🍛 Would you eat this 'hybrid'-engineered beef rice? It could come to your rescue

In eatables that could be used during wars or in space, where there’s usually a scarcity of edible food, a new kind of ‘hybrid’ meal can come to the rescue. Scientists from Korea have created a new recipe wherein they have grown animal muscle (beef) inside grains of rice, and they are calling it cultured beef rice.

The researchers plan to commercialize this method, and they believe it could offer a more affordable protein alternative with a smaller carbon footprint. To find out more about where this grain-based hybrid food fits in with the sustainable food system, check out today's Must Read.

🚨 Interesting Engineering Originals brings you our weekly pick of the best science, tech, and engineering videos. Stay up to date every Friday by subscribing now.

🎙 New podcast The future of space exploration and ethics with Erika Nesvold

🔥 Today’s hot jobs as featured on jobs.interestingengineering.com:

• Aws Devops Engineer -Couchbase DB

• Senior Software Engineer

• Senior Applications Engineer

Good morning. I’m Sade, newsletter editor at IE.

This is the Blueprint. Let’s get into it!

Reading time: 5 minutes

• ♀️ In a rare event, stingray becomes pregnant without male in US aquarium

• 👩‍❤️‍👨 New report shows how AI girlfriends and boyfriends betray their 'loves'

• 🫀 MIT researchers crack mystery on heart pump complication

In the evolving landscape of food production, concerns about health, diseases, climate change, and resource scarcity are driving innovations. One promising concept involves crafting "hybrid" foods by blending plant and animal components.

Rice, rich in essential nutrients, becomes a canvas for experimentation. Coated with a mixture of fish gelatin and enzymes, the grains facilitate cell adhesion and growth. After about nine to 11 days, the harvested final product is beef rice made from cultured cells, which according to researchers, meets safety standards and has a low risk of causing food allergies.

In the quiet embrace of an archaeological site in Verona, northern Italy, a new study takes a closer look at the connection between ancient humans and animals. We’re talking about co-burials—instances where humans rest eternally alongside animals such as dogs, horses, and even pigs at least 2023 years ago.

A project called BatMan (Battery Advanced Technology Manufacturing And Novelty) has developed a new way to alter the microstructure of battery electrode materials using laser pulses. This process could improve the performance and efficiency of electric vehicle (EV) batteries, making them faster to charge and longer to last.

• NASA finds new clues about mysterious fast radio burst from magnetar

• US private mission blasts off, eyes historic Moon landing this month

• 9 of the most surprising objects ever sent to space