Scientists Made A Real “Star Trek” Replicator That Builds Objects With Light

3D printing, which can take hours or even days to complete, might be replaced by a much faster technology. Scientists from the University of California, Berkeley have developed a tool that can fabricate objects in one shot by using light.

The manufacturing technology has been nicknamed the “the replicator” in honor of Star Trek.

“It works more like a computed tomography (CT) scan than a conventional 3D printer,” reports Futurism. “It builds a 3D image by scanning an object from multiple angles, then projects it into a tube of synthetic resin that solidifies when exposed to certain intensities of light. In two minutes, for instance, the team was able to fabricate a tiny figurine of Auguste Rodin’s famous ‘The Thinker’ statue.”

As amazing as this technology is, there are still a couple limitations. The procedure requires a special synthetic resin and the objects created must be small in size.