Ikea's Concept Kitchen Gets the Robopocalypse Cooking

If this is the Ikea version of the 'kitchen table,' what's the high end look like?  Will you have to assemble this one?  Will all the computer chips and screws actually be included?  Or will you have to run to the store ten times to get every last missing piece?  Will the assembly instructions be so simple only an idiot would be able to understand them?  Finally, and most importantly, will it fall apart when the cat jumps on the table???

Robopocalypse Coming for the Chef in 2017

Stirring, adjusting the temperature, pouring and adding ingredients are all basic skills for a chef but they’re slightly harder to achieve for a robot.

However, that’s not the case for this pair of robotic hands, which could be set to revolutionise cooking and kitchen operations.

At present it’s able to knock up a crab bisque, which it creates by replicating the exact movements of a professional chef.

Creator Moley Robotics says that when the commercial version launches in 2017 users will be able to select one of 2,000 dishes from their phone and the robotic hands in the automated kitchen will make it.

If the robot is successful, it could mean we can simply tap a button on our phone to have a meal prepared in time for us coming home from work.

Everything in the automated kitchen has been designed and built from scratch. This allows the hands to be able to pick up and put down utensils, stir food a pan, and then safely turn a hob to the correct temperature.

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Cooking Minimally Changes Isotopic Ratios in Fish

A preliminary study on the influence of cooking on the C and N isotopic composition of multiple organic fractions of fish (mackerel and haddock)

Authors:

Fernandes et al

Abstract:

Stable isotope analysis represents the principal scientific technique used in the reconstruction of ancient human diet. Characterisation of human diet requires that the isotopic baseline is established, i.e. the isotopic signals of consumed food groups. However, cooking may alter the bulk isotopic signal of food groups through the selective loss of macronutrients or biochemical components with different isotopic signals. In this study, we investigate the influence of cooking on the stable isotope values of raw flesh of two fish species (mackerel, with a high fat content, and haddock, having a low fat content) using three potential prehistoric cooking methods. The fish were boiled in a pot, grilled beside an open fire, and steamed in hot sand. Cooking times and temperatures were monitored. Stable isotope ratios (δ13C and δ15N) were measured on multiple fractions (bulk flesh, lipids, lipid-extracted flesh, water-extracted flesh, water-soluble compounds, and fish-bone collagen) before and after cooking. The results show that, for some fractions, cooking modified the composition, but changes in isotopic values relative to raw fish were in general less than 1‰. The results also show that isotopic signals of fish-bone collagen were not significantly altered during cooking, and confirm previous findings that showed significant isotopic offsets between fish-bone collagen and edible fish fractions.

Key to the Human Brain

Home made Cranberry Sauce

A favourite of mine this time of year.