June 21, 2011

The Japanese can transform human feces into steaks

Remember the beginning of Waterworld, where a grizzled Kevin Costner peed into a coffee can, filtered it, and proceeded to drink his own urine? Well apparently we've already leapfrogged that bit of post-apocalyptic technology in favor of making steaks out of human waste. A team of Japanese scientists has developed a way to transform human feces into edible steaks. By extracting the proteins from human waste and combining them with a reaction enhancer, the resulting product is "meat" that's 63% proteins, 25% carbohydrates, 3% lipids and 9% minerals. For aesthetic (and culinary) reasons, the product is then dyed red and the flavor is enhanced with soy protein.

The following video explains the process in greater detail, although it's hard not to get sidetracked by the scientist's ridiculous (and eerily lifelike) pointer apparatus.



As of now the human waste meat is approximately 10 to 20 times more expensive than traditional meat, thanks mostly to the ludicrously high research costs. However, the team hopes it can eventually be priced right on par with normal steaks, offering consumers a way to be more environmentally responsible with their meat consumption, eschewing their regular purchase of New York Steak for the far more sustainable Poo York variety.

thisorthat.com

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