The research team at ETH Zurich has made an ultra-thin sensor out of materials that a human can digest safely. Making sure fresh food is kept at the right temperature…

The research team at ETH Zurich has made an ultra-thin sensor out of materials that a human can digest safely.

Making sure fresh food is kept at the right temperature during transit is a harder problem than one might think but the Swiss are on the job. Not only did they create robo-fruit to mix in with the real ones, but another research team has created a biodegradable temperature sensor that sticks to food all the way from its starting point to the inside of your mouth.

The issue in a nutshell is that it’s a pain to manually test food that needs to stay at a certain temperature, but if you can monitor it constantly and wirelessly, you can save time and energy.

The research team at ETH Zurich has made an ultra-thin sensor out of materials that a human can digest safely.

This filament is made of magnesium, which is an important part of our diet. Also used are silicon dioxide and nitride, which are harmless, and a compostable polymer made of corn and potato starch holding it all together. The whole thing can be bent, stretched, even crumpled up and it’ll still work. 

The sensor can be slapped on some randomly selected apples, fish, bananas, etc, and put them in the truck or boat. The actual temperature of the food can be checked (as opposed to the air above the pile of fish) from outside the refrigerated compartment.