NASA wants to create a 'food replicator'

Originally posted by Amorymeltzer
I'm just saying that the Earth has limited resources.

Earth especially has one very large limited resource.. the sun.
It is a mute point by our standards.. good ol' Sol is something we can count on to always be there. But she wont be. Earth is dependant on the sun so therefore Earth is not self-sustaining.

But that's a technicality..

If you zoom in nice and tight, not take into consideration external influences such as big hunks of rock or alien invasions, and remove humans.. then yes Earth is self-sustaining. The planet's done a great job of keeping the surface green and the oceans wet. It is a closed system (except for germs from Mars) so all variables are constantly refreshing themselves in elegant harmony and balance with all the others. But there's that catch I just mentioned...

These damn dirty apes (us).

We are just as much a part of Earth as rocks are. We break the equation. Soon, we could very likely become just another failed species.. like the Dodo's or the Neanderthols. Earth ridding herself of a threat. We are capable of destroying the planet, and ruining the ability to self-balance, and thus self-sustain. It would take a whole lot of nukes to do it, but it's within our power. By this reasoning, the earth is not self-sustaining. Simply because it is possible for the planet to evolve a species that could turn around and destroy the planet.

Now if only we could make self-sustaining nuclear powered food replicators. That would be neato.

errrrrr, I dont like to think of it in that large of a picture.

If something can survive for over a 1000 years with out help...thats self-sustaining.

I don't see how this is impossible to make a food replicator like the ones in Star Trek, all you would need is six (or more) powerful magnets to hold atoms in a spacial grid while adding to the mass incrementally.

As mentioned the hardest part would be to keep molecular stability and cohesion while the molecular mass as a whole is being worked on.

If Einsteins claim that mass was just slow energy is correct it would only be a matter of finding a way to slow the energy and stopping it in the required place next to an already created mass. It would be like Lego but with much smaller blocks.

The first things to be replicated would most likely be a mass of material with the same atom the whole way through the molecule. I imagine it would be diamond that would be chosen because it has an obvious use and purity of the end product can be easily checked to tally an error rate.

And we have a method, I have tried to reach NASA this week to volunteer my knowledge of this method since I know how, but do not have resources to implement a replicator, it is truely an amazing process which can convert energy and air into food!

reply to post by Anonymous ATS


I was thinking NaCl maybe the easier to make and easy to identify, just because we recognize carbon as an element, we must remember, the periodic tabic is equivalent to a standard tape measure in chemistry, it will require less energy to change matter that is a gas, or weak solid, since salt is normally processed from evaporation. It maybe best for us to visually blue print it first, then replicate it next by altering the nuecleons.

reply to post by iori_komei


Some do wanna sell a cartridge system, however, I'd much rather purchase blueprinted foods to replicate from energy rather than hassel with a cartride system etc.

There is something along these lines being researched right now called "Molecular manufacturing." This type of machine would be very similar to the replicators on Star Trek, although you would be able to make almost anything that's physically possible (the replicator only made food and drinks). The only difference being Star Trek replicators and an MM is that in Star Trek, objects were assembled at the subatomic level. In MM, objects would be assembled at the nano-scale with atomic precision.

How long it will take to build the first nano factory is anyones guess. However, in 2008 Ralph Merkle & Robert Freitas were awarded a five year grant of 3.1 million to conduct viability experiments of their diamondoid mechanosynthesis approach to MM. If it turns out to be viable, we might have these kind of machines sometime in the next 40 years.

reply to post by NWguy83


WTF is a fresh cream bun?
That is what I would like to know, NASA.

reply to post by GeeGee


when you say subatomic, do you mean a smaller scale than atomic?

Originally posted by LordofHades
reply to post by GeeGee

 

when you say subatomic, do you mean a smaller scale than atomic?

Subatomic particles are particles composing nucleons and atoms.

reply to post by GeeGee


I think if we change the structure or charge of the nuecleons. we may can alter the end product, using light/laser to alter the end product, the last project I seen may have really been using a welding type basis, that is good, but we can change these atoms without heat as the main chemical reaction, The idea is to do this efficiently as possible, thus altering the energy and air (matter) to a food without a heated chemical reaction.

I have contacted NASA twice now and also Homaro Cantu, owner of Moto Resturant. He has claimed to be working with NASA on this concept. I am trying to find out if it is a molecular type replicator or cartridge system, that I think we all can agree we need to avoid. Look at the flop of the ink systems and printers. That would be a nightmare to have dried or molded cartridges of food lol.