Do you ever sit around and think to yourself, "I wonder if there's a more technologically advanced way to cook chicken?" Of course not. But there are people who actually pull down a paycheck to ask, and answer, such questions:

Who hasn't dreamt of coming home after a long day and simply pressing a few buttons to get a hot, home-cooked 3D-printed meal, courtesy of one's digital personal chef? It might make microwaves and conventional frozen TV dinners obsolete. Engineers at Columbia University are trying to make that fantasy a reality, and they've now figured out how to simultaneously 3D print and cook layers of pureed chicken, according to a recent paper published in the journal npj Science of Food. Sure, it's not on the same level as the Star Trek Replicator, which could synthesize complete meals on demand, but it's a start.

"It's a start."

Nah... no thanks, I'll pass on that one.

Watch the technically impressive yet still slightly nauseating video of the machine here:

Whether or not this form of chicken cookery ever catches on, we certainly know one thing: It'll never replace Chick-fil-A!

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