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Screw the Large Hadron Collider, I'll Take the Large Helical Device
Posted by Adam Frucci at 1:15 AM on September 5, 2008
We've all been wowed by the remarkable photos of the apocalypse-bringing Large Hadron Collider (set to run next Wednesday!), but it's not the only piece of insanely-large scientific equipment that's easy on the eyes. Japan's Large Helical Device was designed to "conduct fusion-plasma confinement research in a steady-state." Also, it looks amazing. Sure, it doesn't have as many far-reaching implications for the physics world, nor are there any idiot protestors complaining that it'll destroy the universe, but wow, what a picture. Hit the jump for a much bigger version.
Sony's issuing a recall for Vaio TZ laptops sold between May 2007 and July 2008: apparently there's a risk of overheating leading to "abnormal heat deformation of the enclosure"—which sounds like a lot more than the usual knee-burn heat of a laptop. It's not due to the 
Always ahead of the curve, Japanese communication companies are deploying smart posters for a test drive in a Chiba shopping mall. The posters will use Near Field Communication technology to send information like images, music and movie clips to mobile phones over the air, all with no need to establish any kind of pairing.
Here's an idea: people gesticulating wildly with their hands-free headsets already look crazy--why not capitalise on our nation's love of all things crazy and cute by putting a mobile phone inside of an, oh, i don't know, a teddy bear! So went a recent design meeting at Japanese firm Willcom apparently, who was showing their US$500 Kuma (bear) Phone concept at the recent Good Design Expo in Tokyo. Kuma takes an embedded SIM card and has assignable speed dial points on each paw, which you dial by squeezing. And of course, to accept and hang up calls, you squeeze its arse. Of course. [
Naoki Maru may live in Hikone, north of Kyoto, down the road from a samurai castle full of katana swords and armour, but for him, the ancient Japanese art of bushido is best carried out with robots, not people. King Kizer, the Maru family robot, has dominated the Robo-One tourney over the past three years, collecting US$50,000 in prize money. Maru, a factory engineer by day, is trying to perfect a way to make Kizer even more of an arse kicker using a technique he had seen many times in anime: A harness that captures human movements and translates them into robotic attacks and other gestures.
As well as 
Leave it to the Japanese to come up with the crazy Mini Clear Sound System DT-SA101. It has a rated output of 4W (x2), but the only thing that really matters here is the design. In addition to looking like a couple of wine glasses and a barrel, the DT-SA101 also features LEDs in the glass that apparently give the wine/champagne a carbonated look. At any rate, even if you were willing to waste US$240 on this unit, you probably won't get a chance to since it is a Japan only release. [
The super Japanese Exilim W63CA mobile phone has hit the FCC, which comes with a flip body and an 8-megapixel camera. Casio's taking the same tactic Sony Ericsson does with their Cyber-shot mobile phones and placing a camera brand on a high-end camera phone, hopefully to advance both the phone and the camera brand in the US. Engadget says the phone should have an 800x480 pixel screen, but chances are it's not going to actually come here on any provider—most likely it's being certified as to not give Americans radiation poisoning when the Japanese come here on vacation. [
These hand-carved wooden animal flash drives are the latest in the tradition of 
