This tasting device can tell the difference between different brands of bottled water
Meet the "e-tongue"

Each week, we spotlight a cool innovation recommended by some of the industry's top tech writers. This week's pick is a machine that can taste.
IBM is developing a flavor-identifying "e-tongue" that can identify exactly what you're drinking, said Luke Dormehl at Digital Trends. When the Hypertaste device is dunked in a glass of something wet, it uses an array of electrochemical sensors to work out the liquid's composition. That information is then sent to the cloud, where an artificial intelligence program compares the "chemical fingerprint" to a database of known liquids.
In a recent demonstration, the device was sensitive enough to accurately distinguish between different brands of bottled water. The tongue could prove useful in the food and drink industry, potentially to identify counterfeit wines and whiskeys. But it might also have medical applications, quickly "tasting" unsavory biofluids — such as urine and blood — "to make health-related diagnoses."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
How the woke right gained power in the US
Under the radar The term has grown in prominence since Donald Trump returned to the White House
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK
-
Codeword: April 24, 2025
The Week's daily codeword puzzle
By The Week Staff
-
Crossword: April 24, 2025
The Week's daily crossword
By The Week Staff