Our weekly serving of off-the-menu items—a few popular favorites from the week as well as a few morsels that may have slipped your notice.
Welcome Home (on Mars)
NASA announced the winners of their 3D Printed Habitat Challenge for designs for future habitats on the Red Planet. The Winner, the Mars Ice House, is an inflatable dome lined with ice to protect its inhabitants from cosmic and solar radiation.
Hold the Wasabi: Sushi Kit Kat Now in Tokyo
To celebrate the opening of their first “street-facing” store, Kit Kat Japan is releasing a limited run of three sushi-flavored kit kats: raspberry “tuna” on a white-chocolate puffed rice, pumpkin “tamago” and an “uni” flavor of Hokkaido melon and mascarpone cheese.
German Mess Kit, Deconstructed
From tiffin or bentobox, it’s always fascinating to see how other people package meals to go. The editors at Core77 take a look at the history and design of the German Mess Kit, replete with its own specialty utensils.
A Solar-Powered Water Purifier
Researchers at the University of Edinburgh have developed a solar-powered photocatalytic material to destroy organic compounds in drinking water. The chemical can be added to plastic to create a cheap water purifying solution. Just add sunshine.
Doctors in the Grocery Aisle
There’s a revolution brewing in California—grocery stores are partnering with medical institutions to offer customers healthy eating advice as they do their weekly shopping. As the subspecialty of lifestyle medicine grows, expect to see doctors prescribing a healthy dose of greens in the near future.
Robot Baristas Now Brewing in San Francisco
In the land of Soylent and Dystopian visions of Utopia, a robot arm will now serve up your morning cup of coffee, sans small talk. With a quick tap of a tablet menu, the robot arm, encased in glass, brews your cup to order.
GMO Free? Cows Could be First Antibiotic-Free Livestock
Scientists at Northwest A&F University in China have reported a herd of CRISPR-edited cows that are more resilient against bovine tuberculosis. Could this be the dawning of genetically-modified, antibiotic-free livestock?
IKEA Launches 100% Upcycled Cabinet Laminate
The world’s largest furniture manufacturer is launching a new material in their custom kitchen business—upcycled PET bottles are being used to laminate the surface of their KUNGSBACKA cabinet line.
