Oh dear now DHS is upset!

[JoeG]

Saw this in a trade paper I get and had to laugh. Apparently the DHS is upset that the world won't cooperate and follow their regulations!

Once somebody figures out how to ceramic coat the inside of the barrel to handle the heat and erosion it should get even better.

http://security-today.com/articles/2013/05/24/3d-printed-guns-topic-of-bulletin-from-homeland-security-to-law-enforcement.aspx

[tombogan03884]

DHS is why people think an all plastic gun is needed.

[TAB]

i just think its cool, not very practical(at this time, might be in the future)  I think its a very cool tech that is going to change how alot of things are done.

[unclejames]

The cartridges it fires are still made of metal. Brass, copper, lead and steel will all show up on a metal detector. People need to unclench.

[Solus]

i just think its cool, not very practical(at this time, might be in the future)  I think its a very cool tech that is going to change how alot of things are done.

I heard NASA is working on a  Pizza 3D printer..the pizza is just an easy first try because of it's shape..  But it seems it will run from bottles of nutrients that have an extremely long shelf life, even after installed in the printer.  So it might be cost savings..no waste or spoilage.  No word on if the product will support human life yet....

And a lot of variety might be possible for a journey to, say, Mars or beyond.

http://www.fedtechmagazine.com/article/2013/05/nasa-wants-fuel-astronauts-pizza-3d-printer

[Sponsor]

[tombogan03884]

i just think its cool, not very practical(at this time, might be in the future)  I think its a very cool tech that is going to change how alot of things are done.

I heard NASA is working on a  Pizza 3D printer..the pizza is just an easy first try because of it's shape..  But it seems it will run from bottles of nutrients that have an extremely long shelf life, even after installed in the printer.  So it might be cost savings..no waste or spoilage.  No word on if the product will support human life yet....

And a lot of variety might be possible for a journey to, say, Mars or beyond.

http://www.fedtechmagazine.com/article/2013/05/nasa-wants-fuel-astronauts-pizza-3d-printer

Lets just call it what it is, a "replicater" .   

Here's the thing though, it's "multi media".
You use plastics and make a gun or wrench, use nutrients and print a pizza , where is this going ?
Put in some DNA and print someone a new heart or kidney ?
How about building a really big one to print a ship, or plane ?
One question about the material, after a project can you take the material that did not become part and reuse it ?

[TAB]

Recently they printed a throat for a kid and it saved his life.    the applcantions for being able to print a object are endless.

[Magoo541]

Recently they printed a throat for a kid and it saved his life.    the applcantions for being able to print a object are endless.

They've been doing that with joints for a while out of Titanium alloy IIRC.

[Jrlobo]

Tom, the answer to your question should be yes. I'm sure there are some limitations if the residue contains multiple components, however.
Your question was a good one, as the materials can be quite expensive.

[Solus]

If the printers got down to where they could create stuff at the molecular level...print working internals of molecules, they might be getting close to working organs.

I think Nanotechnology would get there first. 

If I had stacks of cash to invest and 20 years to wait, I'd be looking hard at Nanotech companies. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanotechnology