io9: Meat

Lost episode of Carl Sagan's Cosmos takes us to the Meat Planet

Cyriaque Lamar — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 14:55:00 PST

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Fans of Carl Sagan's cherished 1980 astronomy miniseries Cosmos rejoice! A lost fourteenth episode — about the awe-inspiring Meat Planet — has been found after decades of neglect. In this rediscovered footage, such geological features as the gristly mantle and Mount Sustenance are given their documentary due. Additionally, there is a website that explains the planet's most succulent features, such as its weather: More »

Insect meat is the new beef

Alasdair Wilkins — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 17:29:42 PST

Cattle and other livestock create tons of damaging greenhouse gases, particularly when you consider everything humans have to do to turn a cow in a field into dinner on your plate. There may be one environmentally friendly solution: eating bugs. More »

Vat-Grown Meat Alive in the Lab, But Not Ready to Eat

Lauren Davis — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 11:55:02 PST

Want real meat that's completely cruelty free? For the first time, scientists have grown a pork chop in a laboratory, a breakthrough that could lead to a future of meat that could be harvested without killing animals. More »

"Ethical" Beef Cows Could Be Engineered to Feel No Pain

Lauren Davis — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 15:07:41 PDT

Meat eaters looking for ways to enjoy a guilt-free hamburger have looked to ethical ranches and more humane slaughtering methods. But some suggest that instead of getting rid of factory farming, we should eliminate cow's pain. More »

California Store Sells Beef Jerky Reclaimed from Cows Mutilated by Aliens

Annalee Newitz — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 09:30:00 PST

Maybe you've heard of the Alien Fresh Jerky store in Baker, California, where you can buy tasty, dried strips of beef taken from the carcasses of cows abducted and mutilated by aliens. It's the ultimate in recycling, actually - the aliens do their experiments, and people driving the highway through Baker get a tasty roadside treat. More »

Vat-Grown Meat About to Hit Your Local Market

Annalee Newitz — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 07:00:00 PDT

In five years, you'll be eating a hamburger that no animal died for. Instead, that burger will have been grown from a tiny sample of cells in a plant-and-mushroom bath. The cow who donated the cells will be frolicking in a meadow somewhere, having long forgotten the annoying poke from a tissue engineer with a syringe. At a meeting in Norway of the In Vitro Meat Consortium late last week, scientists and entrepreneurs gathered to discuss the future of "cultured meat," or meat that's essentially grown like cultures in a lab (pictured here). This meeting, the first of its kind, signaled the beginning of a viable industry around the production of vat-grown meat. More »

Alien Torture Porn Is The Only Good Part Of Torchwood

Charlie Jane Anders — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 14:30:07 PST

This scene from last night's Torchwood almost made me puke and cry, it was that good. The whole business with the callous humans abusing yet another alien visitor for financial gain was incredibly well done, and really horrifying. It was one of the best examples of a humans-are-the-real-monsters story ever. Unfortunately, the other half of the episode was Torchwood at its rock-bottom worst. Click through for spoilers. More »