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" While it isn&amp;#039;t quite the magical wave of hand envisioned in\u00A0Star Trek,\u00A03D printers are still pretty close to the replicators seen from\u00A0The Next Generation\u00A0on, able to fabricate body parts, cars, and even food\u00A0from raw materials. It&amp;#039;s no wonder NASA wants them to build tools, rocket engines, and even housing on Mars. But now, NASA has launched a challenge meant to bring kids into the mix: it wants 3D printed food implements.\u00A0 It&amp;#039;s not quite the same as, say, a 3D printed pizza. But what NASA wants is, essentially, kitchenware and food growing aids. In the Star Trek Replicator competition, it wants &amp;quot;non-edible, food-related item for astronauts to 3D print in the year 2050,&amp;quot; which is around when we&amp;#039;ll supposedly be on Mars. Ish.\u00A0 The design guidelines are fairly open ended, but there are a few ground rules. It must not be bigger than 6 inches cubed (6&amp;quot;x6&amp;quot;x6&amp;quot;.) The K-12 student designing it must designate where it will be 3D printed, and why it&amp;#039;s suited for that environment. It must advance long term space exploration. And it must involve only a single material (so there&amp;#039;s no printing, say, a metal alloy and plastic into the same object.)\u00A0 The contest kicks off today, with entries due by May 1. Four finalists will win a 3D printer for their school and a PancakeBot for themselves, while the grand prize is a tour of the\u00A0Intrepid Sea, Air, &amp;amp;amp; Space Museum in New York with an astronaut, a bunch of\u00A0Star Trek\u00A0swag, and more. There are multiple eligible age groups, so if you have a school aged child, this could be just the contest for them. More information is available here.  Source: Gizmodo "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/a19478/nasa-and-star-trek-combine-forces-to-make-replicators-a-reality/>