4D printing and germ warfare.

Sorry, screwed up the posting.

http://gizmodo.com/why-is-the-us-army-investing-in-4d-printing-1442964294

In the context, 4D refers to 3D printing objects which then self-assemble.

The topic is based on a report I heard about the possibility of printing biological agents which could then reproduce in a medium (or a victim).

The building instructions could be sent by the internet to a terrorist cell that could print the agent using seemingly innocuous printing material.

Has this topic been covered? Any comments?

Originally posted by JS357
Sorry, screwed up the posting.

http://gizmodo.com/why-is-the-us-army-investing-in-4d-printing-1442964294

In the context, 4D refers to 3D printing objects which then self-assemble.

The topic is based on a report I heard about the possibility of printing biological agents which could then reproduce in a medium (or a victim).

The building instructions ...[text shortened]... agent using seemingly innocuous printing material.

Has this topic been covered? Any comments?

damn expensive print cartridges!

Originally posted by JS357
Sorry, screwed up the posting.

http://gizmodo.com/why-is-the-us-army-investing-in-4d-printing-1442964294

In the context, 4D refers to 3D printing objects which then self-assemble.

The topic is based on a report I heard about the possibility of printing biological agents which could then reproduce in a medium (or a victim).

The building instructions ...[text shortened]... agent using seemingly innocuous printing material.

Has this topic been covered? Any comments?

It was discussed on 'science friday' just today on NPR. There is a big push for standards in different countries as to what levels of danger to agree on, what standards do you live up to in classroom biogen experiments. That will keep the majority of bad stuff out of the hands of terrorists but it won't stop a terrorist group from making really nasty bacteria and such who do their work in secret. The problem is it is so cheap to do bioengineering now, high school kids are working on improved medicines and such and one of the guests on NPR today was a bioengineer scientist turned FBI agent to find bioterror weapons, so don't think the down side has not been thought through. It will take major efforts on the part of many governments to control the weaponization of bioscience, such as the idea where you get a 3D printer and it is licensed like a car so stuff coming off the machine can be traced to a single machine so they know who is doing what.

That is only a suggestion at this point but they are thinking about ways to minumize the danger.

Originally posted by sonhouse
It will take major efforts on the part of many governments to control the weaponization of bioscience, such as the idea where you get a 3D printer and it is licensed like a car so stuff coming off the machine can be traced to a single machine so they know who is doing what.

Most 3D printers can have most of their parts printed on a 3D printer. They would have to put the marker in the material used for printing. It could be done with micro-dots like we use in SA:
http://www.microdotsa.info/?page_id=8
They are sprayed onto cars and help identify stolen cars.
It would drive up the costs unnecessarily. Better to just make everyone set up a webcam in their home so the NSA can watch what you print 🙂

Perhaps one day there would be a 3D printer that can print out a whole conscious living human being complete with knowledge, false memories and bad breath?

Originally posted by humy
Perhaps one day there would be a 3D printer that can print out a whole conscious living human being complete with knowledge, false memories and bad breath?

I can see a bad Hollywood movie coming up!

Originally posted by KazetNagorra
I can see a bad Hollywood movie coming up!

LOL. Too late; that's already happened! Don't remember the name of the movie and it didn't explicitly say it was a 3D printer but I remember it showing a whole living conscious human being being apparently magically and systematically being kind of printed within just a few seconds by a machine. It didn't explain how that could work -which is perhaps just as well.

I have just seen this:

http://phys.org/news/2013-11-ge-3d-video.html
“...researchers announced the use of a process called "cold spray," in which metal powders are sprayed at high velocities to build a part or add material to repair an existing part. ...”

and it then shows a video of it working but I am surprised that it works at all! -I mean, I wouldn't have thought that simply spraying tiny cold crumbs of metal at a metal surface at high spread would cause them not only to stick all together without too many microscopic air gaps that would make the finish too fragile but also make a reasonably smooth finish just like as seen in that video.

Originally posted by humy
LOL. Too late; that's already happened! Don't remember the name of the movie and it didn't explicitly say it was a 3D printer but I remember it showing a whole living conscious human being being apparently magically and systematically being kind of printed within just a few seconds by a machine. It didn't explain how that could work -which is perhaps just as well.

Perhaps you're thinking of the 80s flick "Weird Science," where a couple teenage nerdlingers create a dream girl with hooters till next Tuesday?

Originally posted by Soothfast
Perhaps you're thinking of the 80s flick "Weird Science," where a couple teenage nerdlingers create a dream girl with hooters till next Tuesday?

oh, not that one! You see, that "Weird Science" was a comedy so, OK, if its either a comedy (like Hitchhikers to the galaxy ) or a pure fantasy (like Alice in wonderland ) then I think it doesn't matter if it breaks the known laws of physics or shows something that is physically or biologically impossible because the fiction doesn't present itself as if what it shows could happen. What annoys me is when science fiction that is neither supposed to be a comedy nor a pure fantasy either says or presents something that is impossible according to even very basic science and presents it as if to try and seriously convince us that it is scientific fact!.

Example: I got a glimpse of a very bad science fiction film (didn't get its name ) just the other day where some 'scientist' where trying to explain to a politician (I think ) something about how a moon can have an orbital ellipse around the Earth and at least twice they drew a moronic diagram on a blackboard of a lunar eclipse but with the Earth clearly shown to be at the center of the ellipse (which is impossible ) rather in one of the two focal points of an ellipse which is where it should be thus showing they clearly, off the screen, are totally ignorant of physics.

I later saw another glimpse of the same film later on where these some 'scientists' (i.e. the some ones that don't even know how to correctly draw a very simple orbital ellipse -standards must be really falling for 'scientists'! ) where flying directly from the Earth to the Moon in the space shuttle (NASA allowed a woman driver to drive it here -who also cannot draw a simple orbital ellipse ) and dodging asteroids along the way and bumping into a few apparently with no real damage to the shuttle -WOW! there is just so much wrong with that! I then quickly turned the TV over yet again.

Originally posted by humy
LOL. Too late; that's already happened! Don't remember the name of the movie and it didn't explicitly say it was a 3D printer but I remember it showing a whole living conscious human being being apparently magically and systematically being kind of printed within just a few seconds by a machine. It didn't explain how that could work -which is perhaps just as well.

The Fifth Element. They put together Milla Jovovich.

Originally posted by humy
Perhaps one day there would be a 3D printer that can print out a whole conscious living human being complete with knowledge, false memories and bad breath?

Why would they want to print up a dude with the zacklies?

Originally posted by dryhump
The Fifth Element. They put together Milla Jovovich.

"Mull-tee-pas"

Originally posted by dryhump
The Fifth Element. They put together Milla Jovovich.

Oh that was the one! 🙂 I remember now but don't quite remember if that was supposed to be a comedy.

Originally posted by humy
I have just seen this:

http://phys.org/news/2013-11-ge-3d-video.html
“...researchers announced the use of a process called "cold spray," in which metal powders are sprayed at high velocities to build a part or add material to repair an existing part. ...”

and it then shows a video of it working but I am surprised that it works at all! -I mean, I wouldn't ...[text shortened]... the finish too fragile but also make a reasonably smooth finish just like as seen in that video.

Aluminum tubes (as for prescription skin creams and I suppose even beer cans) are made from disks of aluminum that are inserted at the base of a a mold that is jammed into at high velocity by a piston. The aluminum immediately melts and forms the tube between the mold and the piston, running up the sides of the mold. So I can imagine metal bits at high velocity sticking to a substrate if fired at high velocity.