World’s First 3D Printed Edible Eel: Sushi Ready

Hot on the heels of 3D-printed salmon comes the world’s first 3D-printed eel, made by Steakholder Foods using its line of 3D meat printers. Its current iteration of eel is plant-based, but it plans to ethically harvested eel cells and cultivate them once “economies of scale allow for price-competitive cell development.” These are fascinating times for the sushi industry!

SteakHolder’s printing process involves printing alternating layers of varied textures to as closely resemble the meat it’s printing as possible. So, it’s not just a solid block of the same texture and flavor. Its printing technology also allows the company to produce meat alternatives using significantly fewer ingredients than others currently on the market.

Above: A filet of grouper being printed.

SteakHolder Foods CEO Arik Kaufman says, “The launch of our printed eel marks a pivotal moment in the seafood industry…This technology is designed to enable partners to generate products on a potential industrial scale of hundreds of tons monthly, not only at lower costs compared to wild eel, but also with the flexibility to create a variety of printed products using the same production line.”

Would you eat 3D-printed eel? I would. As a matter of fact, I want some right now. Ideally, laid atop some rice with wasabi and soy sauce on the side. Great, now I want sushi. But I just had Mexican! I suppose I still have a little room…

[via TechEBlog]

These beautiful tiles are actually made from fish scale waste

Humans eat a lot of food that comes from plants and animals, but not all the parts of these living creatures are deemed edible or appetizing. These parts include internal organs, bones, and even skin, parts that get discarded and thrown out during processing. Unsurprisingly, this waste starts to pile up and cause harm to the planet, especially since there doesn’t seem to be any decrease in human appetite and consumption. Fortunately, some people have started to get smarter and use that human ingenuity to either help reduce food waste or use them for something completely different. In fact, some people have even discovered how beautiful this waste can be, such as these stunning tiles that would shock you to learn are made from ignored and discarded fish scales.

Designer: Erik de Laurens

Animal skins have plenty of uses, some more wasteful than others. Some skin can be eaten, of course, but others are simply taken for their material value. Leather has always been a controversial material because of this, loved for its natural properties but criticized for its cruel source. Fortunately, there are now attempts to create more sustainable alternatives to leather that don’t involve harmful plastics either.

Fish scales, on the other hand, are simply discarded because they aren’t exactly edible. They are thrown out by both food and aquaculture industries and add to the growing amount of waste in our environment. It turns out, however, that these seemingly useless scales have the components that make them as hard as stone yet as beautiful as marble. And thus, Scalelite was born. Using a sustainable process and no harmful ingredients, Scalelite transforms wasted and ugly fish scales into beautiful materials that can cover walls or floors and even become parts of furniture.

Scalelite also has other admirable properties beyond being 100% natural and attractive. It has natural fire resistance and is dirt-repellent, making it suitable for use in hospitality and retail applications. It’s easier to clean, too, even without using harmful detergents. And, of course, it’s completely recyclable, so you won’t have to fill guilty when you do have to throw the tiles away after probably decades of use.

It’s definitely encouraging to see such efforts to salvage what most of us have considered garbage and turn them into something not only useful but actually appealing as well. It gives credence to the expression that one man’s trash might be another one’s treasure. Sadly, Scalelite is just a small fish in a gigantic industry trying to make a difference, and we need a lot more of these sustainable materials to stop the planet from hurting.

The post These beautiful tiles are actually made from fish scale waste first appeared on Yanko Design.

Angler Fish Luminescent Flip-Flops: Slide Into The Deep Sea

Inspired by the deep sea angler fish, these slides from HelloSlippers feature a cartoon version of the goofy-looking fish, complete with a glow-in-the-dark lure dangling above your feet. Granted, I’m not sure what you’re going to catch wearing these at night, but I’d count my toes afterward.

The slides are available in eleven different colors and six different sizes that fit feet from a women’s 4.5 to a men’s 12.5. They also include a shark fin to replace the angler fish’s lure (seen below), effectively making them two pairs of slides for the price of one! Personally, I’m going to wear one shark and one angler fish slide. And, if I’m being perfectly honest, probably on the wrong feet.


Are they bright enough to light my way to the fridge for a midnight snack without having to turn all the lights on between the bedroom and kitchen to prevent ghost attacks? You can rest assured I plan on finding out! And if they do, maybe my wife will stop making me sleep in the guest bedroom.

Man Builds Custom Fish Tank Stroller to Take His Goldfish on Walks

Taiwanese Youtuber Huang Xiaojie had a dream: a dream of taking his beloved goldfish for walks around town with him. So what did he do? He built himself a custom fish tank stroller, of course! I think we can all agree it was the logical decision and way better than just filling a backpack with water and hoping for the best.

The stroller consists of a sturdy metal chassis that holds a cylindrical acrylic tube for the fish, with an integrated filter system, oxygen pump, AND under-tank light for showing off his fish at night. How about that! Just make sure you don’t push them past any seafood restaurants and traumatize them.

I swear, the things people do for their pets. Take me, for instance – I sleep dangling off the side of a king-size bed because my two 14-pound dogs like to starfish right in the middle of it. Remember: healthy relationships are all about compromise. I just had no idea I would be the one doing all the compromising.

[via OddityCentral]

Finally, Researchers Teach Goldfish How to Drive a Car and Avoid Obstacles

In long-awaited news, Israeli researchers at Ben-Gurion University have successfully taught goldfish how to steer a vehicle in order to reach a target and receive a treat, using a specially designed FOV (fish-operated vehicle). The future, ladies, and gentlemen – we’re finally here.

The FOV is outfitted with a LiDAR (light detection and ranging) system that uses lasers to determine the fish’s location inside the tank, and the vehicle’s location on land, with the vehicle moving in the direction in which the fish swims. The researchers say that after just a few days of training, fish were able to consistently navigate the vehicle to the target, regardless of starting point and obstacles such as walls, or the presence of false targets. You know, maybe we haven’t been giving goldfish the intellectual credit they deserve.

Obviously, the goldfish’s real target is the nearest pond, and there’s no doubt in my mind once it finally gets its driver’s license that’s exactly where it’ll be headed. If only it’d been riding shotgun the time I accidentally drove into that pond I could have saved it the trouble of taking an in-car driving test!

[via The Washington Post]

A Clear Cylindrical Capsule for Carrying Live Fish

Because Japan takes its sushi and sashimi seriously, the Ma Corporation has developed the Katsugyo Bag, a clear cylindrical briefcase designed for transporting live fish that you caught or bought from the market to your home so you know you’re preparing a meal with the freshest fish possible. Me? I still miss the previously frozen fish sticks from the middle school cafeteria.

The Katsugyo Bag (roughly translated: ‘live fish’ bag), which is still in the prototype and development phase, includes a gauge for monitoring oxygen saturation, as well as what I believe to be a pump for keeping the water circulating through the device. It’s hard to tell from the photos, but the cylinder is actually split in half with water only in the clear front half, with some electronics in the rear. Honestly, it kind of looks like a homemade fish bomb to me.

Could you also use a Katsugyo Bag to take a pet fish for a walk around the neighborhood? I guess, but why would you want to separate your fish from its old pal the bubble-powered rum drinking pirate skeleton? The stories that guy can tell!

[via Sad and Useless]

3D Blowfish Sashimi Puzzle: Don’t Eat the Poisonous Pieces

Want to learn how to properly clean poisonous fugu (pufferfish) without serving an internal organ that might kill someone? Why not begin with this 3D Fugu Japanese Blowfish Dissection Puzzle available from the Japan Trend Shop. The $36 puzzle comes with 34 pieces and a fugu chef certificate you can proudly display to let people know that you’re capable of properly dissecting the fish. Fingers crossed my wife is so proud of me she hangs it on the fridge.

The set includes a sushi knife for separating all of the pieces and placing them on the included sashimi platter. Nine of the internal organs are marked with a skull to let you know those are the poisonous bits, and should not be eaten. Of course in reality none of the pieces should be eaten because this is a plastic puzzle and not an actual fish.

So, have you tried fugu? And if not, would you? I’m not sure I could bring myself to do it. I mean why risk it? Is it really that good? I just feel like dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets are probably more my speed.

We Found Nemo… and He’s a Purse

When is a fish not a fish? When it’s a clown! Okay, a clownfish is still a fish, but I just thought that sounded good. For those of you living under a rock or who haven’t visited an aquarium or watched a Pixar movie, clownfish are those colorful little fish that are orange with white stripes. Now you can carry around a clownfish wherever you go, thanks to Krukru Studio, who makes a purse that looks just like Nemo.

The fishy purse measures about 17″ x 9″ and is available in felt, faux leather, or real leather, which I have on good authority are not what an actual clownfish is made of. Those are made entirely of love and pixie dust. Or is it Pixar dust? I digress. The clownfish purse is available on Krukru’s Etsy shop for $89 to $99 depending on the material you choose. That’s a whole lot more than it’ll cost you to buy a real clownfish, but this one is way bigger.

Now, all we need is a giant anemone purse for this purse to hang out inside of all day. Of course, that would likely poison its wearer, but that’s okay – the clownfish is immune to the anemone’s toxins.

Coddies Fish Flops: Slide Sandals That Look Like Realistic Fish

Are you looking for some footwear to really stand out? Something to let people know you march to the beat of a different drum, one that might only exist in your own head? Well you’re in luck, because Coddie Fish Flops are slide sandals that look like realistic fish. Now I’ll have an excuse when my wife asks why my feet stink! Just not a very good excuse.

Available in a variety of colors (green, blue, orange, silver, pink), the $24 sandals come in all sizes from toddler to men’s 14 – 15, so you have no excuse to not buy some for the whole family. You’ll be the talk of the beach! Hey, did you see that family all wearing fish sandals? Now they just need to make matching hats.

I just bought a pair for both my wife and me, and I love them. She… she hasn’t tried hers on yet. As a matter of fact, she accidentally threw them away, but I was lucky to spot them when I was taking the trash out. Talk about a close call. I can’t wait to wear them to Red Lobster together on our next date night.