The Morning After: Electric chopsticks that make food taste saltier
It could help people reduce their salt intake.
Researchers in Japan have developed a set of electric chopsticks they claim enhance the taste of salt. The device is attached to a wristband computer. It uses electrical stimulation to transmit sodium ions from food to the eater's mouth, according to Meiji University professor Homei Miyashita, who developed the chopsticks with food and drink maker Kirin.
Miyashita is also the person behind the lickable TV that was announced a few months ago. Japan was also where I first saw a similarly specced-out electric fork, using the same theories, but with the Western implement. It’s an unusual sensation: like air-fried food compared to actually fried food, it was a different, almost salty, kind of experience.
— Mat Smith
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If this doesn’t get you into foldables, nothing will.
Audi’s Urbansphere EV concept is for tomorrow's megacities
What can a car be when it has to be more than a car?
Audi is reimagining the role of the vehicle’s cabin space — from a rigid, safety-centered, face-forward setup to a more open, communal design. This is the biggest Audi concept vehicle to date. It sits on 24-inch rims and measures a whopping 18 feet in length — the same as GM’s Hummer EV; it's over 6.5 feet wide and 5.8 feet tall. And because the Urbansphere doesn’t have to account for a conventional arrangement of a combustion-powered car's components, “it prioritizes the occupants’ need to experience ample space as a distinctive comfort factor.”
The best webcams you can buy
Time to upgrade from your tiny laptop cam.
Even if you’re back to taking some of your meetings in the office, chances are back-to-back Zoom calls are now a permanent part of your professional life. Once an afterthought, your computer’s webcam has become one of its most important components — and the fact remains that most built-in cameras are not able to provide consistent high-quality video chat experiences. We tested out a bunch of the latest webcams to see which are worth your money and which you can safely skip.
This third-party Sony camera battery has a built-in USB-C port
Why isn't this how all rechargeable batteries work?
Nitecore's UFZ100 has a built-in USB-C port so you don’t need to use a proprietary Sony power adapter to charge it. The battery also includes a handy LED indicator to tell you when it’s below 10 percent charge. With a 2,250mAh capacity, it’s only slightly smaller than Sony’s 2,280mAh NP-FZ100 and works with many of the company’s most recent camera models, including the A6600 and A7 IV. One thing we don’t know about the UFZ100 yet is how much it’ll cost. Third-party battery manufacturers tend to price their offerings lower than Sony, Canon and Nikon, but the added USB-C port on the UFZ100 could make it more expensive.
