WEBVTT - How does 3D printing work?

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<v Speaker 1>Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera.

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<v Speaker 1>It's ready. Are you get in touch with technology with

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<v Speaker 1>tech stuff from how stuff works dot coming. Hello there, everybody,

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<v Speaker 1>and welcome with tech stuff. My name is Chris Poulette

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<v Speaker 1>and I'm an editor here at how stuff works dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>Sitting next to me, as usual, is senior writer Jonathan Strickland.

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<v Speaker 1>Hey there, alrighty then, yeah, so what do you wanna

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<v Speaker 1>talking about? Well, before we start talking, this is going

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<v Speaker 1>to be one of those special podcasts, you know, the

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<v Speaker 1>kind that always start with listener me. Dude, I was

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<v Speaker 1>hoping I was ice cream and cake. You got me

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<v Speaker 1>all excited. Yeah, No, punch and pie will be later.

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<v Speaker 1>So this listener mail comes from Amy, and Amy says, hey,

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<v Speaker 1>you guys love the show and I have learned a lot.

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<v Speaker 1>Here is a tech thing I have no clue about.

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<v Speaker 1>How does three D printing work? Thanks? Amy? Well, I

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<v Speaker 1>mean we thought we would tackle three D printing for you. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>it's um, it's a complex thing. It's it's super cool though. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>you can you know, you can do a very rudimentary

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<v Speaker 1>version of this by you know, printing something out on

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<v Speaker 1>a piece of paper. And folding it into oregamy. But

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<v Speaker 1>I don't think, oh, that's printing on two D and

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<v Speaker 1>then you make a three D dimensions that's it. Get

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<v Speaker 1>josh in here. So no, no, no, So three D printing, Well,

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<v Speaker 1>first of all, let's talk about why you would need

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<v Speaker 1>three D printing in the first place. And really, the

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<v Speaker 1>main purpose is to create prototypes for products. Yeah, we're

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<v Speaker 1>not we're not talking about printing out stuff that you

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<v Speaker 1>would read later. This is printing out things in relief

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<v Speaker 1>so that you could see how they're put together and

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<v Speaker 1>what they look like when they're done. The question is

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<v Speaker 1>how do you make that possible? Right, Because think about

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<v Speaker 1>it this way. If you are let's let's say that

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<v Speaker 1>you have come up with a product idea. You work

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<v Speaker 1>with this big company. You've come up with an idea

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<v Speaker 1>of our new product, and you want to make a

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<v Speaker 1>mock up of it. But because there it's it's the

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<v Speaker 1>first of its type, there's nothing in place for you

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<v Speaker 1>to be able to manufacture this easily. You can't just

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<v Speaker 1>go to the plant and say, hey, you know, produce

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<v Speaker 1>one of these for me, because no one's made one before.

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<v Speaker 1>So before three D printing, you pretty much had to

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<v Speaker 1>use other methods, like if you want to go way back,

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<v Speaker 1>we're talking about things like you take a block of

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<v Speaker 1>wood and you carve it into the shape that it's

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<v Speaker 1>supposed to be in, and then you're you take another

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<v Speaker 1>block of wood and carve that away until you get

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<v Speaker 1>all the different pieces together. Then you put all the

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<v Speaker 1>pieces together, and then you show it off to whomever

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<v Speaker 1>and say, this is what this is the way it's

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<v Speaker 1>supposed to go together. Please find a way to mass

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<v Speaker 1>produce this. It's rather time consuming. It's carve away all

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<v Speaker 1>the bits that don't look like whatever, right exactly, you

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<v Speaker 1>carve away all the bits that don't look like whatever

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<v Speaker 1>it is that you're trying to produce. Or another example

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<v Speaker 1>is uh, actually group of uses three D printing a

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<v Speaker 1>lot architects. Everybody's seen name one of those models of

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<v Speaker 1>your town or your school after renovation or whatever where

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<v Speaker 1>they have little blocks and you look at them and

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<v Speaker 1>you go, well, that's that's pretty neat to put all

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<v Speaker 1>the little trees in there, and that well, you can

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<v Speaker 1>use three D printing to create models like that, right,

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<v Speaker 1>So obviously there's a need for creating prototypes. There's need

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<v Speaker 1>for creating these models and there's a need for doing

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<v Speaker 1>it in a way that's not going to take you

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<v Speaker 1>so much time that by the time you're done with it,

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<v Speaker 1>the opportunity to create whatever was you're going to create

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<v Speaker 1>in its past. So that's where we get in with

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<v Speaker 1>this whole rapid prototype approach. And three D printing is

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<v Speaker 1>really just a way of creating the various bits and

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<v Speaker 1>pieces you need for some three D object three dimensional object.

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<v Speaker 1>Uh and uh you do it without having to you know,

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<v Speaker 1>get other materials and carve it out yourself. Uh. And

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<v Speaker 1>it's an additive process, which means that it's adding the

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<v Speaker 1>material as it goes to build the ultimate object or

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<v Speaker 1>series of objects. It's kind of ironic because really to

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<v Speaker 1>print in three D, you're printing in two D just

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<v Speaker 1>lots and lots and lots of layers. Yeah, exactly. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>it's kind of weird because you think of it in

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<v Speaker 1>I guess in my head, I was thinking sort of

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<v Speaker 1>a sci fi thing where you know, you had this

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<v Speaker 1>big open door with the flaps on it, and you

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<v Speaker 1>tell it to print the thing and it just sort

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<v Speaker 1>of comes out in the conveyor belt. Well that's not

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<v Speaker 1>exactly how kind of like the gob stoppers and will

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<v Speaker 1>want Yeah, no, I was right there with you. Either

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<v Speaker 1>that or either that or you think of it almost

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<v Speaker 1>like a mold type thing, where you know, these two

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<v Speaker 1>halves come together. When they come apart, there's the object

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<v Speaker 1>just sitting there. It's not quite like that. In fact,

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<v Speaker 1>it's not like that at all. Really. One it really

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<v Speaker 1>resembles most is in jet printers. So you know, with

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<v Speaker 1>the name jet printer, you've got a printer that has

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<v Speaker 1>a tiny little nozzle that sprays incredibly tiny drops of

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<v Speaker 1>ink onto the paper. Yes, an incredibly small we're talking

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<v Speaker 1>like usually on the nano scale, really um something that

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<v Speaker 1>or it can be that small and uh it just

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<v Speaker 1>it the nozzle scans from one side of the paper

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<v Speaker 1>to the other and sprays, and as it sprays, that's

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<v Speaker 1>that's what's forming the text, you see. Well, it's the

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<v Speaker 1>same sort of principle with three D printing, except instead

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<v Speaker 1>of inc it's using some sort of material like a

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<v Speaker 1>resin or some sort of uh plastic kind of material

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<v Speaker 1>and a binding agent. It depends actually I've seen a

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<v Speaker 1>couple of different techniques, one that uses powder and another

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<v Speaker 1>that uses a liquid. Right, Yeah, it all depends on

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<v Speaker 1>there there are variations. In general, the way it works

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<v Speaker 1>is that you first create a three D model of

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<v Speaker 1>whatever it is you want to build in a program

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<v Speaker 1>like a like a CAD program on a computer. Um.

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<v Speaker 1>Then what most of these three D printers do is

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<v Speaker 1>they divide that picture that you've created, that model you've created,

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<v Speaker 1>into lots and lots and lots of layers, hundreds and

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<v Speaker 1>hundreds of them really, because the thickness of each layer

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<v Speaker 1>tends to be very very thin. It's it's really just

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<v Speaker 1>one layer of the of the ink jets printing. I

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<v Speaker 1>guess that's what you could call it. So interrupted ahead,

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<v Speaker 1>think of it as an egg slicer, if you, like,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, put the egg down and you slice it up.

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<v Speaker 1>It only very very fine slices. It's the computer is

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<v Speaker 1>doing that in order to print it on this three

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<v Speaker 1>D printer, right the cross sections exactly. Yeah. So it

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<v Speaker 1>does this layer by layer and it prints and until

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<v Speaker 1>it's finished with the object that you're creating. And because

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<v Speaker 1>there's the binding agent or the material itself is binding

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<v Speaker 1>in nature, um, it actually clings together and eventually creates

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<v Speaker 1>this three dimensional object. You might think, well, how long

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<v Speaker 1>does that take? Turns out not very long at all. Really, um,

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<v Speaker 1>Even back in the early days of three D printing,

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<v Speaker 1>it was much faster to use this method than other

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<v Speaker 1>comparable methods. Uh. And I've seen figures of depending on

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<v Speaker 1>the complexity of the objects you're creating in the size

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<v Speaker 1>of it tends to be between half an hour to

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<v Speaker 1>two hours, depending on the again the size and complexity.

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<v Speaker 1>M M. Do you want to talk about the different

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<v Speaker 1>types the powder and the liquid thing? Yeah, go ahead, okay, UM, Well,

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<v Speaker 1>the one that I first saw when I was starting

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<v Speaker 1>to do my research for the podcast was this stereolithographic technique,

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<v Speaker 1>which is basically it's the liquid that they pour into

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<v Speaker 1>a big I think of it as a big tub,

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<v Speaker 1>I guess, although I guess it wouldn't have to necessarily

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<v Speaker 1>be large, It just has to be big enough to

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<v Speaker 1>contain the liquid. The laser is shown onto the resin,

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<v Speaker 1>and every place that the laser touches hardens, so that's

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<v Speaker 1>how it forms the pattern. And then it that that

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<v Speaker 1>becomes a layer and one of the layers that eventually

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<v Speaker 1>makes up the three D So it starts as a

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<v Speaker 1>liquid resin which is hardened by a laser into one

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<v Speaker 1>of the layers that eventually becomes up at the model

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<v Speaker 1>right right, So what you do is you you scan

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<v Speaker 1>the laser across and it traces whatever the shape is

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<v Speaker 1>of the that layer. Then usually there is a process

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<v Speaker 1>where I think of it like a squeegee. Uh, something

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<v Speaker 1>comes across and wipes off the excess resin at that

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<v Speaker 1>point so that the next layer can be built up.

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<v Speaker 1>The laser goes across again, it binds with the first layer.

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<v Speaker 1>You've now got a second layer. You do this hundreds

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<v Speaker 1>and hundreds of times until you've finished the object that

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<v Speaker 1>you're trying to create. Now, I should also point out

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<v Speaker 1>that stereo lithography is not the same thing as the

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<v Speaker 1>ink jet method we were talking about earlier. It's a

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<v Speaker 1>totally different kind of three D printing. Um. In fact,

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<v Speaker 1>some people would argue that it shouldn't be called three

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<v Speaker 1>D printing at all. It's still a form of rapid prototype.

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<v Speaker 1>But but yes, it is a very popular way of

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<v Speaker 1>creating a simple three D objects UM. And it is

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<v Speaker 1>pretty neat. I mean, it's just it's a laser that

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<v Speaker 1>once it comes into contact with the stuff, the stuff

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<v Speaker 1>goes from liquid to solids. That's just cool. But yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>so so yes, that's the liquid one you were talking about, right,

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<v Speaker 1>and then the the other uses a self adhesive powder

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<v Speaker 1>and you know it's um. Actually I had less on

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<v Speaker 1>So the powder, the powder. What happens is it gets

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<v Speaker 1>it gets put into the same sort of pattern and

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<v Speaker 1>it adheres to itself. It binds to itself. There's some

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<v Speaker 1>methods here where you will actually have to have a

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<v Speaker 1>base of some sort before you can start printing the shape.

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<v Speaker 1>So in other words, you can't just turn the printer

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<v Speaker 1>on and tell it to go. You have to have

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<v Speaker 1>some sort of foundation for the dust or liquid to

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<v Speaker 1>adhere to um. So you might have a very basic cylinder,

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<v Speaker 1>for example, and the object itself is as much more

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<v Speaker 1>complex than that, with lots of curves or edges or whatever,

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<v Speaker 1>but it still has to have that that foundation to

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<v Speaker 1>cling onto before you can get started. That's some of

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<v Speaker 1>the printers require that. And uh, from what I understand

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<v Speaker 1>that that term is selective laser centering or s l S,

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<v Speaker 1>which is the name for that powder method. And then

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<v Speaker 1>something else it's kind of interesting, at least to me,

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<v Speaker 1>is that the three D models, when they have a

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<v Speaker 1>continuous surface like this, they're called watertight. That's sort of

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<v Speaker 1>I guess industry slang for you know the fact that

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<v Speaker 1>it's seamless how the model is made, rather than being

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<v Speaker 1>made into pieces. So yeah, you're not gonna find you're

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<v Speaker 1>not going to find that little line where two different

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<v Speaker 1>pieces come together and are glued that way what you

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<v Speaker 1>might have found with with old handmade versions where you

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<v Speaker 1>had to put together a lot of different sections by yourself.

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<v Speaker 1>And we're starting to see this more and more in

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<v Speaker 1>applications beyond just the prototype production. Um it's not just

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<v Speaker 1>something that's being used by gigantic companies like you. You

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<v Speaker 1>would see this normally in things like let's say you're

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<v Speaker 1>at a car manufacturer and you've come up with a

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<v Speaker 1>really cool design for a car, and you might want

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<v Speaker 1>a model of that of your design when you're showing

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<v Speaker 1>that to executives. So you would use this method in

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<v Speaker 1>order to create a model of the car design you

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<v Speaker 1>had created, so they're not just looking at a you know,

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<v Speaker 1>a three D image on a computer that can actually

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<v Speaker 1>see an object and and look at it from all

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<v Speaker 1>angles that way. Um. Well, now these three D printers

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<v Speaker 1>have gone into the realm of affordability for a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of smaller businesses. Now, when I say affordable. This is

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<v Speaker 1>a relative term, right, It's not something that is affordable

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<v Speaker 1>to the general consumer. Uh. You know, Joe Schmo with

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<v Speaker 1>his MacBook is not going to go out and get

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<v Speaker 1>a three D printer to sit next to his computer

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<v Speaker 1>at home. Uh, because Joe Schmo probably can't shell out

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<v Speaker 1>grand for a three D printer, and that's for a

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<v Speaker 1>cheap one. Yeah. The the average now is about somewhere

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<v Speaker 1>between fifteen thousand and two d and fifty dollars for

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<v Speaker 1>a three D printer range. Although there are some desktop

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<v Speaker 1>ish printers that are starting to come down below five

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<v Speaker 1>thousand dollars, it's still not the kind of money that

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<v Speaker 1>you're gonna, you know, fork over for your kids science

0:11:58.840 --> 0:12:01.079
<v Speaker 1>fair projects so that you can the three cool three

0:12:01.160 --> 0:12:04.679
<v Speaker 1>D printed thing. It's still a little You might be

0:12:04.720 --> 0:12:08.920
<v Speaker 1>a you might be a model train enthusiast, but I

0:12:09.000 --> 0:12:10.880
<v Speaker 1>doubt that you are an enthusiast at the point where

0:12:10.880 --> 0:12:13.960
<v Speaker 1>you're gonna drop grand on a printer that can print

0:12:14.000 --> 0:12:16.679
<v Speaker 1>a tree that you want. Although I don't know, maybe

0:12:16.760 --> 0:12:20.000
<v Speaker 1>you're Michael Jackson quality. He had a lot of model trains.

0:12:20.160 --> 0:12:25.079
<v Speaker 1>That's true anyway. Yeah, you know they used these in

0:12:25.120 --> 0:12:29.000
<v Speaker 1>a lot of different processes UM, some of which made

0:12:29.160 --> 0:12:33.679
<v Speaker 1>complete sense to me, like manufacturing and aerospace and motive UM.

0:12:33.800 --> 0:12:35.960
<v Speaker 1>One that I was a little surprised to see was footwear,

0:12:36.559 --> 0:12:38.200
<v Speaker 1>but I guess people like to see what the shoe

0:12:38.240 --> 0:12:41.120
<v Speaker 1>is gonna look like before the consumers get hold of it.

0:12:41.440 --> 0:12:44.520
<v Speaker 1>And uh in the arts uh. In fact, some of

0:12:44.559 --> 0:12:47.600
<v Speaker 1>them models for Cora line were built uh for him.

0:12:48.600 --> 0:12:51.800
<v Speaker 1>Nike founder Phil Knights company has uh. He had a

0:12:51.840 --> 0:12:56.080
<v Speaker 1>company called Laka and uh. Apparently that company was involved

0:12:56.120 --> 0:12:58.760
<v Speaker 1>with making some of the models for Coraline printed on

0:12:59.320 --> 0:13:02.520
<v Speaker 1>you know, three D printing technology, and the medical industry

0:13:02.720 --> 0:13:07.040
<v Speaker 1>is using them to print prosthetics, which is pretty cool.

0:13:07.080 --> 0:13:12.560
<v Speaker 1>And I remember reading at some point. I didn't find

0:13:12.559 --> 0:13:14.600
<v Speaker 1>it for this podcast, but I do remember reading an

0:13:14.679 --> 0:13:19.880
<v Speaker 1>article at one point about a former UM Microsoft executive,

0:13:19.920 --> 0:13:23.160
<v Speaker 1>someone who worked on Microsoft's video game division actually who

0:13:23.280 --> 0:13:26.840
<v Speaker 1>left the company and formed his own company UM that

0:13:27.200 --> 0:13:31.320
<v Speaker 1>was the partnered with World of Warcraft so that players

0:13:31.320 --> 0:13:34.720
<v Speaker 1>of World War Warcraft could send in pictures of their

0:13:34.840 --> 0:13:40.720
<v Speaker 1>character the essentially their character model, and have a figuring

0:13:41.120 --> 0:13:45.080
<v Speaker 1>created through three D printing of their their character. So

0:13:45.240 --> 0:13:46.840
<v Speaker 1>and it was using this method. It was using three

0:13:46.920 --> 0:13:50.640
<v Speaker 1>D printing to create models that were very specific to

0:13:51.559 --> 0:13:55.559
<v Speaker 1>the look of each individual World Warcraft character. So if you,

0:13:55.559 --> 0:13:57.559
<v Speaker 1>you know, had one of those busty elf chicks, you

0:13:57.600 --> 0:14:00.520
<v Speaker 1>could get a three D figuring of your bust yelf check.

0:14:00.920 --> 0:14:04.319
<v Speaker 1>All right, Yeah, not life size. Sorry to disappoint you, fellas.

0:14:05.480 --> 0:14:08.840
<v Speaker 1>Um it was actually like maybe three inches tall. But yeah,

0:14:09.120 --> 0:14:11.640
<v Speaker 1>you know, you can't have everything. If there were two

0:14:11.640 --> 0:14:15.160
<v Speaker 1>apples taller than they'd be smurf size Smurf size two

0:14:15.240 --> 0:14:16.960
<v Speaker 1>or three, And no, I think you're right at there's

0:14:17.000 --> 0:14:20.520
<v Speaker 1>three three apples tall. So anyway, yes, that was a

0:14:20.600 --> 0:14:25.080
<v Speaker 1>childhood well spent. So you know, uh, somebody there there

0:14:24.720 --> 0:14:28.880
<v Speaker 1>is the three D printing, the rapid prototyping technology has fans.

0:14:28.920 --> 0:14:30.760
<v Speaker 1>But you know, I was a little surprised to see

0:14:30.800 --> 0:14:33.880
<v Speaker 1>somebody who who's very popular in the world of design

0:14:33.960 --> 0:14:38.120
<v Speaker 1>right now, who isn't necessarily a fan. Yeah, Jonathan, I've

0:14:39.000 --> 0:14:44.280
<v Speaker 1>of apples saying that it's distancing designers from you know,

0:14:44.960 --> 0:14:47.960
<v Speaker 1>the idea of their physical artwork of you know, actually

0:14:48.000 --> 0:14:51.320
<v Speaker 1>doing it by hand. And so he, uh, he's apparently

0:14:51.320 --> 0:14:53.800
<v Speaker 1>not such a big fan. I can sort of see that,

0:14:53.840 --> 0:14:55.640
<v Speaker 1>I guess, I mean, I see that in the same

0:14:55.680 --> 0:14:59.120
<v Speaker 1>way that I see some animators who specialize in hand

0:14:59.160 --> 0:15:05.000
<v Speaker 1>drawn animation how they look down on computer generated animation. Uh,

0:15:05.200 --> 0:15:07.160
<v Speaker 1>not all of them do. I don't mean to say that,

0:15:07.360 --> 0:15:10.760
<v Speaker 1>And it's a very small number who who have voiced

0:15:10.800 --> 0:15:13.800
<v Speaker 1>any sort of negative opinion about the thing. But my

0:15:13.920 --> 0:15:17.360
<v Speaker 1>view is that it's really it's not so much the technique,

0:15:17.560 --> 0:15:20.680
<v Speaker 1>it's you know, how you how you put to use.

0:15:21.360 --> 0:15:24.520
<v Speaker 1>So as far as I'm concerned, it's just another tool,

0:15:25.160 --> 0:15:27.600
<v Speaker 1>and if someone is able to use that tool in

0:15:27.640 --> 0:15:31.440
<v Speaker 1>a creative way, then I see no real problem with it.

0:15:31.480 --> 0:15:33.720
<v Speaker 1>But then I'm not a designer, so I am not

0:15:33.760 --> 0:15:37.560
<v Speaker 1>an artiste. So perhaps that's uh, that's maybe it's because

0:15:37.560 --> 0:15:39.640
<v Speaker 1>I'm more of a you know, practical kind of guy

0:15:39.640 --> 0:15:43.680
<v Speaker 1>as opposed to a artistic kind of guy. I understand.

0:15:43.960 --> 0:15:45.760
<v Speaker 1>But I was also going to talk a little bit

0:15:45.840 --> 0:15:49.880
<v Speaker 1>about vic Oliver. I don't know, did you come across

0:15:49.920 --> 0:15:52.200
<v Speaker 1>vic Oliver when you were researching three D printing? I

0:15:52.240 --> 0:15:56.080
<v Speaker 1>did not. Okay, So vic Oliver he's heading this this

0:15:56.280 --> 0:16:01.800
<v Speaker 1>open source self copying three D printer project self Copying. Yes.

0:16:01.920 --> 0:16:04.280
<v Speaker 1>So the idea here is that to create a three

0:16:04.360 --> 0:16:07.520
<v Speaker 1>D printer that is capable of printing all of the

0:16:07.600 --> 0:16:11.360
<v Speaker 1>components that go into that three D printer, so that

0:16:11.760 --> 0:16:16.120
<v Speaker 1>in theory, you could create a machine that can replicate itself. Now,

0:16:16.120 --> 0:16:18.880
<v Speaker 1>granted it's going to replicate itself in various bits and pieces.

0:16:18.920 --> 0:16:21.360
<v Speaker 1>It'll still have to be assembled and wired and all that.

0:16:21.960 --> 0:16:26.120
<v Speaker 1>But in theory, with the methods that he's working on,

0:16:26.200 --> 0:16:28.880
<v Speaker 1>you would be able to create another printer, and that

0:16:28.920 --> 0:16:33.720
<v Speaker 1>would remove this barrier of price. Think about it, like,

0:16:33.800 --> 0:16:36.240
<v Speaker 1>you know, you, let's say like for the purchase price

0:16:36.240 --> 0:16:40.080
<v Speaker 1>of one printer and whatever materials you needed to feed

0:16:40.120 --> 0:16:43.080
<v Speaker 1>it through, like the plastic in the metal that you

0:16:43.080 --> 0:16:45.960
<v Speaker 1>would need to create more, you could then create another

0:16:46.000 --> 0:16:48.400
<v Speaker 1>printer and give that to your friend, and then the

0:16:48.440 --> 0:16:50.040
<v Speaker 1>two of you could each create a printer and give

0:16:50.040 --> 0:16:51.960
<v Speaker 1>that to two other friends, and they could give it

0:16:51.960 --> 0:16:54.720
<v Speaker 1>to two friends, and they two friends and so on

0:16:55.160 --> 0:16:58.200
<v Speaker 1>and so on. I'm really figured you were going to

0:16:58.240 --> 0:17:02.120
<v Speaker 1>go to that. Uh you That's the problem with that

0:17:02.240 --> 0:17:06.440
<v Speaker 1>is that there's no three D metal printing technology. Well,

0:17:06.560 --> 0:17:08.800
<v Speaker 1>that's what that's what they're working on. They're working on

0:17:08.840 --> 0:17:13.560
<v Speaker 1>this methodology that would allow you to use low metals

0:17:13.560 --> 0:17:16.119
<v Speaker 1>that have a low melting point, so you would have

0:17:16.160 --> 0:17:19.199
<v Speaker 1>a metal that could melt at a temperature that is

0:17:19.280 --> 0:17:23.359
<v Speaker 1>lower than the temperature required for the plastic to stay hard.

0:17:24.160 --> 0:17:27.840
<v Speaker 1>So you could actually line the plastic with metal and

0:17:27.880 --> 0:17:31.160
<v Speaker 1>it would all work fine. It wouldn't intermix, you wouldn't

0:17:31.200 --> 0:17:34.080
<v Speaker 1>have this hot metal melting the plastic you just generated.

0:17:34.640 --> 0:17:38.240
<v Speaker 1>And and granted now they're still working on it. They've

0:17:38.320 --> 0:17:42.840
<v Speaker 1>developed the nozzle metal system, but it's still a little

0:17:42.880 --> 0:17:49.160
<v Speaker 1>ways away from a full self replicable model. But I mean,

0:17:49.200 --> 0:17:51.640
<v Speaker 1>that's that is a pretty neat thing, because you think

0:17:51.640 --> 0:17:54.520
<v Speaker 1>about then, all right, well, how far away are we

0:17:54.600 --> 0:17:56.359
<v Speaker 1>to the point where we get to the Star Trek

0:17:56.400 --> 0:18:00.760
<v Speaker 1>world where you've got the replicators. I could use a

0:18:00.840 --> 0:18:04.000
<v Speaker 1>hot earl gray this afternoon. Yeah, I could have used

0:18:04.040 --> 0:18:08.639
<v Speaker 1>a an alternator for my wife's car. So you know,

0:18:10.000 --> 0:18:12.560
<v Speaker 1>we all have our our needs. But on the day

0:18:12.560 --> 0:18:15.120
<v Speaker 1>that we recorded this, the waterman busted outside and there's

0:18:15.119 --> 0:18:17.040
<v Speaker 1>a boil water order. And I really wanted a cup

0:18:17.080 --> 0:18:20.199
<v Speaker 1>of tea, I think because I couldn't. Yeah, I had

0:18:20.240 --> 0:18:22.879
<v Speaker 1>a cup of coffee before I found out about the

0:18:22.880 --> 0:18:25.879
<v Speaker 1>boil water order. So I'm expecting to either die or

0:18:25.920 --> 0:18:28.760
<v Speaker 1>develop superpowers before the end of this podcast. Sad thing

0:18:28.840 --> 0:18:31.200
<v Speaker 1>is he won't let me vote. No, No, it's pretty

0:18:31.240 --> 0:18:33.960
<v Speaker 1>much a coin flip situation here. It's not a democracy.

0:18:34.119 --> 0:18:39.000
<v Speaker 1>All right. Well, I'm pretty much done with a three

0:18:39.040 --> 0:18:41.440
<v Speaker 1>D printing. What about you? I am too, and thanks

0:18:41.440 --> 0:18:42.960
<v Speaker 1>to me for right now, because that's that was a

0:18:43.000 --> 0:18:44.800
<v Speaker 1>lot of fun to research. It was a really cool

0:18:44.840 --> 0:18:47.200
<v Speaker 1>topic and it was something I've been wondering about for ages.

0:18:47.240 --> 0:18:49.920
<v Speaker 1>In fact, as I a call that might have been

0:18:49.920 --> 0:18:53.320
<v Speaker 1>one of the first articles I pitched at how Stuff

0:18:53.359 --> 0:18:55.800
<v Speaker 1>Works when I started working here, although I never did

0:18:55.840 --> 0:18:57.879
<v Speaker 1>get the chance to actually write that one. So it

0:18:57.960 --> 0:19:01.520
<v Speaker 1>was cool to finally do the research so very much.

0:19:01.800 --> 0:19:04.639
<v Speaker 1>So y'all continue to write in about stuff that we

0:19:04.680 --> 0:19:08.639
<v Speaker 1>want to write about and read about. Right But this does, however,

0:19:08.720 --> 0:19:10.720
<v Speaker 1>bring me to something else we need to talk about.

0:19:11.480 --> 0:19:21.320
<v Speaker 1>But that would be listener me sabotage. Yeah yeah, listen

0:19:21.320 --> 0:19:26.520
<v Speaker 1>all y'all. So this listener mail comes from Jacob from Cleveland,

0:19:26.560 --> 0:19:29.199
<v Speaker 1>and it's actually a dual listener mail because it's not

0:19:29.320 --> 0:19:33.440
<v Speaker 1>just us, it's to our our bigger sister podcast stuff.

0:19:33.480 --> 0:19:35.840
<v Speaker 1>You should know it as well. So I thought it

0:19:35.880 --> 0:19:39.600
<v Speaker 1>was going to involve Aaron Burrn, No, not this time.

0:19:39.920 --> 0:19:43.880
<v Speaker 1>You Now you may recall several episodes ago, I laid

0:19:43.880 --> 0:19:46.119
<v Speaker 1>out a challenge to our listeners to create a spins

0:19:46.160 --> 0:19:50.320
<v Speaker 1>arian sonnet in our honor, and more than a few responded,

0:19:50.359 --> 0:19:53.359
<v Speaker 1>but Jacob's was the first. So here is Jacob's spins

0:19:53.440 --> 0:19:57.760
<v Speaker 1>Arian sonnet. Dear text stuff and stuff you should know

0:19:58.160 --> 0:20:01.840
<v Speaker 1>of request for sonnets. Not everyone forgets to Chris, John,

0:20:01.960 --> 0:20:05.280
<v Speaker 1>Josh or Chuck. These words should flow or anyone whom

0:20:05.280 --> 0:20:08.240
<v Speaker 1>this poem gets. I love the podcast for their humor

0:20:08.320 --> 0:20:11.760
<v Speaker 1>and wits, from bit Torrent to Einstein's brain, from listener

0:20:11.840 --> 0:20:15.199
<v Speaker 1>mail and corrections someone admits to make me laugh. You

0:20:15.359 --> 0:20:18.960
<v Speaker 1>all never refrain. In fact, you keep me from going insane.

0:20:19.280 --> 0:20:22.840
<v Speaker 1>All fans of stuff podcasts, you guys should impress from

0:20:22.840 --> 0:20:26.080
<v Speaker 1>all your episodes. There is knowledge to gain. How much

0:20:26.160 --> 0:20:29.240
<v Speaker 1>one can only guess a year of tech stuff, which

0:20:29.240 --> 0:20:31.960
<v Speaker 1>I adore, and from stuff you should know just a

0:20:32.000 --> 0:20:35.360
<v Speaker 1>little bit of time more ps tech stuff. I recommend

0:20:35.359 --> 0:20:38.359
<v Speaker 1>a Linux podcast. Well, Jacob, we've got all the next

0:20:38.400 --> 0:20:41.080
<v Speaker 1>podcast in the works for you. Uh, it's one of

0:20:41.119 --> 0:20:44.320
<v Speaker 1>those many others. Yes, there's actually quite a quite a

0:20:44.320 --> 0:20:47.720
<v Speaker 1>long list of topics that that is accumulating. You guys

0:20:47.720 --> 0:20:49.920
<v Speaker 1>are sending in requests faster than we can do podcasts,

0:20:50.000 --> 0:20:52.600
<v Speaker 1>which is awesome because we don't have to think about them.

0:20:52.640 --> 0:20:54.480
<v Speaker 1>But we've had a lot of requests for Linux, so

0:20:54.600 --> 0:20:56.880
<v Speaker 1>that will be coming in the near future. So keep

0:20:56.880 --> 0:21:00.879
<v Speaker 1>your ears peeled, I suppose or open yes, because you

0:21:00.880 --> 0:21:03.520
<v Speaker 1>would keep your eyes peeled. I don't even want to

0:21:03.520 --> 0:21:06.919
<v Speaker 1>think about that. What peeling your eyes or your ears either? Okay,

0:21:06.920 --> 0:21:09.720
<v Speaker 1>So if you have any requests or corrections or any

0:21:09.720 --> 0:21:12.400
<v Speaker 1>other comments, you can send those to our email address,

0:21:12.440 --> 0:21:16.360
<v Speaker 1>which is text stuff at how stuff works dot com.

0:21:16.400 --> 0:21:18.640
<v Speaker 1>And remember you can read all about printers and computers

0:21:18.680 --> 0:21:20.960
<v Speaker 1>and everything in between at how stuff works dot com

0:21:21.000 --> 0:21:24.160
<v Speaker 1>and we will talk to you again unless Chris has

0:21:24.160 --> 0:21:31.679
<v Speaker 1>something bad new pretty soon for moralness and thousands of

0:21:31.680 --> 0:21:34.520
<v Speaker 1>other topics. Does it how stuff works dot com and

0:21:34.560 --> 0:21:36.480
<v Speaker 1>be sure to check out the new tech stuff blog

0:21:36.680 --> 0:21:43.679
<v Speaker 1>now on the how Stuff Works homepage. Brought to you

0:21:43.720 --> 0:21:47.080
<v Speaker 1>by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera. It's ready, are

0:21:47.119 --> 0:21:47.359
<v Speaker 1>you