News bites: updates from home & abroad

World’s stinkiest fruit has its time to shine

University of Sydney researchers have developed a potential new power supply using the world’s most foul-smelling fruit. Turning durian waste into super-capacitors could “substantially reduce” the cost of energy storage and charge devices very quickly.

The researchers found that both durian and jackfruit waste can be used to create energy stores for rapid electricity charging.

“Using durian and jackfruit purchased from a market, we converted the fruits’ waste into super-capacitors that can be used to store electricity efficiently,” says researcher Associate Professor Vincent Gomes.

Super-capacitors are like energy reservoirs that dole out energy smoothly. They can quickly store large amounts of energy in a small battery-sized device and then supply energy to charge electronic devices – like mobile phones, tablets and laptops – within a few seconds.

“We have reached a point where we must urgently discover and produce ways to create and store energy using sustainably-sourced materials that do not contribute to global warming,” says Associate Professor Gomes. “Confronted with this and the world’s rapidly depleting supplies of fossil fuels, naturally-derived super-capacitors are leading the way for developing high efficiency energy storage devices.”

Food giant to build vegan food facility

Mega food industry player Nestlé has announced that it will be building its first vegan food facility in China. The Swiss conglomerate plans to launch vegan meat products by the end of this year, in a move that is part of a $103.58 million investment in China.

In a press release, Nestlé stated that it has decided to step up its focus on the plant-based category due to the “quiet revolution” in the food sector, in which people are choosing more healthy, nutritious and environmentally friendly foods.

By investing more in latest technologies to create products using plants, Nestlé will also help to reduce carbon emissions. In 2019, the company announced the goal of achieve zero net greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

New Tim Tim flavour put to a nationwide vote

The polls are open! Arnott’s is giving Australia the chance to vote for the newest Tim Tam flavour that will hit the shelves this coming winter.

There are two contending flavours: Tim Tam Double Choc Caramel Cream and Tim Tam Coconut Cream. Both flavours will be making strong cases to become the newest addition to the Australian (kitchen) cabinet. The winning flavour will join the classic Tim Tam flavours on shelf, as well as the recently launched Tim Tam Crafted Collection, which was inspired by the tastes of Australia and New Zealand.

Australians can cast their vote by visiting the voting website starting May 27 until June 2. The winning Tim Tam flavour will be announced the day after voting closes and will be available exclusively at Coles on August 31.