Trek-like Replicator Now a Reality

And the latest example of Star Trek tech becoming reality is the Genie, a device that echoes Trek's food replicators. Created by a pair of Israeli entrepreneurs, Ayelet Carasso and Doron Marco, it relies on pods—akin to the inner workings of espresso machines—to turn natural baking ingredients and freeze-dried fruits and vegetables into personalize meals... in just 30 seconds. Eventually, Marco told the news service Reuters, Genie will know a person's microbiome and will prepare the pod specifically for that person. "You will eat better, even tastier and healthier," he said. Marco also shared his desire for the Genie to be put to use in countries without enough food to feed their populations.

"In our world, we are getting fat and we are throwing away a lot of food, (and) in their world, they don't have any food," he said. "So if you use Genie, you can distribute the food better, you can have the shelf life much longer without the preservatives, give the people better food for them. We can even the food distribution in the world. That's a very, very important goal for us."