---
title: "Watch a Super-Fast 3D Printer Scientists Call the “Replicator”"
description: "Scientists at the University of California found a way to 3D print objects out of a special resin using light from a projector."
date: "2019-02-01"
modified: "2019-02-01"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/scientists-replicator-3d-printer-light"
categories:
  - "3D Printing"
  - "Future Materials"
  - "Science & Energy"
tags:
  - "3d print"
  - "3d printer"
  - "ct scan"
  - "the digest"
---

# Watch a Super-Fast 3D Printer Scientists Call the “Replicator”

![Scientists at the University of California found a way to 3D print objects out of a special resin using light from a projector.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/scientists-replicator-3d-printer-light.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Nature/University of California\</em\>*

## Fabrication Station

3D printers work by laboriously printing objects layer by layer. For larger objects, that process can take hours or even days.

But now scientists at the University of California, Berkeley have found a shortcut: a printer that can fabricate objects in one shot using light — and which could, potentially, revolutionize rapid manufacturing technology.

## The Replicator

The [research](<https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aau7114>), published in the journal *Science* yesterday, describes a printer the researchers nicknamed "the replicator" in a nod to "Star Trek."

It works more like a computed tomography (CT) scan than a conventional 3D printer. It builds a 3D image by scanning an object from multiple angles, then projects it into a tube of synthetic resin that solidifies when exposed to certain intensities of light. In two minutes, for instance, the team was able to fabricate a tiny figurine of Auguste Rodin's famous "The Thinker" statue.

https://youtu.be/t5UsRDS-wqI

## 3D Printing 2.0

The replicator might have groundbreaking implications, but it does have some inherent limitations as well: the objects it produces are small, and require special synthetic resin to produce.

But it's an exciting new technology — and one that could lead to a "Star Trek" future.

**READ MORE:** [Forget everything you know about 3D printing — the ‘replicator’ is here](<https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-07798-9>) \[*Nature*\]

***More on 3D printing: [We Can Now Easily 3D Print With Metal](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/3d-printing-metal>)***

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)