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[Sirus]

Ah, okay. Still way beyond our capabilities, but slightly less so than "infinite matter made from energy".

[Flying Dice]

So basically 3D printing, but they use magical transporter technology instead of a series of tubes.

[Sirus]

So basically 3D printing, but they use magical transporter technology instead of a series of tubes.

Seems like a combination of teleportation and alchemy. Obviously you can't make an edible meal out of, say, plastic unless you transmute it into digestible molecules.

[Xantalos]

I always thought the Star Trek replicators made the foods basically out of nothing but proteins, I actually have some vague memory of that being mentioned.

Ah a quick look at the star trek wiki says that it's bulk matter that uses transporter technology to re-sequence the matter into edible foodstuffs.  I'm probably thinking the things from Enterprise.

I imagine if the starship ever ran out of matter the replicators wouldn't work.

EDIT: "Quick!  Scotty the matter tanks for the replicators are empty!  We need an alternate food source, point the replicators to the warp core, we haven't broken that yet this episode."

We're out of matter for the replicators! Everyone, trousers down and go take a shit in the tanks.

[Flying Dice]

So basically 3D printing, but they use magical transporter technology instead of a series of tubes.

Seems like a combination of teleportation and alchemy. Obviously you can't make an edible meal out of, say, plastic unless you transmute it into digestible molecules.

The technobabble explanation that seems most likely to me is based on this.

Transporters function by disassembling their target into a phased energy-esque state similar to plasma. Presumably some sort of magnetic field manipulation device could be used to reorder the matter while it is in this transitional state, and if pre-established patterns have been fed into a replicator's programming it could automatically reproduce given patterns (food dishes), china and all, provided that enough matter is fed into the system. This would also explain why there's no apparent difference between a replicator that produces Tea, Earl Grey, Hot, or one that produces medicine.

So in other words complete and utter pseudoscience. But hey, it's Star Trek.

[MaximumZero]

I always thought the Star Trek replicators made the foods basically out of nothing but proteins, I actually have some vague memory of that being mentioned.

Ah a quick look at the star trek wiki says that it's bulk matter that uses transporter technology to re-sequence the matter into edible foodstuffs.  I'm probably thinking the things from Enterprise.

I imagine if the starship ever ran out of matter the replicators wouldn't work.

EDIT: "Quick!  Scotty the matter tanks for the replicators are empty!  We need an alternate food source, point the replicators to the warp core, we haven't broken that yet this episode."

We're out of matter for the replicators! Everyone, trousers down and go take a shit in the tanks.

We're so over turning lead into gold. Turning shit into cake is the real alchemy.

[AlleeCat]

I always thought the Star Trek replicators made the foods basically out of nothing but proteins, I actually have some vague memory of that being mentioned.

Ah a quick look at the star trek wiki says that it's bulk matter that uses transporter technology to re-sequence the matter into edible foodstuffs.  I'm probably thinking the things from Enterprise.

I imagine if the starship ever ran out of matter the replicators wouldn't work.

EDIT: "Quick!  Scotty the matter tanks for the replicators are empty!  We need an alternate food source, point the replicators to the warp core, we haven't broken that yet this episode."

We're out of matter for the replicators! Everyone, trousers down and go take a shit in the tanks.

Well, that would explain why everyone complains about the taste all the time... >_>

[Soralin]

I always thought the Star Trek replicators made the foods basically out of nothing but proteins, I actually have some vague memory of that being mentioned.

Ah a quick look at the star trek wiki says that it's bulk matter that uses transporter technology to re-sequence the matter into edible foodstuffs.  I'm probably thinking the things from Enterprise.

I imagine if the starship ever ran out of matter the replicators wouldn't work.

EDIT: "Quick!  Scotty the matter tanks for the replicators are empty!  We need an alternate food source, point the replicators to the warp core, we haven't broken that yet this episode."

We're out of matter for the replicators! Everyone, trousers down and go take a shit in the tanks.

No need for that, you have teleporter system, you can just beam it directly out. (I mean, when do you remember seeing a toilet in star trek? Teleporters make them obsolete. )

[GalenEvil]

Argument between a crewmember [C] and whoever it is that mans the teleporter [T]:

C: robble robble robble something points about stuff
T: Yer full of crap!
C: (in most logical response ever) Nuh-uh!
T pushes some buttons on teleporter console, pulls lever
T: Now you are!! MWAHAHAHA
C gets a shocked,pained look on face. Shortly thereafter dies.

[Reelya]

That actually happens though. Only the ooze is pink and made of grinded up animal remains (The parts that are normally not eaten).

thats what is kinda unsettling. your recycling meat... its so artificial.

Here's what I don't understand: Why not use it? What are we going to use it for if we're not going to eat it? Wouldn't it just go to waste? I'm hardly trying to defend fast food, but I'm legitimately curious what reason we would have not to use it.
Native Americans used every part of the animals they killed so it wouldn't go to waste, why shouldn't we?

Actually they killed bison en-masse and then ate hardly any of it.
They would kill herds at a time. And a lot of it didn't end up getting used because of the sheer quantity of dead animal.

Actually the disappearance of the Bison was blamed on the Natives, but actually due to the pioneers. So, the pioneers did actually realize at some level that ecological destruction is a bad thing, so you need to blame it on someone else. The Bison co-existed with the natives for 1000's of years, then disappeared within a couple of centuries of white habitation. Coincidence?

More than coincidence, it was official policy, later blamed on the targeted victims of that policy.

[Frumple]

We're so over turning lead into gold. Turning shit into cake is the real alchemy.

Actually, I'm pretty sure we just call that agriculture nowadays. Process is a little slow and tends to involve some additives, but hey, it is what it is.

[MonkeyHead]

Overheard discussion after a lecture earlier this week...

A: "Those nuclear reactors we just learnt about - dont the US military use something similar in thier warships?"
B: "yeah... dont they name loads of thier ships after presidents or something?"
A: "Nimitz, Eisenhower, Reagan, yea, I think so.
C: "Is ther a USS Obama yet?"
A: "Dont think so..."
D: "When the US navy get around to building it, I bet they paint it a different colour to all the other ships..."

[MaximumZero]

Overheard discussion after a lecture earlier this week...

A: "Those nuclear reactors we just learnt about - dont the US military use something similar in thier warships?"
B: "yeah... dont they name loads of thier ships after presidents or something?"
A: "Nimitz, Eisenhower, Reagan, yea, I think so.
C: "Is ther a USS Obama yet?"
A: "Dont think so..."
D: "When the US navy get around to building it, I bet they paint it a different colour to all the other ships..."

Can I facepalm someone else? D could really use one.

[kaijyuu]

Maybe they were joking

[Ameablable]

The Hobbit is a bad book because Tolkien intended it to be a childrens book so that makes it bad.