smarterplanet:

Can 3D Printing Make Everything We Need? - PSFK

This article titled “Is 3D printing the key to Utopia?” was written by John Naughton, for The Observer on Saturday 12th May 2012 23.05 UTC

You know the problem: the dishwasher that has cleaned your dishes faithfully for 15 years suddenly stops working. You call out a repairman who identifies the problem: the filter unit has finally given up the ghost. “Ah,” you say, much relieved, “can you fit a new one?” At which point the chap shakes his head sorrowfully. No can do, he explains. The company that made the machine was taken over years ago by another outfit and they no longer supply spares for your ancient machine.

Up until now, this story would have had a predictable ending in which you sorrowfully junked your trusty dishwasher and bought a new one. But there’s an emerging technology that could change that. It’s called three-dimensional printing.

Eh? Surely printing is intrinsically a two-dimensional process, involving the squirting of coloured dyes on to flat sheets of paper? And indeed it is, so perhaps the use of the word “printing” in 3D printing is a bit naughty – which is why men in suits tends to call it “additive manufacturing”. But there is still a strong metaphorical correspondence between the 2D and 3D processes. In the former, we take an electronic representation of a document on a computer screen and output a replica of that on to paper; in the latter, we take a three-dimensional computer model of something and use printing-like technology to create a three-dimensional version of it in plastic or other materials.

It works like this: a designer uses computer-assisted design software to create a three-dimensional model of an object. Another program then “slices” the model into thin sections and instructs the “printer” to lay down an exact replica of the section in plastic (or other types of) granules which are then fused to become a solid layer. The process is repeated, slice by slice, until the entire object has been made.

via PSFK:

scipsy:

In the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen, in the remote Arctic Svalbard archipelago, about 1,300 kilometres from the North Pole there is the Svalbard Global Seed Vault (Svalbard globale frøhvelv) the most secure seedbank of the world. The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is designed to preserve the genetic diversity of the world’s food crops, an essential part of the work of preserving the world’s biodiversity.

The Seed Vault has the capacity to store 4,5 million different seed samples and each of these can contain on average 500 seeds, so a maximum of 2,25 billion seeds may be stored in Svalbard. When in full use it will be the world’s largest collection of seeds.

The seedban is constructed 120 metres inside a sandstone mountain. Svalbard is a unique location that was chosen because it has very specific features. It has perfect climate and geology for underground cold storage. Because of the permafrost, the temperature will never rise above minus 3,5 Celsius. The sandstone at Svalbard is stable to build in (its lacks of tectonic activity) and low in radiation. The seeds are stored and conserved in a frozen state at -18°C.

The vault could preserve seeds from most major food crops for hundreds of years. and some, including those of important grains, could survive for  thousands of years.

foodopia:

I made crêpes stuffed with béchamel sauce and ham.. and it was delicious!

The crêpe batter itself is very versatile and can be made to make sweet or savory crêpes. Here is the recipe I used:

Crêpes recipe (makes about 25 crêpes)

Ingredients:

- 500g flour

- 6 eggs

- 0.75L whole…

cjwho:

+HOUSE by Superkül Architects

tastefullyoffensive:

[via]

world-shaker:

If they’re going to do Battleship, then why not?

discoverynews:

A ‘Giant Leap’ for Commercial Space

The first of two companies hired by NASA to fly cargo to the International Space Station is preparing for a test flight on Saturday, a harbinger of a new type of public-private partnership.

“It is,  by all accounts, an important step, bordering on a giant leap, for commercial space,” said Michael Lopez-Alegria, a former astronaut who now heads the Commercial Spaceflight Federation trade organization.

“We are at a brink of a milestone moment in our space history,” added NASA deputy administrator Lori Garver.

keep reading

braiker:

well played

flavorpill:

Yes.