Science!! Fucking magnets, how do they work?

Ah man, I can't remember what it is. There is a potential application for 3d printing that's insane when you combine it with other emerging metallurgy technologies. It's something to do with creating a plastic base with the printer and then using a whole pissload of electricity to metal-plate it.

That's my take-away at least. With enough electricty, development of the technology, and base materials 3d printing has the potential to truly revolutionize entire sectors of industry. Like you won't need specialized foundries for all these oddball alloys. And there are potentially a lot of useful oddball alloys. You'll need seedstock, a 3d printing machine, a humongous source of electricity, and a little bit of patience.

It could potentially allow companies to do more with less, is all. Which is sort of a big deal in some areas. But like those architects in holland that are building 3d printed houses... I sort of feel like that's just a gimmick. It's not like wood and nails is more expensive than the feedstock for the printer. Maybe I'm wrong about that, but it seems probably a little dumb.

My experience with 3D printing tech is limited; at a conference I presented at this past summer, the booth next to me had a few 3D printers set up. Other than totally screwing up my own unexciting booth - alright, I really wasn't even paying attention to my own shit because I was watching the printers, heh - those guys printed a mountain of tiny little knickknacks and toys over the course of a few hours.

My main takeaway was that, a few guys, few of those printers and a shitload of plastic could put half of China out of business.

Tuco_sl said:

The 3d printed food machine they've shown is probably half bullshit, but the idea of creating an infinite variety of foods from ~20 base ingredients is much different than creating 20 different types of soda from carbonated water and 20 different syrups.

Click to expand...

Are you dense bro? There are over a hundred soda choices from that machine. And yes lemon-lime Dasani sparkling sensations is completely different from lemon-lime Seltzer water.

jooka_sl said:

They are in gronk range


Gonna read the rest of the thread now

Click to expand...

Fuck, you beat me to it.

The application I like the most is printing solid metal objects that would have otherwise been made by welding or bolting things together along seams. You can get a lot more strength out of a single, solid object without any weak points that way.

Abefroman_sl said:

That's true except that machine doesn't do that. It's simply putting shit in a can and squirting it out. NOw find me a machine where you can put in spices and base shit like flour, water, etc then you have something. It would have to be fucking huge though and not something that can fit in someones kitchen.

Click to expand...

If you had something that could do that it'd essentially be a kitchen. It'd replace your fridge, microwave, stove, mixer, food processor, oven... pretty much everything wholesale. Put food in every so often. Push buttons, get meals out on demand.

There has actually been some work done in this field, but last I checked estimates were that it was at least 15 years out.

Awesome image. I love how you can inference the possible size/type of planets from the cleared zones (thinner line and presumably rocky planets on the inner parts, larger gas giants in the outer)

BBC News - Planet formation captured in photo

Tuco_sl said:

Ah, sorry, I didn't know it had that feature set. Either way the word printing vs mixing is key. Is creating solid objects by injecting stuff from tubes onto it and then baking it printing? I'd say so. Is mixing a few different liquids together printing? Nah.

Click to expand...

One heats and one chills. Plus the Coca-cola syrups come in printer cartridges!

If a 3D printer can make a perfectly seared, juicy, medium-rare steak that's warm in the middle then I will officially believe in magic.

BrutulTM_sl said:

Properly made welds are not "weak spots". The weld is as strong or stronger than the material being welded.

Click to expand...

While yes the weld is stronger, it is the area outside the weld that has reduced mechanical properties.

Berkeley Lab Scientists ID New Driver Behind Arctic Warming

Have I mentioned lately how very little faith I have in the accuracy of the current best predictions of our Earth's future climate based on models?

I remain skeptical as well. That article is bad news though and seems like -exactly- what you would expect.

Ice absorbs less IR/heat than water and reflects more.
As Ice absorbs heat it becomes water.

That's what you call positive feedback. I wonder what regulates that? Cloudcover? As you get more liquid water instead of frozen water you also get more evaporation resulting in more clouds, more albedo, less incoming far IR to be absorbed?

That's actually a good thing, refining the model.