[NacMacFeegle]

At this years Consumer Electronics show (CES), Makerbot unveiled new materials that allow their 3D printers to make objects out of a wide variety of substances, including metal, wood, and marble. This article describes a printed hammer made of iron and wood: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2866132/hands-on-with-makerbots-3d-printed-wood.html It's only a matter of time before we all have Star Trek style replicators in our homes!

[wolffie]

I can hardly wait. Now the evil teenager next door will be able to make whatever infernal device he imagines and deliver it to my yard, door, or bedroom with one of his increasingly miniaturized, untraceable, unstoppable drones. The (many) psychopaths of the world will be able to make anything they want (a moot point perhaps, as they seem to run the show already). Phillip Slater, The Pursuit of Loneliness or possibly Phillip Slater, Earthwalk has a chapter on new technology entitled, "The Extensions of Man or, 'Say Hello to the Nice Fist.'" As an illustration, he cites some Popular Mechanics-type 1960's article on the personal air cars we'll all have in the future, then asks how much we really want to have them zooming over our backyards, crashing and falling into our houses, belching noise and exhaust into our air, making great getaway cars for bandits, terrorists and pirates, etc. He points out that the ability to materialize our dreams is a common theme in dystopic science fiction, wherein it includes the ability to materialize our nightmares and evil fantasies (see Steven King's The Mist and one by Ray Bradbury in which a derelict Martian civilization is discovered along with the incarnated monsters that destroyed it). Slater's are remarkably pertinent reading, unreservedly recommended, for 40-year-old books. Ironic to choose as the demonstration project a hammer -- perhaps our first tool -- which, like most of them, can be used constructively or as a weapon. New technology is always immediately weaponized, so perhaps a knife would have been more symbolically appropriate.

[Schenk]

With every new invention there will be new legislation and laws to cover the new scenarios possible. I wonder when we will reach "critical mass" and simply overwhelm ourselves with too much to pay attention to? What will happen to people who refuse to embrace new technology? It seems like if you aren't greedy or ambitious these days you are left behind to glean a meager existence off the spoils of the ambitious. Yeah...a rambling rant. I know...but it made me feel better. hahahaha

[Malachai Constant]

I wouldn't worry too much prisoners have demonstrated an ability to make a shank out of most anything. You can make a much more serviceable pistol out of some scrap iron and a file than any printed one. I would worry much more about do it yourself DNA or Proteins. Ebola that spreads like influenza, toxins, and prions anyone? If not your neighbor how about the boy dictator.

[NacMacFeegle]

With any new technology comes new challenges and dangers, along with the inevitable predictions of doom. There are heaps of dystopian science fiction novels filled with dire portrayals of advanced societies gone wrong. However, there is the opposite side of the coin to consider, the hopeful future in which technological advancement has solved nearly all the problems of the present. Star Trek epitomizes the perfect future, where we live in harmony with not only ourselves and our environment, but also with alien cultures and our own incredibly advanced devices. The truth I think lies somewhere in the middle, since rarely do things turn as as bad or as good as our overactive imaginations would suppose. Will drones, replicators, (etc. etc. etc.) cause problems? Without a doubt, but they also open up stunning new possibilities. Many times the risk is worth the reward. Every advancement of science and technology has faced endless controversy before becoming quite suddenly, just another part of everyday life, 3D printers will be no different.

[Michael Lewis]

I like this post and would like to share NacMacFeegle's positive enthusiasm for remarkable technologies. The Star Trek allusion is very nostalgic. But we live in a mad world where MAD is possible. We already live in the worst imaginable possibility for a dystopian society: we enjoy our handy gadgets and live increasingly "enlightened" lives while under the constant threat of total nuclear annihilation of our species. It cannot get any worse than our complete destruction. So heck, on the bright side, it can only get better!

[Josh Journey]

Technology to the rescue:

[Bedivere]

[joker]

Printing technologies are getting very interesting. And yes new technologies often have a tendency to amplify all human tendencies, whether good or bad or otherwise. if 3-D printing in particular has somewhat of a democratizing effect on access to small-scale manufacturing (which seems likely), I think the net will be positive. But yeah, wolffie's neighbors will have an increased ability to mess with him. Worth the cost, I think, and social influences still apply to moderating the worst tendencies of humans, however they are enabled.

[Malachai Constant]

The scary thing about DNA and proteins is that it is easy for them to be self propagating provided thy have nutrients such as living cells. As far as logic elements I thing they will always be slow, right now we have devices capable of using a single electron and probably an electrons different energy states which is about as small as possible unless you are considering quark flavors etc.

[cairn builder]

How much does it cost to print a set of carbon fiber trekking poles? How about a pair of snowshoes?

[NacMacFeegle]

[joker]