MIT's 3D Food Printer

Did any of you see the movie “Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs” or “Soylent Green”? Well, this invention by a pair of MIT students is making the ideas in these movies the stuff of reality.  Marcelo Coelho and Amit Zoran developed a machine that has the ability to produce something edible and close in taste to what you “ordered”. The 3D printer is able to mix flavours and foods that are stored in canisters and it has the ability to rapidly heat and cool which enables the creation of flavour and texture that is not possible through traditional cooking techniques.

Scared yet? It sounds like those MRE (Meals, Ready – Eat) field rations that they give service people when they’re out in combat when there is no actual food available. Doesn’t sound too palatable if you ask me. Or too healthy. Sure they can pump it full of whatever percentage of vitamins and stuff you need every day, but when it comes down to it, you can’t just eat processed stuff and then expect to make up for it with vitamins…?! I mean, MRE’s can be stored for up to 15 years – if kept in the right conditions.. I wonder what the shelf life for these canisters will be…! Or if they’ll be as costly as actual printer cartridges!!

I’m sure McDonalds and KFC will be first up to order the first 10,000 units.. Hey, maybe this will mean the end of the drive-thru attendant who cannot seem to get your order right. With that being said, you really have to have a liberal definition of the word “food” to be able to include this device under that category…

Well, the good thing about this 3D food printer is that once robots take over the world, we’ll still have a reliable food source! But I’m not sure if a 3D food printing machine will be safe to use when the robot apocalypse happens.. the “food” might over mutate and start chasing you or something!

Go watch “Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs”!! “CHEESEBURGER!!!!!”

Machine from "Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs"

“The Future Is Now”… Is it really??

Some sciency types have developed a new technology that can convert WiFi signals into power. So wherever you are, you can charge your phone – provided it has a USB plug thing in it. This new technology is called Airnegy – smart eh! Since it pulls energy out of thin air, it makes me wonder whether it has any kind of weird health warnings attached to it.. I mean, if it can pull a WiFi signal out of the air and convert it into power, will it be expelling any kind of weird disease inducing signals?!

According to various reports, the Airnegy charging device should hit the shelves sometime this year, and will retail for around $40. Not too bad, but since it’s a USB plug, you won’t be able to charge things like your iPod etc. I guess if all phones are to be made with USB charging ports, then it will be beneficial. The worst thing ever is to have your cell phone battery die when you’re nowhere near the charger or a socket!!!

If you don’t like the idea of a portable WiFi powered charging unit and would prefer nothing more than a fizzy beverage, then this next one is for you. We have yet another Nokia concept phone – but this one runs on sweet carbonated soft drinks! 23 year old Miss Zhang, who developed the technology, said that  her idea was to create an eco-friendly battery as current cell phone batteries are the opposite of being environmentally friendly and they’re very expensive to produce.

The only by-products of this cola-powered phone would be oxygen and water and the power would be able to last up to four times as long as a conventional phone battery. Pretty cool!!! All this talk of cola is making me want to have a soda..

There is no release date yet, since this is still just a concept.. But who knows, maybe they’ll develop something that runs on orange peel or something – some kind of biodegradable garbage that we have everyday but would normally throw out.

Do you think the Airnegy device and “cola phone” will be big hits? If you were a crazy scientist, what kind of alternate energy source would you want to develop? And what would it be used for? Let me know in the comments!!!

1. iPods: Can you believe that iPods were launched in 2001 – yet it feels like they’ve been around FOREVER! iPods have completely changed how we deal with music and now – other media like movies and pictures. The new iPod is absolutely incredible. You can surf the web, do your emailing, listen to music, watch movies, with this pocket-sized device. I wonder what hot gadget they will come up with next!
2. Facebook: When facebook first hit the internet, it was only limited to Harvard students. Now everyone and their cat has a facebook page. You watch as people start relationships, end relationships, enter into complicated relationships. You don’t even have remember birthdays anymore. And the apps.. I’m just going to say: FarmVille, Cafe World and Mafia Wars. Facebook has even been blocked from some offices because of it’s popularity.
3. Celeb culture: Everyone and their kid is a celebrity now. Jon & Kate, Octo-mom, people that didn’t win American Idol, Pheoby Price… TMZ changed the way “celebrities” are seen – snapping pics when they’re buying their dog food, jogging, leaving a restaurant or club. And people with famous parents are hot for no good reason: the Geldoff girls, Paris Hilton, the Kardashians. And everyone has their own reality show: The Hills, The City, Jersey Shore, Cake Boss… I mean, MTV doesn’t even have music videos any more. It’s all reality shows. And with Twitter, you can see what these “celebrities” are doing all the time!
4. YouTube: YouTube has become a norm of everyday life. People can be YouTube famous just for posting vlogs (video-blogs). Susan Boyle became an over-night celebrity because of YouTube. It’s crazy!
5. Google: Don’t know something, Google it. Can’t think of the name of Dorothy’s dog from The Wizard of Oz? Google it! Is hard to imagine where we would be without Google. In a world where we need everything right away, Google is really a lifesaver sometimes! His name is Toto by the way!
6. Turning everything into a verb and giving everything nicknames: “I’m facebook-ing”, “Blogging”, “Google it”, “Wikipedia it”, “DVR-ing”. It seems there are new words everyday. Tweeting (when you’re posting things on Twitter), PWNED, Sexting, Tweens, Twi-Hards (Twilight Fans). And nicknames for famous couples are everywhere: Spencer Pratt & Heidi Montag from The Hills became Spidi, Brad Pitt & Angelina became Brangelina.. I could keep going but I won’t. And Dancing With The Stars became DWTS, and America’s Next Top Model became ANTM..
7. Starbucks: I don’t drink coffee, but I love a hot chocolate from Starbucks or any other coffee joint. And those people with the crazy Starbucks coffee orders: Grande, chai latte, no fat, no foam, no water, soy, triple shot, extra hot, whipped cream, sprinkles.. I don’t know, I just made that up, but it’s probably a legit coffee! (minus the no water part). But people get crazy with their coffees.. It secretly bothers me when people have these ridiculous orders. If I worked at Starbucks, I would probably only last about 2 minutes. Some “non-fat, extra foam, soy” person would end up with double cream thrown at them!
8. Airports: Do you remember when you didn’t have to take your shoes off in the airport? Or when they gave you real metal cutlery and glass cups on the plane? Or when you could bring knitting needles, sewing needles, a bottle of water onto the plane with you? I think there was a rule where mothers who brought formula or milk for their babies, they would have to taste it before being allowed to take it on board with them. Terrorism changed everything.
9. Shoes: Uggs & Crocs. Uggs became the hottest accessory for cold toes everywhere! Even people in hot climates were wearing the wool lined winter boots with shorts. And Crocs. You either love them or hate them. There were even internet groups dedicated to destroying the shoes.
10. GPS: There’s no excuse for you to get lost anymore. No one uses maps, because everyone has GPS. There was a story of a couple driving 400 miles to the wrong destination because they typed the destination name wrong into their GPS. Oops!

Maybe by 2020, we’ll be flying, teleporting, it’ll be like the Matrix – just upload things into your braincells that you want to learn. No, I’m just kidding. I don’t think I would like that. With the modern fast paced modern day lifestyle, the little things seem to be thrown aside. Things are popular for only a short time, hot things become not hot so fast. Everything needs to be the newest and the best. Just little things like making your own pizza instead of buying a pre-made one, and making your own flower arrangements or centre-piceces instead of buying them can be really rewarding and fun! Even drinks can be brought pre-mixed like martinis and cocktails. I think modern technology is amazing, but we should not forget the simple things like apple picking, pretty flowers, baking a cake or making snowmen!

What do you think the hottest things of the last decade have been?

I had this link sent to me and I thought it was great! It’s a concept for a Morph cell phone by Nokia. It’s actually quite amazing. Check out the video:

Nokia.com – Morph concept cell phone

Ok, so basically, this phone can do pretty much everything except wash the dishes… It’s foldable, bendable, stretchable, spill proof, solar powered. I’m not sure what the “Sensing” feature is when the lady was waving it at the apple.. I think it said “warning”??? but I’m not sure. The other things said “Wash” and “Peel” – but I thought that was common sense, to wash fruit etc before you eat  it or…??? Or peel something that’s supposed to be peeled..? Maybe that’s just me lol

I did like the “Spill-proof” feature. “Superhydrophobic” – what a great word! Superphobic!! Reminds me of scotch guard… And those transparent nanoelectronics. How cool is that. It’s like those see through plastic credit cards that they never had at my bank… very upsetting.

As I was watching, I was wondering if it came in colours other than just “1980 computer writing” green.. But that’s not an issue, as you can take a picture of something and have it as the wallpaper! Like the cartoon lady who took a picture of her handbag and put it as the wallpaper – so the whole “phone” turned the same pattern! Fantastic! You never have to worry about your accessories not matching!

I’d be a bit worried about it being thrown around in my purse, or if it was in a pocket, would the little nanohairs be able to withstand the friction of the fabric if it was in a back pocket and you were sitting on it…? Or being swung around with mascaras and lip glosses? Anyway, this is still a concept – and is just meant to showcase “what is possible”.. The manufacturers believe that the technology in this device would be available in high-end devices in 2015, so watch this space….

Just out of curiosity, what would be your favorite thing about this concept phone? Or, what additional things would you want it to be able to do? Let me know in the comments!