The Star Trek replicator will be yours... in about 20 years

[Flaxbee]

"Additive manufacturing" = cool stuff. "Earl Grey, hot!" What will you replicate (print)?

Just imagine: Instead of sending Grandma a holiday photo of the family for her fridge, you call up the image on your computer monitor, click “print,” and your printer produces a three-dimensional plastic model ready for hanging on the holiday tree. Scenes like that—in which homes have 3-D printers that build solid objects on demand—are fast approaching reality, according to the cover story in the current edition of Chemical & Engineering News, the American Chemical Society’s weekly newsmagazine.

In the article, C&EN Associate Editor Lauren K. Wolf explains that 3-D printers are on the verge of a personal revolution akin to the one that began in the 1970s and transformed computers from room-size machines to devices that fit on tables and now in pockets. A similar transformation is taking place in the world of 3-D printing, where machines are shrinking and the ability to create detailed objects from a variety of materials is growing. Engineers are now able to create objects out of a number of plastics, metals, ceramics and even foods like chocolate, sometimes with details as fine as a human hair.

The technology promises to foster revolutions in venues ranging from kitchens to hospital operating rooms. Some surgeons, for instance, envision printing bone grafts or replacement blood vessels with embedded proteins and cells that will help them fuse naturally. Chefs could print designer chocolates and gourmet meals with unique textures and tastes. “In 20 years, many people will have a 3-D printer in their kitchen for printing designer foods and other products,” the article quotes one scientist as saying.

http://www.rdmag.com/News/2011/11/Information-Tech-Consumer-Electronics-Computing-3D-printers-may-signal-personal-electronics-next-revolution/

[HopeHoops]

1. I just saw somewhere that they are using that technology to create hermit crab shells.

Fortunately they don't intend to dump them in the ocean, but rather as a replacement for home use. The poor things are using broken bottle necks and damn near everything else they can find. We've got a bunch of hermit crabs. While it is unfortunate that one periodically dies, we haven't purchased a new "spare shell" in a very long time because they are quite quick to take over an empty shell that's just slightly larger than the one they are in. They measure their current shell with the target using their legs and it can take several days before they decide whether to switch or find a different one.

We had one crab a few years ago that would switch between the same two shells about every three minutes. He did this for what seemed like weeks, but it was probably more like one week. And every once in a while one of the really little ones gets what we refer to as "delusions of grandeur" and sizes up a shell that's HUGE compared to the crab. They also like to sleep in nested shells with the one they're in facing away from the interior of something larger. That sort of makes sense.

Somewhere I've got some great pictures of some of the crabs "streaking". They are fucking WEIRD looking in the hinter regions. Actually, they're pretty weird looking in the front regions too.

[XemaSab]

4. I looked up streaking hermit crabs on the youtubes

You're right; their back ends are freakish.

[HopeHoops]

5. This may sound weird, but they all have unique personalities.

If you really look at them closely, you can see markings that you can use to identify them, but they're so different just on their own. Some are very outgoing and others are freaked out if you try to give them attention. Whenever I buy one, I make sure it is one of the more outgoing ones. They tend to do better in a community tank. The shy ones seem to only come out if they're on their own, but I've seen ones that moved around until you picked them up and then went into all-shell mode.

[hunter]

2. The machines will cost $29...

... the replacement cartridges $2999.99

[Flaxbee]

3. lol! that's the truth

:D

But really - this is an incredible technology that is completely revolutionary...