As potentially game-changing as the steam engine or telegraph were in their day, 3D printing could herald a new industrial revolution, experts say.
For the uninitiated, the prospect of printers turning out any object you want at the click of a button may seem like the stuff of science fiction.
But 3D printing is already here, is developing fast, and looks set to leap from the labs and niche industries onto the wider market.
“There are still limits imposed by the technology available today,” said Olivier Olmo, operational director of Switzerland’s EPFL research institution.
“But I’m certain that within 10 or 20 years, we’ll have a kind of revolution in terms of the technology being available to everyone,” he said.
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Monday, April 29, 2013
Friday, April 12, 2013
NASA-funded fusion rocket could shoot humans to Mars in 30 days
A research group at the University of Washington, funded by NASA, is about to build a fusion-powered rocket. This rocket, if it can be successfully built, could propel a manned spacecraft to Mars in just 30 days — compared to NASA’s estimate of four years for a Martian round trip using current technology.
The UW team, led by John Slough, have spent the last few years developing and testing each of the various stages of a fusion rocket. Now it is time to bring these isolated tests together to produce an actual fusion rocket. To succeed, Slough and co will need to create a fusion process that generates more power than it requires to get the fusion reaction started — a caveat that, despite billions of dollars of research, has eluded some of the world’s finest scientists for more than 60 years. Fusion is an ideal method of rocket propulsion, as fusion fuel has immense energy density — something on the scale of 7 million times more dense than conventional rocket fuel. The weight (and expense) of fuel is one of the biggest barriers to space travel.
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The UW team, led by John Slough, have spent the last few years developing and testing each of the various stages of a fusion rocket. Now it is time to bring these isolated tests together to produce an actual fusion rocket. To succeed, Slough and co will need to create a fusion process that generates more power than it requires to get the fusion reaction started — a caveat that, despite billions of dollars of research, has eluded some of the world’s finest scientists for more than 60 years. Fusion is an ideal method of rocket propulsion, as fusion fuel has immense energy density — something on the scale of 7 million times more dense than conventional rocket fuel. The weight (and expense) of fuel is one of the biggest barriers to space travel.
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Stephen Hawking: Space Exploration Is Key To Saving Humanity
LOS ANGELES -- Stephen Hawking, who spent his career decoding the universe and even experienced weightlessness, is urging the continuation of space exploration – for humanity's sake.
The 71-year-old Hawking said he did not think humans would survive another 1,000 years "without escaping beyond our fragile planet."
The British cosmologist made the remarks Tuesday before an audience of doctors, nurses and employees at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where he toured a stem cell laboratory that's focused on trying to slow the progression of Lou Gehrig's disease.
Hawking was diagnosed with the neurological disorder 50 years ago while a student at Cambridge University. He recalled how he became depressed and initially didn't see a point in finishing his doctorate. But he continued to delve into his studies.
"If you understand how the universe operates, you control it in a way," he said.
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The 71-year-old Hawking said he did not think humans would survive another 1,000 years "without escaping beyond our fragile planet."
The British cosmologist made the remarks Tuesday before an audience of doctors, nurses and employees at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where he toured a stem cell laboratory that's focused on trying to slow the progression of Lou Gehrig's disease.
Hawking was diagnosed with the neurological disorder 50 years ago while a student at Cambridge University. He recalled how he became depressed and initially didn't see a point in finishing his doctorate. But he continued to delve into his studies.
"If you understand how the universe operates, you control it in a way," he said.
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Friday, April 5, 2013
Genome research: discovery as an everyday event
The study of DNA is a fast-moving adventure that becomes more astonishing with every passing discovery
On Tuesday, US researchers confirmed the mixed ancestry of that icon of the American range, the Texas longhorn: its DNA came from cattle from Europe and the Middle East, and from the Indian subcontinent. On Wednesday one team of researchers published the genetic sequence of the mountain pine beetle, a voracious pest that has so far destroyed more than 15m hectares of forest in North America, and another did the same for the western painted turtle, an air-breathing creature that can survive four months under water. On Thursday, Nature Genetics reported on the genetic "spelling mistakes" identified in 100,000 patients with breast, ovarian and prostate cancer, and today the journal Science tried to identify simple principles that might connect more than 140 genes so far associated with the growth of tumours.
What is startling about such research is how ordinary it has become. The structure of DNA was revealed 60 years ago . It was more than 20 years before anyone understood how to decipher the genetic code, and more than 30 years before anyone dreamed of compiling the entire 3bn-letter sequence of a human being. When the Human Genome Project was completed in April 2003, it was hailed as biology's equivalent of the moon landing. Ten years on, what began as costly, painstaking and uncertain science has become commonplace.
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On Tuesday, US researchers confirmed the mixed ancestry of that icon of the American range, the Texas longhorn: its DNA came from cattle from Europe and the Middle East, and from the Indian subcontinent. On Wednesday one team of researchers published the genetic sequence of the mountain pine beetle, a voracious pest that has so far destroyed more than 15m hectares of forest in North America, and another did the same for the western painted turtle, an air-breathing creature that can survive four months under water. On Thursday, Nature Genetics reported on the genetic "spelling mistakes" identified in 100,000 patients with breast, ovarian and prostate cancer, and today the journal Science tried to identify simple principles that might connect more than 140 genes so far associated with the growth of tumours.
What is startling about such research is how ordinary it has become. The structure of DNA was revealed 60 years ago . It was more than 20 years before anyone understood how to decipher the genetic code, and more than 30 years before anyone dreamed of compiling the entire 3bn-letter sequence of a human being. When the Human Genome Project was completed in April 2003, it was hailed as biology's equivalent of the moon landing. Ten years on, what began as costly, painstaking and uncertain science has become commonplace.
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