"Use a knife!" "Smack the 57!" "Hold it at a 45-degree angle!" Ketchup eaters have long been giving and receiving such advice on the art of beckoning their beloved condiment from its bottle, but thanks to the Varanasi Group at MIT, ketchup lovers will no longer lose the battle. Though the technology behind LiquiGlide is still being tested, the results so far are extremely promising. The nontoxic coating works not only on glass, but also on plastic, metal and ceramic. Made entirely from food materials, LiquiGlide is completely safe to eat. "Even if you scraped the coating with a knife and ate it, it would be completely harmless and flavorless."
You may be asking yourself what the big deal is. It's just a little ketchup (or mayo, mustard, sriracha, jelly...), right? LiquiGlide actually solves a much larger problem than making it easier for you to dress your burger: food waste. "With condiment bottles there's still a bunch of food left in the bottle when you throw it out. By our calculations," the Varanasi Group explained, "about one million pounds of food gets thrown out each year worldwide. Also, those squeeze bottle need a big cap. By eliminating the need for such a big cap we'd save 25,000 tons of petroleum-based plastics each year." And you won't have a fridge door full of bottles with gummy, sticky caps. Watch the weirdly gross and entertaining side-by-side demo videos of regular condiment bottles vs. those coated with LiquiGlide.
I like watching craftsman and maniac Ronald Walters' woodworking videos for two reasons. Number one is his skill. Number two is because he sounds enough like Parks & Recreation's Ron Swanson that I half-expect him to say things like "Turkey can never beat cow" or "Kendra, I think I will...
More than five years ago we first wrote about Geckel, a biomimetic adhesive based on geckos' and mussels' ability to stick to things. But as of this year the material was still "under development."Perhaps Duncan Irschick and Alfred Crosby, from UMass Amherst, will have better luck. The pair of scientists--one...
I had to wrack my brain to remember "Rock-a-Stack," the name of the Fisher-Price toy some of us had as children. Designer Nathan Day's Rainbow Side Table recalls that object's classic form, but updates the base (and top) with classy Jarrah wood rather than plastic; the "donuts" are made from...
Extract Daybed, Woolen Textiles from ButeRecent Beijing transplant Henny van Nistelrooy presented a selection of his textile work at this year's Beijing Design Week. Exploring the intersection of craft and industry van Nistelrooy's work centers on the process of creating (and deconstructing) textiles. Although he studied Industrial Design, the Dutch...
Create a Core77 Account
Already have an account? Sign In
By creating a Core77 account you confirm that you accept the Terms of Use
Please enter your email and we will send an email to reset your password.