Food

The Disturbingly Inexact Science Of Food Expiration Dates

It’s an all too common ritual: A product in the kitchen passes its “best before” date, so you toss it. Trouble is, it was probably perfectly safe to eat — and you just wasted good food. This is a problem that’s only getting worse. Here’s what you need to know about “expired” foods — and…

io9 George Dvorsky Sep 2

A Federal Judge Has Struck Down An Anti-GMO Law In Hawaii

Last year, Hawaii’s fourth-largest island, Kauai, passed a local ordinance restricting the use of pesticides and genetically modified crops. But,a federal judge has ruled the county overstepped its legal authority — which has potentially huge implications for whether local communities across the U.S. can ban GMO crops. The Kauai County ordinance known as Bill 2491…

io9 Mark Strauss Sep 2

Stock Up On Spirulina For Snacks and Fresh Air On Deep Space Missions

Meet Spirulinaha, Arthrospira bacteria that scrubs carbon dioxide into oxygen, is a protein-rich meal for astronauts, and multiplies so rapidly that eating them for dinner won’t leave the space station without fresh air by morning. Top: a handful of Spirulinahas strands, passing gas before they’re eaten. Image credit: NASA/ESA Along with being so amazingly useful,…

Tech News Mika McKinnon Sep 1

What’s the Real Difference Between Brown and White Eggs?

Chickens tend to produce eggs in one of two colors, white and brown. But is there any nutritional difference between them? And what accounts for the difference in shell color in the first place? These questions were recently posed to C. Claiborne Ray in the New York Times, who spoke to Cornell University scientist Tro…

io9 George Dvorsky Aug 28

Switzerland Puts Secret Bacteria in Cheese to Catch Knockoffs

In parts of Europe, where cheese is taken seriously as a source of national pride, entire labs are devoted to spotting knockoff Emmental and Gruyere. Switzerland has what may be the most impressive strategy yet: secret cocktails of bacteria, sent only to licensed cheesemakers, that work as living biological tracers. Cheese is, after all, the…

Tech News Sarah Zhang Aug 28

Scented Duct Tape For Half-Assed Repairs That At Least Smell Good

At one time duct tape only came in a single color: silver. It made the material seem like some kind of NASA-engineered, space-age, super tool, but eventually mankind demanded more. Colors and patterns were introduced, but that still wasn’t enough to satiate humanity’s desire for choice. So Duck Brand is now introducing scented duct tape…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski Aug 27

Why Does Your Food Cost So Much?

You know how much money you spend on buying food, but just where does that money go? This graphic shows you exactly where your dollar ends up. The USDA has put together a series of “Food dollars” showing how the costs of your food breakdown. More than half of the average dollar that you spend…

io9 Ria Misra Aug 25

Pizza Science is the Tastiest Science

Everybody knows that pizza is delicious, but did you know that there’s a science to getting that perfectly browned-but-not-too-brown, moist-but-not-oily, haphazard-but-also-uniform arrangement of peaks and valleys for the blistered cheese that rests on top of a pizza? Bryony James, a researcher at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, is interested in the microstructure of…

Biology Jason G. Goldman Aug 22

Scientists Are Building a Tomato That Grows 24 Hours a Day

Scientists already know how to make a tasty tomato, but in the quest for mass production, there’s another barrier to overcome: how to make a tomato that grows 24 hours a day. Thing is, if tomato plants don’t enjoy eight hours of darkness—which sees them stop growing—they become covered in yellow spots and, if it…

Tech News Jamie Condliffe Aug 22

New bacon-in-everything restaurant looks deadly delicious

Brutus is a bacon’s lover dream come true. Located in Montreal, Canada, the restaurant will use bacon in all their dishes. It’s probably half a heart attack but I’m drooling just by looking at some of the food that will be served there. 100% bacon sausage hot dog Bacon, red caramelized onions and cheese with…

Sploid Omar Kardoudi Aug 21

Nutella consumes 25 percent of the world’s hazelnut crop

Bad news, dudes. After unwelcome spring frost in decimated nearly a quarter of Turkey’s hazelnut crop, there is real fear that we’re now facing a Nutella shortage. That’s because the production of Nutella consumes 25 percent of the world’s hazelnut crop. And naturally, less crop means less Nutella. Don’t freak out just yet. Since Turkey…

Tech News Adam Clark Estes Aug 19

The Beef Jerky-Potato Chip Hybrid Is Real, and We Taste-Tested It

When we first wrote about Cherkees—the beef jerky potato chip hybrid—we called it “the pinnacle of human innovation.” Granted, we may have gotten slightly carried away, but the concept of getting our required daily dose of jerky and chip simultaneously? What an amazing time-saver! Unfortunately, delays plagued these intrepid pioneers of snack, but now, three…

Reviews Brent Rose Aug 19

NASA and The Corned Beef Incident

Early space food was about as appetizing as airplane food, except smushed into even-less-appealing tubes of paste. Astronauts are daring and brave personalities, unlikely to comply to drab mealtimes. The result? A smuggling caper with a delicious payoff. https://backtalk.kinja.com/space-hi-jinx-part-ii-the-corned-beef-incident-1622438898

Tech News Mika McKinnon Aug 18

The Simple Reason We Like Buying Food In Clear Packaging

Back in the olden days, most food packaging was thick and opaque—all the better to keep out elements like light and moisture which could potentially spoil our Funyuns. Now Americans are gravitating towards packaging that lets us actually see the food we’re buying. And it makes sense why this trend is gaining momentum now. According…

Tech News Alissa Walker Aug 14

Lobsters were once only fed to poor people and prisoners

That Surf and Turf now costs an arm and a leg thanks to lobster’s recent resurgence in popularity. But, as David Foster Wallace’s famous essay, Consider the Lobster illustrated, throughout Colonial-era America, the crustacean was considered among the least desirable foods one could put in their face—a garbage meat fit only for the indigent, indentured,…

Tech News Andrew Tarantola Aug 13

A Spirograph Pancake Machine Makes Breakfast Beautiful

Believe it or not, pancake art has become a trendy way to spice up breakfast, with talented chefs showing off their golden brown creations online. But none can match the intricacy of Nathan Shields’ batter-spewing spirograph machine known as the Pangraph. It’s a work of engineering art unto itself, but the pancakes it produces are…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski Aug 12

When Will The Last Ever McDonald’s Restaurant Close Its Doors?

McDonald’s is one of the most successful franchises of all time — wherever you go, all over the world, there’s bound to be a Golden Arches nearby. They stopped counting how many billions sold decades ago. Its dominance seems destined to last forever… but nothing ever does. When will the final McDonald’s close? Also, what…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders Aug 11

Watch the most delicious movie food scenes in one supercut

I watched the movie Chef the other day and the amount of food porn neared Jiro-level. The way Jon Favreau ate in that movie made everything look delicious. Here’s a supercut of scenes in movies that are just like that, you’ll see so much happiness in the way the actors eat that you can’t help…

Sploid Casey Chan Aug 8

A Magical Machine Lets You Inject Bananas With Sweet Sweet Fillings

You know that disappointing feeling when you bite into a banana and there’s nothing on the inside? Normally they can’t compete with the likes of a creme-filled Twinkie, or a caramel-packed tube of Rolos, but the DestapaBanana levels the playing field. It lets you inject bananas—still in their peel—with all kinds of fillings so you…

Gadgets Andrew Liszewski Aug 8

This Is How We’ll Grow Salad on Mars

Dining on alien planets might be a way off, but at least when we do there will be salad—because we’ve already developed the means to grow lettuce on other worlds. This image shows the set-up used by researchers at the German Aerospace Center, who have been pioneering the techniques required to grow “space lettuce.” Bathed…

Space & Spaceflight Jamie Condliffe Aug 8

The Disturbingly Inexact Science Of Food Expiration Dates

A Federal Judge Has Struck Down An Anti-GMO Law In Hawaii

Stock Up On Spirulina For Snacks and Fresh Air On Deep Space Missions

What’s the Real Difference Between Brown and White Eggs?

Switzerland Puts Secret Bacteria in Cheese to Catch Knockoffs

Scented Duct Tape For Half-Assed Repairs That At Least Smell Good

Why Does Your Food Cost So Much?

Pizza Science is the Tastiest Science

Scientists Are Building a Tomato That Grows 24 Hours a Day

New bacon-in-everything restaurant looks deadly delicious

Nutella consumes 25 percent of the world’s hazelnut crop

The Beef Jerky-Potato Chip Hybrid Is Real, and We Taste-Tested It

NASA and The Corned Beef Incident

The Simple Reason We Like Buying Food In Clear Packaging

Lobsters were once only fed to poor people and prisoners

A Spirograph Pancake Machine Makes Breakfast Beautiful

When Will The Last Ever McDonald’s Restaurant Close Its Doors?

Watch the most delicious movie food scenes in one supercut

A Magical Machine Lets You Inject Bananas With Sweet Sweet Fillings

This Is How We’ll Grow Salad on Mars

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