European scientists have developed an advanced electronic tongue that is so sensitive, it can detect the grape variety and vintage of your favourite wine. All at the press of a button.

The electronic tongue is designed for quality control purposes in the wine business and can be used in the field, providing a faster and more accurate means of testing. Usually a sample would be sent away to a central laboratory for testing, slowing down wine production.

Made up of six sensors, the electronic tongue can detect substances such as sugar, acid and alcohol present in a sample. With this information, the device can determine a wine’s age and variety which may also prove useful in detecting vintage fraud.

The device is portable and cheap to manufacture which definitely works in its favor. The question is, will we start seeing this kind of tech implanted directly into our own tongues in the future? I guess neural pathways would need to be developed and in a much more sophisticated way than just sticking wires into a monkey’s skull. I’ll keep you posted.

Sources:
Physorg
CrunchGear
Ubergizmo