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Science

The Cheese Slicing Laser 337

Posted by CmdrTaco from the sign-me-up dept.
purduephotog writes "Xiaochun Li of The University of Wisconsin-Madison has come up with the ultimate gift for those high-tech wine and cheese connoisseurs: A cheese slicing laser. More detailed information is available at Optics.Org."
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The Cheese Slicing Laser More

The Cheese Slicing Laser

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  • Well darn (Score:4, Funny)

    by DarkHand ( 608301 ) on Tuesday January 13, 2004 @10:51AM (#7962864)
    "Basically, the cutting process is cold laser ablation, like that in laser eye surgery," said Li. "At 266 nm it gives a very good clean cut, although going deeper than 10 mm is difficult."
    Now how am I supposed to cut my 10 pound wheels into Valentines decorations?

  • A Raclette Laser (Score:4, Funny)

    by TheMidget ( 512188 ) on Tuesday January 13, 2004 @10:52AM (#7962870)
    At first, Li tried using a traditional commercial laser that uses heat to cut by melting or evaporating; it fried the cheese.

    Hehe!

    "It smelled really bad," he said.

    Don't tell that a Swiss!

    • C.f. "The Laser Cheese Raclette", Annals of Improbable Research 1(3) May/June 1995. Essentially, researchers used a steerable laser to melt the surface of a block of cheese to a precise, uniform depth. The result was reported to be tasty.

    • Don't tell that a Swiss!

      IIRC, the Chinese aren't generally keen on dairy products... poor Mr Li picked the wrong state to move to. That would explain why the smell of fried cheese was not a pleasant one for him. Personally, I love fondue.

  • Who Cut the Cheese... (Score:5, Funny)

    by mcasson ( 738882 ) on Tuesday January 13, 2004 @10:52AM (#7962875)
    I can see the advertisement now...it's how the civilized cut the cheese.
  • My cheese grater [apple.com] isn't laser-guided, but it is highly powerful. And it can run Linux!

    Sincerely,
    Seth Finklestein
    Acclaimed Humourist

  • Bets (Score:5, Funny)

    by saden1 ( 581102 ) on Tuesday January 13, 2004 @10:53AM (#7962894)
    Someone is going to lose a finger within the first week it is out on the market.
    • Someone is going to lose a finger within the first week it is out on the market.

      I dont know about that.. Remember it only cuts through soft cheese and probably has a very short range. It might cut u but u'd probably flinch and move before it hit the bone, which I doubt it could penetrate.

      Still, this is a really amazing story. We're all going to look back on this 20 years from now when the military/street gangs are using laser weapons and gauss guns.

      The first consumer laser.. it can only cut 10 millimete

      • Re:Bets (Score:4, Insightful)

        by Jerf ( 17166 ) on Tuesday January 13, 2004 @11:35AM (#7963380) Journal
        The first consumer laser..

        Two things:

        First, why not open up one of your CD-ROM, DVD, Gamecube, other optical drive and see what's in there? Or look at the many laser pointers and derivative products on the market? Way too late for "first consumer laser".

        Second, who said this is consumer? Only the Slashdot summary, as far as I can tell. It sounded to me like pure industry use only, because it's slow, so slow it's not even useful to the industry in the present form. So it's not even a "consumer laser".

        Well, at least you got "laser" right... ;-)
        • OK I was having fun with the submission. I mean, if there isn't enough reason to poke fun at a laser that slices the cheese...
          I can't really see this making into the consumer realm. at 10 watts / 20 hz it can only cut Anyways, seriously, I was just having fun with the implications of a cheese cutting "lazer"

  • Yeah that's great..... (Score:5, Funny)

    by whiteranger99x ( 235024 ) on Tuesday January 13, 2004 @10:53AM (#7962897) Journal
    we just need to get some frickin sharks to put the frickin lasers on their frickin heads!!

  • Interesting Idea (Score:5, Interesting)

    by ReTay ( 164994 ) on Tuesday January 13, 2004 @10:53AM (#7962898)
    But for home use?
    Not going to happen in the us at least.
    The legal ramifications and potential misuse will make it unlikely (as cool as it would be)
    to ever to be offered to consumers.

    • Re:Interesting Idea (Score:5, Interesting)

      by SurgeonGeneral ( 212572 ) on Tuesday January 13, 2004 @11:18AM (#7963187) Journal
      "But for home use?
      Not going to happen in the us at least.
      The legal ramifications and potential misuse will make it unlikely (as cool as it would be)"

      I can easily acquire a tec-9 semi automatic machine gun [tripod.com] and bullets for it can be bought from Wal-mart, but somehow you think a laser that cuts through cheese will be banned from consumers?

      And isnt that "someone-might-do-something-bad-with-it" argument the same one we frown upon which the RIAA/MPAA uses to outlaw threatening hardware?

      Get real.

      • Re:Interesting Idea (Score:5, Insightful)

        by the_mad_poster ( 640772 ) <shattoc@adelphia.com> on Tuesday January 13, 2004 @11:35AM (#7963366) Homepage Journal

        You're obviously not accustomed to the arbitrary, uninformed outrage expressed by the typical U.S. muttonhead... er... citizen.

        We've got people screaming bloody murder about "frankenfood" who learned everything they know about genetics from "The Hulk" and "Spiderman". They SHOULD be screaming for studies, they ARE screaming for a ban.

        I'd be surprised if someone DOESN'T try to outlaw this or classify it as a military weapon or something similarly idiotic. "Somebody think of the children!" they'll scream as kids keep shining laser pointers in each others' eyes as a "joke".

        • "Somebody think of the children!" they'll scream

          To which I'll reply "Mmm, delicious!" while I smack my lips.

        • Exactly.... Remember the cardboard signs that you can put in your windshield to keep out some of the sun during the summer? There is a reason that in big letters on the back it says DO NOT DRIVE WITH SHADE IN PLACE!!!!

          One or two law suits is all it will take.

          • Re:Interesting Idea (Score:3, Interesting)

            by zakezuke ( 229119 )
            Exactly.... Remember the cardboard signs that you can put in your windshield to keep out some of the sun during the summer? There is a reason that in big letters on the back it says DO NOT DRIVE WITH SHADE IN PLACE!!!!

            1. unwrap toothpick
            2. insert between teeth
            3. dislodge food --actual toothpick instructions from the local chineese resturant

            "any civilisation that had so far lost it's head as to need to include a set of detailed instructions for use in a packet of toothpicks, was no longer a civilisati

      • Re:Interesting Idea (Score:3, Funny)

        by trb ( 8509 )
        I can easily acquire a tec-9 semi automatic machine gun and bullets for it can be bought from Wal-mart, but somehow you think a laser that cuts through cheese will be banned from consumers?

        Hey, man, this is America. A laser cheese slicer is my inalienable God-given right that He provided in the Denclaration of Independance. Pursuit of happiness. It's self-evident.

      • Juries are used to living with knives and 9mm semi-automatics, but the laser is new and sounds dangerous. Therefore you could quite easily sue someone over a laser injury and win. If knives or 9mm semi-automatics were just being released into the world now, there'd be huge legal problems.

      • Re:Interesting Idea (Score:3, Informative)

        by dildatron ( 611498 )
        The Tec-9 is not a machine gun. It is a 9mm semi-automatic pistol. It is just like any other 9mm pistol except it is pretty bad in quality, is prone to jam, and is not very accurate. I know, I have one. It is made by Intratec. I also have an Intratec Cat-9.

        While it is possible to convert a Tec-9 to be fully automatic, it would need to be done by a skilled gunsmith to be anywhere near reliable. However, it would be a horrible choice, because the gun would overheat and jam a lot. There are much bette

      • Re:Interesting Idea (Score:4, Informative)

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 13, 2004 @12:48PM (#7964088)
        You can acquire a Tec-9 Semi-Automatic and a Machine Gun, can you? Well, I'm glad. Because you're the only person in the universe who can.

        You've got no clue, have you?

        First: Tec-9's are semi-only. Semi-Automatic means you have to pull the trigger each time you want a bullet to come out the front. With a machine gun, you hold the trigger down, and bullets come out indefinitely unless: a) you run out of ammo, or b) you melt the barrel, or otherwise cause a mechanical failure. It's a boolean thing. A gun cannot be semi-automatic and a machine gun at the same time. Is this logical to you?

        Perhaps you can rework the internals of a Tec-9 so it will fire full-auto... But I wouldn't know why anyone would want one anyway. They're pieces of shit. Last damn thing I'd take to a firefight. I'd rather have a slingshot. The old-school kind.

        Thirdly, the term "machine gun" applies to military guns that use rifle cartriges, and are heavy enough to maintain fire for extended periods. They're usually crew-served, and are semi-stationary.

        Light machineguns are portable, but still weigh a ton. Such as the M249 SAW (Squad Automatic Weapon).

        Assault rifles CAN be automatic, but not necessairly (M16, M4, Kalashnikovs, for example) This is the common armanent for infantrymen.

        Submachine guns are highly portable, and are intended for close range combat, and are fully automatic, and usually use pistol cartriges. Thompsons, MP5, UMP, etc for example. SWAT police use these more than anyone.

        Machine pistols are fully automatic guns using pistol cartriges. This is what a Tec would be, if it were fully auto (which none that are for sale are). Other examples: Uzi, MP40 (which was usually seen with a buttstock, making it an auto-carbine). NOBODY uses these, except in movies. Not even the terrorists. These are intended as a defense weapon that can fit into a plane or tank easily.

        Full auto guns are quite difficult to come by in the US. To legally own one, you and the gun must be liscensed, and taxed. Most gang-bangers have never laid hands on a full auto. Guranteed.

        Know what you are talking about before you spout off your ignorant mouth.
  • Bring it on!

    Now if they'll just invent a laser-powered washing machine we'll be making some real progress.

  • Much better than Stainless wires (Score:5, Interesting)

    by The_Systech ( 568093 ) on Tuesday January 13, 2004 @10:54AM (#7962908) Homepage
    Man, this would have been great back a few years ago when I was working at a plant that packaged natural cheese. The most automated process we had was using pnuematic cylindars to push a 40# block of Cheddar through a frame with criss-crossed stainless steel wires. I can just imagine how much closer we could have hit the weight tolerances using lasers... Plus you don't have to stop and clean a laser beam every once in a while..

    • Re:Much better than Stainless wires (Score:5, Informative)

      by Technician ( 215283 ) on Tuesday January 13, 2004 @11:16AM (#7963153)
      Please read the article. They are cutting patterns in a slice of cheese, not cutting slices of cheese. The cheese sags and they have been unable to make deep cuts. The slices they were cutting into patterns were only 2.5mm thick. This does not cut a slab from off the old block.
      With the right software, a nice 3d surface engraving would look outstanding.

      • Heck, taking it a step further, soon we'll be able to create cheese semiconductors with a 90 nm process. Intel of course will produce the Limburger processor with 4 MB of on-cheese memory. The market will think it stinks. AMD will introduce the Chedlon XP and get design wins.

      • Re:Much better than Stainless wires (Score:4, Informative)

        by Noren ( 605012 ) on Tuesday January 13, 2004 @12:41PM (#7964036)
        Please read the article. They are currently using a relatively small, relatively low power laser in a lab, but they believe the process is capable of being scaled up. From the article:
        The key limitation of the technique seems to be its slow cutting speed, less than 1mm per second, which is restricted by the slow (20Hz) repetition rate of the laser. Li says that a UV laser with a higher repetition rate and output power could significantly increase the depth and speed of the cutting.
    • Hate to burst your bubble, but if you'd bothered reading the article (I know -- this is /.) you'd have discovered that the laser is only usable for cutting shapes out of slices of soft cheese. They're using slices 2.5 mm thich, and say that going deeper than 10mm would be "difficult".

      The rate is pathethic at that -- they cut with a speed of up to 10mm/second in soft cheese up to 10mm thick. A lethargic mouse with a knife would do better.

    • Or maybe... (Score:3, Insightful)

      by cryptochrome ( 303529 )
      Your pneumatic cylinders and steel wire (or in this Wisconsin guy's case a die to stamp out the cheese shapes) would be about one zillion times cheaper in terms of capital outlay, operating expenses, and maintenance.

      If I'm not mistaken, these are the same sort of lasers used in tatoo removal and/or laser eye surgery. Both procedures are crazy expensive, and a large part of that cost seems to be due to the laser.

  • Ultraviolet lasers and cheese (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 13, 2004 @10:54AM (#7962910)
    I've always wondered about the smell when one of my co-workers said "awww, who cut the cheese?"
    and now I know it's because someone was using the wrong frequency of laser. If I use ultraviolet lasers, my farts won't smell.
    Thanks for the informative article.
    (...or have I missed something completely?)

    TDz.

  • Cold Laser (Score:3, Funny)

    by wrax ( 570032 ) on Tuesday January 13, 2004 @10:54AM (#7962916)
    That laser, known as a cold laser, cuts by blasting apart the molecular bonds that hold materials together.

    Now all we need is a corkscrew that doesn't leave floaty bits in the wine and we're all set.

    • Re:Cold Laser (Score:4, Interesting)

      by CrankyFool ( 680025 ) on Tuesday January 13, 2004 @11:06AM (#7963044)
      Terminally incapable of detecting a joke, CrankyFool replied ...

      What you're looking for is a 'twistup corkscrew,' or the 'ah-so cork puller.' See here [epinions.com] for a good picture. It doesn't damage the cork at all, and it's a very good idea for wines with older corks. It takes a bit of practice to do right, but I only screwed up one cork (pushed it in rather than pulling it out) before getting it. The other advantages include the fact it's one of the smallest corkscrews (if we redefine corkscrew to be "things you can open wine with") you could carry and the fact it's cheap. They sell for $3-$4 around here, and everything here (SF Bay) is expensive.

      • Taking the sidetrack too far...

        What you're looking for is a 'twistup corkscrew,' or the 'ah-so cork puller.'

        I have one of these, and while it's quite excellent for traditional corks, you really do need a screwpull, as well. (At least, if you plan on ever spending less than $30 on a bottle of wine.) The "twistup" puller (mine was referred to as a "butler's helper" doesn't work at all on plastic corks, and doesn't work well at all on some kinds of cork corks. Fortunately, these types of corks are generall

      • Re:Cold Laser (Score:3, Funny)

        by krusadr ( 679804 )
        I used to prefer to CO2 powered cork extractor. You inserted the needle through the cork and released the gas while simultaneously screwing up your face and trying to cover your gonads.
    • Actually this corkscrew [avalonwine.com] is pretty freaking amazing. I have never seen it leave the little floaty bits. It works much better then your swiss army night.
      • so, what exactly is a "swiss army night"?

        Sounds like an idea for a great movie...

        "The night the Swiss attacked! They came from their little long roofed houses by the thousands to overwhelm Europe with their iron fists and clockwork percision!"

    • Re:Cold Laser (Score:2, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      If you're getting bits of cork in your wine then the bottle was not stored properly. The cork should be pliable enough that it does not shatter when the corkscrew is inserted.

      Also, don't put the screw all the way through the cork.

      A bottle of wine should be stored on its side in a dark, cool space. As a rule white wines should be drunk within two years of their date, roses a tad longer and reds, depending on what type of red, for several years if not decades.

    • It just takes a teensy amount of skill with the standard $3 waitron corkscrew. You never see the waitrons cork the wine.

      However, there are people (like my wife) who cannot even master that task, which is why they make the rabbit-type screws; put them on the bottle and in three handle motions you have an open bottle of wine and the cork. Even an untrained monkey could do it.
  • It's bad enough I'm seriously addicted to cheese. And to cool kitchen gadgets. And now they're making a cheese slicing laser. I'm never going to get cured! Never I say!

    Must have...must have...must have...must have...

  • Did anyone else read ..... (Score:5, Funny)

    by MajorDick ( 735308 ) on Tuesday January 13, 2004 @10:55AM (#7962930)
    Maybe it was just my eyes jumping around but did anyone else read "Chinese slicing laser"
    I think it was Xiaochun Li and Cheese slicing laser ....had me worried there for a second
  • "At any other university, people would have just laughed. But this is Wisconsin. It's cheese. And this is no laughing matter"

  • Somewhere, a George Carlin sketch is referenced... (Score:5, Funny)

    by whiteranger99x ( 235024 ) on Tuesday January 13, 2004 @10:57AM (#7962950) Journal
    "In a country where you can buy cinnamon dental floss, cheese in a spray can, and edible womens panties, are people really breaking their balls to save nine cents on a fucking phone call?!"

    Well, now we can add cheese cutting lasers to that list.

  • This is really cool. (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Omegaunit ( 672138 ) <john DOT courie AT comcast DOT net> on Tuesday January 13, 2004 @10:57AM (#7962955) Homepage
    I have a cheese slicer that is one the old wire kind and its a bitch to keep clean. Those old chees slicers are a health risk to a certain extent because there is always trace slivers of cheese embedded in the wood and along the pivot joint for the slice wire. Of course the component isnt dishwasher safe and the parts where the cheese sticks are too small for even one of those green scrubbies. so I say BRAVO LASER CHEESE SLICER INVENTOR PERSON!

  • Invented by Dr. Evil? (Score:5, Funny)

    by doc_traig ( 453913 ) on Tuesday January 13, 2004 @11:00AM (#7962975) Homepage Journal

    I have created this giant "laser" to threaten the "Earth" with "snacks."

  • Gold-fingahhhh (Score:5, Insightful)

    by ThePretender ( 180143 ) on Tuesday January 13, 2004 @11:02AM (#7963000) Homepage
    Now I want one! All I can think of is reenacting the scene from Goldfinger where they attempt to kill Bond with the laser that would slice him up the middle starting with his naughty bits. The plan is foiled (of course) but you get the idea!

  • Safety? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by marshac ( 580242 ) on Tuesday January 13, 2004 @11:03AM (#7963006) Homepage
    Li tried again using a new class of laser that emits light in ultraviolet, and therefore shorter, wavelengths. That laser, known as a cold laser, cuts by blasting apart the molecular bonds that hold materials together.

    By breaking molecular bonds in the cheese, wouldn't that alter the chemistry of the cheese where it had been cut? Could this inadvertently produce carcinogenic compounds (like when you burn meat)?

    • Depends on what bonds they're breaking (Score:5, Informative)

      by Morgaine ( 4316 ) on Tuesday January 13, 2004 @11:32AM (#7963332)
      By breaking molecular bonds in the cheese, wouldn't that alter the chemistry of the cheese where it had been cut? Could this inadvertently produce carcinogenic compounds (like when you burn meat)?

      It sounds like it might, although the article didn't really give enough information to tell. In a nutshell, when you cleave cheese apart with a mechanical cheese cutter like a knife or a wire, the only thing you "break apart" (using the term loosely) is Van der Waals forces, and those do not hold the atomic components within molecules together (as covalent or ionic bonds do) so the action does not generally result in chemical change. Long-chain polymers will get broken too, but they typically have the same chemistry whatever their molecular length.

      If the laser is truly breaking the bonds of non-polymeric organic molecules then this doesn't sound too healthy chemically, but that is not the only way that a laser might cut without burning. It is possible to imagine rapid vaporization of water or of other volatiles in the material causing sudden expansion which would cleave sections apart through vapor pressure, in a manner very similar to mechanical cutting, and hence safely.

      We'll have to wait for further information on what is really going on before we know whether there are any concerns about chemical side effects.

  • Warning! (Score:5, Funny)

    by cperciva ( 102828 ) on Tuesday January 13, 2004 @11:04AM (#7963013) Homepage
    Do not look at cheese slicer with remaining eye!

  • fast food industry (Score:3, Insightful)

    by perly-king-69 ( 580000 ) on Tuesday January 13, 2004 @11:04AM (#7963015)
    "One motivation is the ability to cut cheese into fancy shapes that appeal to kids, such as a dinosaur or letters. The fast food industry is very interested in that idea."

    Nice. And people wonder why US obesity rates are so high?

    • I dont really wonder. My roomate is like 300 lbs+, claims she is on a diet, yet fries up half a pound of bacon for breakfast. Eats junk food all day, eats out at fast food all the time. I know why she is fast, she eats TOO much and the wrong things. Everyone does to a certain degree, the ones who are fat dont know when to stop eating, or eat because they are bored, sad etc...

    • Re:fast food industry (Score:4, Funny)

      by PetoskeyGuy ( 648788 ) on Tuesday January 13, 2004 @12:38PM (#7964007)
      Yes of course - if people would only eat their cheese in square slices they wouldn't get so fat.

  • ho hum... (Score:2, Informative)

    by hyperstation ( 185147 )
    "At 266 nm it gives a very good clean cut, although going deeper than 10 mm is difficult."

    make it slice chunks from a 20 lb wheel of baby swiss, and i'll be happy. 10mm thick cheese is not that impressive.
  • A cheese slicing laser is all very well but what America hating linux using pinko drug smuggling pedo terrorists like me need is a cutting laser in a watch.

    I mean for fuck sakes geeks! How many Bond movies do you need to watch to get a hint that there is a market demand? I've totally lost count of the times the DEA MI5 or FSB have had me manacled to a post kicking the fuck out of me and I'm thinking like "shit ... if only I could use my Rolex to slice off these handcuffs I beat you round this cell motherfu

  • Innovation, Shminnovation (Score:3, Insightful)

    by greenhide ( 597777 ) <jordanslashdot AT cvilleweekly DOT com> on Tuesday January 13, 2004 @11:11AM (#7963093)
    I'm up to here with articles on Slashdot that oversell an item.

    Saying that it makes a great gift made it sound like something already in production, or at least imminently so.

    If it can't yet slice through a block of cheese, then it's hardly a cheese slicer, is it?

    Granted, I suppose there's something to be said for having slices of cheese cut into neat shapes. Oh, wait, my bad. There really isn't. As far as I'm concerned, shaped cheese is just one luxury that kids today will have to do without. When I was young, I got a normal square piece of cheese put in my sandwich, and that was if I was lucky!

  • Why only cheese? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by addie ( 470476 ) on Tuesday January 13, 2004 @11:11AM (#7963103)
    I'm no laser expert, but by the description in the article, it sounds like this kind of technology could be applied to all sorts of food. If it isn't actually burning a slice, but rather "blasting" the molecules apart, couldn't it be used for meat, bread, whatever else has similar issues with bacteria?

    Seems to me the higher energy costs in these factories would be offest by the gain in work hours that would have before been used for cleaning, disinfecting, sharpening, replacing etc of the blades.

    • well... (Score:3, Funny)

      by UrgleHoth ( 50415 )
      the article did state He believes that the work could point to a new and lucrative market future for lasers. "The food industry could be a huge market for lasers just like the semiconductor industry," Li said. "We've also been asked to cut meat and potato with a laser but we haven't done that yet."

      So if this happens, we might see "a fine assortment of ginsu kitchen lasers (as seen on TV)."
    • it sounds like this kind of technology could be applied to all sorts of food.

      A water jet cutter works better (certainly faster) for any products that can stand contact with water. Bread may not be a good candidate, but meat and sticky candy bars are. See the website of a water jet manufacturer [flowcorp.com] for more information.

    • With an XY table (as mentioned), Camera, Some custom software, perhaps, you could reduce fat content in steaks by using the laser to break down the fat. Trim the steak on the edge and reduce the marbling and reduce the fat. Enter the reduction in %, and the laser does the work. Weigh the drippings to veryify the reduction. Though I like a well marbled ribeye, with this system, you may be able to make a steak more consistant.

    • Re:Why only cheese? (Score:3, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Seems to me the higher energy costs in these factories would be offest by the gain in work hours that would have before been used for cleaning, disinfecting, sharpening, replacing etc of the blades.

      All the evidence suggests that U.S. meat and poultry processing plants already save money by not cleaning or disinfecting, so this is just added unnecessary cost! Why, it sounds like you're trying to take away grisly, unpleasant, underpaid, underinsured jobs from hard working underemployed Americans and illega

  • cheese laser == wrong tool (Score:4, Interesting)

    by AFirmGraspOfReality ( 689182 ) on Tuesday January 13, 2004 @11:11AM (#7963104)
    Cool as this might be, it's the wrong tool for the job. Waterjets are waaaaay better for things like this. Faster and no smell. Have a look at: http://www.flowcorp.com/
  • A laser cutter is good for food processing in general. No blade to clean, no blade for bacteria to cling to. I can see uses in other food processing besides cheese. Anything that can cut with out the possibility of contaminating anything else, cheese or otherwise, is a good thing.
  • Woah! They made Michael Jackson out of cheese!?

    Oh wait, that's just some ad.
  • No, my University can't do cool stuff like UIUC scientists [slashdot.org], we get on the front page of /. because of some blasted cheese slicing laser! I feel sick....
  • Okay, now use numerical control devices to make cheese sculptures of the Simpsons.

  • French Fries (Score:4, Interesting)

    by IceFox ( 18179 ) on Tuesday January 13, 2004 @11:28AM (#7963289) Homepage
    This is already being done to french fries to make sure that they arn't too long. They pass down a belt and a laser will cut them if they are too long. I guess McDonalds etc have all sorts of specs about what size the french fries need to come in. A quick google should be able to find these for they have been around for a while. They were even mentioned on the TLC show Modern Marvels (along with fun slow mo video).

    -Benjamin Meyer

    • Re:French Fries (Score:5, Informative)

      by RadioTV ( 173312 ) on Tuesday January 13, 2004 @01:08PM (#7964277)
      First of all "Modern Marvels" is on History not on TLC. Second, I think that you need to watch that episode again. They use a laser to measure the fries, but they use high-speed knives to cut them.

      On the other hand the footage of a potato-and-water jet going in one side of cutting die and french fries coming out the other side is pretty cool.
  • ...your assistance is needed at the snack table!

  • Cutting patterns in cheese, not slicing it (Score:5, Informative)

    by jim3e8 ( 458859 ) on Tuesday January 13, 2004 @11:45AM (#7963505) Homepage
    The ABC News article makes it sound like the laser was used to cut a block of cheese up into thin slices. This is not the case, according to the optics.org article. In reality, they've successfully cut patterns in a thin slice of cheese (making a dinosaur, letters and numbers--kids like that stuff), without using a stainless steel die cutter. In fact, the laser can't really cut deeper than 1 cm, less than 1/2 inch. So, slicing up a big block of cheese with a giant laser beam in an industrial setting, let alone in your kitchen, will have to wait.
  • At first, Li tried using a traditional commercial laser [...] to cut [the cheese]...
    "It smelled really bad," he said..


    And you're surprised because?
  • At this very moment, Alton Brown - who never buys a kitchen gadget that has only one use - is coming up with more things to slice with this puppy.

    Will W's store have them in stock?

  • Another invention (Score:2, Interesting)

    by sokk ( 691010 )
    The "ostehovel" as we call it here in norway is much cooler ;P

    Image of the ostehovel [srm.net]. It's a norwegian invention too.

    Seriously, we use it almost every day to put cheese on our bread.
  • As someone who dislikes cheese with a passion I say it's about time that someone invented a tool to help rid the world of this scourge.

    You ever try to clean 3 day old cheddar off a knife blade? I bet this was the driving force behind the invention of the phaser on Star Trek. In such an enlightend society as that you'd never see Picard hacking off a hunk of brie with a hatchet. Riker maybe...but never Picard.
  • "At any other university, people would have just laughed. But this is Wisconsin. It's cheese. And this is no laughing matter,"

    Actually according to

    http://www.cheesesupply.com/product_info.php/pro du cts_id/229

    it is.
  • When can I get the home edition for cutting my Velveeta loaf?

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We must believe that it is the darkest before the dawn of a beautiful new world. We will see it when we believe it. -- Saul Alinsky

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