around the loose concept of a dinosaur, with an erect posture, scaly skin, human-like torso with muscular arms, spikes on its back, tall (1954 165 feet; 2014 350 feet), and a cute "I'm thinking",  furrowed brow.  As the film series expanded, some stories took on less serious, even comical ("Son of Godzilla" 1967), undertones, portraying Godzilla as a hero, while other plots still portrayed Godzilla as a destructive monster. 
     Although, Godzilla does not like humans, Godzilla will fight alongside humanity against common threats.  However, it makes no special effort to protect human life or property and will turn against it's human allies on a whim.  When inquired if Godzilla was "good or bad," producer Shogo Tomiyama likened it to a Shinto (God of Destruction) which lacks moral agency and cannot be held to human standards of  good and evil.  See also, www.warnerbros.com.   

Mt. Ontake Near Central Japan Erupts

     Tokyo - Flights at Tokyo's Haneda airport suffered delays on Saturday, September 28, 2014, as planes changed routes to avoid a volcano at Mt. Ontake.  Most flights at Haneda airport were back to normal by Sunday, September 29, 2014, an airport spokeswoman said.
     Sakurajima, another active volcano, in the Kagoshima Prefecture in Kyusho, Japan, at the southern end of the western island of Kyushu, is 50km (31 miles) from Kyushu Electric Power's Sendai nuclear power plant.  Sendai was approved to restart by Japan's nuclear regulatory agency earlier in September 2014.  Ash from Saturday's volcano was found on cars as far away as 80km (50 miles).
     Japan is home to 110 active volcanoes.  Kyushu Electric has said it will install new monitoring equipment around nearby calderas (caps on top of previously erupted volcanoes).  Kyushu Electric also says it plans to remove highly radioactive fuel to a safer site if the threat of an eruption is detected.  See also, www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/.

Quadcopter Drones the Most Popular

     Tokyo - Most recent developments in the field of small autonomous drones seem to use quadcopters (four motors).  Most small drones don't look like regular helicopters because the quadcopter design is mechanically more simple for small drones.
     Small drones are less stable than an equivalent sized regular helicopter.  On a regular helicopter the main-rotor blades adjust their pitch as they spin.  The cyclic-pitch mechanism allows a regular helicopter to do this is complex and expensive.  Quadcopters use four motors connected to four fixed-pitch propellers.  This makes quadcopters  more simple and less expensive than an equivalent sized helicopter.  When helicopters are made larger it starts to make more sense, from a cost and complexity point of view, to have a single, more complex (variable-pitch)  propeller and one tail-rotor.  Quadcopters, and other small drones, require electronic stabilization for humans to fly them without constantly crashing.  For a quadcopter to remain stable in the air it must indivdually adjust the thrust produced by each of its propellers.  See also, www.aviationweek.com.