It sounds like a plotline from a Seinfeld episode, but engineers at M.I.T. have created a bottle that allows a sticky liquid like ketchup to slide out easily, without all the banging and shaking.
Using an FDA-approved, non-toxic invention known as "LiquiGlide" to coat the inside of bottles, the team has prevented condoments from getting stuck, says an article on Yahoo. LiquiGlide was described by MIT PhD candidate Dave Smith, who led the MIT researchers in the project, as "kind of a structured liquid — it's rigid like a solid, but it's lubricated like a liquid." The substance can be used on any bottle, regardless of the bottle's material.
Nearby at Harvard, researchers have created a material called Slippery Liquid Infused Porous Surface (SLIPS), reported Tecca. Like the Nepenthes plant that inspired this technology, Slips can repel oil. Unlike the plant, it repels water, too. Joanna Aizenberg and her research team have created a substance that, according to the Harvard Gazette, retains it's non-stick properties "even under harsh conditions like high pressure and freezing temperatures." Tecca points out that the only a very slight tilt is needed for substances like jam or blood to effortlessly slide away.
It's also pointed out on the Huffington Post that besides getting that last bit of mustard onto your sandwich, this technology -- from either school -- could be useful for improving car windshield visibility when it rains or preventing oil and gas lines from clogging.
Until the product takes off, the Heinz website says that the best way to get the most ketchup out of the container is to tap the 57 on the neck of the bottle.
