Tuesday, May 14, 2013

3-D Printing Will Set Us Free?

Bloomberg News reports:
 In 2009, a German hacker going by the name Ray used a 3-D printer to fabricate a plastic key to the handcuffs used by Dutch police. He created the copy using only a photograph of an actual key. Last year, Ray demonstrated how to open even high-security handcuffs. The ability to copy keys isn’t new but, as with many of these dangers, 3-D printing will make it a lot easier.
And Hunter Thompson would have loved this:
  Professor Lee Cronin, at the University of Glasgow, has been experimenting with something he calls “reactionware,” which he hopes will allow people to print their own medication at home. A 3-D printer shoots a sequence of chemical agents into special gel chambers that create a controlled reaction. Cronin says that before long, consumers should be able to download a “recipe” from a drug company -- for, say, ibuprofen -- that they could then print out at home. 

1 comment:

  1. Can the regulatory state continue to function in this new world? Or will they fight to prevent this world from coming to be? Exciting times!

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