pork

Researchers at the ever-prolific Fraunhofer Institute have developed a system based around metal oxide sensors to detect whether a fruit is ripe, green, or rotten.

The system is meant to be used primarily by food suppliers, so that they can automatically detect the best moment to deliver pieces of fruit to a store. By using the sensor to detect levels of gasses emitted from fruits (in the test case, a pineapple), they know exactly what condition the fruit is in. And the equipment is as sensitive as the stuff used in food laboratories.

How's this for innovation?: electronic cigarettes. Little white tubes that look like the real thing have a nicotine solution that's heated by a battery, and the user exhales a water vapor that looks like smoke. The FDA isn't quite sure what to make of them, although the manufacturer is clear: "It is not a drug, if you will. This is an adult smoking experience."

Also in today's links: a battle over pork and science, scratching an itch with a phantom limb, and more.