Defense Distributed, the group that wants to create an entire Wiki of blueprints for 3D printed guns, tested out one of its new models this weekend. And it turns out that as of right now, it ain’t worth a damn, son. Wired reports that the AR-15 rifle (which was only partially 3D printed) got off a mere 6 shots before the back popped right off, hitting the ground with a sad ping. Read More
When one mulls over the future of manufacturing, naturally the first question that comes to mind is: How we can we as a nation effectively mass produce cornerstone products, like a plastic bust of performer Will.i.am?
Luckily, Mr. Am–who last we heard was hurtling our planet towards a Martian attack–has ushered 3D printing into the mainstream by including it in his newest video, “Scream and Shout,” also featuring the eminently GIF-able Britney Spears. At around 1:38 in the video, a 3D printer sitting on a platform displaying the Makerbot logo is seen printing thin layers of plastic to create a bust of that vital American commodity: Mr. Am’s head. Read More
The list of use cases for 3D printing just keeps growing. Making the rounds once more, this time courtesy of the New York Daily News, is an offering from a Japanese company that will sell proud parents-to-be a 3D printed model of their in-womb fetus. The mouse-sized creation comes encased in clear, baby-bump-shaped resin.
Should make for a great paperweight, and/or nightmare fuel for your toddler. Read More
The Manufacturing Maven
When 3D-printing startup Shapeways held a ribbon-cutting for its new “factory of the future” last month, more pols were in attendance than at a Hurricane Sandy press conference: Mayor Mike Bloomberg, Queens Borough President Helen Marshall and Empire State Development Corporation President Ken Adams all made the trip to the cavernous building that will house 50 3D printers, churning out as many as 5 million products every year. Read More
How do Stanford students get the human education they need to lead startups? Many of them take CS198, a program that teaches computer science TAs how to teach, but ends up being a crash course for future CEOs. [New York]
Steven Sinofsky–the dude who spearheaded the newly released Windows 8–has decamped from Microsoft. That doesn’t look bad at all, guys. [New York Times]
Yahoo Mail is reportedly working on a Gmail-like redesign. Just don’t expect that to attract any CIA directors to the product. [AllThingsD]
“The advent of 3D printers shows that technology continues to exceed the limits of gun control.” That’s a comment from a pro-gun group, by the way. [Animal New York]
Lockheen Martin–the top supplier to the Pentagon–has seen a sharp upswing in the rate of cyberattacks. [Reuters]
As much as we love the notion of 3D printing ourselves a pizza and sitting down to a 3D printed game of canasta at a 3D printed dinner table, it sometimes seems this snazzy technology is often used to produce little more than tchotchkes.
And then NASA goes and 3D prints some rocket parts. Read More
Apparently the advent of 3D printing technology is scary enough that before we’re even able to print out a new pair of shoes, patent trolls Intellectual Ventures have secured a patent that might prevent the use of 3D printing technology for making really fun stuff like cars, or zeppelins.
MIT’s Technology Review blog has taken a look at the patent and finds that it is a weirdly comprehensive attempt to enforce digital rights management (DRM) for items no one ever knew might need such protection: Read More
“We leveled up to bring you this today,” MakerBot CEO Bre Pettis told the crowd at the company’s press conference in Brooklyn this afternoon.
The startup responsible for bringing 3D printing to the mainstream–with a nudge from Stephen Colbert, of course–announced a breakthrough: the fourth-generation of MarkerBot’s 3D printing device, dubbed the Replicator 2. You’ll see it soon enough. The gleaming metal rectangle graces the cover of the October issue of Wired. Read More
