Interesting Stuff Thread

FouxDaFaFa

3D printing has been hitting the news more and more lately. I have a feeling that it will explode over the next decade or so. I spotted an article today about a group of guys calling themselves "Defence Distributed" who rented a 3D printer to "print" a gun. I found it interesting because printing a gun is technically legal. They announced their plans online and the printing rental company sent a team to take the printer back because they didn't want to be associated with them.

It opens up so many interesting possibilities and questions about intellectual property rights, piracy, the very idea of a maufacturing industry. Printing right now is very slow and expensive but one day someone will be able to buy a 3d printer and print another 3d printer.

Anything could be made, anytime. The people spearheading these plans support the internet being "free" and generally release all their plans and schemes online. It begs the question, what would be our currency in the future, if such a large segment of society (manufacturing) were obselete?

Also, the possibilities for an untraceable weapon.

CerebralCortex

muppeteer wrote: »

http://io9.com/5948202/new-project-aims-to-upload-a-honey-bees-brain-into-a-flying-insectobot-by-2015

It just seems like this uploading nonsense will never die

mikhail

FouxDaFaFa wrote: »

Anything could be made, anytime. The people spearheading these plans support the internet being "free" and generally release all their plans and schemes online. It begs the question, what would be our currency in the future, if such a large segment of society (manufacturing) were obselete?

Much the same. The standard of living would go up because stuff is cheaper (no manufacturing cost), and people would be employed primarily in pimary and tertiary industries. Of course, that's assuming IP law isn't manipulated by industrial interests to create a dystopian nightmare.

recedite

That's a very sporty looking bee!
I wonder what sort of sting options it could be equipped with?

Sarky

CerebralCortex wrote: »

It just seems like this uploading nonsense will never die

Never mind all that uploading your consciousness rubbish, this could be a major step in sorting out some serious questions about how brains actually work.

Also I want to be able to control my own army of robot bees so much it hurts sometimes.

Genghiz Cohen

The "There has to be a First Cause" Argument.
Busted

Now theoretical physicists from the University of Vienna and the Université Libre de Bruxelles have shown that in quantum mechanics it is possible to conceive situations in which a single event can be both, a cause and an effect of another one.

Sarky

I eagerly await all the tiresome proponents of first cause rubbish lining up to acknowledge that they're wrong. Any day now.

The Mad Hatter

Genghiz Cohen wrote: »

The "There has to be a First Cause" Argument.
Busted

Didn't Stephen Hawking make headlines a little while ago when he said "because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing"?

robindch

Mmmm, shuttles

pauldla

The Mad Hatter wrote: »

Didn't Stephen Hawking make headlines a little while ago when he said "because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing"?

Yup, he sure did.

http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2010/09/02/god-did-not-create-the-universe-gravity-did-says-stephen-hawking/

Check out the photo of Hawking and Pope Benny. Caption, anyone?

Bannasidhe

robindch wrote: »

Mmmm, shuttles

How the hell can I make my down stairs loo look like this?

seamus

robindch wrote: »

Mmmm, shuttles

What's the story with all these manual switches and blinkey lights? I thought it was supposed to be ceiling-to-floor glass displays and touchscreens by now

Twisty knobs have no place in modern technology

Bannasidhe

seamus wrote: »

What's the story with all these manual switches and blinkey lights? I thought it was supposed to be ceiling-to-floor glass displays and touchscreens by now

Twisty knobs have no place in modern technology

But twisty knobs and flicky switches are so much more satisfying when going through the check list...that and tapping those glass displays

CerebralCortex

seamus wrote: »

What's the story with all these manual switches and blinkey lights? I thought it was supposed to be ceiling-to-floor glass displays and touchscreens by now

Twisty knobs have no place in modern technology

There's probably far more TFT's there now then there was in the past. Also they're probably more robust less prone to lag.

CerebralCortex

Bannasidhe wrote: »

But twisty knobs and flicky switches are so much more satisfying when going through the check list...that and tapping those glass displays

No, automation for the win.

Bannasidhe

CerebralCortex wrote: »

No, automation for the win.

Well - MY downstairs space shuttle themed loo will be wall to wall twisty knobs and flicky switches cos apparently I are a hipster - or at least that's what I was told yesterday as my mobile is apparently not 'smart'.

Dades

pauldla wrote: »

Yup, he sure did.

http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2010/09/02/god-did-not-create-the-universe-gravity-did-says-stephen-hawking/

Check out the photo of Hawking and Pope Benny. Caption, anyone?

<hawking voice>
"Get your sweaty fingers off my head and monitor screen before I roll over your pathetic velvet slipper."
</hawking>

Turtwig

Dades wrote: »

<hawking voice>
"Get your sweaty fingers off my head and monitor screen before I roll over your pathetic velvet slipper."
</hawking>

I imagine that a statement like the above (which does have echoes of Planet of the Apes (The GOOD one.) ) would be too fast for Hawking's speech software to properly capture the tone.

Perhaps we could get a bunch of famous actors to pre-record it for him?

The Mad Hatter

"Have you tried 'Control-alt-delete'?'"

@shuttles

There, there. Good Hawking. Gooood Hawking. Stay!


@shuttles pic: OMG SHINY

b318isp

seamus wrote: »

What's the story with all these manual switches and blinkey lights? I thought it was supposed to be ceiling-to-floor glass displays and touchscreens by now

Twisty knobs have no place in modern technology

The cost of installing and validating newer technologies was never justifiable AFAIK.

mikhail

seamus wrote: »

What's the story with all these manual switches and blinkey lights? I thought it was supposed to be ceiling-to-floor glass displays and touchscreens by now

Twisty knobs have no place in modern technology

They work. That's a really bloody nice thing to say about anything you're flinging at the atmosphere at tens of thousands of miles an hour while pounding it with radiation and wild temperature shifts.

Also, a switch never blue-screens.

Obliq

bluewolf wrote: »

There, there. Good Hawking. Gooood Hawking. Stay!

HaHaharrrr!*splutter*coffee on monitor.

@shuttles pic: OMG SHINY

AH! I have ya now, you'ra WOMAN! Mmmm, nice shuttle. LOVE me a bit of bling:cool:

Turtwig

mikhail wrote: »

They work. That's a really bloody nice thing to say about anything you're flinging at the atmosphere at tens of thousands of miles an hour while pounding it with radiation and wild temperature shifts.

Also, a switch never blue-screens.

Pfft, you closed minded creep. You really think the Americans would display to the world the REAL the technologies they had in the Shuttles? All those fancy military gadgets have been removed and the astronauts have been sworn to secrecy.

robindch

mikhail wrote: »

a switch never blue-screens.

Hmm... it can try:

http://www.sandiegoairandspace.org/collections/collection_item.php?id=38

yeppydeppy

The Mad Hatter wrote: »

*SH voice* Where's your miracles now, bitch?! */SH voice*

Chuck Stone

The Shuttle is a veritable 'space Hummer' compared to the Soyuz capsule.

recedite

Meanwhile, in inner space, marine biologists are foiled by a thieving octopus which unwraps their bait while simultaneously teaching table manners to a small shark...
http://vimeo.com/44791802

Sulla Felix

FouxDaFaFa wrote: »

3D printing has been hitting the news more and more lately. I have a feeling that it will explode over the next decade or so. I spotted an article today about a group of guys calling themselves "Defence Distributed" who rented a 3D printer to "print" a gun. I found it interesting because printing a gun is technically legal. They announced their plans online and the printing rental company sent a team to take the printer back because they didn't want to be associated with them.

It opens up so many interesting possibilities and questions about intellectual property rights, piracy, the very idea of a maufacturing industry. Printing right now is very slow and expensive but one day someone will be able to buy a 3d printer and print another 3d printer.

Anything could be made, anytime. The people spearheading these plans support the internet being "free" and generally release all their plans and schemes online. It begs the question, what would be our currency in the future, if such a large segment of society (manufacturing) were obselete?

Also, the possibilities for an untraceable weapon.

They're already making guns in America this way. Apparently it's one part of the gun that the ATF considers to be the primary part, can't remember if it's the trigger mech or whatever, but you can make the rest of the gun perfectly legally, then buy the other part you need from a registered firearm dealer.

And there's at least two printers on the market that you can use to print another one from other than some of the metal components but they're common electrical parts that you don't even need to buy from the original retailer.

fitz0

FouxDaFaFa wrote: »

3D printing has been hitting the news more and more lately. I have a feeling that it will explode over the next decade or so. I spotted an article today about a group of guys calling themselves "Defence Distributed" who rented a 3D printer to "print" a gun. I found it interesting because printing a gun is technically legal. They announced their plans online and the printing rental company sent a team to take the printer back because they didn't want to be associated with them.

It opens up so many interesting possibilities and questions about intellectual property rights, piracy, the very idea of a maufacturing industry. Printing right now is very slow and expensive but one day someone will be able to buy a 3d printer and print another 3d printer.

Anything could be made, anytime. The people spearheading these plans support the internet being "free" and generally release all their plans and schemes online. It begs the question, what would be our currency in the future, if such a large segment of society (manufacturing) were obselete?

Also, the possibilities for an untraceable weapon.

As regards self replicating machines, that's possible now. The RepRap.

I'm actually hoping to do my thesis on the application of rapid prototyping technologies in enabling a decentralized, community based production model. I think the effects on the world would be huge! If used in an open source environment, people would have the power to make anything they needed, fix anything and experiment, innovate and construct anything they can think of. In combination with hackerspaces and makers/fixers, it could be a viable alternative to the disposable consumer model of today.

It needs some work to be a thesis though.

Hotblack Desiato

So what can we do to prevent our self-replicating overlords taking over the planet - or is it too late!?!

Genghiz Cohen

Meanwhile,, something anyone would have guessed, free access to contraceptives sends abortion rates through the floor.

When more than 9,000 women ages 14 to 45 in the St. Louis area were given no-cost contraception for three years, abortion rates dropped from two-thirds to three-quarters lower than the national rate

fitz0

ninja900 wrote: »

So what can we do to prevent our self-replicating overlords taking over the planet - or is it too late!?!

Resistance is futile.

Hotblack Desiato

Genghiz Cohen wrote: »

Meanwhile,, something anyone would have guessed, free access to contraceptives sends abortion rates through the floor.

But if there's ever a proposal to introduce it here, the usual suspects will be up in arms :rolleyes:

magicbastarder

FouxDaFaFa wrote: »

Anything could be made, anytime.

anything that is suitable to be made from the material the printer puts out, though, i assume (certainly with current technology). the ability to embed different materials does not seem available.

pauldla

magicbastarder wrote: »

anything that is suitable to be made from the material the printer puts out, though, i assume (certainly with current technology). the ability to embed different materials does not seem available.

Excuse my ignorance on the matter, but what exactly is 3D printing? Is it like an early precursor to the Star Trek replicator..?

mikhail

pauldla wrote: »

Excuse my ignorance on the matter, but what exactly is 3D printing? Is it like an early precursor to the Star Trek replicator..?

Basically, a sort of glue-like substance is deposited in thin layers to make various shapes. It hardens to a kind of plastic. It's a technology that's made major leaps and seems to have developed a hobbyist following already.

kylith

ninja900 wrote: »

But if there's ever a proposal to introduce it here, the usual suspects will be up in arms :rolleyes:

They don't want sex education.
They don't want contraception.
And, when the lack of education and contraception inevitably leads to getting knocked up, they don't want young people, who may be emotionally unready for having a child, to be able to terminate the pregnancy.

I'm really starting to wonder
A) why they hate young people
were they never young and hormone addled themselves?
C) can we please inject them with sex hormones, so that they know what it feels like?

joseph brand

mikhail wrote: »

Basically, a sort of glue-like substance is deposited in thin layers to make various shapes. It hardens to a kind of plastic. It's a technology that's made major leaps and seems to have developed a hobbyist following already.

There's also the 3D printed house and airplane.

There's a guy who prints guns. He could send you the plans and you could then print out your own gun, providing you have a 3D printer. Only problem is, it can melt after firing one bullet. So you'd better not miss. :eek:

joseph brand

Einstein’s “God Letter” to be auctioned on eBay.

A letter handwritten by physicist Albert Einstein a year before his death, expressing his views on religion, will be sold on eBay this month with an opening bid of $3 million, an auction agency said on Tuesday.

Known as the “God Letter,” the correspondence offers insights into the private thoughts about religion, God and tribalism of one of the world’s most brilliant minds.

“This letter, in my opinion, is really of historical and cultural significance as these are the personal and private thoughts of arguably the smartest man of the 20th century,” said Eric Gazin, the president of Auction Cause, a Los Angeles-based premier auction agency, which will handle the sale on eBay.

“The letter was written near the end of his life, after a lifetime of learning and thought,” he added.

Einstein wrote the letter in German on January 3, 1954, on Princeton University letterhead to philosopher Erik Gutkind after he read Gutkind’s book “Choose Life: The Biblical Call to Revolt.”

“…The word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honorable, but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish. No interpretation, no matter how subtle, can (for me) change this,” wrote the German-born scientist, who in 1921 was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics.

recedite

Benedict; "Bless you my son, by the power of the holy spirit I drive out the demons and cure you. Stand up and be.....Oh wait, I forgot you're an atheist, the blessing doesnt work on you, LOL"

Hawking; "F**k off Benny. It wasn't funny yesterday and it ain't funny today either."

Calibos

I'd frankly be offended if the pope did that to me.

shizz

I'm pretty sure most people here will have seen or heard this passage before, but it really gets to me every time I watch it so I had to post it (possibly for the second time haha).

Enjoy.

shizz

Electrons' Elusive Hideouts Imaged for First Time

For the first time, scientists have peered down to the level of a single electron and observed quantum states that had only been theorized before.

Researchers imaged the magnetic orbits of electrons called Landau levels, which were predicted in 1930 by Nobel Prize winner Lev Landau. These orbits represent the curved paths electrons travel when exposed to very strong magnetic fields.

Previously, scientists had confirmed the levels exist by measuring the changes in electric current that result when electrons switch from one Landau level to another. However, no one has been able to see these levels until now.

...

Sarky

That is freaking amazing.

sponsoredwalk

This is a great mostly non-technical personal account of one of the 43 students who passed the early tests set by Landau, basically insight into what's required of you if you want to do something like theoretically discover the way frickin' magnets work on electrons.

I have no failed examination experience of my own. However, once, when I was passing statistical physics, I started solving a problem in a way that Landau did not expect. Landau came, looked and said: “hmm.” Then he left. In 20 minutes he came back, looked again and said “hmm” in an even more dissatisfied tone. At that moment Evgeny Lif****z appeared, who also looked at my notes and shouted: “Dau, do not waste time, throw him out!” But Dau replied: “Let us give him another 20 minutes.” During this time I got the answer and it was correct! Dau looked at the answer, looked again at my calculations and agreed, that I was right.

Obliq

sponsoredwalk wrote: »

This is a great mostly non-technical personal account of one of the 43 students who passed the early tests set by Landau, basically insight into what's required of you if you want to do something like theoretically discover the way frickin' magnets work on electrons.

If only I had the head for it. Got physicists and even astrophysicists hangin out of the rafters in my family, but it passed me by. The interest is there, but can't get past the first couple of paragraphs in any new scientist article, sigh.....

Kivaro

After watching the Sagan clip on the previous page, I started chasing down one of my favorite musical pieces "Requiem for a Dream" when I came across this video:

Very cool .......... and provides a perspective on why one shouldn't spend their life "praying" to an imaginary savior.

Gbear

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O05javlMW6k

I totally want one of those casts to hang in my gaf.

Kivaro

Now this is really cool:

Researchers have found trapped in amber a rare dinosaur-age scene of a spider attacking a wasp caught in its web.
The piece of amber, which contains 15 intact strands of spider silk, provides the first fossil evidence of such an assault, the researchers said. It was excavated in a Burmese mine and dates back to the Early Cretaceous, between 97 million and 110 million years ago.
"This juvenile spider was going to make a meal out of a tiny parasitic wasp, but never quite got to it," George Poinar Jr., a zoology professor at Oregon State University, said in a statement.

More here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/49335493/ns/technology_and_science-science/#.UHNxLE3R6ul