92 "How do replicators work?" (Replicators - Star Trek)
Description
This article is from the Star Trek Tech FAQ, by Joshua Bell inexorabletash@hotmail.com with numerous contributions by others.
92 "How do replicators work?" (Replicators - Star Trek)
Replicators are based on transporter technology. A sample object is
first "scanned" into the memory of a computer. Because even a simple
object takes up an enormous amount of memory, the object is only
resolved at a molecular level, not a quantum level. Further, the data
must be compressed using a lossy algorithm, meaning that small,
undetectable approximations are made to the data. This gives the
computer a pattern to create a duplicate of the original. (TNG TM)
Starships have a small supply of bulk material that is constantly
recycled into needed materials and items. When a request is made at a
replicator terminal, the wave-guide conduit system on the ship relays
a small amount of bulk material to the replicator, which uses it to
create the materials called for in the pattern. The object is then
beamed in at the terminal.
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