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How Does 3D Printing Work, Exactly?! Food Prep Gets Wild and Crazy

Astronauts at the International Space Station (ISS) can look forward to packing something extra for food: not another frozen lunch pack, but a 3D printer that can produce a full-on pizza in seven minutes. In meeting NASA’s need for “something that had longer shelf life, that offered personalized nutrition, [and] was suitable for [astronauts] who might have different physiological needs,” mechanical engineer Anjan Contractor presented a prototype of his modified British-designed RepRap 3D printer at the recent Maker Faire in Rome.

 But let’s not forget about the folks on earth. “In the future you’ll see 3D printers as kitchen appliances,” said Lynett Kucsma, co-founder of Natural Machines, based in Barcelona. A company that is working on producing 3D food printers, Natural Machines’ product—Foodini—can download recipes from the web, has five empty capsules for different ingredients, and even provides a solution for unhealthy diets and food wastage by letting domestic chefs print out what’s truly needed.

 Read more here. (Photo via Natural Machines). (EH)

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