Come on, Heinz, catch up! Enterprising students create ketchup bottle that pours like milk (and it only took them two months)% D/ p0 D7 K" j4 \8 m
By Eddie Wrenn
8 K) s3 F9 A1 P) |5 w6 U" @os.tvboxnow.comPUBLISHED: 08:56 GMT, 23 May 2012 | UPDATED: 12:23 GMT, 23 May 2012
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Any ketchup fan will tell you: Getting that last dollop of the red stuff out of the bottle is a headache - and it normally just ends up in the bin.; \5 Z$ u; Z. ~3 o: Z% @1 }- _6 @
But now, a radical new bottle design could spell the end of that problem forever.
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+ z% a% m/ B7 u8 e# {3 S; w U4 N3 Dos.tvboxnow.comThe MIT university team came up with LiquiGlide, a 'super-slippery' coating which makes the insides of the bottle so frictionless that the sludgy goo inside just slides out like water.
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The results are astonishing - and any burger and chips fan out there should prepare to be amazed.
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MIT PhD candidate Dave Smith and his team of mechanical engineers and nano-technologists at the Varanasi Research Group spent two months devising a solution.
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N3 @* l5 Z1 c; w) nBurger fan Smith said: 'We were really interested in - and still are - using this coating for anti-icing, or for preventing clogs that form in oil and gas lines, or for non-wetting applications like, say, on windshields.
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'Somehow this sparked the idea of putting it in food bottles - it could be great just for its slippery properties.
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* t. v( \! c$ q+ Q5 ^* n公仔箱論壇'Plus, most of these other applications have a much longer time to market - we realised we could make this coating for bottles that is pretty much ready. I mean, it is ready, as you can see.os.tvboxnow.com: q% v8 `5 j" q" Z, K, f7 w( K
. l; F9 a T* w' R, J% Y. [os.tvboxnow.com'We had a limited amount of materials to pick from - I can’t say what they are, but we’ve patented the hell out of it.'
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Naturally, the team had to research their market before getting to work.
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$ R. p. J2 e! M bSmith, who is is pursuing a PhD in mechanical engineering and a minor in entrepreneurship, and already holds nine patents, told the FastCo website: 'It was never really a personal pain point for me, but I do hate struggling to get sauce out of the bottles.
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'I didn’t know about the tapping of the '57' until I started looking into this. It was all news to me.
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'We have all types of sauces, jellies, and jams everywhere in our lab - It’s like a closet full of condiments.'
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% U9 r9 ?3 z4 {3 _os.tvboxnow.comFor those who cannot see the video: See how the ketchup pours like milk towards the lip of the bottle, before landing neatly on your burger or chips公仔箱論壇7 p8 ]- G, d3 G! h# J/ ] d; J
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The old way: Good luck getting that last piece out...
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So why did the team pick sauces for their award-winning product?
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$ `% m8 @( w' t% R! D* ^公仔箱論壇Dave said: 'It’s funny: Everyone is always like, "Why bottles? What’s the big deal?"tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb6 Z. ?! z1 B. q- F- R& p
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'But then you tell them the market for bottles - just the sauces alone is a $17billion market.公仔箱論壇, U5 {/ g2 v' y0 i
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'And if all those bottles had our coating, we estimate that we could save about one million tons of food from being thrown out every year.'tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb+ b" b) C; Y1 O1 s
- I; q7 ^) Q$ o6 U7 BThe secret ingredient to the liquid coating is a heavily-guarded secret, but the team promise it is non-toxic and will be FDA approved.
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The $100,000 winner of MIT's contest was perhaps a bit less jaw-dropping, but hopefully just as useful.TVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。5 x% N$ e! ]* B/ X2 k' W G
+ \; z7 ?) p* I1 T, h0 _TVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。The product, called CloudTop, was created by 22-year-old undergraduate Brett van Zuiden, and aims to remove the 'Upload' button from the web, by linking all those different services - such as Facebook, Google Drive, DropBox, and Flickr - together.
\7 K5 b9 N* y7 K/ I+ r公仔箱論壇TVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。7 Q6 ]5 T2 W/ l7 J( K5 p8 v' R
'I get my burger and proceed to add all the necessary condiments: lettuce, tomatoes, onions…but oh no!公仔箱論壇1 V# S; O' D0 f i/ _
' X" }) a: d6 J: ~'The ketchup bottle is running low! I violently shake and slam on the bottle but only manage to get a small drop out (or even worse, I spray it all over my clothes!)'& ?& w( m& d ~/ }# i: U3 d' n
Dave Smith, MIT, explains the problem公仔箱論壇0 W5 N# M5 ^' W3 L, x
4 Z. E4 W; E5 T, ], i4 y+ tFor example, you could drag and drop a picture file between all the different photo services without needing to re-upload and re-tag on each occasion.' g8 O! c* e F; D5 f
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Team LiquiGlide was bestowed the Reader's Choice at MIT's Entrepreneurship Contest, winning a $2,000 prize - but their product is sure to reap them much more money in the futureos.tvboxnow.com' g1 O, U5 Y, z# E( L5 ^- _3 f
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; g7 k; i1 f. U$ v9 i% FTVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。Not a fan of ketchup? Mayonnaise lovers can also enjoy the magical properties of LiquiGlide
6 S" M- ]9 X Z/ T/ N0 `TVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。- k: x/ k E" j) N7 g; P; w
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+ f" X5 M( _! u6 D0 G公仔箱論壇HOW TO GET THE LAST DROP
/ N- m# O! C% X% }- d5 L6 QSo while we wait for the MIT team's product to come to market, how can you get that last bit of ketchup?+ U' m( v p! |' t8 B2 U; g
! Y) U Y" R- P2 xTVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。There are many tried and true methods - all of which involves some vigorous shaking, spinning or twisting, with swearing optional.
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There's the windmill approach: Swing your arm around in a semi-circle and let the centrifugal forces help you out.tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb5 O L: v( g: {- s* B0 f6 \1 v
. b: R; |, i& X+ g- jos.tvboxnow.comOr, most common, is the 'tap-tap-tap' approach, where you hit the end of the bottle and wait for the ketchup to fall - but this normally either takes a while - or ends up covering your food with way too much sauce." c5 v- M- q5 K0 C9 w
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Heinz recommends this tip: 'To release ketchup faster from the glass bottle, apply a firm tap to the sweet spot on the neck of the bottle - the '57'.os.tvboxnow.com0 [% T, w0 s! B! w O/ z
1 U c' }5 [& r公仔箱論壇'Very few people know this secret. Now you’re in-the-know.'
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When the bottle is completely full, a vacuum keeps the sauce intact - so use a knife to get the first bit out, and it will get easier after that.os.tvboxnow.com f5 k$ v* N A8 t( O
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And store your bottle upside-down - at least that way the slow-moving sauce has less far to travel.
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發表於 2012-5-24 08:03 AM
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