geekosystem

Cross country road trips and voyages to outer space have at least one thing in common -- bringing along baggage is a hassle. Researchers working to minimize the cargo that space travelers will need to carry in the future are, quite naturally, looking to 3D printing as a solution. After all, why bring a tool box along when you can just print the contents of one as needed? A team of materials scientists at Washington State University is taking that tactic a step further, though, using material found in moon rocks in a 3D printer -- an advance that could one day mean that if you need a screwdriver on the moon, you can scoop up a handful of dust and print one at a moment's notice.

It's hard to imagine that a group that's trying to build a fully-functional weapon via 3D printing and then distribute those schematics would be surprised to find themselves constantly facing roadblocks, and yet the Wiki Weapons Project certainly appears to be genuinely shocked that the company that leased them a 3D printer has now confiscated it. Officially, Stratasys stated "It is the policy of Stratasys not to knowingly allow its printers to be used for illegal purposes." Then they sent people to grab the device.

We spent this Saturday at New York's Maker Faire 2012 gawking at  cool DIY gadgets and gear from labs, garages, and hackerspaces near and far. We'll have a gallery of some of our favorite pictures from the show up soon, but for now, here are our first reactions on this year's Maker Faire.

Being able to print your own gadgets, gears, and gizmos at home from a 3D printer has the potential to revolutionize DIY culture and bring it into the mainstream. However, the technique, popularized by MakerBot Industries and others, still has flaws. For one thing, the models created by 3D printers, while impressive, are less than structurally sophisticated. They don't handle high levels of stress very well, and the points where a model is most likely to be gripped or push against another object can weaken and break. A new piece of software from Purdue University and Adobe could solve that trouble by automatically scanning designs for 3D models for structural weak points and then reinforcing them as the model prints.

"What do you get the bald eagle who has everything?" Probably a rotting fish or something. They love that kind of thing. It's pretty obvious that you get a bald eagle with a mangled beak that prevents it from eating and cleaning itself a new beak, though. That's certainly no small task, but it's one the folks at raptor sanctuary Birds of Prey Northwest have officially risen to, using a 3D printer to craft a brand new beak for Beauty, a disabled bald eagle who has been in the sanctuary's care since she was shot in the face by a poacher in 2005.

What makes M.C. Escher's drawings so fascinating? The fact that they're incredibly realistic drawings of impossible structures, right? Apparently, they're not as impossible as they seem. Researchers at the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology are working on designing and building 3D structures of M.C. Escher's drawings, bringing to life what is, technically, impossible.

Modern Meadow, a biotech startup, is working on 3D-printing meat for the masses, and with a big grant incoming, they seem to be well on their way. But will people want this? Our science fiction-conditioned brains are okay with synthetic meat, and our digestive systems can probably handle artificial substances, so nothing's stopping this, right? All that's left is the actual research and then ????, followed by profit.

Cubify's new line of Cubify Robots can be taken apart and put back together, letting kids indulge in bouts of destruction, construction, and Frankensteinian creation. They currently have 6 colorful robots to mix-and-match -- 7,776 different kinds of adorable should keep them occupied until they're old enough for LEGO.

If pictures of your ultrasound and the resulting child weren't enough of a memory of being pregnant with said child, you can now get a 3D printout of your fetus to help commemorate all the promise your unborn child held before it was born and started listening to that music you hate.

More and more, it's looking like 3D printing will be the future, but before it can reach its full potential (and market saturation) it has some obstacles to overcome. For one thing, price can be a bit of an issue; even the smallest, most consumer friendly 3D printers aren't exactly cheap. And the second is, if the things aren't cheap, they better be good at what they do. The Objet Connex500 printer is a good example of the latter as evidenced by a small collection of stunning, tiny, incredibly detailed prints.

Hey, readers? Let's be honest for a moment with one another. A little one-on-one session. No one else is listening, don't worry, this is only the Internet. Remember how you once confided in me that you really wanted to eat your own face sometime, but still wanted to have your face after the meal, due to all of the benefits that having a face provides? Listen, I know at the time of you divulging that deep, dark -- and truth be told, super weird -- desire, I told you that it wouldn't be possible and you'd have to choose between eating your face, or having your face. Well, guess what? With this 3D printed mold that allows you to make a chocolate replica of your face, you can now have your face and eat it too.

It's pretty much a sure thing that, at some point or another, you've imagined yourself as a superhero. It's a perfectly geeky way to day dream. What if that's not enough though? What if you need to see it? Firebox can help you out with that by providing you a superhero action figure with your head on it. All you need to do is send them your picture. And some money.

For most of us veteran coffee drinkers, having a morning cup is not unlike taking your vitamins or smoking crystal meth; there's nothing particularly magical about the experience, you just need to get that stuff inside you. These cunicode 3D printed coffee cups aim to change that a little bit by providing a wealth of weird ways to drink your coffee. The cups are the product of an exercise in rapid production and each was designed, printed, and made available for purchase in one day. You can buy them here, if you're into that. They're a little expensive, but a good joke is priceless, maybe.

Pictures after the jump.

Surgery is generally a pretty delicate process. You don't want to just dive in there scalpels blazing; you want to have a pretty good plan of what you're going to do. That being the case, many surgeons like to, or would like to, take a look at models of the actual bones they'll be working around. Unfortunately, the companies that make such models tend to require notice far in advance. Also, they tend to require a veritable boatload of cash. That's where 3D printing comes in.

Artist Joshua Harker is the creative mind behind this incredible little 3D-printed skull, whose surface is cut with hundreds of twisting, turning shapes. These filigreed lines Harker calls "tangles" have been central to his art for years, but could never be reproduced in sculpture. But thanks to advances in computer modeling, the introduction of new materials, and the advent of 3D printing his once impossible forms can now be made solid. Though the stylized skulls are impressive in their own right, Harker is going further by making the skulls available to the public through Kickstarter. For $50 you (yes, you!) can get your very own filigree cranium and help make Harker's art possible at the same time. In the description for his project, he says that if this goes well he'll start debuting all of his work through Kickstarter before it appears in galleries. With over 700 pledges, it's likely we'll be seeing more work from this impressive artist. For more images of Harker's skulls, read on after the break.