Lifeboat Foundation

‘Optical trap display’ projects graphics into the air, where they are visible from all angles.

Alex Hern

But it remains to be seen whether drug regulators will go along with a new way of making medicines. To do so, agencies like the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will need to rewrite their rules for validating the safety of medicines. Instead of signing off on the production facility and manufactured drug samples, regulators would have to validate that reactionware produces the desired medication. Cronin agrees it’s a hurdle. But he argues that future printed reactors could simply include a final module containing standard validation tests that produce a visual readout, much like a pregnancy test. “I think it’s manageable.”

Digitized chemistry on demand could also undermine drug counterfeiters.

High-tech warfare at knife-fight ranges: that’s the ugly future of urban combat. If you thought Baghdad was bad, with its roughly six million people, imagine a “megacity” of 10 or 20 million, where the slums have more inhabitants than some countries. Imagine a city of the very near future where suspicious locals post every US military movement on Twitter with digital photos and GPS-precise coordinates. Imagine roadside bombs that fly because the bad guys downloaded blueprints for a kamikaze mini-drone and built it with their 3D printer.

As the US pulls out of the mountains and deserts of Afghanistan, the Navy and Air Force may be looking to the wide-open Pacific, but the Army is increasingly concerned about the cramped alleyways of Third World cities. (The Marines, as usual, have a foot in both worlds). Chief of Staff Ray Odierno’s personal Strategic Studies Group — now led by hybrid warfare expert David Johnson — is working on the subject, as is the Army’s think tank and teaching institution, Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC). This August, after months of seminars, simulations, and study, the Army War College will host a “deep future wargame” set in a megacity, probably a coastal one, circa 2035.

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These 3D-printed, artificial hearts could replace real hearts one day.

The scientist behind an advanced sex robot has plans for 3D printed offspring. Samantha, developed by Spanish robotics firm Synthea Amatus, went on sale in the United Kingdom last month for around $5,000 — but while the A.I. present in the initial version offers a range of functions like telling jokes, discussing philosophy and synchronizing climaxes, a future version could offer more ambitious features.

“I can make them have a baby. It’s not so difficult. I would love to have a child with a robot,” Sergei Santos, creator of Samatha, told The Sun in a Friday story.

Sex robots are a growing, but controversial, area of artificial intelligence. While some argue that such machines could spark a wider discussion about sexuality, others object to the aim to replicate human interaction. Futurologist Ian Pearson claims that by 2050, more than half of people will have sex with a robot.

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Meet the world’s cheapest 3D printer.

“Building a house by hand can be both time-consuming and expensive. Some homebuilders have chosen to automate part of the construction instead.”

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Every time there’s a new technology, criminals immediately take advantage of it, explains Steven Kotler. It’s only a matter of time before they find new, nefarious uses for 3D printing and synthetic biology.

A bold plan to rev up off-Earth manufacturing is about to get a big test.

A small, privately built machine designed to make optical fiber is launching toward the International Space Station (ISS) aboard SpaceX’s Dragon cargo capsule tomorrow (Dec. 12).

If all goes according to plan, this little factory — which is owned by California-based startup Made In Space — will churn out stuff that’s good enough to sell here on Earth, opening up space to greater commercial use. [3D Printing: 10 Ways It Could Transform Space Travel].

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