Archive for the ‘food’ category: Page 274
Jun 13, 2016
NASA wants astronauts to have 3D printed pizza, and this startup is building a printer to make it happen
Posted by Karen Hurst in categories: 3D printing, food, robotics/AI, space travel
This needs to be on the commercial carriers especially for those 4+ hour flights.
An Austin, Texas company, whose founders were commissioned by NASA to develop palatable foods for astronauts’ deep space mission to Mars, has built a device that can 3D-print pizza.
The company –known as BeeHex — boasts that its machine is efficient, clean, and capable of churning out a delicious pizza in less than half the time it takes a typical human chef. The tech is being developed for astronauts, but since NASA’s manned mission to the Red Planet isn’t planned until the 2030s, us Earthbound eaters may be able to enjoy a 3D-printed pizza at theme parks, shopping malls, or concert halls by early 2017.
Jun 13, 2016
Watching ‘jumping genes’ in action
Posted by Karen Hurst in categories: biotech/medical, food, genetics, physics
Jumping genes — not jumping beans.
“Jumping genes” are ubiquitous. Every domain of life hosts these sequences of DNA that can “jump” from one position to another along a chromosome; in fact, nearly half the human genome is made up of jumping genes. Depending on their specific excision and insertion points, jumping genes can interrupt or trigger gene expression, driving genetic mutation and contributing to cell diversification. Since their discovery in the 1940s, researchers have been able to study the behavior of these jumping genes, generally known as transposons or transposable elements (TE), primarily through indirect methods that infer individual activity from bulk results. However, such techniques are not sensitive enough to determine precisely how or why the transposons jump, and what factors trigger their activity.
Reporting in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have observed jumping gene activity in real time within living cells. The study is the collaborative effort of physics professors Thomas Kuhlman and Nigel Goldenfeld, at the Center for the Physics of Living Cells, a National Science Foundation Physics Frontiers Center.
Jun 13, 2016
IKEA Indoor Gardens Produce Food Year-Round for Homes & Restaurants
Posted by Dan Kummer in categories: food, habitats
IKEA recently launched a hydroponic gardening system to allow people to grow fresh produce at home (without soil or sunlight) and has just unveiled a similar system under development that is aimed at helping restaurants raise ingredients in-house.
The KRYDDA/VÄXER hydroponic garden lets sprout seeds without soil using absorbent foam plugs that keep plants moist (without over-watering, thanks to a built-in sensor). Germinated seeds can then be transferred to pots fitted into a growing tray featuring a solar lamp. The system is designed to be easy to use for even inexpert gardeners.
Continue reading “IKEA Indoor Gardens Produce Food Year-Round for Homes & Restaurants” »
Jun 8, 2016
This candy store 3D prints your wildest candy dreams
Posted by Karen Hurst in categories: 3D printing, food, robotics/AI
Well, if AI takes my job; I guess I can open my own Candy Factory.
Originally from England, this candy store can create 3D sweets. They can print 100 different shapes, or an original design controlled by a kid-friendly app.
Jun 7, 2016
Want to know what the future of medical invention looks like? Read on
Posted by Karen Hurst in categories: 3D printing, biotech/medical, business, computing, cyborgs, food, habitats, mobile phones, singularity, transportation, wearables
Medical/ Biocomputing will only continue to grow and advance as a result of the demand for more improved experiences by consumers and business in communications and entertainment, food, home life, travel, business, etc.
Today, we have seen early opportunities and benefits with 3D printing, BMI, early stage Gene/ Cell circuitry and computing. In the future, we will see these technologies more and more replaced by even more advance Biocomputing and gene circuitry technology that will ultimately transform the human experiences and quality of life that many like to call Singularity.
Printing technology has come a long way from screechy dot-matrix printers to 3D printers which can print real life objects from metals, plastics, chemicals and concrete. While, at first, 3D printers were being used to create just basic shapes with different materials, more recently, they have been used to create advanced electronics, bio-medical devices and even houses.
Aircraft manufacturer Airbus recently showcased the world’s first 3D-printed mini aircraft, Thor, at the International Aerospace Exhibition and Air Show in Berlin. Although Airbus and its competitor have been using 3D-printed parts for their bigger assemblies, recent attempt shows that aviation may be ready for a new future with much lighter and cheaper planes given 3D printing not only cuts down the costs with less wastage, it also makes the plane lighter, thereby making them faster and more fuel efficient. But planes and toys is not what 3D printing might be restricted to; though in the elementary stage at the moment, the technology is being used for creating complex electronics like phones and wearables and may be able to reduce costs for manufacturers like Samsung and Apple.
Continue reading “Want to know what the future of medical invention looks like? Read on” »
Jun 7, 2016
New “Bionic Leaf” Is More Efficient Than Photosynthesis
Posted by Karen Hurst in categories: cyborgs, food, solar power, sustainability, transhumanism
The latest of the bionic leaf. A little over a year ago reseachers made an amazing discovery on cell circuitry leaves. Here is more news from Harvard on their research on bionic leaves.
Harvard scientists designed a new artificial photosynthesis system that turns sunlight into liquid fuel, and it is already effective enough for use in commercial applications.
Here’s an alternative source of energy many have never heard of— bionic leaves.
Continue reading “New ‘Bionic Leaf’ Is More Efficient Than Photosynthesis” »
Jun 6, 2016
Historian: When Computers and Biology Converge, Organisms Become Algorithms
Posted by Shailesh Prasad in categories: biotech/medical, computing, economics, food, information science
On May 11, 2016, the Berggruen Philosophy and Culture Center invited Yuval Noah Harari, a professor of history at Hebrew University of Jerusalem and author of the international bestseller “Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind,” to deliver a talk on “The New Inequalities” at Tsinghua University in Beijing. Prior to the talk, Harari was interviewed by BPPC director Daniel A. Bell. This is an edited transcript of the interview.
You argue in your book that material progress, for example in the agriculture revolution and industrial capitalism doesn’t necessarily contribute to human happiness. In fact, it may lead to the opposite. Can you elaborate on that?
Until the middle of the 19th century there was a complete lack of correlation between material progress and the well-being of individual humans. For thousands of years until about 1850 you see humans accumulating more and more power by the invention of new technologies and by new systems of organization in the economy and in politics, but you don’t see any real improvement in the well-being of the average person. If you are the emperor of China, then obviously you’re much better off. But if you’re an average Chinese peasant in 1850, it’s very, very hard to say that your life is any better than the life of hunter-gatherers in the Yangtze Valley 20,000 years ago. You work much harder than them, your diet is worse, you suffer far more from infectious diseases, and you suffer far more from social inequality and economic exploitation.
Continue reading “Historian: When Computers and Biology Converge, Organisms Become Algorithms” »
Jun 1, 2016
See The Difference One Year Makes In Artificial Intelligence Research
Posted by Shailesh Prasad in categories: food, robotics/AI
Jun 1, 2016
What The Future Of Supermarkets May Look Like
Posted by Shailesh Prasad in categories: food, robotics/AI
This concept, by Italian designer Carlo Ratti Associati, features many futuristic designs such as transparent displays and robots boxing up your food.