Now Comes Flesh Printing

Now 3D printing which started a few decades ago, has kept this name albeit not a printing act anymore but a construction for which a more appropriate term would be welcome.

In fact, the access to that third dimension is opening new horizons in many fields and will certainly develop in domains that are, still now, unimaginable, such as architecture.

Yes, as it is just a matter of scale and proper building material, we shall see, together with technologies yet unknown, and others already developping such as automation and robotics, the birth of new concepts.

Already, at smaller scales, we see materials being used and adapted to various purposes from the traditional sculpture, to biological matter, while on the other hand, research on stem cells allows us to foresee new domains that, yesterday, belonged to science fiction.

In 1962, Marshall Mc Luhan published his book "The Gutenberg Galaxy" in which he brilliantly forecasts the prevalence of electronic media to the detriment of printed media.

In fact what he calls "the Marconi galaxy" developped widely even though printed matter was still going on and developping as well.

He regarded wireless means of communication (and therefor created the word "media") as the future, a new era.

Little did he know (and could not imagine) the wide spread of computers, personal computers and the tremendous explosion of digital technologies.

Neither could-he conceive the birth of 3D!

Text by © Armand Dauré 

More about him:

The Gutenberg Galaxy en.wikipedia.org

De humani corporis fabrica libri septem (On the fabric of the human body in seven books) is a textbook of human anatomy written by Andreas Vesalius (1514–1564) in 1543. 

wikipedia.org

Printable organs

Using modified inkjet printers into 3d printers, scientists are producing three-dimensional living biological tissue. The printer cartridges are washed out and filled with a suspension of living cells and a "smart gel". Alternating patterns of the smart gel and living cells are printed using a standard print nozzle. The cells fuse together to form tissue, and tube formation has been demonstrated with ovarian hamster cells. When finished, the gel is cooled and washed away, leaving behind only the live cells.
The gel is heat sensitive - solidifying at 32 degrees celsius and liquifying at 20 degrees

en.wikipedia.org

 What is the Bio-Printing?

The bio-printer is the product of nScrypt Inc. It is a fully computer-controlled delivery device. Three-dimensional printing is achieved by the movable x-y stage and three z-directional printing heads. Two of these are used to print the bio-ink particles, which are extruded from a bio-cartridge (a micropipette filled with bioink particles) by the positive displacement of a piston within the micropipette. The third unit is pressure operated and is used to print the bio-paper/substrate (e.g. collagen gel). Each extruder is equipped with a camera, providing full visual control of printing.

What is the Tensiometer?

The parallel plate compression device allows determining tissue surface tension and characteristic elastic and viscous parameters. A spherical cell aggregate (A) is placed between the lower (LCP) and upper (UCP) compression plates, in the inner chamber filled with tisssue culture medium. A water jacket, the outer chamber (OC) heats up the system to maintain 37C physiological temperature. The upper plate hangs from a nickel-chromium wire (NCW) attached to an electrobalance (B) that monitors the force applied to the aggregate. Raising the lower compression plate compresses the cell aggregate. This deformation is maintained throughout the compression to measure force dissipation under constant strain. Equilibrium is reestablished through a biphasic relaxation process; the equilibrium force and the geometric parameters are used to calculate the tissue surface tension via the Laplace-Young equation. Viscoelastic properties are determined employing the full relaxation curve.

What is the Magnetic Tweezers?

The magnetic tweezers allows measuring intracellular and cell-level viscoelastic parameters. It is a 2-coil design, capable of generating a constant magnetic gradient (and implicitly a constant magnetic force) over a surface exceeding 4x105 square microns. It is a miniaturized Faraday balance mounted on the stage of an inverted Olympus IX-70 microscope. The force (in the range of 1-1000 pN) is applied unidirectionally, in the horizontal plane, through paramagnetic beads attached to the biological sample. The bead motion under magnetic force is recorded and the trajectory is determined with sub-pixel accuracy by an in-house developed particle tracking program. Physical parameters are determined from the analysis of the bead trajectory.

 How to print a human organ?

Organ Printing: Future of Rapid Prototyping in Tissue Engineering

 

 How to print a organ by Vladimir Mironov

 PDF: organprint.missouri.edu

BBC News
Dr. Vladimir Mironov explains organ printing technology. (2009)

US researchers at Cornell University have engineered an ear made of silicone using a 3D printer, which they hope will one day be capable of producing functional human body parts.

LINKS:

organprint.missouri.edu

Hod Lipson: mae.cornell.edu

Unforgetable 3D Movies

Remember those? No? Not surprising, as the 3D movie craze did not last long and what was supposed to be “a new era” turned out to be a flash in the pan.

.holytaco.com/25-vintage-posters-for-3d-movies

When the Lumière brothers showed one of the first films in history (in january 1896) there was a panic as the public felt they would be crushed by the train.

Later came the sound, the color and finally the panoramic screens.

Since then quite a few inventions appeared, expected to be a next step but none succeeded...

By re-introducing the 3D films, the movie industry expected to create or, more accurately, restore a new interest.

But the 3D films are prosthetic and the effect is there to compensate a complete lack of contents.

Whatever might be offered to the viewers, movies keep spectators in a state of total passivity and, as such, cannot compete with the sole true changement in media: inter-activity.

At the end of the 19th century, the Lumière brothers, albeit inventors of Cinematography, did not expect much impact out of it and thought it would not get farther than a luna-park attraction...

Do Not Touch Cast

It started with photogrammetry around 40 years ago: how to take a 3D print without touching the object too large (like the Abu Simbel temples) or too fragile (like Ramesses II). Now thanks to scanning and printing, it becomes possible with amazing results...

photogrammetry:en.wikipedia.org

 PHOTOS CREDIT ©PA


James Watt Project

Seen on the web:

New bust of scientist Watt created

"A previously unseen sculpture of one of the Industrial Revolution's greatest engineers - James Watt, has been created using 3D technology and will be exhibited in London.

The bust comes from a mould, dating back to 1807, which was discovered in Watt's workshop during preparations for an exhibition on his life.

Watt is known for his pioneering work on the steam engine which helped turn Britain from cottage and craft production into an industrial powerhouse.

The complex plaster mould used for the bust is one of 26 which fill the shelves of Watt's preserved workshop, many still tied up in their original string.

While preparing for the exhibition at the Science Museum conservators examined each mould in turn, taking them to pieces to scrutinise the detail inside. They found moulds for the heads of lions, the mythological gods Bacchus, Apollo and Cupid and an image they thought could be Watt.

The early 19th century mould consisted of 25 separate pieces and was thought too fragile to allow a plaster cast to be taken. So it was examined with a colour triangulation scanner to produce a perfect digital 'cast', enabling a sculpture to be created. The bust will enjoy pride of place at the Science Museum exhibition - James Watt And Our World.

Andrew Nahum, Principal Curator of Technology and Engineering, said: "Finding a new representation of a major national figure like Watt is a real discovery, a quite exceptional event.

"The bust is not in the historical record and its display in the gallery will be the first time it has ever been seen in public."

When Watt died in 1819, his workshop at his home near Birmingham, was locked and its contents left undisturbed as an 'industrial shrine'. In 1924, the complete workshop, including its door, window, skylight, floorboards and 6,500 objects used or created by Watt, were carefully removed and transported to the Science Museum in London.

Although the workshop has previously been displayed at the Museum, visitors have never been able to go inside until now. The new display opens on March 23."

Copyright © 2011 The Press Association. All rights reserved. 

google.com

Scientists create sculpture of Industrial Revolution engineer James Watt using 3D technology

"A previously unseen sculpture of James Watt, one of the Industrial Revolution's greatest engineers, has been created using 3D technology.

The bust comes from a mould, dating back to 1807, which was discovered in Watt's workshop during preparations for an exhibition on his life.

Best known for his pioneering work on the steam engine, Watt helped turn Britain from cottage and craft production into an industrial powerhouse..."

dailymail.co.uk

Sculpture of Watt is created from 3D digital cast by caroline wilson

"A PREVIOUSLY unseen sculpture of one of the Industrial Revolution’s greatest engineers has been created using 3D technology..."

heraldscotland.com

James Watt bust to appear in 3D by Liam Creedon, Press Association

 "A sculpture of James Watt, one of the Industrial Revolution's greatest engineers, has been created using 3D technology..."

independent.co.uk

Zooming in Space

These videos will get you high in space and high with your thoughts... But still facing a question: where is Waldo?

Panning Across Reflection Nebula M 78 [720p]

Zooming Into Reflection Nebula M 78 [720p]

Zooming Into The Star GJ1214 [720p]

Zooming Into IRAS 13481-6124 [720p]

Zooming in on the HAWK-I infrared view of Messier 83

Zoom in onto the stellar black hole NGC 300 X-1

Zooming in on NGC 3603

Zooming into the Cat's Paw Nebula

Zooming in on NGC 3603

Zooming in on the spiral galaxy NGC 3621

Zooming in on the Sun-like star HD 10180

Source: eso.org

Come back home:

The Known Universe by AMNH

The Transistor

What we all should know and understand. 

How the first transistor worked

Transcript: "This doesn't look like it would change the world, but this first transistor did just that. This replica is a bit larger than the original, but otherwise a pretty faithful representation. In 1947 Walter Brattain at Bell Lab fashioned it out of plastic stand, a chunk of germanium, a triangular piece of plastic with a layer of gold on each side, and a "spring" on top to press the gold at the apex of the triangle into the germanium - that's why its called a "point contact" transistor.

Here's what Bardeen and Brattain actually did with this device on December 23, 1947.

They hooked up a microphone to the left side, and an oscilloscope to the right side. As they spoke into the microphone they could see the voice signal being amplified. As Brattain wrote in his lab notebook "This circuit was actually spoken over and by switching the device in and out a distinct gain in speech level could be hear and seen on the scope ...."

Now, that amplification is still one of the main uses for a transistor. Think of your cell phone: It detects a low-power signal from the cell tower and then its circuity amplifies the signal until you can hear it.

But how does this klutzy looking contraption work its magic? They key lies in this chunk of semi-conducting germanium.

Recall that there are three ways we can classify material in terms of their ability to conduct electricity.

Conductors like metals that readily transport electricity with negative charge carriers. Insulators which refuse to allow current to flow. And a third class, which make possible the transistor: semiconductors. As the name implies they they conduct better than insulators, but not as well as conductors. But more importantly unlike metals semiconductors have two different ways to conduct electricity - effectively negative and positive charge carriers.

That property lies at the heart of a transistor. It allows an engineer to make a highly reliable device that allows current to flow in only one direction. We can make a "sandwich" of the two types of semiconductors. Here the negative charge carrier one on the left and the positive one on the right. The semiconductor sandwich allows electricity to flow. Reverse the battery and the current grinds to a halt.

Other devices can do this, for example, vacuum tubes, but they had many part, were unreliable, overheated, and were expensive to produce and likely impossible to miniaturize." Bill Hammack

engineerguy.com 


Nowaday's chips in computers hold hundreds of millions of transistors, soon billions!

wiki.answers.com: How many transistors in a computer chip?

• Intel 4004 2,300 (first intel chip)
• Pentium 3,100,000 (windows 95)
• core i7 quad: 731,000,000 (best personal chip out now)
• 8-Core Xeon Nehalem-EX 2,300,000,000 (supercomputer chip)

Getting closer to realism L.A. Noire

Getting closer to realism...Of course the characters' movements are still suffering from "string puppets" effects. But the expressions are quite strong. It seems that soon, games will feature a perfect definition. Then what will the films become? Obsolete since they cannot allow interactivity.

Watch it right now above and in high-definition at the official L.A. Noire website or at RockstarGames.com. 

 rockstargames.com/lanoire

Global distribution of the world's water

Water on Earth  

Rise and fall of a great concept | Theo Jansen

There is more brain in the hamster than in those people trying to plagiarise Theo Jansen's creation.

Hamster Powered Walker

More about Theo Jansen:

 NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Langley Research Center please call Theo Jansen 3d-today.org

 Sandbeast 3d-today.org

 Rise and fall of a great concept | Theo Jansen 3d-today.org

Bottle by Kirsten Lepore

Animated on location at a beach, in snow, and underwater, this stop-motion short details a transoceanic conversation between two characters via objects in a bottle.

Written, directed, animated, edited, and sound by Kirsten Lepore.

Found on paper.li/giancarlodrago
Tweet by @ Jankovitch

STEREO Reveals the Entire Sun

STEREO Reveals the Entire Sun

"Launched in October 2006, STEREO traces the flow of energy and matter from the sun to Earth. It also provides unique and revolutionary views of the sun-Earth system. STEREO has given us the first view of the entire sun on February 6, 2011 and when coupled with SDO, will give us complete views of the sun's entire surface and atmosphere for the next 8 years."

#3 STEREO - Approaching 360 Degrees

nasa.gov

added: 03/10/2011

A Solar Prominence Eruption from SDO (2011 March 7)

One of the most spectacular solar sights is an erupting prominence. 

Two weeks ago, NASA's Sun-orbiting Solar Dynamic Observatory spacecraft imaged an impressively large prominence erupting from the surface. 

The dramatic explosion was captured in ultraviolet light in the above time lapse video covering 90 minutes, where a new frame was taken every 24 seconds. 

The scale of the prominence is huge -- the entire Earth would easily fit under the flowing curtain of hot gas. 

A solar prominence is channeled and sometimes held above the Sun's surface by the Sun's magnetic field. A quiescent prominence typically lasts about a month, and may erupt in a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) expelling hot gas into the Solar System. The energy mechanism that creates a solar prominence is still a topic of research. 

As the Sun progresses toward Solar Maximum in the next few years, solar activity like eruptive prominences are expected to become more common. 

apod.nasa.gov

How about a new pair of genes?

resources/human_genome_final

(5100x3420): dnapolicy.org/resources/human_genome_final

(2000x1341)

Sandbeast

Strandbeest walking ...

"In this exhibition, the "beach animal" works created by the Dutch artist Theo Jansen, will be introduced from a scientific perspective. The "beach animal," which goes to the size of 12 meters at the most, is composed of wood, PET bottles, and plastic tubing and moves like an animal when it is exposed to wind. Through this remarkable art work, which acts like an artificial organism, we will think about the possibility of the life forms of the future and, as a consequence, the true nature of life.. More:  miraikan.jst.go.jp

Theo Jansen:  strandbeest.com

Inspirated by Theo Jansen work

Simulation CGI of Theo Jansen 's Mechanism

.

This clip is just an analysis and simulation of his mechanism, but it might not be exactly thesame.

More posts about Theo Jansen

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Langley Research Center please call Theo Jansen

3d-today.org

Sandbeast 3d-today.org

Rise and fall of a great concept | Theo Jansen

3d-today.org

Robot gets snappy!

The fundamental way of approach in science, is analogy. It explains why the ancestors of robots were called androids as they were modeled on humans.

To imitate nature and the human body was (still is) a big challenge. But here we have these "hand" and "eye" faster than any biological structure. Still, we hear words such as "dexterity" albeit there is no specific right/ left attribution. Could such  amazing functions be called sinistrality?


High-Speed Robot Hand



For more info:

Namiki Laboratory | High-speed Vision and Manipulation

mec2.tm.chiba-u.jp

"Dynamic grasping using a newly developed high-speed hand system and high-speed vision is proposed.
In the high-speed hand system, a newly designed actuator provides the finger with excellent features: 
It is lightweight (about 110g per finger), and it is moved with speed reaching about 4m/s and 4N power at a finger tip, and backlash is small enough for high-gain feedback control..."

Animatronics

Animatronics is the use of electronics and robotics in mechanised puppets to simulate life.

Some examples:

A collaborative creation from Unkle and director John Nolan - a robot based on Futura's Pointmen from the Psyence Ficton and Never Never Land albums. 
johnnolanfilms.com/animatronics

Animatronics by Adyparish

Link to this page: 3D TODAY: Animatronics http://bit.ly/i6qxJH

3D Blind ?

Severed Corpus Callosum

video: wimp.com