MIT engineers create bottle that releases ketchup effortlessly
NEW YORK, May 30 — For many, it’s an invention that’s been long
overdue: a bottle that pours out the final traces of ketchup
with nary a shake, effort or expletive made. It just took a team
of MIT scientists to figure it out. Since being uploaded May 23,
a video showing the last streams of ketchup sliding effortlessly
out of a bottle that has a specially designed coating has gone
viral, with nearly 118,300 hits as of May 29. The LiquiGlide
technology has proven to be particularly popular among viewers
in a “why-didn’t-I-think-of-that” kind of way, with comments
hailing the new bottle as a “miracle,” and a most useful
application of science. Developed by a team of MIT engineers at
the Varanasi Research Group, the nontoxic coating is made from
food materials and is being touted as a partial solution for
everything from excess food waste to environmental pollution. By
their own calculations, one million pounds of food are thrown
out a year worldwide.