Bring On The Replicator Already
A gadget site Taste Test food week wouldn’t be complete without a hat tip to that fictional food-creating staple of the Star Trek universe, the replicator.
A replicator was a device that used transporter technology to dematerialise quantities of matter and then rematerialise that matter in another form. It was also capable of inverting its function, thus disposing of leftovers and dishes and storing the bulk material again. [Memory Alpha]
Yes, I know it’s not real. We got that bit out of the way right up there in the lead. Now we can have some fun hypothesising and waxing all futuristic like about how these fantastical infinite buffets could (stress could) be possible some day.
In fact, in the most primitive sense possible, there’s a form of replication happening in manufacturing shops around the world. Called 3D printing, the technique isn’t even that new, with roots extending back to the 1990s. They were really expensive then, of course, but today they’re relatively ubiquitous in companies large and small. The technique is pretty simple. In layman’s terms, a user creates or downloads a 3D model of real world object on their workstation, and then a special printer works to recreate that object using resin or plaster or plastic or whatever the material may be. Voila. Instant prototype, and you can have all the tchotchke trinkets your heart desires, on demand, beamed to you from anywhere in the world.
But you can’t eat a resin hamburger. And you can’t drive the mockup that just got spit out of your rapid prototyping rig. The replicator could do both these things.
What we need is something that physically assembles atoms and molecules into tasty shapes so we can tell some uber supercomputer with a soothing female voice to get us some Tea. Earl Grey. Hot. Oh, and it has to create a little glass cup for us to drink it in too (Quick trivia: What did Picard do with all those dirty dishes? Answer above!).
This is where things get a bit sticky (food!), exciting (recent discoveries!) and depressing (its a LONG way off!) all at once. Theoretically, people are debating and thinking about “molecular assemblers” right this instant. In fact, these hypothetical machines would implement some form of nanotechnology, which is already used in everyday items like batteries, fuel technologies and even bikinis. Hell, there’s a Wikipedia page for molecular assemblers up right this instant—our replicator must be right around the corner, right?
Unfortunately, current nanotech implementations are almost what I’d call “dumb” deployments of the technology. We’re just coating a material with some nano bits to repel liquid; or we’re placing nanorods in a battery to improve efficiency… nothing, in other words, that would have Geordi doing a double take. Certainly not that Wesley Crusher kid either, for that matter (More asides: Wes, my man. Your replicators could produce anything you wanted—what the hell was up with that rainbow jumper?!).
But there is some hope. As recently as November, scientists had silver nanoparticles self-assembling into specific structures. Now, Guinan can’t serve us up a plate of silver, so that doesn’t really count as a replicator just yet, but it does drive our research in the right direction. The same direction that saw IBM scientists imaging molecular bonds for the first time ever on Thursday:
By “seeing” these bonds scientists think they can better understand how to manipulate them. For IBM scientists that means quantum processors and such in the far future. For guys and gals like you and me, it might mean snacks on demand as we start to understand why snacks look and feel the way they do on the molecular level.
While we’re down at the molecular level, I’d be remiss not to mention the nano pinhole camera some enterprising Russian scientists created in June:
In their atom pinhole camera, the atoms act like photons in an optical pinhole camera, but instead of light travelling through a lens, it travels through a pinhole on a mask and creates a high-res inverted image on a silicon substrate. This camera is capable of resizing nanostructures down to 30 nm-10,000 times smaller than the original. So, a camera with say 10 million pinholes could produce large numbers of identical (or diverse) nanostructures simultaneously.
It’s the most promising “replicator related” discovery in recent memory, but even so we joked that the Giz crew would probably be slurping pureed baby food and soiling our adult undergarments by the time it came to fruition. Still, the research is there, and every month IBM or the CERN folks or someone much smarter than I am is firing off a new research paper about manipulating the world of the very, very small.
The replicator, in short, would be a paradigm shift the likes of which the world has never seen. Famine? Potentially gone forever. Shortages? See ya. Alinea? Probably the first place to get one. You and I? Optimistically speaking, we’ll probably need some Depends by the time one comes along. Silver lining is we can crap to our hearts content and dispose of the mess in our replicator. Then it’s lunch time!
Taste Test is our weeklong tribute to the leaps that occur when technology meets cuisine, spanning everything from the historic breakthroughs that made food tastier and safer to the Earl-Grey-friendly replicators we impatiently await in the future.
Comments (AU Comments | US Comments)
@HarcourtAetolus: Neil Stephenson addressed this in The Diamond Age by charging for the atomic feed just like we do for electricity and natural gas. An entire new utility was created to serve raw matter to neighborhoods and homes. Residents were charged by the milligram.
Think about how many grams of raw matter goes into constructing a car.
Chiper
@kinda.loopy88: uh huh...
@met2art: I believe the phrase he used was "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." And if Gamp was old when he said you couldn't make food by magic he falls victim to "When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong." Besides, as OMG! Ponies! said: Jesus proved him wrong already.
RStormgull
@se7a7n7: I thought it was call Shrabster you know the ones they sell at Applebees .. or was it Grizzlebees
I want to replicate a apple made of HAM! mmmm ham...
And don't forget the Triplicator!
[en.wikipedia.org]
outinthedark
@OMG! Ponies!: Feels a lot better, doesn't it?
@se7a7n7: It's already been noted, but yes - on a planet where we have the potential to feed every mouth if we put our minds to it, instead we currently have DRM'ed food.
@Hi, I'm God: There's a long-haired gentleman outside who like to disagree with you. He looks a little ragged as he's nailed to a couple pieces of lumber.
@OMG! Ponies!:
Wow... Never thought bureaucracy would be that bureaucrazy.
@Mysterius:
You'll need to understand how the thing works first. Ah who am I kidding, of course we've mapped the entire brain by the time we get replicators.
@Gary_7vn: then they replicate themselves to make an army capable of enslaving entire worlds, that is until we use the Dakara superweapon to destroy them
kinda.loopy88
...is anyone reminded of the Makers from Transmetropolitan?
I'm sure some moron'll take the awesome and make some stupid shit with it.
And what happens when the replicators get replicators?
Would this mean that Americans finally get health care as good as say, France?
@met2art: you've got it all backwards. The techno-zombie-cannibals don't replicate what they need to survive and assimilate into society.
Everyone else's technological and biological distinctiveness is added to the collective, and their societies will adapt to service the collective.
@thechansen: Ha!
bkchosun
By Best Bet:
Even in a very distant future...kids will replicate Mac&Cheese, Hot dogs and ketchup over everything.
:)
So much for replicator gastronomy, no?
aec007
@se7a7n7: I'm pretty sure Kirk doesn't discriminate when it comes to the galactic hit it and quit it dance he's so fond of..
@HarcourtAetolus: Welllllll, energy might literally fall from the sky, but using it isn't free. And economics holds with all scarce resources.
Re: "Rodenberry's idea"-- FooSchnickans
... so with no need gone by, everything turns to the arts and expression! Fantastic, I can hardly wait.
Lve Lng & ...
GemmaClio
@OMG! CoHPhasors: Creating life would be another matter entirely. Sure, you could recreate food, perhaps even viruses and primitive protozoans. But cloning people and anything with a brain would pose some serious problems, namely with the quantum states of a brain's neural structure.
That's why transporters have Heisenberg Compensators, so that you get reassembled with quantum perfection and just don't collapse dead or end up riding the Laidlaw bus to your next away mission.
@se7a7n7: That already exists. Monsanto and ADM both sell crop seeds to African nations. The catch? They're sterile - every year the nations need to buy new seeds.
@orangesrhyme: Yes indeed. It is, in fact, the world's longest trilogy.
@TheGZeus: "The basic impossibility of artificial intelligence..."
If you have the technology to assemble virtually any physical construct conceivable, why can't you build a better brain?
Mysterius
@Jrsy Devil's Food Cake®: I thought it was because Kirk had a established a "no fat chicks" rule a long time ago.
Replication is the death and rebirth of God.
Imagine that you could create anything you wanted by simply combining molecules in the correct configuration.
At its core it could one day boil day to not even needing that particular molecule, but instead just electrons and protons.
Then again, it may just prove God's existence.
Imagine creating lifeforms then realizing they are just "clone slugs" and are devoid of life.
How interesting.
@OMG! Ponies!: Yeah but just think, that same Transporter technology can convert you into energy and separate out the fat before reconstituting your molecules.
That's why you don't see any really fat humans on Star Trek..
@jbaranski: iReplicator 300G. It syncs with your iPhone 3GSTFU from across the galaxy to give you dinner right when you want it...but you can't share it or they'll fine you $99,999,999...or the equivalent to a gallon of space fuel.
@.- -. --- -. -.-- -- --- ..- ... / .. ... / .-.. . --. .. --- -.: Yeah, that's basically what I was saying below.
A big reason why I use free software.
@se7a7n7: ROFL! Aint it the truth. Can anyone say iFood?
@met2art: Molecular reconfiggawhatta? Sounds like magic to me.
@.- -. --- -. -.-- -- --- ..- ... / .. ... / .-.. . --. .. --- -.: While grilled steaks are tasty, I'm on a moderation kick. I will eat back, but only about once every month or two. Maybe twice a year, I will go into McDonald's and order a medium fries and a small Diet Coke. About once a month, I order bad Chinese food.
Wednesday was the first time I had had pizza in two months (and I live in Brooklyn). More often than not, I find myself eating veggies and fish.
Think of food as a giant lego house, with electrons protons and neutrons being the lego bricks.
@met2art:
No, the entire baby steak concept messes with my atom-thick morals.
@Hi, I'm God: Gamp's Law says food can't be created by magic. This is the science of molecular reconfiguration. I refer you now to Arthur C. Clarke.
@thechansen: Can we start calling it Mobile Apple Lisa?: Yeah, I found this out when I was talking to another hitchhiker's fan. I said, "Is the Guide considered a saga or a series?", and he said, "Nope. Trilogy. It's not very well-named, but I think it's mentioned in one of the books.".
orangesrhyme
@orangesrhyme: I honestly have read the series maybe a dozen times since I was kid, and I never knew that. I had hand me downs of the paperbacks -cover. They were most likely the books getting sent back to the publisher to be destroyed.
Yeah, well, food's one of the five exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration so I guess we're screwed.
@met2art:
+1 for the zompocalypse.
I think for these two groups morals won't be such an issue, thus increasing their chances of actually being accepted into our 'civilized society'.
Okay, 'civilized society' didn't leave my fingers without laughing.
@se7a7n7: Don't be silly. Those are real baby steaks. If they were replicated, they'd have been pre-grilled during the molecular assembly phase.
@DixonCharon:
It's their own fault. Ignoring human omnivorous nature in favor of morals...
@thechansen: Can we start calling it Mobile Ubuntu?: Yeah, Douglas Adams referred to it as a trilogy even after the books after number three were released.
orangesrhyme
@se7a7n7:
Puppy steak deluxe, available at your local replicator.
@FooSchnickens: I think that is part of the story: replicators only drive human (etc.) ambition higher up the atom chain (e.g., I no longer need your food, I need your planet.)
@se7a7n7:
+2
Yeah, Bureaucracy at it's best. The ability to create everything everywhere gets strangled by dicks sitting in front of a desk watching money roll in...
@se7a7n7: Socialists ignore human greed, not try to remove it.
@orangesrhyme: trilogy?
@thechansen: Can we start calling it Mobile Windows 7?: Ah, I love that trilogy.
orangesrhyme
You know this will only lead to DRMd food.
@FooSchnickens: Sounds like a dirty Socialist to me.
@.- -. --- -. -.-- -- --- ..- ... / .. ... / .-.. . --. .. --- -.: Those aren't replicated baby steaks are they?
@Mr.GumP: I think what Ponies is trying to say is that poor people just shouldn't have food because they're poor.
@HarcourtAetolus: That was part of Rodenberry's idea behind the whole Star Trek universe. Remove the need for greed and whatnot and provide everything to the masses. Idealistic, yes, but hey, you can't fault him for being a visionary.
@met2art: It was even mentioned rather explicitly in an episode of Enterprise; Archer giving Tucker to a "poop question" posed by some schoolkids.
duck0
@met2art:
It all sounds brilliant, the problem remains;
We will have to make all these steps at once, otherwise every god damn corporation will start moaning about them losing jobs.
@met2art:
Seriously, where do you come up with this stuff?
I think we'll get heck of a lot more meat tanks this way.
@met2art:
I'm hungry...
@se7a7n7:
Yes please.
The bigger issue here is what this invention would do to the economic structure of society. If we can replicate anything that we need, what would be the purpose of capitalism? We would not need stores, industries or commerce of any kind (if a replicator can replicate itself, why would we even need a replicator manufacturing business?). How many Lamborghini's do you need to replicate? It would eliminate the work ethic. Who would need to work for a living? Why trade? What would be the purpose for an economic structure of any kind? The change to our social and economic structure would be massive with such an invention.
KarenPolar bear
The bigger issue here is what this invention would do to the economic structure of society. If we can replicate anything that we need, what would be the purpose of capitalism? We would not need stores, industries or commerce of any kind (if a replicator can replicate itself, why would we even need a replicator manufacturing business?). How many Lamborghini's do you need to replicate? It would eliminate the work ethic. Who would need to work for a living? Why trade? What would be the purpose for an economic structure of any kind? The change to our social and economic structure would be massive with such an invention.
HarcourtAetolus
The fun part is that you can create anything with any anything. Provided you have enough of anything and enough energy to do it.
I'll leave it to my mum to sew together a delicious steak sammich with electrons protons and neutrons.
@OMG! Ponies!:
Come again?
@OMG! Ponies!: Fuck you Ponies. Maybe living like an animal is fun for you. Me? I'll take 2 Roddenberry Muffins please. Get it? GET IT?
Grandkids will probably have them.
The implications on patented devices and drugs are interesting.
Technically, you can make patented things for your own use legally. Realistically, some extension of patent law equivalent of the DMCA keeping me from making a copy of my DVD collection on my computer would appear.
Thing is, if products no longer exist, and energy is renewable, we're back to a labour economy, with little demand for labour.
That _IS_ Star Trek. Seriously. The basic impossiblity of artificial intelligence makes the most important people... nerds.
You're left with transportation, hauling, and maintainance for those who want tech but can't make it and can't gather and understand information.
Of course there will be luddites. They can stay back on earth while we love our molecule-accurate mechanical connections with virtually no friction and fly throuh space and colonise mars.
"No," he said, "look, it's very, very simple ... all I want ... is a cup of tea. You are going to make one for me. Keep quiet and listen." And he sat.
He told the Nutri-Matic about India, he told it about China, he told it about Ceylon. He told it about broad leaves drying in the sun. He told it about silver teapots. He told it about summer afternoons on the lawn. He told it about putting in the milk before the tea so it wouldn't get scalded. He even told it (briefly) about the history of the East India Company.
"So that's it, is it?" said the Nutri-Matic when he had finished.
"Yes," said Arthur, "that is what I want."
"You want the taste of dried leaves in boiled water?"
"Er, yes. With milk."
"Squirted out of a cow?"
"Well, in a manner of speaking I suppose ..."
And it produced a liquid almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea.
Just have the replicator make batteries to power itself. Problem solved!
AntheaBabalonian
@OMG! Ponies!: Well...umm..ya..i guess people would eat more.
But this thing is more important for underdeveloped nations and those who can't grow food or afford food.
Think BIG PICTURE, Mr.Ponies
Mr.GumP
@JasonTriton: We already have the #1 Food Industry in the World and this would end up being a Government take-over of Food.
Would you really want some bureaucrat telling you what you can replicate and when? I EAT WHAT I WANT TO EAT!!! What if I don't want to eat replicated food? You damn Socialist, Marxist, Communist, Liberal Nazi.
This could replicate a baby, solely for the purpose of being eaten! Is that what you want? A device that lets you eat babies?
@Weet: Perceived rarity=value, especially when it comes to the symbol we call "money". If everyone's got it, it means nothing. Kind of like opinions.
What could possibly go wrong!
Tenno
Jesus, you are one lazy bastard.
You want tea? Heat up some water, insert leaves in the packaging of your liking, let it steep for 2 minutes, and remove the leaves. Voila! Tea. Earl Grey Tea. And, yes, it is hot.
The last thing this country needs is a way to make more calories available. We have plenty of calories. After a weekend of bad Chinese food, I am ready to go back on another week of strained yogurt, tomatoes and cucumbers, and avocado rolls.
Let's stop obsessing with replicators and start working on learning to eat healthily. Properly prepared food requires little effort, little cleanup, and tastes good.
If I had nothing but Greek yogurt, tomatoes and cucumber salad, avocado rolls, and seared salmon for the rest of my days, I'd be pretty happy.
@met2art: well, fwiw, money in nearly all countries no longer has any tie to the value of base metals and yet it still exists.
Weet
@Blue387: More importantly, would cannibals eat replicated humans? And would zombies settle for replicated piles of brains, thus easing their transition and assimilation into civilized society?
@jimmysmits: There is still the tricky issue of power sources. However, a switch to solar, hydrodynamics and the burning of fossil fuels such as greedy old corporate executives could help immensely.
@MrThunderfield: That ranks right up there with me simply waiting for my future-self to finish building my time machine, so that I don't have to do the dirty work now. However, knowing that selfish bastard, I/he won't come back to pick me up.
Jews would not eat replicated pork because it has more to do with tradition.
vegetarians may or may not eat the meat if their issue with meat is solely with the killing of the animal. Keep in mind, a vegetarian that starts eating meat can have some wacky digestive issues, so i doubt it would make a difference.
DixonCharon
@met2art: Exactly! Why wouldn't we devote all of our time and effort to a replicator? The end of world hunger--the end of wars over resources, the collapse of capitalism and the free market.... Seems like it could only usher in an era of unlimited prosperity and happiness.
jimmysmits
@AkkiRonin: In the Enterprise NCC-1701D Technical Manual it specifcally clarifies this point. It explains that solid an dliquid waste matter are both purified and also used for replication purposes, as well as for fertilization for the shipboard arboretum.
Could Jews eat replicated pork? Could vegetarians eat replicated meat?
Blue387
@bl1nk2much: Once you have a machine that can replicate "money" (or the base metals that paper scrip represents) the very concept of money becomes outmoded; little more than a historical footnote.
It's all about feeding the hungry, people!
Don't you recall Picard talking about the day world hunger was solved? Hmmmm?
Fox news would probably label the machine dangerous because they will get money from the food lobby. This machine will destroy them and farmers.
JasonTriton
Ever given much thought to the bathrooms in Star Trek? My favorite theory was that they were bundled with the food replicators. Think about it, where does the replicator get the raw materials? Simple, you walk up to the replicator, indicate your selection, it tight beam transports the contents of your bladder and bowls out, a little molecular scrambling and, bingo, dinner!
@Jesustron, Now with more beer!: Kentucky Fried Chicken makes passably accurate replicas of fried chicken legs.
Headlines from The Future: "Unruly Teens Reprogram School Lunch Replicators: Create Mystery Meat Pornstar Sculptures"
I see it getting shot down and postponed out of our life times by people too afraid of it replicating living organisms.
We would need to get over those stupid things called "morals" before we can get tasty food on demand (does this mean comcast would extend into the world of food?)
Emperor Greedo
If it can replicate money...i think it would pay for itself...
I've also thought about this.
I mean, how hard can it be to analyze an item, analyze the atoms in it, then beam that information to a receiving station which assembles a copy. Of course you'd need to have the receiver filled with matter of which it could produce the copies, but that's not a big hurdle.
BAM! Instant replicator!
We already have replicators. They are called McDonalds. You don't think that's real food do you?
DinoGabuldury
Can we just start with something that replicates crispy and delicious fried chicken legs?
"Bring on the replicator already"
that's what i say, seriously, seeing molecule bonds, lets get some manipulation going.
[gizmodo.com]