A couple of tasters, who claim they’re unpaid and impartial, are currently chomping their way through some very expensive artificial flesh at a publicity event in London. According to the BBC’s science correspondent Pallab Ghosh, who is also at the gathering, the main feedback so far is that the meat — which is presented as a burger — isn’t as juicy or tasty as the real thing, mainly because it’s totally lean. The substance was grown by a team at the University of Maastricht, with a spot of funding from none other than Google visionary Sergey Brin, who believes the technology is on the “cusp of viability” as a solution to animal welfare issues. Lead researcher Prof. Mark Post doesn’t seem too disheartened by the tasters’ comments, but says he’s working to improve flavor. At a current cost of $325,000 per patty, people are going to expect something special regardless of the ethical or ecological arguments — and some cajun spices probably won’t cut it.
Filed under: Misc, Science, Alt
Source: @BBCPallab (Twitter)
Don’t worry, you won’t wake up tomorrow suddenly only to find out that you are “The One” in a Matrix-like environment, even though we have word that there is a new experiment in town that turns the inner ear of guinea pigs into a biological battery. Word has it that electrodes that have been implanted within the guinea pigs’ inner ears do seem to bear a strong resemblance to that of humans, where it managed to power the attached radio transmitters. To think that this happened without the guinea pigs suffering from any form of major hearing loss, perhaps such similar medical sensors that are implanted in human inner ears could be the path of the future?
