1.Every once in a while, new technology emerges in the field of food manufacturing that offers the potential for a real breakthrough in the delivery of fresh, nutritious food products to consumers. Such is the case with a new edible food film that has been developed by researchers from the Oregon State University and its Department of Food Science and Technology. This food protective fiber or film, which looks a lot like plastic wrap, combines two ingredients -- chitosan, a fiber derived from shellfish, and lysozyme, which is essentially egg white protein. By combining these two ingredients in a process that is now being patented, researchers were able to make a thin film food wrap that could cover sandwiches, fruits, vegetables, or even coat foods by dipping the foods in a liquid film.
In other words, you could take fresh strawberries and dip them in a liquid soup made from chitosan and lysozyme, and the strawberry would be coated with a thin plastic wrap, protecting it against microbial infection as well as preserving more of its nutrient content. When it comes time to eat the strawberry, consumers could simply pop the strawberry and the thin-film wrapping in their mouths. The thin-film is perfectly edible and would merely add a little bit of fiber and protein to consumers' diets.
Both of these ingredients are natural anti-microbial compounds, meaning they resist infection from microbes, molds, and fungi. That would potentially enhance the shelf life of foods, which could either serve to deliver more nutritious foods to consumers, or reduce the cost of such foods thanks to reduced spoilage. Furthermore, this thin-film coating can be enhanced with additional vitamins and minerals such as calcium or vitamin E to boost the nutritional value of the food being protected.
Personally, I think this is outstanding technology. It is a fantastic marriage of food technology and health from the natural world. This is a fiber that has been essentially provided by nature. These researchers have cleverly taken ingredients from nature and recombined them in a way that is more compatible with modern food processing, manufacturing, and packaging protocols. There is no doubt in my mind that this product would enhance food safety while also boosting its shelf life. This would enable more healthful foods to be delivered to consumers in a more convenient format. Also, knowing what I know about chitosan and egg protein, it seems that this thin film would be quite inexpensive to manufacture and use, meaning it would add little or no cost to packaged foods.
2.Now, by threatening to cut off the world's supply of rare earth elements, China appears to be attempting to monopolize this extremely important strategic resource. According to information received by The Independent, by 2012 China may cease all exports of rare earth elements, reserving them for its own economic expansion.
An article in that paper quotes REE expert Jack Lifton as saying, "A real crunch is coming. In America, Britain and elsewhere we have not yet woken up to the fact that there is an urgent need to secure the supply of rare earths from sources outside China."
And yet virtually no one has heard of this problem! People are familiar with peak oil, global warming, ocean acidification, the national debt and the depletion of fossil water, but very few are aware of the looming crisis in rare metals... upon which much of western civilization rests.
For those who still aren't convinced this is a big deal, consider this: Without rare earth elements, we would have no iPhones. Yeah, I know. That's a disaster, huh?
We would have no fiber optic cables, either. No X-ray machines, no car stereos and no high-tech missile guidance systems for the military. And here's the real kicker: No electric motors.
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