By Christopher Cassidy, Science Editor
As the cost of transporting just a small screw into space is incredible and rapidly increasing, more permanent measures have taken place, in form of a mini-replicator (not quite as good as the one in Star Trek, but the fact that they have it is pretty incredible). Though it doesn’t work like the energy→matter synthesizer on the Enterprise, it still makes us feel a step closer to having that ability. You’re probably dying to know what I’m talking about now. It works like a 3-D printer, just not as much inkjet as a real 3-D printer. In the new sort-of replicator, an electron beam melts a feed stick (this can be any meltable material; whatever you want to make something out of) and it lays down the falling liquid in a precise, computer-oriented pattern that eventually turns into any part the computer is programmed to make. This way, you don’t have to ferry up random parts in an expensive shuttle flight. This puts us closer to the more efficient raw-matter replication process, and will make space exploration much cheaper and provide more conveniences for astronauts.
