There's news around that NASA is granting money to a company to make a 3D printer capable of mixing powders together and creating food, such as pizza, in foresight of future long-term missions in space. Essentially, you take a bunch of powders that can be used by the printer to make the components of pizza. These powders have a much longer shelf life than actual food, so this kind of technology is crucial for long-term spaceflight. When you think about it, it's basically a primitive replicator.

Now, this kind of technology is going to sooner or later hit the mass market. If anyone can buy a bunch of factory-synthesized powders and turn them into food instead of relying on farmers to grow the ingredients in huge tracts of land, then that's more power to them. If this ultimately solves world hunger as well, then that's cool too. There might, however, be a stigma against food of such an artificial nature. I'm just wondering if you guys are on board with future pizza being synthesized in a factory instead of being grown in a field and then being processed in a factory. Are you ready for the pizza of the future?

P.S. I await and expect the Bomb Crew's opinion to come next Tuesday.

My body is (hopefully) ready.

Considering pink slime this sounds like an improvement. I'm in.

Why isn't this a poll?

ITS MADNESS

I'm personally confused by how they'll be putting together said printed pizza. In my mind, I see it being printed as with anything 3D (and plastic, at this point) - layer by layer, which doesn't really work with different foodstuffs, their textures and tastes and densities. If what you're talking about is 3D printed dough, sausage, tomatoes/sauce, cheese, etc, and then combining all that, then I hardly see the point - pizza making is basically that at this point. It's a novelty and cool, but I fail to see the benefits, and how they outweigh the burden of printing everything rather than buying in bulk, as it has worked for last billion years.

@ch3burashka: Kinda hard to go out and buy in bulk on a spaceship.

One step closer to Star Trek replicators. Sounds good to me.

I'm all for 3d-printing pretty much anything. It's how we'll reproduce in the future.

We don't even have 2D food printers yet! I want to print out flat A4 pizzas.

Is this some sort of Xbox One feature that was announced? Because I thought that would curb any criticism of that machine.