sciencehabit shares a report from Science Magazine: Researchers have designed a robot that can create and cook a cake with up to seven ingredients, more than any other printed food to date. The scientists built their programmable patisserie by retrofitting a 3D printer with nozzles designed to squeeze out selected ingredients. They then programmed it to dispense those into layered cakes. Initial trials resulted in triangular gobs of sweet goo, so the researchers came up with a winning recipe that could hold its own. They nested softer ingredients, such as jelly and banana puree, inside of stiffer ingredients, such as peanut butter and Nutella, then reinforced those with hefty doses of graham cracker crust. Then, they broiled the crust with a laser and topped the cake with frosting and cherry glaze. The result? A cheesecake, of sorts.

Despite its novelty, the computer-guided cook may not be able to battle it out under the stern eye of a guest judge any time soon -- each slice took about 30 minutes to print. Further in the future, however, better printers could make some cooking automatic, freeing people from kitchen tasks they may find tiring or repetitive -- assuming you don't enjoy those things. A food printer could also be programmed to dispense meals with precision-controlled nutrient and calorie content, helping prepare food for those on strict diets. The study has been published in the journal npj Science of Food.

A few days ago you had a chance to ask the people at Hampton Creek about about their products and the science of food. Below you'll find the answers to your questions from a number of Hampton Creek employees.

HughPickens.com writes Ezekiel J. Emanuel, director of the Clinical Bioethics Department at the US National Institutes of Health, writes at The Atlantic that there is a simple truth that many of us seem to resist: living too long renders many of us, if not disabled, then faltering and declining, a state that may not be worse than death but is nonetheless deprived. "It robs us of our creativity and ability to contribute to work, society, the world. It transforms how people experience us, relate to us, and, most important, remember us. We are no longer remembered as vibrant and engaged but as feeble, ineffectual, even pathetic." Emanuel says that he is isn't asking for more time than is likely nor foreshortening his life but is talking about the kind and amount of health care he will consent to after 75. "Once I have lived to 75, my approach to my health care will completely change. I won't actively end my life. But I won't try to prolong it, either." Emanuel says that Americans seem to be obsessed with exercising, doing mental puzzles, consuming various juice and protein concoctions, sticking to strict diets, and popping vitamins and supplements, all in a valiant effort to cheat death and prolong life as long as possible. "I reject this aspiration. I think this manic desperation to endlessly extend life is misguided and potentially destructive. For many reasons, 75 is a pretty good age to aim to stop."