h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I guess it was only a matter of time. Someone's trying to print raw meat using a 3D printer.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20972018

It's time for the combined brains of h2g2 to come up with applications for this wonder-technology.

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My idea (patent pending) is to print all your documents using muscles, so they can walk back across to your desk. It saves you having to get up to fetch them.

I'm sure this will find its way on to the menu at the Fat Duck in the not-too distant future.

I wonder if Mr Blumenthal will just have an edible menu...

Is Bioprinting another one of those Star Trek devices to become true? I remember in the Enterprise canteen the crew would press buttons or insert a card, then a door would open and the meal appeared. I'm guessing either it was beamed up somehow, or could it have been printed?

That's a replicator, Icy, and it in fact really works quite similar to beaming.
When something is beamed the transporter basically scans the person, disassembles it and sends the information about how the person was built up to the other side where the person is built up again from scratch with the information/blueprints that were made earlier.
A replicator has a database of food (or other things) that was once scanned and can assemble the stuff accoriding to the 'blueprints' whenever it is asked to.

The edible menu was already done.

http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Chicago_chef_invents_edible_menu

OMG that was in 2005!

This could also cure loneliness. Print yourself a hamster.

Or scale it up to print your imaginary friend.

I want a bacon printer - now!

Meh. It'll be just like the document printers. The ink will be so expensive you won't bother using it once you get one.