When light meets liquid: the 3D printer replicating art

Researchers in the US create detailed objects using video images and light-sensitive polymer

It is no rival for the replicator that whips up meals on demand on the USS Enterprise, but it can transform gloop into useful objects and even works of art, such as miniature versions of Rodin's Thinker.

The real-world version of the replicator, nicknamed after the handy 24th-century appliance, churns out detailed 3D shapes and components by beaming images of them on to a rotating container filled with a gooey liquid that reacts to light.