Come on, Heinz, catch up! Enterprising students create ketchup bottle that pours like milk (and it only took them two months) 3 S. t/ e; [. ]0 J0 Uwww.tvboxnow.comBy Eddie Wrenntvb now,tvbnow,bttvb9 |& J# L$ ]7 n* h' l' X! u5 c
PUBLISHED: 08:56 GMT, 23 May 2012 | UPDATED: 12:23 GMT, 23 May 2012tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb+ C k: G# v: |1 {8 X0 g
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Any 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.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。* B& H' D5 x( \- a' l$ P
But now, a radical new bottle design could spell the end of that problem forever. 2 R C, K: z, h & _6 b: U5 z, E" w7 ^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.tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb9 K; B' U k6 s" t( j" q% R
6 ]6 w8 Q2 A& `! J/ |; N公仔箱論壇The results are astonishing - and any burger and chips fan out there should prepare to be amazed. : [3 }6 v9 z J/ D3 K/ c8 x# v4 C4 ?
MIT PhD candidate Dave Smith and his team of mechanical engineers and nano-technologists at the Varanasi Research Group spent two months devising a solution.www.tvboxnow.com0 u4 N. `2 i2 K2 C
( {7 s. \+ A$ M0 k7 U2 _2 G% oBurger 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. 9 D3 Z2 \; h/ w& u0 owww.tvboxnow.com 6 J* M5 D9 A: } `0 T公仔箱論壇'Somehow this sparked the idea of putting it in food bottles - it could be great just for its slippery properties.www.tvboxnow.com3 _( g! c o/ X* K& y$ d9 u
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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. - X* l, I3 C8 ]5 x4 h( d7 Ewww.tvboxnow.comwww.tvboxnow.com5 Q. E, c8 {4 Z+ q5 U( w
'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.'8 h9 W# p, i: u$ E
7 n0 X" _! K- x' A3 b9 tNaturally, the team had to research their market before getting to work.tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb- c' ]/ E. k0 K0 K# ~. p( }
& X' J: j, M- U/ \. f3 W. S/ Lwww.tvboxnow.comSmith, 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. 8 x0 u2 q/ A" s6 c) e+ Y , G* }- ?/ [# {" k'I didn’t know about the tapping of the '57' until I started looking into this. It was all news to me.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 ], R! ^7 N! T6 R
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'We have all types of sauces, jellies, and jams everywhere in our lab - It’s like a closet full of condiments.'tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb5 ]9 U8 ~& g; E5 J/ L
tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb9 a6 M2 j: Y( n- z* K1 ? " M+ _" I9 E" D- K2 { CFor 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 chipsTVBNOW 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。2 X& [8 m" \7 d8 R$ K& T
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The old way: Good luck getting that last piece out...tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb" g+ t, h: f9 V
0 L' y1 |$ P: Y' m- }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。So why did the team pick sauces for their award-winning product?公仔箱論壇6 s" }2 M+ V* F- z
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Dave said: 'It’s funny: Everyone is always like, "Why bottles? What’s the big deal?" 0 O2 d/ X' B- aTVBNOW 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。: ], x) c: Q# R# w- q' ?6 @" X X
'But then you tell them the market for bottles - just the sauces alone is a $17billion market. $ C: C, o- u2 ]+ R: a, O4 h! Z - U0 q8 |$ n9 j2 z1 f5 ftvb now,tvbnow,bttvb'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.'3 J3 W% {7 r$ b i* d
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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. 1 Y* D6 y- d4 ]* |tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb . a4 t0 S* [: F: I$ _www.tvboxnow.comThe $100,000 winner of MIT's contest was perhaps a bit less jaw-dropping, but hopefully just as useful.# _: Q0 {5 W, L; v
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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.+ j. \( x7 I( @9 c7 v* M
8 G4 A# V7 y( c) j T0 pTVBNOW 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。'I get my burger and proceed to add all the necessary condiments: lettuce, tomatoes, onions…but oh no! " X7 {3 \+ X+ X# Y. c, w8 Owww.tvboxnow.com9 r/ [, D* a" w
'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!)'; _& ?. H4 P+ y3 X! R: P, O- @
Dave Smith, MIT, explains the problem # C7 d1 r6 O+ A; {) bTVBNOW 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。* S; e+ P Z' f' N
For 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& P$ |9 j6 D& W8 B# N+ H
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Team LiquiGlide was bestowed the Reader's Choice at MIT's Entrepreneurship Contest, winning a $2,000 prize - but their product is sure to reap them much more money in the future " k0 Y ` ~5 l( {2 l# F9 n公仔箱論壇 " J* p" D; B8 A: Etvb now,tvbnow,bttvb - W5 [; a6 }$ X9 b [! ]
Not a fan of ketchup? Mayonnaise lovers can also enjoy the magical properties of LiquiGlide % `% P0 c/ l3 u8 x6 X, q4 ~+ o d2 ] 3 ?6 G9 D0 V W/ Y) X2 g # Z: Z& h. R$ l4 K2 Y 8 y) P: O# r2 J- }. O9 \. SHOW TO GET THE LAST DROP ) v; H' y/ _0 A& b2 i公仔箱論壇So while we wait for the MIT team's product to come to market, how can you get that last bit of ketchup?9 Z" U% I! Z2 R) x* B! Z: L% \
8 p) h, Q* Y! u) Y公仔箱論壇There are many tried and true methods - all of which involves some vigorous shaking, spinning or twisting, with swearing optional. - t5 V) q4 P0 H# K; l$ U1 wTVBNOW 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。tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb( ?- t! c- ~) h% o$ t
There's the windmill approach: Swing your arm around in a semi-circle and let the centrifugal forces help you out. 0 |* G% z: B! q, J% C) m+ I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。8 [" D2 X" G5 c4 M' p2 D5 }
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.www.tvboxnow.com% I9 I7 T; R: @
8 Q& r/ b }. `. yTVBNOW 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。Heinz 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'.* T5 e' R- m' s3 B' ^3 r: } p0 c
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'Very few people know this secret. Now you’re in-the-know.' 7 U4 |" W1 n& U) m: V% d7 K1 |tvb now,tvbnow,bttvbtvb now,tvbnow,bttvb+ X+ W O9 K& ?* H6 }3 K: I6 E
When 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.公仔箱論壇8 Q5 m5 \5 A9 \: o7 t$ `& [8 h' B
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And store your bottle upside-down - at least that way the slow-moving sauce has less far to travel.公仔箱論壇 x$ n" x% r- Q& o5 }% g4 c
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