Tea. Earl Grey. Hot.

For those of you non-Trekkies (I lump myself in the field of Trek-o-holic), this was the line Captain Jean Luc Picard used when ordering his choice beverage out of the Enterprise’s replicator. Fantasy? Yes. For much longer? Perhaps not.

In an article on Space.com (READ!), a recplicator has been created that is able to fashion lots of things out of metal (so, no Earl Grey… yet).

This is just absolutely AWESOME. Can you imagine walking over to the replicator and punching in ANYTHING that you want (made of metal… but hey, some pets are made of metal too) and it will craft it for you?!? The possibilities are ENDLESS! And yes, I am a tad bit excited. But only a tad.

While the electron beam freeform fabrication (EBF3) is probably out of my hands for now, it soon could be arriving upon the international space station and other places: large manufacturers of specific tiny items that require extreme precise details, MI-6 to let Q make some cool toys, and on this airplane for the UAE. They can afford it and put it in those nice “cabins” that have the gold-leaf plated sinks and personal televisions.

But, let’s hope these do come down in price rather quickly. If you weren’t aware, the largest atom smasher in the world is set to collide 2 atoms together in Switzerland again, after it first sprung a leak… Doesn’t sound safe to me. Maybe I can be beamed up to the mothership soon…