First Factory Use Of 'Replicator' For Spare Parts 239
maddogsparky writes: "Over at Spacedaily, there is an article about how a 3D printer was used to fabricate a replacement part in a production environment--the first known case. They've also done some tests in NASA's vomit comet and are planning on a shuttle test for applications on the ISS or Mars trip."
That's nice and all (Score:4, Funny)
they got what i need! (Score:2, Funny)
A personal transporter is next on my list...
Whats incredible is that this stuff (well the 'replicator' anyway) is actually starting to happen.
How long before... (Score:4, Funny)
First Pulley! (Score:1, Funny)
What a novel idea for the first invention... the wheel
Is this what you call re-inventing the wheel?
Re:Food replicator? (Score:1, Funny)
Sure, but after a thorough analysis, it will always produce a liquid that is almost, but not entirely unlike tea. :)
RIP, DNA [douglasadams.com]
Re:Food replicator? (Score:4, Funny)
In response to this growing threat to our freedoms, the FSF has launched a new Lemon Iced Tea project which will be licensed under the GPL, and RMS is already preparing his "Why it should be referred to as GNU/Iced Tea" whitepaper.
Reminds me of the classic... (Score:5, Funny)
total recall of all Reprotron 5000 Three-Dimensional Copy Machines.
Xerox stock has plummeted to a new all-time low since the release of the
innovative device. Xerox hailed the Reprotron 5000 as a "new revolution in
copying" when it introduced the machine just two weeks ago, and market
insiders were certain that the copier would send Xerox stock through the
roof.
At a demonstration of the Reprotron in August, Xerox staffers made full
three-dimensional copies of an Oriental vase, a bowl of fruit, and a perfect
red rose. Reporters were invited to sample apples and oranges copied from
the original fruit, though Xerox technicians did warn that the copied fruit
might taste slightly of toner. John Thompson (inventor of the Reprotron)
stepped forward to make a copy of a Manhattan phone book, but accidentally
copied his hand and forearm. He quickly disposed of the highly detailed,
frantically wiggling half-limb as it slid out of the copier's delivery slot.
But Xerox wasn't ready for what happened next. "We assumed that people would
behave as responsible, thinking human beings with this copier, and obviously
we were wrong," Thompson states. From all across the USA, reports have been
filing in of the copier being used in what Thompson calls "sick, greedy
ways."
At a Copy Center in Austin, Texas, a couple was arrested for making 15
copies of their three-year-old son, Jeremy, and then refusing to pay for the
copies, claiming that some of the new children were "smudged." Local
authorities were uncertain as to which charges should be pressed.
In Union City, Arizona, Treasury Department officials are investigating
reports of a secretary who allegedly copied a single bar of gold bullion 150
times. A task force investigator stated, "Granted, it takes money to make
money, but we're almost certain that this action is in violation of some
laws."
Xerox officials are also under fire from consumers, due to rumors that the
three-dimensional copying technology is imperfect. Harold Butz of Peoria,
Pennsylvania, made a copy of a common cement brick spray-painted gold. Butz
claims he was "shocked and dismayed" when he discovered that the
machine-made copy was 22-karat solid gold. "All I wanted was a really good
copy of a cement brick spray-painted gold'" Butz stated. "What the hell am I
going to do with this thing?"
Xerox plans to scrap all the machines they are able to recall, but Thompson
expressed concern over the so-called "black market Reprotrons."
"Apparently some sick and greedy people discovered that if they had two
machines, they could use one to make a working copy of the other," Thompson
revealed. "To tell the truth, we only sold two machines in all - to the
Cappelli family, a New Jersey based Meat packing firm. These copy pirates
should be aware that as with anything that is copied from a copy and so on,
there are bound to be defects in the copies produced. We have no idea what
kind of stuff will pop out of the slot when a person copies something on a
fourth- or fifth-generation machine." Thompson declined to comment on
reports that hundreds of the pirated machines have a human thumb attached to
the coin slot which constantly wiggles - the result of a person's thumb
getting in the way during one of the original copier-to-copier copies.
"Ultimately, we're not too worried," Thompson stated. "People owning the
copiers will eventually run out of the fluid that make the machine work, and
we've taken all the fluid off the market. A machine can only last two weeks
or so without a fluid refill, and there won't be any fluid refills." When
asked why people with copiers couldn't simply make copies of the fluid
cannisters they already have, Xerox officials hastily ended the press
conference, stating that they "need to reconsider a few things."
Re:That's nice and all (Score:4, Funny)
After all, you'll feel pretty silly with your cupped hands holding your beer...
Re:Nice to see - now let's prepare for repercussio (Score:4, Funny)
'Mentally'? With these replicators you'd be well armed physically.
"What do you need?" ... Lots of guns."
"Guns