Lots of denigrating comments, but its not a bad idea for use in search and rescue. A big problem rescuers were having was simply being blocked by so much debri

Lots of denigrating comments, but its not a bad idea for use in search and rescue. A big problem rescuers were having was simply being blocked by so much debris. Nearly impossible on foot to navigate some rubble. Also, its slow. Imagine a team of rescuers who had a set of Parrot-like drones they could carry and launch from their backs. They would be able to immediately survey areas in their immediate surroundings that might be very difficult or dangerous to get to on foot. If something is seen via drone that looks like it might hold survivors, then they can start concentrating on that. This could have been done immediately after the earthquake and tsunami with the commercial Parrots available on the market. With drones specially designed for search and rescue, imagine longer flying times, better durability, better nav and recognition software, etc. But that wouldn't have prevented today's drones from being immediately useful, had they been available and trained for. I do take issue with the author's comment: "Japan has displayed a special sort of organizational paralysis in this crisis". I wish he would clarify this. I've been watching NHK every night, reading a lot, reading what patio11 has said, and talking to friends in Tokyo. Their response to this collective set of disasters has been organized. There are over 200k people in shelters, being taken care of. Meanwhile here in the U.S. we couldn't mobilize for days to help people in one city, New Orleans. In Japan, everyone seems to have done what they train for since birth. The loss of 10,000+ people is horrendous, but it would be much, much worse if Japan wasn't as prepared as it is.