Menu

Blog

Archive for the ‘food’ category: Page 260

Jul 23, 2018

Material formed from crab shells and trees could replace flexible plastic packaging

Posted by in categories: chemistry, engineering, food, sustainability

From liquid laundry detergent packaged in cardboard to compostable plastic cups, consumer products these days are increasingly touting their sustainable and renewable origins.

Now researchers at Georgia Institute of Technology have created a material derived from crab shells and tree fibers that has the potential to replace the flexible used to keep food fresh.

The new material, which is described July 23 in the journal ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering, is made by spraying multiple layers of chitin from crab shells and cellulose from trees to form a flexible film similar to plastic packaging film.

Read more

Jul 22, 2018

2018 Speakers

Posted by in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, food, genetics, robotics/AI, transhumanism

I’m excited to share I’ll be speaking/debating at the upcoming #Biohack the Planet 2018 conference in Oakland on Aug 31 & Sept 1. Many interesting biohackers will be there. Tickets are still available and very reasonably priced right now, but they will likely sell out. Hope to see you there! Here’s the speaker list: http://biohacktheplanet.com/2018-speakers/ #transhumanism #biohacker & ticket page: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/biohack-the-planet-2018-ticket


Bryan Johnson is the founder and CEO of Kernel, OS Fund and Braintree.

In 2016, Bryan invested $100M in Kernel to build advanced neural interfaces to treat disease and dysfunction, illuminate the mechanisms of intelligence, and extend cognition. Kernel is on a mission to dramatically increase our quality of life as healthy lifespans extend. He believes that the future of humanity will be defined by the combination of human and artificial intelligence (HI +AI). In 2014, Bryan invested $100M to start OS Fund which invests in entrepreneurs commercializing breakthrough discoveries in genomics, synthetic biology, artificial intelligence, precision automation, and new materials development. Bryan founded Braintree in 2007, later acquiring Venmo, which he sold to Ebay in 2013 for $800M. He is an outdoor-adventure enthusiast, pilot, and author of a children’s book, Code 7.

Continue reading “2018 Speakers” »

Jul 22, 2018

Traces of the Fukushima Meltdown Can Be Found in California Wines

Posted by in categories: food, particle physics

Researchers found increased levels of radioactive particles in wines made after Japan’s Fukushima meltdown.

Read more

Jul 21, 2018

I used a robot mop to clean my floors to see if it could do a better job — and it took care of a thankless household chore with ease

Posted by in categories: food, robotics/AI

Although i dont really like the idea of a different robot for every job, because you will get nickel and dimed to death.


If you love scrubbing the floors of your kitchen and bathrooms, then don’t get an iRobot Braava Jet 240. If you would rather let a plucky little robot do the mopping for you, then do get one, and leave this thankless household chore behind forever.

Read more

Jul 20, 2018

Beets and carrots could lead to stronger and greener buildings

Posted by in categories: food, materials

According to engineers, root vegetables aren’t only good for the body. Their fibres could also help make concrete mixtures stronger and more eco-friendly.

Construction projects have a significant impact on our environment. To combat this, stakeholders in the academic and industrial sectors have been looking for ways to make the industry more environment friendly. The EU-funded project B-SMART will be contributing to these efforts by focusing on concrete and the more culpable of its ingredients: cement.

Led by Lancaster University in the United Kingdom, the project will be investigating how nanoplatelets extracted from the fibres of can make concrete mixtures more robust and more environment friendly. So far, initial tests have shown that adding nanoplatelets from sugar beet or carrot to these mixtures greatly enhances the mechanical properties of concrete.

Read more

Jul 19, 2018

The public doesn’t trust GMOs. Will it trust CRISPR?

Posted by in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, food

There’s a huge opportunity to improve agriculture with gene editing. But we need to give CRISPR a chance.

Read more

Jul 18, 2018

From picking to pollinating, agribots are pushing farming into the future

Posted by in categories: food, robotics/AI

The Robots are Coming!


Agricultural scientists are turning to emerging technologies, such as robotics and AI, to help deal with the challenges associated with modern-day farming. Here are some of the tech being harvested today.

Read more

Jul 16, 2018

Universal basic income touted as answer to automation

Posted by in categories: economics, employment, food, robotics/AI

My debate on #BasicIncome at the FreedomFest against Dr. Barbara Kolm, director at the Austrian Economic Center (debate moderated by syndicated columnist and scholar Veronique de Rugy) got a write-up in Nevada Current (article by journalist Jeniffer Solis). https://www.nevadacurrent.com/…/universal-basic-income-tou…/ #FFest18


Earlier this month, the Vdara Hotel & Spa added two relay robots that deliver snacks, sundries and spa products directly to guest suites. While charmingly decorated as a Golden Retriever and Dalmatian dog with Vdara-themed collars, the new robots — named Fetch and Jett — may be a sign of what’s next for Las Vegas.

In 20 years, about 65 percent of the city’s jobs could be automated, according to a study by the Institute for Spatial Economic Analysis. That projection may be an outlier – the Organization for Economic for Cooperation and Development, for instance, projects only 10 percent of U.S. jobs are vulnerable to automation.

Continue reading “Universal basic income touted as answer to automation” »

Jul 16, 2018

Leg Exercise is Critical to Brain and Nervous System Health

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, chemistry, food, health, neuroscience

Groundbreaking research shows that neurological health depends as much on signals sent by the body’s large, leg muscles to the brain as it does on directives from the brain to the muscles. Published today in Frontiers in Neuroscience, the study fundamentally alters brain and nervous system medicine — giving doctors new clues as to why patients with motor neuron disease, multiple sclerosis, spinal muscular atrophy and other neurological diseases often rapidly decline when their movement becomes limited.

“Our study supports the notion that people who are unable to do load-bearing exercises — such as patients who are bed-ridden, or even astronauts on extended travel — not only lose muscle mass, but their body chemistry is altered at the cellular level and even their nervous system is adversely impacted,” says Dr. Raffaella Adami from the Università degli Studi di Milano, Italy.

The study involved restricting mice from using their hind legs, but not their front legs, over a period of 28 days. The mice continued to eat and groom normally and did not exhibit stress. At the end of the trial, the researchers examined an area of the brain called the sub-ventricular zone, which in many mammals has the role of maintaining nerve cell health. It is also the area where neural stem cells produce new neurons.

Continue reading “Leg Exercise is Critical to Brain and Nervous System Health” »

Jul 15, 2018

Robot chefs are popping up in restaurants around the world

Posted by in categories: food, robotics/AI

“Doughbots” in California speed up stretching pizza dough from 45 seconds to just nine.


CREATOR, a new hamburger joint in San Francisco, claims to deliver a burger worth $18 for $6—in other words, to provide the quality associated with posh restaurants at a fast-food price. The substance behind this claim is that its chef-de-cuisine is a robot.

Until recently, catering robots have been gimmicks. “Flippy”, a robotic arm that flipped burgers for the entertainment of customers at CaliBurger in Pasadena, near Los Angeles, earlier this year is a prime example. But Flippy could perform only one task. Creator’s bot automates the whole process of preparing a burger. And it is not alone. Other robot chefs that can prepare entire meals are working, or soon will be, in kitchens in other parts of America, and in China and Britain.

Continue reading “Robot chefs are popping up in restaurants around the world” »