The transporter is made up of two separate units. Image Credit: YouTube / Stefanie Meluler
Engineers in Germany have built the first step towards a matter transporter like those seen in Star Trek.
Named 'Scotty' after the Enterprise's chief engineer, the machine consists of two units - one for sending and one for receiving.
The object to be transported is first placed in the sending unit where it is broken down and scanned by the computer.
The schematics of the object are then sent over the Internet to the receiving unit which uses a 3D printer to recreate it at the new location which can be anywhere in the world.
While technically more of a replicator than a transporter, the device nonetheless succeeds in reproducing the object under the limitations of current 3D printing technology.
"Scotty guarantees that a personal, handmade gift remains unique when sent across distances, i.e. that there is no other copy - an important aspect that emphasizes the intimate relationship between sender and receiver," the research team wrote.
If we are going to make star trek analogies, then this is a Replicator, not a Transporter. Currently, 3D printers can only work with plastic. Try "beaming up" an ice cream, and see how far you get
If we are going to make star trek analogies, then this is a Replicator, not a Transporter. Currently, 3D printers can only work with plastic. Try "beaming up" an ice cream, and see how far you get on star trek, the replicator and transporter work on the same principal. the difference is a transporter makes a copy out of thin air literally. ie the atoms that are available at the target and the replicator uses a medium like 3d printing does. oops, i was wrong http://3dprintingindustry.com/2015/01/06/hershey-3d-systems-unveil-new-cutting-edge-chocolate-3d-printer-ces/
If we are going to make star trek analogies, then this is a Replicator, not a Transporter. Currently, 3D printers can only work with plastic. Try "beaming up" an ice cream, and see how far you get no, they can do simple foods. they can make uncooked noodles.
Spookiness at a distance does the real transportation deal. They have already transported real information via light using spookiness at a distance quantum entanglement.
And if the original copy isn't destroyed (which is possible), we can call it "clone" Anyhow, you don't get to put a "human" inside that machine so that it will tear you down and recreate a mutated copy
Well, as long as the first volunteer isn't wearing a red shirt when it comes time for human testing, and there's no insects flying around.... then yes, it's a form of transporter!
that is what a transporter does. Not in Star Trek. In Trek the transporter sort of rips your molekules apart and shoots them at the spead of light to a new location where it glues them back together, somehow without killing you in the process and while keeping you conscious the whole time. You can see, move your limbs and even have conversations while being transported in that matter. Of course that is not feaable in real life, which is why there will never be a transporter that can "beam" humans. It would be a suicide booth with a cloning device attached.
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