One engineer who has played a front-line role in helping cool the meltdown of Fukushima's three reactors spoke unwittingly to The Economist.

ECONOMIST: Cleaning up Japan��s nuclear mess

He said the company was also trying to find out why when an engineer returned on 18 December to install a new line in the flat, the post office connection was not restored.

BBC: Bellingham Post Office

"I had completely mixed emotions because by the time I had crossed the line, I was still the champion, and then suddenly my engineer was telling me everything on the radio, " said the 27-year-old, who was racing in his hometown of Sao Paulo.

BBC: Ecstatic Hamilton revels in glory

Merloni can connect machines to a service centre via a phone line, making possible off-site billing, testing and the dispatch of an engineer who knows what needs fixing in advance.

ECONOMIST: Manufacturing in Europe: How to make it | The

Among them: suggesting how many blueprints an engineer should have on his desk, deciding how far to travel to perform an assembly-line task and reducing the time it takes to hire and orient a new employee from 23 to 7 days.

FORBES: Too Much of a Good Thing?