You don't unbox a 103-inch plasma, you uncrate it. Today, during our sortie to Secaucus, I got a chance to wander deep into the caverns of Panasonic HQ to the highly secure Big Service locker, see where they stash the 103-inch TVs. I got to check out one from the back—a rare treat, since when they are on tour, they are mounted with only the fronts visible. This may be the very first public look at the 103's rear end.

At $70,000 a pop, these are toys for the likes of Mark Cuban and Phil Jackson. But for one day, it was a toy for Giz staffers too. Stay tuned for more hands-on, plus the videos, next week.

Imagine how good Jessica Alba would look on a display 100 times the quality of an HDTV? Engineers at the University of California in San Diego have built the world's highest-resolution computer display which, at 220 mega-pixels, is 100 more higher than a high definition TV. The 55-panel display is linked through a fiber optic Ethernet cable to a 50-panel high-resolution display in UC Irvine (the previous mega-pixel record-holder at 200) to form the "Highly Interactive Parallelized Display Space" or HIPerSpace or just, "the nerdiest name ever."

The displays are available to teams of scientists and engineers working in the Earth sciences, biomedical engineering, genomics, climate prediction, brain imaging and, yes, going for the easy joke here -- porn. The high-resolution displays allow the researchers to take in the broad view of images as well as the detailed inner-workings -- something we can't wait to do with our favorite celebrity's face. [InformationWeek]

After sucking our planet dry of any useful resources, we turn our eyes upward to the skies and search for another beautiful planet to rape. Scientists are hoping to mine helium-3 (He3) gas from the lunar surface -- a gas that's rare here on Earth but is like a veritable Starbucks on the Moon. The gas is considered to be perfect for radiation-free nuclear fusion but, say other, smarter scientists, is probably completely ridiculous to start mining anytime soon.

Our current experience with the experimental He3 reactor here on Earth requires 1 kilowatt of power to generate 1 milliwatt of electricity. Which, if anyone is counting, is not at all worth it. So, aside from it taking a few decades before we figure out how exactly to use He3, and then taking a few more decades to actually build an He3 mining facility on the moon, and then having us, the Human Race, survive that long -- well, chances are slim, is what we're saying. Still, science is cool, huh? [Treehugger via SciFi]

It's a good day for people who love things that go really, really fast. Our favorite super electric car -- the Tesla Roadster -- has won an INDEX prize for being so damn cool. The INDEX prizes are the world's most lucrative design awards, given every two years for five categories -- body, home, work, play and community -- awarding winners 100,000 euros each (which is something like three million in US dollars.).

Other winners included the Tongue Sucker -- a cheap first-aid device that sucks the tongue into its maws and opens up a breathing passage for anyone who may be seizuring in your general area -- and the Solar Bottle, a device that optimizes a method of disinfecting water using sunlight and plastic bottles. Life saving technology aside, we'd like to salute the Tesla Roadster and admit we're a little attracted to it. [Reuters]

This Microsoft patent describes a heads up user interface on windshields that shows useful information for the driver right where the eyes are. The patent takes information from phones, car stereos, your GPS, maps, weather, temperature, email, car instruments and probably the Zune, and places it your eyeline. Much more useful than taking a big ass table with you into the car. [Patent via Slashdot via Crave]

Some man in Ohio had his Dell laptop catch fire yesterday. That's weird, thought Gizmodo, since Dell offered replacement batteries for all the combustible versions of their batteries last year. What's this guy doing with a laptop on fire? And why's he making demands that Dell pay for the damages to his house and the HAZMAT bill? Any lawyers care to weigh in on whether Dell has any responsibility here? [Consumer Affairs]

Our Dear Leaders are always looking for new ways of quelling unrest in nonviolent—at least, notoverly violent—ways. (Let's face it, smacking someone over the head with a truncheon, and causing the blood to flow doesn't look great on news bulletins, does it?) The latest idea emanating from the Pentagon, according to a report by the Bradford Non-Lethal Weapons Research Project, is psychotropic paintballs. Bring 'em on!

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This is unconfirmed for now, but some forum poster at Neogaf claims that Nintendo is going to discontinue the DS Lite web browser. Seeing as you had to pay $29 for a web browser that wasn't even that great, we can understand why. [Amazon via Neogaf via DS Fanboy]

A version of Pac-Man that administers electric shocks to gamers has been shedding light on how the human brain reacts to danger. Researchers at the Wellcome Trust Center for Neuroimaging at UCL found that the closer the gamers got to danger, the more impulsive was their response. "In effect, the less free will you will have," explained the study leader, Dean Mobbs.

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There are no words… they should have sent… a poet… (Click through to see me getting motion sickness playing Gears of War and Forza 2 as well. Video of said activities will be coming next week.)

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The GP2X emulator-friendly handheld game unit is about to get an upgrade. THE GP2X F-200 game system comes in white, but has "Dual CPU Cores," 64MB flash ram, USB 2.0, runs Linux, plays back DivX, XviD, MPEG4, MP3, OGG, supports video encoded at 720x480 resolution video at 30fps, SMI subtitles, TV-Out, E-Book viewer (txt files only), photo viewer and has a screen of 320x240 QVGA resolution. No price yet, but it's available in October. [Play Asia - Thanks Christian!]

This Tempo design project is a small, recycle bin-like external hard drive that's supposed to save your files from deletion hell. Whenever you delete a file, your OS transfers the file over to Tempo wirelessly, which then keeps the file temporarily until it's out of space. LEDs light up the tempo from the bottom up, which lets you see how full it is at a glance. This one awesome design project that we hope can be birthed in some form or another. [Cagninadesign via Core77]

Boy Genius Report says they've been told that the BlackBerry Pearl 2 will be vomited up like so much turkey dinner this Thanksgiving dinner. The bucket? Sprint, who will also add GPS to the mix. Not much other detail on this BB2 as of yet, including pricing. [Boy Genius Report]

These may look like regular headphones, but the spikes on the top are designed to shock your hair into behaving. And by behaving, we mean grow again. The KeUpper, made in Japan, is supposed to make you slightly less bald in just tens of weeks. Sounds just as good as that Hairmax Laser we tested. [Kilian Nakamura]

We've gotten some independent confirmation/rumors on the leaked Sprint roadmap we posted on Tuesday. Our source is saying that the Moto ic602 and Moto V9M will come in September, the Sanyo S500 S1 and HTC Vogue will come in October,... Read More »

Does your inhaler look as drab as an IBM Thinkpad? Never fear—your asthma meds get a stylish makeover with Respire's magnetic silver container. On sale for about $15, these sleek geek accessories come in two sizes, with glossy or satin finish. I love the weird ad copy from Respire, which claims its cases are made with "the latest technology" in order to "keep your inhaler away from dust and fluff." Plus, as a bonus, they "feel good in the hand." Asthma chic has arrived, my friends! Huff on over to Respire. [Medgadget]

Who knew a lowly router could be so sexy? We got our hands on one of these 802.11n draft 2.0 Belkin N1 Vision routers today, and it looks just as smooth, aerodynamic and downright alluring in our hands as it does in its publicity photos. We're especially attracted to its interactive network display, showing us exactly what's going on all over our local net—who's downloading what and how quickly—blasting out more info than we've ever seen on a consumer router. Nice.

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This $10.5 million cellphone from Sprint comes with many nice features we've covered before, but has a delicious bonus that you can't find anywhere else. We're in for five. You win again, advertising. [Sprint]

We're not really sure what's going on with this chocolate calculator, or Chocolator, but we're pretty sure it's not edible. Well, probably more edible than the LG Chocolate, but less edible than say, an actual chocolate bar without electronics inside. Now I can do my taxes and make a big mess all at the same time. [AVING]

We hinted at it this morning, and now here we are — at the Panasonic HQ in New Jersey getting up close and personal with one of the largest TVs in existence. Yes, it's heavy. Stay tuned for a great example of how I have the sweetest job ever as I play Bioshock, Gears of War, and Forza 2 on this behemoth. It's OK to be jealous. Click through for another, more humiliating picture of me trying to show just how big this thing really is.

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Either this Best Buy listing is wrong, or there's a $349.99 version of the Xbox 360 Core with HDMI coming in September 1. We're leaning towards wrong listing since the box shows a Premium (the DVD drive is silver) and the price is of a premium, but who knows what's going on in Microsoft's stable. Personally the Xbox 360 Arcade rumor seems more likely, but we'll find out in about a week. [Best Buy]

After being unlocked not once but two and even three times, Engadget is reporting today that the iPhone has been unlocked for the "first time." Well, it's not the first iPhone unlock (as my european Vodafone-TurboSIMed iPhone shows), but apparently... Read More »

This is probably more fantasy than reality, but at Samsung's recent "Sdium" showroom in Korea earlier this week, the company was showing off radical-looking models of flexible displays. We especially like the Samsung SDI flexible display shown here, which is apparently rolled up within its two scrolls until you want to watch a cartoonish-looking still of Star Wars. Someday, these screens may actually show moving, color pictures. Take the jump for a look at the technology as it might appear on a bracelet viewing device.

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Get ready for another in crescendo orgy of Apple rumors, because according to Jacquie at Infinite Loop —Ars' Apple blog, not The Mothership's address— the iPods are coming. "Specifically" she says, in a special event on "September 5, according to our sources within the company." [Infinite Loop]

Fed up with clueless cellphone gabbing in public? Put an immediate stop to it with this Personal Cellphone Signal Blocker. Running on a portable battery that lasts three to four hours, this 6-ounce pocketable jammer (4"x1.85"x.71") disrupts signals from GSM, CDMA, DCS, PHS and 3G networks, and its manufacturer says it can do this miracle within a radius of...uh oh, get this: 2 to 40 feet.

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A bag for all seasons, this Flo backpack is modular and can change with your moods—which, if they're anything like mine, rage from Breeze of Sweet Pea to Tsunami of Bitchqueen Stompiness. You can adapt the Flo to any size—from a pack worthy of a long hiking weekend to an afternoon trip to the city. Here's how it works:

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Behold the view from 117,597 feet, taken on August 11, 2007 by a camera hanging from a helium balloon launched by a group of guys in Alberta, Canada. Called the SABLE-3 (Southern Alberta Balloon Launch Experiment #3), it was packed with a Byonics MicroTrak 300 APRS tracking device, a Nikon Coolpix P2 digital camera set to snap one picture per minute, and filled with enough helium to take it to the edge of the earth's atmosphere.

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It took 100 hours of Jon C. Acosta's time to make this rather humbling lightsaber. The steampunk and Star Wars fan planned his work with military precision, naming the finished article Lumen Ex Consilium (Light From Within Wisdom) and even cut, using a diamond bit, the hand-painted crystal himself. There's more of Jon's labor of love over at StarDestroyer, but check out the gallery below. [StarDestroyer via Sci-Fi Tech]

This magnificent shot by Andrew Hunt, taken with a Nikon D70, shows the huge Airbus A380 decked out in Singapore Airlines livery and crossing a bridge at Changi Airport in Singapore. But look, what's that in front of it on the runway? Why, some airheaded Mac fanboy forgot his MacBook, whose 12.7-inch width is positively dwarfed by the gigantic Airbus A380's 239 foot, 6 inch length. Get out of the way, little MacBook!

Okay, okay, the MacBook was just photoshopped in there for fun! [Airliners.net]

First up, you have to wait for them to go on holiday. The rest is easy. It's not quite as long as this one, but it looks a lot scarier. [YouTube via Spluch]

The new TomTom Rider 2nd Edition, the GPS for bike riders, is finally out in the US and Europe and it looks great. It comes loaded with new features, like its easy-to-setup RAM mount (as the male sheep, not the memory) which fits almost all motorcycles and "withstands rigorous vibration." TomTom says that the included Cardo scala-rider Bluetooth headset allows for total and safe in-helmet spoken control and clear audio.

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Today, a Giz team has been deployed to a remote location to hunt some seriously big game. Before we tell you what it is, we want you to guess. Here are the clues:

1. It's either the biggest or the second biggest in the world, depending on your taste.

2. It brings a rare smile to the face of NYC's mayor.

3. It has been known to suffer from Australia's extreme gravitational
pull.

4. It proves definitively that size really matters.

Think you know what it is? Go ahead, tell us.

There are summer camps and summer camps, it seems. Camp Okutta, somewhere in the Canadian wilds, is the best training camp outside a war zone, apparently, where you can toughen up your little darlings. Twinky-looking camp counselors give classes in grenade throwing, automatic weapon handling and land mine dodging (quite a handy skill if you're thinking of playing frisbee with them in the near future.) And I know what your next question is going to be: Where can I sign the brats up?

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Those freaky scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute are always thinking up cool stuff, and now they've figured out how to turn body heat into electricity. It works by taking advantage of the difference between two temperatures, but until these Fraunhofer dudes got ahold of the idea, the required temp range was too great to use body heat. If you think about it, there's still quite a bit of difference between room temperature and 98.6°. We thought of an even better way to power up gadgets using this technology.

Notice the picture of a hand resting on this device here which looks like it's cranking out enough juice to power that laptop sitting next to it, but we're thinking this would be a perfect device for Chen to stick down his pants. The ladies are saying it's pretty hot down there. [Digital Journal, via Med Launches]

Connecticut's Secretary of State released a video on YouTube explaining how to use the state's new optical scan voting machines. The video is also available for download to something called an "iPOD." It is frightening to think of an electoral process where you're encouraged to watch a training video over and over. What happens to the people who don't have "iPODs" or YouTube-ready PCs? But the funniest thing is that this dorky-ass video, straight out of the public-service playbook, is specifically supposed to appeal to young people.

There's no rock music, no B-actor on a skateboard, no spunky cheerleaders. The video, which you can watch for yourself, has nothing that would even apparently appeal to a youngin' besides the fact that it comes in .mov form. Nevertheless, Conn's Sec O' State says, in her own press release:

"In today's world it's difficult to reach voters, especially younger ones, unless you're using the same technology they use. So, I took a cue from my teenage children and decided we'd produce videos that people could download, and then watch when and where they want."

Ah, the good old times of the Cold War: Space race! Arms race! Spy race! Trains race? While astronauts were floating in their tinfoil suits, the real action was happening down on rails: The Soviet Union and the US were in a race to get the fastest and spiffiest train ever. The story and a full giant gallery after the jump.

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