Enlarge / Sausage chain (credit: Getty | Bloomberg)

As Ars has reported before, blockchain technology is essentially a ledger of data chunks—blocks—that link together using validation codes. Each block’s code references that of the one before it, creating an unbroken, sequential chain. Thus, all the blocks are preserved forever in the order in which they were added, providing a sort of built-in validation system—or as Ars previously described it, as a “souped-up audit trail”—locked from tampering. Better still, the chain doesn’t need to be stored in a master location but can instead be distributed among multiple computers still creating a linked record.

The technology was initially applied to secure money transactions, underwriting the rise of Bitcoin. But recently, there’s been a push to use it in other industries. In February, Ars reported that IBM was offering blockchain-as-a-service for businesses, particularly ones involving logistics, such as those in food supply. The idea is that food products could be tracked as they move from farms and factories to store shelves. Using tags and sensors, a product’s location, temperature, and other statistics could be recorded in a blockchain ledger at each step of the way.