NewsFusion for March 2023
Science...
- Natural enzyme can turn hydrogen into electricity | Techspot
- Turning disabilities into superpowers | Forbes
- Tool-making monkeys shed light on early human evolution | The Hill
Showing posts with label 3D Printing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 3D Printing. Show all posts
News Fusion | 074
NewsFusion | 073
NewsFusion for November 2022
Science...
- Coral moved to 3D printed reef in Hong Kong | Bloomberg
- Tongan volcano eruption reached highest level even in Eearth's atmosphere | CNN
- Our brains use quantum processing | NuroscienceNews.com
Transportation Tuesday | Olli is Getting Around
Olli, a self-driving cognitive vehicle created by Arizona-based Local Motors is getting around. With trials and active operations underway in cities like Berlin, National Harbor (Maryland), Knoxville, and Tempe, they are likely to be seen - and used - more and more. We're pretty excited to see this technology go from concept to market so quickly...what science fiction series or movie DOESN'T have self driving vehicles. A major milestone in mobility for sure.
NewsFusion | 026
NewsFusion for June 2016
Science...
- EEK! World observatories reporting highest carbon dioxide levels in 4 million years | Mashable
- Physicists using algorithms to predict ISIS attacks | New York Times
- Big, BIG deal: 3D printer works in space
Design...
- Dezeen crushes on Icelandic architecture and design | Dezeen
- Design thinking is helping business schools innovate | Fast Company Co.Design
- B.YELLOWTAIL COLLECTIVE "Millenia" video fuses fashion, poetry, culture, and ancestry
Culture...
- Colonel Scott McLaughlin shares experience as open LGBT service member and leader in US Air Force | 446th Airlift Wing
- Port Gamble S'Klallam comic book artist Jeffrey Veregge responds to Orlando tragedy: an NDN geek on 'hope' | Indian Country Today
- Seattle's Fred Hutch hosts Rockstar Women in Science event June 22
NewsFusion | 022
NewsFusion for April 2016
Science...
- More success for Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin and New Shepard rocket | Huffington Post
- Got VR? Check out the panoramic tour of the International Space Station | ESA
- New tech in wildlife conservation: from 3D-printed eggs with sensors to drones | Wired
Design...
- Isaac Mizrahi: Champion of accessible design
- Tegan Bukowski, staffer and mentee, remembers Zaha Hadid | New York Times
- Goodyear's concept for 3D-printed spherical tires | PopSci
Culture...
- Hawaii's 2016 Merrie Monarch Festival: overall winner is Halau Na Mamo o Pu‘uanahulu
- Iceland's unique perspective on marriage, i.e. not much need for it | CNN
- In response to need for more women's voices in Africa, Eliza Anyangwe starts Nzinga Effect | The Guardian
Formlabs 3D Printer
The 3D printing revolution keeps marching on. For a similar price to other advanced paper printers, the Formlabs Form 1 3D Printer brings 3D printing right to your kitchen counter. Now anyone can print up 3D objects, fashion forward jewelry to fine art sculpture replicas.
SeanChron | Quadrotors in Lexus' Amazing in Motion Short Film Swarm
Lexus has partnered with Sam Brown of Rogue Films and KMel Robotics to create a new short in the Amazing in Motion creative series. Swarm is the second production in the series that explores the beauty of motion through technology and film (we reported on their first project, Steps in September 2013.
Swarm (below) follows a group of curious quadrotors as they playfully explore a city at night. The resulting video (which doubles as a TV ad) is charming, the quadrotors cute, and the soundtrack by Jonathan Goldstein is pretty amazing as well. The project website also provides lots of behind-the-scenes stories and short videos on the making of the project which are equally well produced and interesting. Inside scoop on the design and 3D printing of the quadrotors, the concepts behind their curiosity, and the making of Swarm are all embedded within the project website. Given my fondness for intersections of science and culture, I particularly loved the scenes from UBC's Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver with the quadrotors wizzing in and around the ancient masks (not sure where the dinosaur came from though).
My only thought was that a swarm of robots checking us out and then zooming off into the night might not be such a good thing. If you added a different soundtrack to the video, you'd come out with a very different experience for sure. These little quadrotors are quite cute but given all the buzz around drones these days, their big brothers and sisters might not be so playful.
Don't get me wrong, I love the Amazing in Motion projects, and especially these little quadrotors (I'd love to have one), but my scifi overloaded brain can't help itself. And that's why this post landed in our RobotWatch collection. Oh, and the segment of the Lexus LF-NX concept car at the end of Swarm looks a little too Cylon as well.
Like this post? Future-ish Fan? We'd love your support!
Swarm (below) follows a group of curious quadrotors as they playfully explore a city at night. The resulting video (which doubles as a TV ad) is charming, the quadrotors cute, and the soundtrack by Jonathan Goldstein is pretty amazing as well. The project website also provides lots of behind-the-scenes stories and short videos on the making of the project which are equally well produced and interesting. Inside scoop on the design and 3D printing of the quadrotors, the concepts behind their curiosity, and the making of Swarm are all embedded within the project website. Given my fondness for intersections of science and culture, I particularly loved the scenes from UBC's Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver with the quadrotors wizzing in and around the ancient masks (not sure where the dinosaur came from though).
My only thought was that a swarm of robots checking us out and then zooming off into the night might not be such a good thing. If you added a different soundtrack to the video, you'd come out with a very different experience for sure. These little quadrotors are quite cute but given all the buzz around drones these days, their big brothers and sisters might not be so playful.
Don't get me wrong, I love the Amazing in Motion projects, and especially these little quadrotors (I'd love to have one), but my scifi overloaded brain can't help itself. And that's why this post landed in our RobotWatch collection. Oh, and the segment of the Lexus LF-NX concept car at the end of Swarm looks a little too Cylon as well.
Like this post? Future-ish Fan? We'd love your support!
Confab | 001 | Small Sparks | Replication Nation
The future of prosperity: let them print cake
by Evan West
One of the most intriguing technologies in science fiction was the replicator from Star Trek. It posed an interesting conundrum for humanity: what would happen to our species if we had the ability to create anything we want? The replicator could be used to create anything, from a spare set of clothes to earl grey tea. We are in the early stages of creating a real world “replication” technology with 3D printers. They are currently being used to create many real world items. From jewelry to homes, we may be at the cusp of a technological revolution.
If you are unfamiliar with 3D printing, it is a fairly simple process. A 3D model is sent to a machine that takes a solid material, melts it down, and squirts it out in a specific pattern. Imagine using a glue gun to build a square box. You would squirt out layer upon layer of glue until you built the box. With current 3D printers, you can use the same process to create anything from a car part to an action figure. It is less wasteful than traditional manufacturing and provides creators with the ability to customize just about any design. The process of 3D printing is known as additive manufacturing, and it has been around since the 1980's. Within the last five years, the cost of using 3D printing technology has dropped drastically, and it has become available for the general public.
My experience with 3D printing
Two years ago I purchased a Makerbot Replicator, one of the first 3D printers available to consumers. I had very high hopes for the items that could be created with the machine. After a few months I ended up being very disappointed with the technology and sold the machine. One of the primary reasons for this was that the quality of the print was very poor. You could see the lines of plastic it used to create an item. It would also constantly fail the print job and would just create lines of plastic in the middle of the air, not actually creating anything except for a mess. The last reason why I sold it was because of the speed. It was unbelievably slow. In the time it would take to print a spoon, I could drive to the store, buy a spoon, go to a restaurant, eat dinner and come back in time for the spoon to finish printing. If you thought your home paper printer was frustrating, imagine that, but ten times worse.
The current status of 3D printing
Many of the issues with the early model consumer 3D printers, like the one that I had, have now been solved. Newer printers are faster, more precise, and much more reliable. The price has even gone down. But before the printers become mainstream, there are many needed improvements. For example, most of the home versions of 3D printers can only use plastic. The quality of the items you can make with plastic is okay, but there are only so many things you can create with plastic.
Current consumer 3D printers are fine for creating small plastic items. This can be good for hobbyists, design or engineering students, and people who need to create a prototype of something before sending it off to be manufactured. But they are not practical for the everyday person. However, at the rate that the printers are advancing, this could change in the near future.
The future of 3D printers
There are three main areas that 3D printing could change humanity. The first step to this change could be through more advanced models of 3D printers, which could in turn completely change the two other key areas of construction and health.
While many industrial printers can use materials like metal and glass, consumer 3D printers are currently limited to one material, usually plastic. The first consumer printer to combine printing multiple types of material in a fast a precise way could change the world. As mentioned earlier, it would be very similar to having your own Star Trek replicator. Need a new cell phone? Did a handle on your cabinet break? Use the printer in your house. You may only need to buy the raw materials, but if the current cost of ink cartridges for inkjet printers is any example, who knows how expensive the raw materials would be. This industry could be supported by companies who just sell 3D designs of their products. Want that shirt from Target? Just order the 3D model from their website and print it at your home in the color and size you want.
The way we design and build our homes may be completely changed within the next few years. Behrokh Khoshnev, a professor of Industrial & Systems Engineering and Director of the Manufacturing Engineering Graduate Program at the University of Southern California has designed a 3D printer that can create an entire home within 20 hours. Watch his TED talk to see the machine in action. It lays down layer upon layer of concrete to build the walls, all with the wiring and plumbing printed at the same time as the walls. A company in China already has a very early version of this technology and has developed a way to print 10 homes in under 24 hours.
Another areas that could impacted the most by 3D printing is in health. Organizations are already using 3D bioprinters to create strips of liver tissue. The bioprinter works just like a consumer 3D printer, but instead of using a material like plastic, it lays down human cells on top of each other to build an organ. Many people expect that we will be able to print custom organs. If you need a new liver or heart, you could have one printed for you in a lab. This has the potential to save and extend the lives of many who may not get the opportunity to receive an organ provided by a donor. Bioprinters could also be much more effective because they could eliminate the possibility of your body rejecting the organ because it can be created with your own cells.
How could 3D printers disrupt humanity?
While the benefits of being able to print whatever you want may outweigh the drawbacks, it is important to recognize the disruption that this technology may have on humanity. Here are just a few critical areas to consider in terms of how society may be changed by advanced 3D printing.
Where do all of the construction jobs go for the people who used to build homes?
What happens to all of the factory workers who could lose their jobs?
What will the delivery drivers do if you can just print what you want at home?
Would people have the motivation or desire to work or interact with society if they could just print whatever they wanted at home?
Will consumerism take over our society?
We could possibly be at the beginning of a major shift for our species. At the rate that 3D printing technology is advancing, the Star Trek replicator may not be that far off. Even though our current 3D printers are fairly basic, the technology is advancing very quickly. The implications that this may have on humanity are very great, but hopefully the benefits will outweigh the risks of this technology.
SeanChron | A little Future-ish on Project Runway Season 12
I was pretty psyched to see a little Future-ish action play out on Project Runway Season 12, "Finale, Part 1". Two designers stood out to me.
Dom Streater, was inspired by Blade Runner and described her garments as "retro-futurist" explaining that the aesthetic centers on angular lines meeting curved lines. These elements were then translated into the prints that she designed for the collection. I've seen a few of her runway show designs online already so can't wait to see the full collection.
Justin LeBlanc also really amazed me. He's been one of my favorite designers all along but his incorporation of 3D printing into his final collection really wowed me. 3D has been around in fashion for quite some time now but for a contestant on Project Runway to incorporate it into a full collection, shows that the technology is becoming much more accessible.
CAN'T WAIT for the finale!!!
Contemporary Cast
Haute Couture Technology
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)