And You Think Printer Ink is Expensive Now?

We all know that most famous of Star Trek lines… no, not “make it so.” No, not “damnit Jim I’m an -insertsomethinghere-” I mean:

Tea. Earl Grey, hot. The favorite replicated beverage of Capt. Picard.

Well, the technology to synthesize our favorite foods and drinks is on the way. According to the BBC news:

“The team at Cornell University’s Computational Synthesis Lab (CCSL) are building a 3D food printer, as part of the bigger Fab@home project, which they hope one day will be as commonplace as the microwave oven or blender.”

Basically the device is an array of ingredient filled syringes that inject the “inks” (liquified food stuffs) in sequence with the help of a CAD program. Right now it’s limited to stuff like cheese and raw dough and chocolate; stuff that can be squeezed though a straw.

“However, the team are now experimenting with mixing foods with hydrocolloids – substances that form gels with water, generally used to thicken food products – to create a range of basic liquid ingredients.”

That said, if either NASA and/or the military get interested in this idea this thing would definitively become reality. They’ve been putting food in tubes for years; finally it could be edible.

One of the goals of the group is to one day be able to digitally exchange CAD recipes via email and social networking. We’d someday be able comment on, tweak and tweet the recipes across the internet.

Think about it. We’ve all seen those food-of-the-month clubs: get a variety of cheeses or a basket of fruit sent to your door. Well, forget the door, get it right in your inbox. Puts a whole new spin on the idea of SPAM.

The food printer stems from the concept of rapid prototyping machines – a device that layers polymers on top of each other to form 3D objects. You’d design a product, print out the parts and build it in the comfort of your own home.

Before now it was a expensive prospect – like 40 grand expensive. That’s a lot to blow on a model airplane press.

But a company called RepRap is making the technology available to the common man… for free! Well, the plans and software are free; you’d just have to provide the tools and about $1000 for parts. Still a lot better than a taking out a second mortgage.

From their website:

“RepRap is a free desktop 3D printer capable of printing plastic objects. Since many parts of RepRap are made from plastic and RepRap can print those parts, RepRap is a self-replicating machine – one that anyone can build given time and materials. It also means that – if you’ve got a RepRap – you can print lots of useful stuff, and you can print another RepRap for a friend… “

RepRap from Adrian Bowyer on Vimeo.

Something as neat as this doesn’t come without controversy though. Much like when the ability to burn CDs came out, there’s a fear of copyright infringement and theft of intellectual property.

In theory yes, it’s something to worry about down the line. In theory, yes, someday you could A) produce the CD blank on which your about to copy an album B) build from scratch the computer you’re going to use to burn it, then listen to it sitting on a C) Ikea POÄNG chair you downloaded from Pirate Bay while sipping a D) Wendy’s Frosty you whipped up with your food printer in the kitchen.

In practice, however, there are those out there in the year 2011 who still think their CD-Rom tray is a cup holder. There are those out there in the year 2011 who will attempt to log into their E-mail by putting their E-mail address in the URL bar. The collective manual dexterity and 3D AutoCAD skills of humanity are such that I don’t think there is a need worry about mass piracy of everyday physical objects.

What I kinda do worry about is all that plastic going to be thrown about. I mean if at first you don’t succeed – draft, draft again. Right? What will become of the prototype prototypes? Sure, we’d probably be able to melt them down and re-use the plastic. But consider this… how many of us use the other side of the paper if we print out the wrong thing? No, normal plastics won’t do.

In a previous post I mentioned some products being made with a material called Mirel. It’s a renewable biodegradable plastic made from plant sugars. Folks from Cornell were also working on plastic from citrus oil and carbon dioxide called polylimonene carbonate.

If the RepRap were able to use these you could be totally self sustaining. Grow your own corn and oranges, toss ‘em into the food printer an make some plastic ingots and build your own little world!

Well, at the very least all those the embarrassingly misfit toys produced in the experimentation stages would biodegrade and not laugh at us for all eternity.

Those Darn Celebrities 3-10-10

“Lindsay Lohan is suing the financial company E-Trade, insisting that a boyfriend-stealing, “milkaholic” baby in its latest commercial — who happens to be named Lindsay — was modeled after her. And she wants $100 million for her pain and suffering…” (source: NY Post) Read more

In Time For the Holidays: A Calamari Wall Hanging

“Here we have one big ass tentacle. Add a touch of eerie goodness to your home decor.
Bursting through a wall of faux bricks, this fabulous bit of cephalopod is sure to delight young and old alike.” -Says the artist – Etsy username ArtAkimbo

And really, what little girl wouldn’t want the carbuncle of Cthulu jutting out from over her bed? Or, older girl, under her bed… The look on a little boys face when he opens that box Christmas morn and flashes back to the run in with the squid at the beach line a few months prior….

“I’ve included a couple of photos of how it might look in your gracious home, specifically if you happen to live in the American wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.” – ArtAkimbo goes on to say.

Snide comments aside, it’s a rather nifty looking art piece. Not my cup of tea, but I’m sure it’d fit in some seaside villa or cultists livingroom.

The tentacle is made of foam and fiberglass, and juts out about 44” from the wall. The piece weighs in at 25lbs , though I don’t know how much weight it can hold – meaning you may not be able to use it as a coat hook a la the Adams Family. Come on, you know you thought of it too.

It’s one of a kind and sells for $1,200, though if Spencer Gifts had any brains (muffled comment) they’d license this bad boy.

Akimbo has some other unique (and affordable) Surreal and Dadaist pieces and prints in his shop. Definitively worth a look see.

Holy Cow, Cartoon Network’s Showin’ Cartoons Again

I was just channel surfing and came across the Pink Panther on Cartoon Network. Cartoons, on Cartoon Network! Who’d a thunk? They went down that slippery slope of changing formats – showing non-cartoon movies and shows – a while ago, something they’ll never be able to back away from now, but they got classics on.

They also got Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry! They’ve been edited for political correctness’ sake, but its something. So if you got kids, here’s something for them to watch rather than totally sterile rehashed gags of cartoons that are being made today. If you don’t got kids, who cares… its something to watch rather than the totally sterile rehashed gags of sitcoms that are being made today.

In an unrelated note, Nickelodeon still appears to not be acknolweding their existance prior to 1999. Come on guys, Classic Nick Network on 3! 1… 2…

PS, don’t go to the CN website… there’re pedophiles in the comments : 0 And no trace of a channel line-up.

Normans finally develop WMDs!!!

Nine-hundred and forty-three years since the first mechanically fired bolt streamed across the battlefields of Europe, the crossbow has been upgraded for the 20th century (yes, yes I know its the 21st… read on). Read more

Just Watch This

This is a video everyone needs to watch. It’s Clay Shirky at the Web 2.0 Expo SF 2008 giving a speech about “Cognitive Surplus” and what we can do with all our wasted time.
Read more

Science Round-up

Humans – The Original DVD

Human cloning ‘flawed’ (if the link is dead, here’s the txt version)

Well, it seems the evil scientist crackpots have hit a stumbling block in the area of cloning. Apparently genetic material in primates, much like that which they create, are a fickle lot. When the cell splits, it’s feast or famine time when it comes to divvying up the DNA, thus putting a stop to illegal copying.

Because of this, much doubt has been cast upon those Raelians who, as we all know by now, claim to have made not one, but many clones. Well, either Clonaid is lying through their hats… or should it be true, maybe there is something to all this descended from aliens stuff.

And speaking of DNA….

I knew I should have taken that left at Adenine

Human Genome Finally Complete (if the link is dead, here’s the txt version)

Not only are humans on the map, they get their own. The Human Genome Project has announced that they are almost done with figuring out what makes us all tick. The implications for this are tremendous! Why with the sharing of this research, all sorts of diseases, syndromes, and ailments will be cured. That is, of course, if it is shared. But since many companies were vying to crack the code first, the key to life itself will most likely become just another consumer product.

And a cheap consumer product at that. Remember, they say they’re almost done: “The decoding is now close to 100% complete. The remaining tiny gaps are considered too costly to fill and those in charge of turning genomic data into medical and scientific progress have plenty to be getting on with.”

Ever get the feeling were just cheap chairs from IKEA? It’s always those small missing bits that seem to make a difference between comfort and quickly relocating to the basement.

I, being the great scientific mind that I am, know what a few of those gaps are, however. One is the number troubleshooter’s hotline, the other is the “do not remove under penalty of law” tag.

Do me a favor guys, pay the extra 50 cents for the insurance.