The device worked in conjunction with a computer mechanism along with nanites to quickly transform entire planets into viable ecosystems in a matter of days as opposed to the centuries it would have taken previously. When used on an already developed planet, the terraforming tools would actually destroy such an environment in favour of a new one; along with any organisms that exist on its surface. The technology did not require the use of Zero Point Modules, instead drawing its energy from the terraforming process itself, a new achievement for the Lanteans at the time. (SGA: "Exogenesis")