We’d love to head on down to Fukushima with a DSLR and some iodide pills, but that’s obviously not going to happen. Sending in a flying robot seems to be the next best thing, though, and that’s exactly what Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) has done. T-Hawk, a US-made MAV (Micro Air Vehicle) commonly used to search for roadside bombs in Iraq, made its Japanese debut last week when it photographed the nuclear plant from above, providing a detailed look at the interior damage a month after iRobot’s visit. Small enough to fit in a (rather large) backpack, officially the T-Hawk is named for the tarantula hawk wasp species, but could just as easily have been named for the T. Hawk Street Fighter character, who also swoops in to attack his opponents from above. As expected, things look pretty nasty at ground zero, so head past the break for a video of the damage.

Continue reading T-Hawk UAV enters Fukushima danger zone, returns with video

T-Hawk UAV enters Fukushima danger zone, returns with video originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 21 Apr 2011 18:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google Voice is a great service, but changing your phone number can seem like pulling teeth. If you’ve been thinking about porting your existing number to Voice, here’s what you need to know to make it go as smoothly as possible. More

Jack Dorsey’s über-popular credit card readers got a big thumbs-up from Cupertino this week. Square‘s devices are hitting Apple’s 235 US retail locations and Apple.com for $9.95 a pop — plus the 2.75 percent that the startup takes off the backend each time you use the reader — or you can always just sign up for a free one over on Square’s site. The iPhone / iPad / iPod touch plug-in accepts Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and yes, even American Express. The CEO of VeriFone will no doubt have plenty to say about the matter.

Update: It turns out you get a $10 redemption code in the box when you buy a Square reader at an Apple store, so it is still technically free (just not, you know, when you buy it).

[Thanks, Michael]

Apple Stores stocking Square credit card readers originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 21 Apr 2011 18:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Look at this guy! What a cutie! It’s like Elvis‘ microphone cross-bred with some sort of weird alien USB bumblebee. Samson’s Meteor Mic is unquestionably shiny, but its competition is an increasingly attractive bunch as well. Does Lil’ Samson’s beauty run only grill-deep? Read on to find out!

Continue reading Samson Meteor Mic review

Samson Meteor Mic review originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 21 Apr 2011 17:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The technology is now in place for three different parents to contribute DNA to an embryo – two of them providing the 98% of DNA in the cell nucleus, while another provides the crucial 2% that is mitochondrial DNA. More

In 2008, designer Thomas Thwaites decided to build a toaster from scratch-and not the “from scratch” that would land him in Home Depot for a couple of hours. He was interested in the seemingly magical process that turns what we pull out of the earth into the stuff that litters our houses. So Thwaites decided to take on the toaster, and what followed was an adventure that illuminated just how far removed our everyday items are from the raw materials that go into them. More

Back in 2007, we told you about Restoration Robotics, an upstart research team using robots to perform hair transplants — a project whose details (you know, like how it works) were shrouded in secrecy. Four years later, the Artas System has won FDA approval for in-office procedures, with the inviting bot in the above photo harvesting individual hair follicles from the scalp. A few months after this robot operates on your cranium, hair will start growing back, a process that could take a year — and makes for a more gradual transformation than slapping on a toupee. Still, you’ll have to be a certain kind of man to take advantage of this technology — for now at least, it’s only been cleared for men with black or brown straight hair. Looks like the rest of you will have to find other, lower-tech ways to suffer for your beauty.

Continue reading Hair transplant robot gets FDA approval, men with straight brown hair rejoice

Hair transplant robot gets FDA approval, men with straight brown hair rejoice originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 21 Apr 2011 14:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Here’s a solution for adding a little techno-flare to your furniture that’s a bit more subtle than cramming computer parts into a coffee table. The Arbonata Light Table, available from nKcharms at the source link, impregnates stylish slabs of wood with over 1,700 LEDs arranged in the shape of a tree. According to designer Dennis Vetu, it’s some sort of metaphor for the circle of life — as he explains on the Arbonata site, “tree becomes wood, becomes light.” Artsy prattle aside, we couldn’t imagine sitting down to a ramen dinner on a classier surface. If you’re not partial to branches and leaves though, nKcharms will work with customers to create unique designs. We might just order one emblazoned with a glowing Engadget logo. Sadly, there’s no price listed, but then again, if you have to ask…. Don’t miss the gallery below.

Arbonata Light Table classes up LEDs and dining rooms originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 21 Apr 2011 14:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hackers poring through the leaked Windows 8 M1 build have found some interesting evidence suggesting that Microsoft’s next OS may automatically recognize its users, a la Kinect.

An API relating to “Detect[ing] human presence” was combined with some earlier Microsoft suggestions that ubiquitous webcams by 2012 would make easy login as simple as checking the user’s face when they sit down. And of course the Kinect does this already — with a lower-resolution camera than many webcams. Voila: rumor!

My only issue is that it suggests the webcam or bezel cam will, in a way, be always on. Not the most reassuring notion to those of us concerned about privacy.

[via WMPowerUser]

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Rumor: Windows 8 To Use Kinect-Like Facial Recognition

Our best chance to send humans to Mars will be in the mid-2030s, but the Red Planet might not be our final destination. It might actually be much easier and just as effective to land on Mars’s moon tiny Deimos. More