Food

In the past, we've seen 3D scanning widely used in a variety of industries - clothing retail, law enforcement, medical education, etc. - but it's still a little surprising to see the same technology applied to a slab of meat. Nantsune's new Libra 165C meat slicer does exactly that however, capturing a 3D image of a piece of meat, ready to be butchered, and then using the data to make slices at the same precise weight every time.  Read More

Picture a scene in a sitcom where some character arrives at a beach party dressed in a suit and tie, and carrying a briefcase. Everyone thinks that they’re some un-fun fuddy duddy, until they open their briefcase to reveal that there’s a barbecue inside! Woo-hoo! Well, that’s the idea behind the real-life Darwin BBQ.  Read More

A new brand of plant-based protein food that promises to look, feel, taste and act like chicken meat has hit the stores in the US with a promise to offer a tasty alternative to animal-based food. Beyond Meat is the brainchild of Ethan Brown, an entrepreneur who was brought up on a dairy farm in Maryland USA, whose first-hand experience with animal agriculture led him to adopt a vegan lifestyle. Frustrated with the options available, he decided to search for a better plant-based, processed vegan option to replace meat.  Read More

AGA’s new electric iTotal Control Cooker incorporates three separate independently-operating ovens, assigned to the roasting, baking and simmering of foods. It also has a snazzy touchscreen panel, which can be used to control those ovens. Additionally, there’s a boiling plate and a simmering plate on top. What really makes it special, however, is the fact that it can be controlled from anywhere in the world.  Read More

Space travel can be boring. Voyages to Mars or the Asteroid Belt may sound exotic and exciting, but the fact is that most of the time there’s not much to see and not much to do. Wouldn’t it be great if morale on these long missions could get a boost by a reminder of home like fresh baked bread? Thanks to NASA’s “Space Apps” program, that might one day be a reality. Sixteen-year old “citizen scientist” Sam Wilkinson has come up with a way to make bread simply and efficiently using carbon dioxide and a slow cooker that is designed to work within the limitations of a spaceship’s galley.  Read More

It's one of the most common and infuriating dining problems everyone encounters: getting ketchup to pour smoothly out of bottle and onto your plate. You've probably heard a number of solutions from "tap the 57" to "spin the bottle between your hands," but even those methods can still drown your fries in sauce in the end. Luckily, science - or rather, a research group working at MIT - has finally taken notice and concocted an impressive solution. By coating the inside of any bottle with the slippery LiquiGlide coating, anything from ketchup to mayonnaise to jam flows right out like water, barely leaving a smudge behind.  Read More

Foodies who've ever dreamed of having superhero-style vision that could analyze what they are about to eat should keep an eye on the upcoming Sensor+Trade fair in Nuremberg. Scientists from the Fraunhofer Institute of Photonic Microsystems (IPMS) will be exhibiting a tiny prototype spectrometer that can measure factors such as water and protein level in foods, meaning you won't make the mistake of buying fruit that looks good on the outside but is rotten at its core.  Read More

It may look nothing more than an oddly shaped greenhouse, but the "Globe (hedron)" is a concept for a rooftop aquaponics dome that Urban Farmers hopes will help address global food security.  Read More

Ice cream and avalanches are two subjects that usually only fit together in a child's dreams, but Nestle is now looking at how research on one could help in making the other. The food company recently teamed up with an avalanche research center in Switzerland to study how ice crystals grow within ice cream as it sits in the freezer. Typically these crystals dilute the flavor of the ice cream while also making it harder to scoop and eat. By using the center's equipment and research with their own products, Nestle hopes to develop a method for slowing the ice growth and produce a creamy dessert that will retain its taste and texture much longer.  Read More