3D Printing – Lifeboat News: The Blog

Jan 31
2016

Why the golden age of growth is behind us

Hmmm; we’re definitely not at the end of the golden age of innovation. In fact, once Quantum technology has evolved to the point where it is available to the broader public; we will see a new explosion of new innovation occur as a result.

This is the first of two excerpts from “The Rise and Fall of American Growth: The U.S. Standard of Living Since the Civil War,” published this month by Princeton University Press. The second will explain the implications of all this for the next quarter century.

Can future innovations match the great inventions of the past? Will artificial intelligence, robots, 3D printing and other offspring of the digital revolution do for economic growth what the second industrial revolution did between 1920 and 1970? The techno-optimist school of economics says yes. I disagree.

The rise in the U.S. standard of living from 1870 to 1970 was a special century — and won’t likely be repeated. Growth over the next quarter century will resemble the slow pace of 2004–2015, not the faster growth rate of 1994–2004, much less the rapid rate achieved between 1920 and 1970.

Jan 28
2016

World Economic Forum Report: Existing Workforce Must Prepare, Re-Skill & Up-Skill for Impending Fourth Industrial Revolution

Finally, folks are getting the real picture around re-tooling and retraining folks for new jobs in an oncoming AI future. In my posts; I have highlighted the need for governments and businesses to retrain people as well as ensure that their is some level of funding established to assist displaced workers, and especially as we see the maturity of Quantum in the AI space this will definitely be a must.

“If every tool, when ordered, or even of its own accord, could do the work that befits it… then there would be no need either of apprentices for the master workers or of slaves for the lords.” – Aristotle.

Humans have such a love/hate relationship with technology that it’s almost comical. All of our own creation, once we’ve perfected amazing innovations, we often turn on them–when convenient. As the PC became common and marketed toward the masses in the 80s, a new world of automation, both good and bad, was predicted. As mad scientists tucked away in secret, underground labs began creating evil robots in a slew of sci-fi movies that we consumed greedily, along with becoming affectionate toward machines like C-3P0 and R2-D2 just birthed in what would be a continuing pop subculture with a momentum of its own, our imaginations ran wild. Fearmongers cited that automation would make many jobs obsolete; robots would begin doing what was left as an economic apocalypse ensued for the human race.

In truth, the birth of the computer created a huge industry of jobs, from manufacturing and maintenance to advanced software engineering and entire IT departments. And although it’s been predicted through the ages that robots would begin doing all of our tasks, how many of us are actually employing robots in the home or office–and how many people do you know who lost their jobs because it was given to a humanoid instead? Probably none. But still, yes, there are whispers saying that may change one day soon. And while we’ve all heard that talk for decades past, it is undeniable that innovation on nearly every level has been accelerated recently, and is predicted to continue as 3D printing, artificial intelligence, and robotics evolve–just as a few examples.

Jan 27
2016

3D Printed Stent May Soon Give Hope to Esophageal Cancer Patients

A lot of folks who know me well; knows that I donate my time and expertise to help with the various cancer foundations such as the National Esophageal Cancer Foundation. Esophageal Cancer is one form of cancer not often caught in time due to its symptoms. However, researchers have developed a 3D Stent that is simply amazing and is bringing a lot of hope for so many. Technology and medicine together is an amazing team.

I cannot wait to share this with the foundation’s president; she lost her husband only 2 years ago to this deadly cancer, I lost a cousin, and 2 years ago doctor’s removed a lesion from my esophagus. I cannot express enough to folks (especially younger folks; this is truly a silent killer and it hits all ages (20s, 30s, 40s, and 50s). And, once you ever have a lesion or cancer; you must be diligent in your follow ups no matter what.

Pretty much everyone I know, myself included, has lost someone to cancer, many of them far too young. Finding a cure for cancer is the lofty, ultimate goal for medical researchers, and people like to fantasize about the day when the headline suddenly appears in the paper: “Cure for Cancer Found!” No more deaths from the disease, no more painful, drawn-out treatments – just a shot or a pill that can eliminate cancer as easily as clearing up an ear infection.

In reality, will it happen like that? It probably won’t be that easy – cancer is a complicated beast, and there are so many different forms with their own unique complexities that a universal, one-off cure is a difficult proposition. However, a lot of promising recent developments do point to a near future in which treatment is much more effective and deaths much more rare. And a lot of those developments involve 3D printing.

No cancer is pleasant, but some are much easier to treat than others. Certain types of cancers tend to come with a dire prognosis, and esophageal cancer is one of those. It’s the eighth most common type of cancer in the world, but it’s often detected late, and it’s very difficult to operate on; in fact, 50 to 60 percent of patients with the disease are ineligible for surgery. Those patients are often treated with the surgical implantation of a stent, which is made from a metal mesh and can cause numerous complications such as bleeding, perforation or tumor ingrowth.

Jan 24
2016

The World Economic Forum On The Future Of Jobs

“According to many industry observers, we are today on the cusp of a Fourth Industrial Revolution. Developments in previously disjointed fields such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, robotics, nanotechnology, 3D printing and genetics and biotechnology are all building on and amplifying one another…”

The World Economic Forum (WEF) published an analysis today on the technological and sociological drivers of employment.

The report, titled The Future of Jobs, validates the accelerating impact of technology on global employment trends, and also highlights serious concerns that job growth in certain industries is still very much outpaced by large scale declines in other industries.

The report surveyed senior executives and chief human resources officers of various companies “representing more than 13 million employees across 9 broad industry sectors in 15 major developed and emerging economies and regional economic areas.”

Jan 22
2016

Here come the robots, welcome to the next industrial revolution

Go Hubo

The so-called ‘fourth industrial revolution’ will bring ever faster cycles of innovation, posing huge challenges to companies, workers, governments and societies alike Implantable mobile phones. 3D-printed organs for transplant. Clothes and reading-glasses connected to the Internet.

Such things may be science fiction today but they will be scientific fact by 2025 as the world enters an era of advanced robotics, artificial intelligence and gene editing, according to executives surveyed by the World Economic Forum (WEF).

Nearly half of those questioned also expect an artificial intelligence machine to be sitting on a corporate board of directors within the next decade.

Jan 21
2016

How to modify a 3D printer to print high-performance products

Ultrasonic waves form microscopic glass fibers into a pattern of lines, collectively creating a reinforcing microstructure that gives the printed component increased strength. (credit: Tom Llewellyn-Jones, Bruce Drinkwater and Richard Trask)

University of Bristol engineers have developed a new type of 3-D printing that can print strong composite materials.

The new method is based on a modification of an off-the-shelf 3D printer: mounting a switchable, focused laser module and an ultrasonic alignment apparatus.

Jan 21
2016

Here come the robots: Davos bosses brace for big technology shocks

Leaders at Davos are bracing for huge technology shocks.

Implantable mobile phones. 3D-printed organs for transplant. Clothes and reading-glasses connected to the Internet.

Jan 20
2016

Copper deposition to fabricate tiny 3D objects

A new 3-D microprinting process allows scientists to easily manufacture tiny, complex metal components. The used technology was designed by ETH researchers years ago for biological research and has now been further developed for a completely different application.

Jan 18
2016

Report from Davos: 5 million jobs to be lost by 2020 because of tech advances

In less than 4 yrs. 5 million jobs will be lost is the prediction.

A new report predicts a loss of 5 million jobs in the next five years because of technological advances, but don’t blame it all on the robots.

The other culprits: artificial intelligence, 3-D printers and advances in genetics, biotech and more.

The World Economic Forum, which is holding its annual meeting in Davos this week, in its report details the effects of modern technology on the labor market, for better or for worse. It says “the fourth industrial revolution” will be “more comprehensive and all-encompassing than anything we have ever seen.”

Jan 18
2016

Jan Woerner: ESA chief wants to establish a Moon Village

European Space Agency building a space colony by 2030.

The European Space Agency unveiled plans on Friday to build a “lunar village” by 2030 as a stepping stone to Mars.

ESA chief Jan Woerner said the lunar “village” would be a series of structures made by robots and 3D printers that use moon dust as building material.

“I looked into the requirements I see for a project after ISS. As of today, I see the moon village as the ideal successor of the International Space Station for [space] exploration,” Woerner said at a news briefing in Paris on Friday.