Enryu’s 15-foot arms are powerful enough to lift a small passenger car, and its hands are almost as dexterous as a human being’s. And the 5-ton, 11.5-foot robot may soon be helping communities across Japan reach avalanche sites and clear snow, as the nation struggles to deal with its snowiest winter in decades, said Japanese company Tmsuk Co.

A model tested Thursday in Niigata prefecture, at the heart of Japan’s snow country, has two hydraulically operated arms with a reach of 16 feet, each capable of lifting 1,102 pounds, according to company spokesman Shiro Fujita.

The City of New York could have done with a hundred Enryu’s this last weekend! How awesome would it look seeing dozens of these clunking around the streets of Manhattan?!

It looks like there has been confirmation of the appearance of Avian Influenza, albeit a “weak strain”, in Japanese quail bred at a Sun Valley quail farm.

The CBS2.com article reads:

The Bureau of Humane Law Enforcement, a non-governmental, nonprofit organization devoted to defending animals, began investigating conditions at the now-defunct L.A. Quail Farm earlier this year.The agency served a warrant at the farm and discovered the quails living in unsanitary conditions with a multitude of illnesses.

All the animals were seized on Nov. 12 and were tested.

The bureau’s veterinarian determined many of the birds had a variety of diseases, fast-moving respiratory ailments, infections, injuries and lesions. Most disturbing was the diagnosis of a low pathogenic strain of avian influenza among the quails, which had been raised and kept at the facility.

The birds had been raised for human consumption.

All we fucking need - another reason for mass hysteria and media sensationalism.

I’m switching to veggies.