Slashdot Mirror
Low-Energy Laser Etching May Replace Fruit Labels
MikeChino writes "How many times have you bit into a piece of fruit only to find that you're also chomping on a sticker label? The small sticky labels have long been the bane of waste-conscious fruit and vegetable eaters, but that might all change thanks to new technology that uses a low-energy carbon dioxide laser beam to etch information directly onto produce. No more peeling those annoying labels! So far the technology is being used on a number of fruits and vegetables in New Zealand, Australia, and Pacific Rim countries, and it's currently going through the final stages of review by the FDA. Once the technology is approved in the US, researchers from the University of Florida and the USDA Agricultural Research Service hope that it will be used in Florida's massive grapefruit industry."
I can't wait til they're required by law to give us all the nutritional information of every piece of fruit, down to the calorie count and the chemical breakdown. Perhaps government will put missing persons reports on them, or government mandated reminders of what it means to be a good citizen! So many useful applications!
http://www.beanleafpress.com
This is particularly good news for me, because I can only eat foods that have been etched with a laser. Goodbye scurvy!
"This Apple brought to you by Apple"
An SQL query goes to a bar, walks up to a table and asks, "Mind if I join you?"
Thank god we've finally gotten to the bottom of that whole fruit label thing. Maybe now we can get around to tackling cancer.
Name...That...Autocomplete!
Hmmm...You're right, we can't trust the FDA. We should rely on the geniuses of the Slashdot community instead. The ones who can read the summary and immediately come up with 10 or a dozen weaknesses that the professionals who've been thinking about the problems for years have somehow overlooked.
We should set up a vote. You know, take the top 10 highest-modded questions or something.
Seriously? You are worried about a couple of grams of stickers that come on a few hundred or thousand grams of fruit? You could probably eat bananas for a year and still fit the stickers inside your nose.
Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
Your ideas are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.
They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it's not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance. - Terry Pratchett
1. A sticker when placed will be a nice breading gown for bacteria. Then the sticker is often pealed off after the fruit is washed.
My eyes, my eyes! Spelling! Punctuation! Please, tell me that English is not your first language... otherwise I hope you're still enrolled in English 101.
But on the bright side, you win Google Golf for "breading gown".
I only post comments when someone on the internet is wrong.
Unless of course that taste is like chicken.
Here's a cookie... *psst* it's MAGIC
As I bit into the nectarine, it had a crisp juiciness that I found pleasurable... until I realized that it wasn't a nectarine at all, but a human head.
Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
I live in New Jersey - I couldn't care less if it causes cancer in the state of California.
can't they just take something for the pain?