(Photo: Nikkei Technology)
Would you like to reduce the salt in your diet without losing that nice, salty flavor? The Rekimoto Laboratory at the University of Tokyo may have a solution. It's developed a prototype electric fork that deliverers a mild shock to the tongue of the user. To the brain, this simulates the experience of biting into salty food. Discover magazine explains how it works:
The fork’s electrical jolt is activated with the touch of a button, completing a circuit between your fingers, the metal fork handle and your tongue. When charged sodium ions hit our tongue, their electrical potential activates ion gates that relay messages to our brains. The fork hijacks this system by targeting these ion gates with an electric charge, fooling them into sending a salty signal to our brains.
-via Technabob