Want to Survive a Tsunami? You’ll Need One of These
A local engineer invents a sphere that can survive a tsunami
By Talia Gottlieb April 24, 2014
This article originally appeared in the May 2014 issue of Seattle magazine.
!–paging_filter–pDeeply troubled by recent natural disasters in Japan and Indonesia, former Boeing engineer Julian Sharpe saw a need to reimagine tsunami survival. His solution? The Survival Capsule (a href=”http://www.survival-capsule.com” target=”_blank”survival-capsule.com/a), a brightly colored, buoyant sphere, 4.5 feet in diameter, designed to enclose and protect people in the event of tsunamis—such as the towering wall of water expected to hit Cannon Beach, Oregon, if and when a magnitude 9.0 earthquake occurs along the Cascadia fault. Built in Mukilteo by Survival Capsule LLC (a subsidiary of Sharpe’s aerospace engineering company, IDEA International), the contraption contains safety seating, GPS, a porthole, oxygen tanks and ventilation, and a host of other features designed to maximize the likelihood of survival. After years of extensive prototyping and testing, three production models of the two-person capsule were shipped to Japan in February, with the ultimate goal of sending more capsule “kits” to be assembled and sold there to help assist with tsunami preparedness. The capsules, which can be tethered to the ground, hold at least a five-day supply of provisions (purchased separately). No, there’s no toilet in the two-person model—just suggested “sanitation bags” containing liquid-absorbing powder—but modern conveniences aren’t likely a priority when your life is on the line. The two-person capsule comes with a price tag of $18,000–$20,000. Expanded models that can seat as many as 10 people are in the works, so you can keep the whole family afloat while you wait out the storm. /p
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Photo Essay: Ferry Therapy
Words and photographs by Anna Starr.
Riding the ferry is my favorite Seattle pastime. At any given time on a Washington State Ferry you will find a group of tourists with too many suitcases, someone in work clothes peacefully napping, a jigsaw puzzle diligently being completed, lovers having a Titanic-esque moment on a balcony (fun fact: those balconies are called pickleforks),…
AANHPI Month: Where to Celebrate, Eat, and Learn Around Seattle
From festivals and museum exhibits to food tours and historic neighborhoods, here are a few ways to mark the month across the region.
Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month—known as AANHPI Month—is observed in the U.S. each May. It began as a weeklong observance in 1978 and expanded to the full month in 1992. Asian, Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities in the United States extend back much further, including to the late 16th century, when…
Black Panther Park in Skyway Becomes First Black Panther Park in the World
The new community garden honors the Black Panther Party’s legacy of food justice and the Skyway neighbors who helped bring it to life.
On a sunny Sunday earlier this month, at the corner of 75th Avenue and Renton Avenue South, the community gathered for the opening of Skyway’s Black Panther Park. Inspired by the Black Panther’s Free Breakfast for School Children program that compelled the federal government to provide breakfast in schools, Black Panther Park is a community…
Rearview Mirror: A Family Coming Apart, SIFF, and My First Fashion Show
Things I did, saw, ate, learned, or read in the past week (or so).
The Family House A house can hold a lot, and Seattle Rep’s Appropriate knows that. Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ Tony-winning play, directed here by Timothy McCuen Piggee, drops the Lafayette siblings into their late father’s hoarded, falling-apart Arkansas plantation home for an estate sale, and lets the whole thing crack open from there. The sibling dynamics are…