Non Gun Stuff...

[Solus]

It didn't work for MB. Must be something wrong with it.

Did you add him?

[Bill Stryker]

Did you add him?

No, but you could. If you want. I am not going back to find out how.

[Teresa Heilevang]

[tombogan03884]

About 15 years ago I saw a "Health beat" type report on the nightly news about a company that had developed a method for using a computer to layer plastic into a CAD designed shape. they were in effect replacing the ink in an ink jet printer and, in that particular case, making a plug to fill a hole in a babies skull. But the method would work with any programed shape.
I knew then that it was just a matter of time and composites technology.

[Pathfinder]

@M'ette - very cool application of the technology. I had never seen that before.

@Tom - people are still using that technology not only in medicine - I think I saw that same show you mentioned - but also in archeology. In a recent show I saw, archeologists only had a couple of photographs of an old skull found in a burial temple/mausoleum in Ephesus (in SW Turkey). From the nearly century old photos, they created a computer image, and then used the laser/gel technology to recreate the skull (the gel is phot-reactive to the same frequency as the laser, so the laser essentially "paints" the object in 3D in the gel, creating the object it is painting), and then did facial reconstruction on the recreated skull of who they think was Cleopatra's sister, Arsinue.

[Sponsor]

[tombogan03884]

I had to watch that again this morning. That's cool. 

[Ichiban]

Color me skeptical.  The scanner part is what really set off my "bullshit" alarm.  No way that can get data on the internal portion of the screw mechanism.  I can see using a 3D CAD data base to make something rudimentary (say a cup or spoon) that is semi-functional, but I can't accept this on face value.  We wont even go into the material properties.  Call Jamie and Adam on this one.

[Solus]

Color me skeptical.  The scanner part is what really set off my "bullshit" alarm.  No way that can get data on the internal portion of the screw mechanism.  I can see using a 3D CAD data base to make something rudimentary (say a cup or spoon) that is semi-functional, but I can't accept this on face value.  We wont even go into the material properties.  Call Jamie and Adam on this one.

Wondered about the internals also.  Watched the wrench adjustments and they didn't show anywhere near full opening and closing of the jaws...maybe one rotations worth of adjustment...which is what you would get with a surface scan....

However, some of the models with multiple gears where said to come from the machine fully assembled with moving parts...so maybe they do have some type of x-ray scanning...

I also wondered about material properties.   All they showed was being able to specify color.  Nothing about hardness or different materials for different parts.  

I don't think it is a hoax, just a technology that is in it's infancy, but still impressive.

This type of tech along with Nanotechnology will change the way we live...and how long.

They are saying that the middle aged among us might be able to live to 150 and that is is likely that the first human to live to 1000 might be born any day.

Nanotech works at the atomic and molecular level, allowing, for instance, for a pile of lead to be changed to a stack of gold.  True alchemy.  

If it works as predicted, it will end aging by being able to repair faulty DNA strings allowing cell reproduction without deterioration.  Diseased cells can be repaired....perhaps even quick enough to forestall fatal radiation sickness.

 

[PegLeg45]

Wow, if this is the real-deal, it could really impact the prosthetics-building industry. Instead of having to make several molds of a residual limb, it could be scanned in and then built while the patient waits. Re-sizing a new prosthetic socket would be nearly a same-day service instead of anywhere from one to two weeks.

[TAB]

you would be waiting for a very long time.  It takes them hours to days to build up layers,    A very good friend of mine is in rapid protype development, He has several 3 D printers.   They use every thing from lasers to harden resin to water to harden a plaster like powder.  Its cool shit but $$$$$$$$$  His CNC mills/lathes are also very, very bad ass.