In the past when there was no such thing as a refrigerator, how did regular folks manage to keep their meat edible after a long time? Well, salt comes into play, which is why there was even a period of time when salary was paid in terms of salt, going to show how valuable that commodity was. Well, these days we have plenty of appliances that will help us keep our foodstuff fresh, and here is a MIT-developed sensor that is smart enough to detect whether meat is spoiled or not.
A bunch of MIT chemists has come up with a diminutive-sized sensor that is capable of informing consumers as to whether the meat lying in their refrigerators can still be safely consumed or not. It will not be an expensive device if it were to be mass produced, since it will utilize modified carbon nanotubes, and this might go some way in helping reduce food wastage.
This sensor focuses on chemically altering carbon nanotubes, enabling their ability to carry an electric current to be inhibited whenever there is a select kind of gas is the vicinity. These nanotubes have been specially modified using metal-containing compounds known as metalloporphyrins. So far, this sensor was given a run through with the likes of pork, beef, chicken, salmon and cod, and the results have been successfully impressive to say the least. [Press Release]
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