Come on, Heinz, catch up! Enterprising students create ketchup bottle that pours like milk (and it only took them two months)tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb* T9 E; Q, s' ~& P* S, F9 O
By Eddie Wrenn
4 L" ]" F: E! z8 Tos.tvboxnow.comPUBLISHED: 08:56 GMT, 23 May 2012 | UPDATED: 12:23 GMT, 23 May 2012公仔箱論壇+ v x X* _0 {1 I- y% n
: s3 {% F8 ~3 j2 K( D M& qAny 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.
4 O* [, D. M7 \But now, a radical new bottle design could spell the end of that problem forever.4 t z) {# w }$ h# i0 l0 d
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The 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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0 b: s. Z3 B+ `: t! H/ [# y. \tvb now,tvbnow,bttvbThe results are astonishing - and any burger and chips fan out there should prepare to be amazed.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。1 q2 P% D: c! J
7 q0 w/ x5 B* m) s9 A; etvb now,tvbnow,bttvbMIT 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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x( A$ e) Z) K- Stvb now,tvbnow,bttvbBurger 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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1 ^: w: M1 b& o, ^: \ s6 s( b'Somehow this sparked the idea of putting it in food bottles - it could be great just for its slippery properties.
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'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" D+ g' Y. G" y. N
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'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.'公仔箱論壇) t: x% l# G8 ]& Y" A, v
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Naturally, the team had to research their market before getting to work.tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb: \$ A9 e2 @; e8 J) T: ^8 q
0 h. j; E$ r* b3 c7 P6 ^5 ]/ p: Ptvb now,tvbnow,bttvbSmith, 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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) w2 w5 I5 S* E1 }1 r3 E1 x8 C'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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+ o9 c5 `# a2 R0 Y( u, ~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。9 r. y+ r9 K; p5 {6 V2 X
For 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
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) k* M6 f" x2 `6 qThe old way: Good luck getting that last piece out...os.tvboxnow.com6 v4 u/ U$ f9 K0 S
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So why did the team pick sauces for their award-winning product?tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb2 F, `6 l$ T" Z; q1 E: I' k
: y& w4 d$ P6 L8 D, x0 U% 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。Dave said: 'It’s funny: Everyone is always like, "Why bottles? What’s the big deal?"
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8 Z9 T* f; s: D% Y7 d$ I$ v( HTVBNOW 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。'But then you tell them the market for bottles - just the sauces alone is a $17billion market.
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, b4 z5 q& {2 oTVBNOW 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。'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.'" N) d; v1 E" w& S+ E
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The secret ingredient to the liquid coating is a heavily-guarded secret, but the team promise it is non-toxic and will be FDA approved.+ A) X/ l3 N: z) B3 s
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The $100,000 winner of MIT's contest was perhaps a bit less jaw-dropping, but hopefully just as useful.os.tvboxnow.com8 K- n; [ G+ c3 I$ P) U
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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.
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7 ^- Y. ~1 \5 K'I get my burger and proceed to add all the necessary condiments: lettuce, tomatoes, onions…but oh no!
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'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!)'
- A- D8 i% H4 f. I/ ?7 u公仔箱論壇Dave Smith, MIT, explains the problem# u6 ^6 r# f* E0 N2 ?
6 K/ y2 E% K& H: Z9 G# w3 gtvb now,tvbnow,bttvbFor 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.tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb) T" i- u$ j' B
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7 ~* C& R3 r/ y$ ?1 s* w+ K2 \Team LiquiGlide was bestowed the Reader's Choice at MIT's Entrepreneurship Contest, winning a $2,000 prize - but their product is sure to reap them much more money in the future
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J7 k! L8 S1 U5 A( G, Qos.tvboxnow.comNot a fan of ketchup? Mayonnaise lovers can also enjoy the magical properties of LiquiGlide
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0 O) W. X$ S( g( B v( T2 ^os.tvboxnow.comHOW TO GET THE LAST DROP
6 z8 J' C8 @- _: z( A7 h8 utvb now,tvbnow,bttvbSo while we wait for the MIT team's product to come to market, how can you get that last bit of ketchup?
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There are many tried and true methods - all of which involves some vigorous shaking, spinning or twisting, with swearing optional.
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" L1 J5 L# @( nThere's the windmill approach: Swing your arm around in a semi-circle and let the centrifugal forces help you out.
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Or, 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.tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb$ \* h6 c) W6 C+ B8 d2 q5 `
: t9 `# _ l) C1 Y6 r) hHeinz 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'.
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; s: P2 j, N J5 _( B" {$ P. v'Very few people know this secret. Now you’re in-the-know.'tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb! ^, g2 g m8 n" [. l$ `# J
# R" O% Z' e) L! z: m4 lWhen 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.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。9 ^' W# m* }( O) g& |2 @
5 s- x/ E5 _; pos.tvboxnow.comAnd 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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