Check This Out: Edible Sensors Tell You When Your Food Has Gone Bad Tiny, biodegradable sensors could have big potential for all sorts of medical- and food-related industries.

By Katherine Gray

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

What's worse than when you pour a bowl-full of milk onto your morning cereal and take a nice big spoonful only to discover that the milk has gone sour? OK, there are other worse things, but it's still really gross.

Hu "Tiger" Tao, a post-doctoral student at Tufts University in Massachusetts, is working on a chewable sensor that may provide a solution to the problem of spoiled food, Fast Company reported. The new technology uses a surprisingly old substance: silk.

Silk has been used for millennia in cloth, and more recent applications have included all sorts of medical, scientific and electronic uses. Tao's design uses tiny gold antennae embedded in a purified silk substrate that can be dunked into liquids like milk or pasted onto eggs or bananas or other foods using the silk's own sticky, glue-like properties. The sensors monitor food quality, alerting you when your fruit is ripe or your milk starts to go bad.

The technology is similar to the sort used in RFID chips that keep track of pets or livestock, in electronic toll collection and all sorts of other devices. Using what's called dielectric properties -- chemical changes that occur as a fruit ripens or rots, for example -- the sensors emit an electromagnetic signal that can be monitored by a reader.

An app on your smartphone could presumably pick up those signals and be programmed to let you know when that avocado sitting on your counter is perfectly ready to become guacamole.

The crazy thing about the sensors Tao and his collaborators created is that they are completely edible. The gold is as thin as the gold leaf used in fancy desserts, and the pure protein of the silk substrate is easily digestible. The whole thing is flexible, and since the silk itself is what holds it on the object to be monitored, there's no need for any additional glue.

There are countless other applications for this amazing technology. "Electronic skin," for example, could use flexible electronics to wirelessly track health statistics, monitoring blood pressure and other vital signs. Since the sensors are completely edible and biodegradable, the potential relevance for healthcare and food and consumer markets is huge.

Imagine waving your phone over a table full of melons and picking out the one that's perfectly ripe, every time. Friends, this is progress.

What crazy apps and gadgets have you come across lately? Let us know by emailing us at FarOutTech@entrepreneur.com or by telling us in the comments below.

Katherine Gray is a freelance writer, photographer and desktop publisher based in western Maryland.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Business News

AI Is Going to 'Replace Everybody' in Several Fields, According to the 'Godfather of AI.' Here's Who He Says Should Be 'Terrified.'

Geoffrey Hinton, called the "Godfather of AI" due to his pioneering work on AI, says some fields face a heavier risk of replacement due to automation.

Business Ideas

70 Small Business Ideas to Start in 2025

We put together a list of the best, most profitable small business ideas for entrepreneurs to pursue in 2025.

Leadership

Lead From the Top: 5 Core Responsibilities of a CEO

Knowing exactly what the chief executive's role entails is critical for steering a company to success.

Business News

Meta Is Reportedly Planning to Release New AI Smart Glasses With Oakley and Prada

The Oakley Meta AI glasses are expected to cost more than the Ray-Ban Metas.

Leadership

How to Know When It's Time to Sell Your Business — Before It's Too Late

It's not always simple to recognize when it's time to move on. Here are three signs to look for to help you make the decision.