The Know Daily - Tuesday 28th March 2023

_{Read in 5m 50s ∙ Listening to Nell Mescal}

A real treat lies waiting for book-loving commuters when they transit through Exeter St Davids station in Devon: a first-of-its-kind Penguin Random House vending machine. The machine, which works like a traditional snack or drink vending machine, will feature a range of titles, from old books to newer works. The books are on sale for their recommended retail price and money raised will support an independent bookshop and the Exeter City of Literature initiative.

🏠 Action on antisocial behaviour

Landlords are to be given new powers to evict problematic tenants with two weeks’ notice, under government plans to tackle antisocial behaviour.

Tell me more.
The Renters Reform Bill will give landlords the right to evict tenants who play loud music, use drugs, cause damage to their property or fall behind on their rent. All new private tenancy agreements will have to include clauses that specifically ban antisocial behaviour, and the notice period for eviction on these grounds will be cut from four to two weeks.

Under the proposals, homeowners who rent out properties on Airbnb must register on a new database that will make it easier for local councils to deal with complaints about rowdy guests.

What about renters’ rights?
The Bill will also feature protections for tenants, including bans on no-fault evictions and on landlords raising rent more than once a year.

How else is the government tackling antisocial behaviour?
PM Rishi Sunak has promised dozens of new measures to crack down on what he has termed the “scourge of anti-social behaviour”. This includes categorising nitrous oxide - known as laughing gas - as a Class C drug by the end of the year, with users soon facing up to two years in jail.

What are the other key measures?
Sunak has also unveiled plans for an “immediate justice” scheme, which could see people who vandalise public spaces having to repair the damage they cause within two days of being given an order. Offenders will also be made to wear jumpsuits or hi-vis jackets.

The pilot will be rolled out across England and Wales in 2024, and extra funding will be given to 16 areas of the country to support either the “immediate justice” scheme or “hotspot” policing, which will see “extra enforcement patrols” in areas with high rates of antisocial behaviour.

🍰 Print your cake and eat it

3D food printing has been around since 2006, but engineers recently pushed the boundaries of the technology by whipping up an edible - if not entirely appetising - cheesecake.

Wait - they printed a cheesecake?
After a considerable amount of trial and error, researchers at Columbia University produced a seven-ingredient vegan cheesecake using only a 3D printing machine and laser technology. The dessert was customisable - with flavours including cherry and banana - and each slice took about 30 minutes to produce.

How did it taste?
The printing process meant that waves of flavour hit the testers’ palates at different times. “I rather enjoyed it, but it’s not a conventional mix,” one of the Columbia engineers told The Guardian. “We’re not Michelin chefs,” he added.

Why is this such a big deal?
Using 3D printing to create food isn’t a new concept: one company even uses the technology to make plant-based steak. But this new research - published in the journal NPJ Science of Food - is groundbreaking because it uses lasers to cook food as it prints.

While the thought of an engineered meal may not seem particularly appealing or time-efficient right now, researchers believe the technology has a lot of potential. In the future, 3D printing could create food with precise nutritional amounts - a benefit for health-conscious eaters - and reduce waste, as it requires only a very specific amount of ingredients.

But registered dietician Dr Duane Mellor has expressed concern that valuable nutrients such as fibre and cellular tissue could be lost from fruit and vegetables via the printing process.

Is this the future?
There’s still some way to go before 3D food printers become a commonplace feature on our kitchen counters. “You need to bring the costs down to a level that is acceptable to most people,” research scientist Dr Xiang Zhang told CNN. “And then the food needs to taste acceptable,” he added.

Check out the cheesecake above - would you give it a try? Hit reply to let us know!

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scotland latest: Humza Yousaf is the first Scottish politician from an ethnic minority background to become first minister, replacing Nicola Sturgeon as SNP leader.

💰 Cost-of-living support: Eight million low-income households will receive the first instalment of the next set of cost-of-living payments between 25 April-17 May, the Department for Work and Pensions has confirmed.

⚖️ Harry at High Court: Prince Harry and Elton John appeared at the High Court on Monday as legal proceedings began against Daily Mail publisher Associated Newspapers over alleged privacy breaches.

📱 Track and trace: The Covid contact-tracing app - which was downloaded 31 million times during the pandemic - is being discontinued later this week as part of a drive to encourage people to “learn to live” with the virus.

🎭 Paddington live:The Paddington Bear Experience, an immersive, family-friendly show based on the story of the marmalade-loving character, will open later this year at London’s County Hall.

Trivia answer: C) France has a record 13 time zones, when you also count its overseas territories. The US and Russia both have 11, while Antarctica, the UK and Australia all have nine.

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