Board Thread:Warhammer 40k General Discussion/@comment-25618639-20150220210346/@comment-6078851-20150301175820

as already mentioned zixis, reverse engineering is taking an alien technology and achieving a similar result with domestic materials and technology. yes wraithbone is singular to the eldar and can't be replicated by any other race, but the effects of this-or-that piece of tech can be replicated with alternative technology. the definition of reverse engineering can mean copying but also means achieving a similar result from a different process.

as for eldar tech having no wires or motors, well this is simply wrong. eldar codex quote - "the materials the eldar use in their engineering are complex and varied psychoplastics that can be readily formed into solid shapes under psychic pressure. in some respects they are more like living tissue than inert substances, growing and reacting to their environment in a similar way to plants. the completed device is a semi-organic machine or component that works in a conventional manner (so that means wires and motors), though it is often operated by psychic means.

if the tau have a warp-capable ally-species, the nicassar, do they now have any understanding of the warp? their last codex mentions that as they don't/didn't have access to warp travel they knew almost nothing about warpspace.