“Tea. Earl Gray. Hot.”  As I’m sure many of you have, I’ve wanted to say that line to a cube shaped hole in the wall for the last 24 years or so. Now, we may be one step closer to getting our collective wish. What started as a project at Cornell University is currently being tested out at the French Culinary Institute in Manhattan, a 3D food printer.

OK, so it’s not a replicator like we’re used to seeing on Star Trek, but it does seem to indicate that the scientists are actively trying to get there. For now, this 3D food printer is quite a bit like the replicator technology NASA is working on only in food form. It builds the desired food out of multiple fine layers of said food in a paste form.

It doesn't look like a traditional printer; it's more like an industrial fabrication machine. Users load up the printer's syringes with raw food -- anything with a liquid consistency, like soft chocolate, will work. The ingredient-filled syringes will then "print" icing on a cupcake. Or it'll print something more novel (i.e., terrifying) -- like domes of turkey on a cutting board.

"You hand [the computer] three bits of info: a shape that you want, a description of how that shape can be made, and a description of how that material that you want to print with works," says Jeff Lipton, a Cornell grad student working on the project. Lipton is pursuing a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering.

Best of all, they think it should be ready for home use in about five years. Here’s to hoping that when it hits our countertops they’ve upgraded the technology a little more than they expected…say 300+ years.

Read the full article here.

(Source cnnmoney.com)