How long before we can order, "Tea, Earl Grey, Hot"?
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2419277,00.asp
It's not quite the replicator from Star Trek, but Anjan Contractor's idea for a 3D printer capable of synthesizing food could point the way towards a future in which hunger and food waste are nearly eliminated.
Contractor, a mechanical engineer employed by Systems & Materials Research Corporation, hopes to build a prototype of a 3D printing machine that works with basic nutrients instead of inedible materials to create meals for human consumption. NASA this week gave Systems & Materials Research a six-month, $125,000 grant to do just that, according to Quartz.com.
The space agency is interested in the project because one early use of 3D food printing could be to feed astronauts on lengthy missions in space or the pioneers who found a future Mars colony. But as the Earth's population grows and becomes more difficult to provide for with current farming methods, the technology could be the key to feeding future generations.
Contractor "sees a day when every kitchen has a 3D printer, and the Earth's 12 billion people feed themselves customized, nutritionally appropriate meals synthesized one layer at a time, from cartridges of powder and oils they buy at the corner grocery store," Quartz.com said.
He is trying to devise powder cartridges for his 3D food printer containing "sugars, complex carbohydrates, protein or some other basic building block" that would last as long as 30 years, meaning all the nutrients inside would likely be used up before they expired. Such technology would virtually end food waste, according to Contractor.
NASA's grant specifically relates to the creation of a 3D food printer for space travel. The space agency and other parties have in recent years put forward plans for long-distance crewed missions to Mars and near-Earth asteroids—trips that could certainly use a physically compact food generator that could store ingredients for years at a time.
"Long-distance space travel requires 15-plus years of shelf life. The way we are working on it is, all the carbs, proteins, and macro and micro nutrients are in powder form. We take moisture out, and in that form it will last maybe 30 years," Contractor told Quartz.com.
So what sort of food might a 3D printer spit out? Contractor told the site that pizza is one of the simplest dishes to prepare "because it can be printed in distinct layers, so it only requires the print head to extrude one substance at a time." He said he would begin building a "pizza printer" in the next couple of weeks.
For now, you can check out the video below, which shows Contractor using a 3D printer to layer chocolate on a biscuit:
see vid at link
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2419277,00.asp
It's not quite the replicator from Star Trek, but Anjan Contractor's idea for a 3D printer capable of synthesizing food could point the way towards a future in which hunger and food waste are nearly eliminated.
Contractor, a mechanical engineer employed by Systems & Materials Research Corporation, hopes to build a prototype of a 3D printing machine that works with basic nutrients instead of inedible materials to create meals for human consumption. NASA this week gave Systems & Materials Research a six-month, $125,000 grant to do just that, according to Quartz.com.
The space agency is interested in the project because one early use of 3D food printing could be to feed astronauts on lengthy missions in space or the pioneers who found a future Mars colony. But as the Earth's population grows and becomes more difficult to provide for with current farming methods, the technology could be the key to feeding future generations.
Contractor "sees a day when every kitchen has a 3D printer, and the Earth's 12 billion people feed themselves customized, nutritionally appropriate meals synthesized one layer at a time, from cartridges of powder and oils they buy at the corner grocery store," Quartz.com said.
He is trying to devise powder cartridges for his 3D food printer containing "sugars, complex carbohydrates, protein or some other basic building block" that would last as long as 30 years, meaning all the nutrients inside would likely be used up before they expired. Such technology would virtually end food waste, according to Contractor.
NASA's grant specifically relates to the creation of a 3D food printer for space travel. The space agency and other parties have in recent years put forward plans for long-distance crewed missions to Mars and near-Earth asteroids—trips that could certainly use a physically compact food generator that could store ingredients for years at a time.
"Long-distance space travel requires 15-plus years of shelf life. The way we are working on it is, all the carbs, proteins, and macro and micro nutrients are in powder form. We take moisture out, and in that form it will last maybe 30 years," Contractor told Quartz.com.
So what sort of food might a 3D printer spit out? Contractor told the site that pizza is one of the simplest dishes to prepare "because it can be printed in distinct layers, so it only requires the print head to extrude one substance at a time." He said he would begin building a "pizza printer" in the next couple of weeks.
For now, you can check out the video below, which shows Contractor using a 3D printer to layer chocolate on a biscuit:
see vid at link
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