3d printing. The Royal Society: Welcome. TED: Ideas worth spreading. 3dp Blogs. A Sustainability Scorecard for 3D Printing. We are, it would seem, at the cusp of a 3D printing revolution. The technology has exploded in recent years, having been used to build everything from car bodies to dental implants to jet-engine parts. And startups like MakerBot, which offers breadbox-sized 3D printers for less than $2,000, are making its capabilities accessible to home consumers, inspiring grand visions of a future where everyone prints out their own children’s toys, replacement dishwasher gaskets, household objects or high-end musical instruments.
But would that future really be sustainable? “This is kind of everybody’s vision of the next best thing since sliced bread and night baseball for manufacturing,” says David Dornfeld, a professor of mechanical engineering who runs the Laboratory for Manufacturing and Sustainability at the University of California, Berkeley. Wristband plugs you into smart buildings - tech - 16 January 2012. SWELTERING in the office while your colleague shivers under layers of extra clothing?
Just register your discomfort by tapping a button on your wrist and let the room do the rest. That's one of the ideas behind WristQue, a project at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that aims to create a low-power wristband device that works with sensors embedded in buildings to monitor how you feel and continually adjust the lighting and temperature to keep you happy.