gingerbread

[sciguy125]

I was watching a documentary on the Food Network about a gingerbread "house" competition. They don't make houses as much as scenes. The rule is that it has to be completely edible (with the exception of the base). Although, I'm not sure what constitutes being edible. One couple made a moving carousel that had some kind of round hard candy as bearings. The base of the carousel was essentially a thrust bearing. They also showed one contestant whose entry was destroyed during the flight.

Personally, I was watching this whole thing through the eyes of an engineer. I was just wondering if anyone had any ideas about how to inject some engineering into gingerbread structures. One thing I was toying with, but couldn't figure out was corregated gingerbread. There has to be some way to increase the strength of gingerbread walls. The other idea I was toying with was trying to introduce some sort of fiber into the dough. Sort of like adding fiberglass to cement.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to develop the edible transistor.