When I found this uber-realistic representation of THE FUTURE OF NUTRITION, naturally my mind turned to that other space food. No no, not this kind of space food. I mean that kind. The Star Trek kind. Quivering blue cubes. Extremely colorful, non-food-looking food.

Except that sometimes, even on Google Images, you strike out. “Space food”? Too general. “Star Trek food”? The USS Enterprise made of various cured meat products. Also some waffles. “Star Trek space food”? More of the same. “Star Trek scary space food” — SURELY THAT MUST DO THE TRICK. But alas. (However, Spock says hi.)

So instead, you get this. You’re welcome.

Addendum: Even with the refined, precise search term “star trek tos scary space food”, I came up with a lot of TOS stills (none with food, scary or otherwise), someone’s bruised foot, and an animated cartoon of a cat eating a cookie. Bravo, Intarwebs, bravo.

Space food image (top) courtesy of x-ray delta one.

I’m highly amused by 21st Amendment Brewery’s “Bitter American” session ale. It’s not often we see our first astronauts represented on product packaging… and these guys have attitude!

If you’d been rocketed into space against your will, you might be a little bitter too. Bitter American is our long-overdue tribute to unsung, unwitting heroes everywhere. This American session ale packs a lot of hop and malt flavor into a refreshingly lower-alcohol brew, making it the perfect beer to have on hand when you have a little history to make.

Why not say “I love you, space nerd” with a set of Rihga Royal Hotel Planetary Chocolates?

Combining astronomy and good eats sounds too good to be true. But in their celestial collection of planetary chocolates, chocolatier L’éclat of the Righa Royal Hotel Japan have done just that. The chocolaty solar system includes Mercury (coconut mango), Venus (cream lemon), Earth (cacao), Mars (orange praline), Jupiter (vanilla), Saturn (rum raisin), Uranus (milk tea) and Neptune (capuccino) – sorry, Pluto is no longer considered a planet.

Each are sold individually (400 yen) but if you order the set (3,800 yen) they’ll throw in the Sun – a flaring delicacy of criollo chocolate and pineapple. You can order online (3,200 yen; Sun not included)or you can use a forwarding service.
— Spoon & Tamago

Tokyo’s Haneda Airport is home to a unique café and planetarium: the Planetarium Starry Café. Dine under the stars… in an airport! (Read more about Haneda here.)

Image courtesy of USA Today, TIAT.

Image & Star Wars © Lucasfilm

While I’m no fan of the Dark Side of the Force, this Death Star cookie jar does seem to be conclusive proof of the statement, “Come to the Dark Side, we have cookies.”

Image & Star Wars © Lucasfilm

Saw this fantastic redesign of Tang on The Dieline — as if there weren’t enough reasons to love Tang, now it’s even geekier!

I especially like the scoop. ♥

Saw this striking wine bottle packaging by Rhinocerosred Design over at Curved White. Beautiful work!

I first saw this marvelous bit of latte art here, and failing to find a larger version on Flickr, traced it here and eventually to Reddit. (Where it’s still only 400×300.) It really bugs me when I can’t find the original version and can’t be sure of the “source” being the actual original, but PhotoBucket seems to be as close as it gets, so there you go.

I want a latte just like this. It would MAKE my DAY. Actually, it would make my MONTH.

It had to happen eventually, and it doesn’t surprise me that Japan is at the forefront of space beer. OnOrbit has an overview of the release — very pricey, very limited, and you have to be a Japanese resident to enter the lottery.

Sapporo Breweries Ltd. is launching sales of the world’s first beer produced using malt made 100% from “space barley,” the progenies of spaceflight barley seeds, This limited offer is exclusive to the Internet and proceeds will go to charity. Applications to purchase the beer, which is dubbed “SAPPORO Space Barley,” can be made from December 3 (Thu), 2009 on the dedicated web page set up on our company’s website. Two hundred and fifty successful customers will be selected from among the applicants by lottery.

The “space barley” used to make this beer is the fourth generation descendant of the Haruna Nijo malting barley that was developed by Sapporo Breweries and kept in space for five months during 2006 as part of our collaborative research with the Russian Academy of Sciences and Okayama University with the purpose of achieving self-sufficiency in food in the space environment. Since Sapporo Breweries was founded, we have continued to create excellent varieties for raw materials, and we are the only company in the world that operates breeding/research organizations for both barley and hops. This, the world’s first sale of this “space beer,” is the result of our extended nurturing/development of the required technologies.

At roughly $100 for six bottles of space beer, this is not a purchase for the fainthearted, but I like the sentiment:

It is our hope that our customers will feel able to sit back, relax, and enjoy SAPPORO Space Barley, letting their minds drift through the infinities of space and into dreams of the future.

Saw a display for Moonstruck Chocolatier in a Market of Choice supermarket over the weekend. Gorgeous logo, gorgeous packaging, and a crescent moon-shaped gift box? Yeah, I’m in love.