Scientists Create World's First 3D-Printed 3D Printer

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Scientists Create World's First 3D-Printed 3D Printer

Posted by samzenpus on Monday April 1, 2013 @09:23AM from the matryoshka-machines dept.

MikeChino writes "Researchers at Germany's Doppelbock University just opened the door to the future of rapid prototyping technology by developing the world's first 3D-printed 3D printer. Dubbed the Ecophage, the duplicitous device is capable of using readily available materials to create copies of itself – albeit at a slightly smaller scale. Best of all, it's outfitted with a built-in material re-processor that can convert virtually any carbon-based substance into filament for 3d-printing."

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I get it! by keith_nt4 · 2013-04-01 09:28 · Score: 1

How long before all our water is alcohol?
Or is this a reference to something else?

--
"UNIX is very simple, it just needs a genius to understand its simplicity." -Dennis Ritchie
1. Re:I get it! by Marxist+Hacker+42 · 2013-04-01 09:30 · Score: 1
  
  12 generations to legs- that's pretty swift evolution.
  
  --
  SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
meh by caiocaiocaio · 2013-04-01 09:33 · Score: 1

Not bad, but I'm still waiting for the April 1st where MADD says "I've you've just had a couple beers, you're still probably good to go."
Interesting by The+Grim+Reefer · 2013-04-01 09:34 · Score: 1

the duplicitous device is capable of using readily available materials to create copies of itself – albeit at a slightly smaller scale.
I propose we give these printed "offspring" citizenship. Frankly a 3-D printer has to be more intelligent than anyone on Jersey Shore. And if these progeny can also 3D print, they are contributing more to society than anyone I've seen in reality shows.
1. Re:Interesting by tehcyder · 2013-04-02 00:21 · Score: 1
  
  You are aware that this story is a joke, right?
  
  --
  To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
2. Re:Interesting by The+Grim+Reefer · 2013-04-02 03:04 · Score: 1
  
  You are aware that this story is a joke, right?
  Yes, of course. My post was intended as a joke, even though it is sadly true.
For Fuck's Sakes by sanman2 · 2013-04-01 09:34 · Score: 5, Insightful

Can we just skip this April Fools shit from now on? It's just a fucking waste of time.
No really, it's gotten really old, and there's no giggle value in it anymore. I'd just like to be able to tune in like every other day, and get my usual news. This Prank-Tee-Hee-Hee thing has totally jumped the shark, and nowadays it's just a nuisance.
1. Re:For Fuck's Sakes by shaitand · 2013-04-01 09:54 · Score: 2
  
  You are forgetting the giggle value derived from watching you lose your cool.
2. Re:For Fuck's Sakes by SternisheFan · 2013-04-01 10:13 · Score: 1
  
  Can we just skip this April Fools shit from now on? It's just a fucking waste of time.
  Agreed. Happening right now is a story about Apple CEO Tim Cook apologizing to the people of China for not providing a 2 year warranty on iPhones. This is breaking "News That Matters", dammit! How can Slashdotters be expected to properly vent their feelings on this highly charged issue?!!!
3. Re:For Fuck's Sakes by Maxo-Texas · 2013-04-01 10:18 · Score: 1
  
  I'm not sure if it's more giggle or guffaw.
  I got some smiles and laughter out of the various sites today.
  The world is such a horrible place, I'm glad they took .33% of the year out to bring some joy into the world.
  
  --
  She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
4. Re:For Fuck's Sakes by sribe · 2013-04-01 10:18 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Can we just skip this April Fools shit from now on? It's just a fucking waste of time.
  No really, it's gotten really old, and there's no giggle value in it anymore. I'd just like to be able to tune in like every other day, and get my usual news. This Prank-Tee-Hee-Hee thing has totally jumped the shark, and nowadays it's just a nuisance.
  Every fucking geek blogger is trying to be funny to day, and most of them are failing. When I want humor, I know how to go to www.theonion.com.
5. Re:For Fuck's Sakes by crakbone · 2013-04-01 10:47 · Score: 1
  
  " intellectual value of the internet drops 90% on april 1st" It's the internet dropping the intellectual value is like dividing by zero.
6. Re:For Fuck's Sakes by thegarbz · 2013-04-01 12:04 · Score: 1
  
  No really, it's gotten really old, and there's no giggle value in it anymore. I'd just like to be able to tune in like every other day, and get my usual news.
  Easy solution, just align your every other day to skip April 1st next year.
7. Re:For Fuck's Sakes by Barefoot+Monkey · 2013-04-01 12:28 · Score: 2
  
  The Onion needs to find and publish on the 1st of April a notable and mildly implausible story which is completely true but all the other news sources are waiting for the 2nd to report (for obvious reasons). That would be one of the best April Fools pranks.
8. Re:For Fuck's Sakes by tqk · 2013-04-01 16:36 · Score: 1
  
  You are forgetting the giggle value derived from watching you lose your cool.
  That's pretty much what I just said in another story. "It's NOT FUNNY!!!111" , ALL DAY LONG! Yuk, yuk, yuk. Poor babies. :-)
  
  --
  "Tongue tied and twisted, just an Earth bound misfit ..." -- Pink Floyd.
9. Re:For Fuck's Sakes by tehcyder · 2013-04-02 00:14 · Score: 1
  
  You are forgetting the giggle value derived from watching you lose your cool.
  That's called trolling, asshat.
  
  --
  To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
10. Re:For Fuck's Sakes by tehcyder · 2013-04-02 00:18 · Score: 1
  
  The world is such a horrible place, I'm glad they took .33% of the year out to bring some joy into the world.
  It's .28%
  
  --
  To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
11. Re:For Fuck's Sakes by shaitand · 2013-04-02 04:04 · Score: 1
  
  On April fools Slashdot trolls YOU!
12. Re:For Fuck's Sakes by Darinbob · 2013-04-02 06:44 · Score: 1
  
  This one's pretty funny I thought. Slashdot doesn't write these, it is just collecting the stories from other sites. And Slashdot is not the only site doing this.
  This day happens every year, people have had enough advance warning. If serious people want to do serious stuff instead they should spend the day doing their taxes, visiting a marriage counselor (probably long overdue), or having a colonoscopy (they're funnier than they sound).
And then it printed a very strange message by NoNonAlphaCharsHere · 2013-04-01 09:35 · Score: 1

Something about "All these worlds are yours, except something-or-other"...
1. Re:And then it printed a very strange message by neminem · 2013-04-01 09:38 · Score: 2
  
  Funny, I was thinking it would have printed, "yo dawg, I heard you like 3d printing, so I 3d printed you a 3d printer so you can 3d print while you 3d print."
I liked this story better before... by CptNerd · 2013-04-01 09:38 · Score: 2

I liked this story before, when it was called "Autofac" by Philip K. Dick.

--
By the taping of my glasses, something geeky this way passes
ROT13 = Total Suckitude by bstarrfield · 2013-04-01 09:42 · Score: 3, Insightful

Hello, I'll blow good karma
This ROT13 crap does nothing worthwhile. It's not funny, it's not clever, God, it's not even interesting. Yes, it will go away tomorrow, but the bloody editors should just drop it. Damn it, off to Reddit.

--
/* Dang, I can't type that well. */
1. Re:ROT13 = Total Suckitude by agm · 2013-04-01 09:46 · Score: 2
  
  They should at least take into account the local time of the reader. April 1st was yesterday.
2. Re:ROT13 = Total Suckitude by DogDude · 2013-04-01 10:05 · Score: 1
  
  Yes, it will go away tomorrow, but the bloody editors should just drop it. Damn it, off to Reddit.
  
  Reddit? Really? That's like saying, "Aw shucks. My favorite pizza place is closed. I'm off to eat dog shit, instead."
  
  --
  I don't respond to AC's.
3. Re:ROT13 = Total Suckitude by TheSeatOfMyPants · 2013-04-01 10:10 · Score: 1
  
  I agree... I look forward to April Fool's jokes each year, and can see how this one would be great fun if we were kids playing an April Fool's Joke on a teacher, or perhaps close friends that have a playful sort of rivalry -- but when it's just an anonymous change making a website a PITA to read without a bookmarklet, it's a lot less entertaining.
  
  --
  Now mostly at Usenet:comp.misc & SoylentNews.org (it's made of people!)
4. Re:ROT13 = Total Suckitude by TheSeatOfMyPants · 2013-04-01 10:14 · Score: 1
  
  Adding: To be fair, I *do* find some of the headlines quite funny, and most of us already get a better gist of the article contents from reading other people's comments...it's just the presentation drags it down.
  
  --
  Now mostly at Usenet:comp.misc & SoylentNews.org (it's made of people!)
5. Re:ROT13 = Total Suckitude by Anonymous Coward · 2013-04-01 10:19 · Score: 1
  
  I like it. I know which is which. The dumb stuff is the corporate viral marketing that has seemed to attach itself to this.
6. Re:ROT13 = Total Suckitude by sl3xd · 2013-04-01 10:59 · Score: 1
  
  Local time is irrelevant.
  Being a sophisticated internetizen, realize "April Fool's" is fair game as long as there's some place on this planet where the date is still April 1. At the time of this posting, the sun is still many hours from setting on April 1.
  Given the way the international date line is drawn, the same sunrise on April 1st (in Tonga) was the same sunrise as Mar 31st in Alaska's Aleutian Islands. What's more: The Sun shone in Tonga on April 1 before the Sun rose for Mar 31 in Alaska.
  So deal with it. If you live in Tonga, it will be April 3 for a short time before April 1 ends in the US.
  
  --
  -- Sometimes you have to turn the lights off in order to see.
7. Re:ROT13 = Total Suckitude by sl3xd · 2013-04-01 11:01 · Score: 1
  
  I find it entertaining to laugh at chumps like you who can't let things go; so it's funny and worthwhile to me.
  
  --
  -- Sometimes you have to turn the lights off in order to see.
8. Re:ROT13 = Total Suckitude by agm · 2013-04-01 11:09 · Score: 1
  
  April fools days is April the 1st, not April the 2nd. It was yesterday. It's not "proper" to prank someone after noon on April the 1st.
  Not that it matters. I won't be reading any slashdot articles until the stop the silly ROT13 silliness.
9. Re:ROT13 = Total Suckitude by agm · 2013-04-01 12:20 · Score: 1
  
  It doesn't apply to everyone. Slashdot know our time zone (it's in our preferences). It would not be too difficult for them to only apply the April Fool's silliness for those that are still at April the 1st.
10. Re:ROT13 = Total Suckitude by antdude · 2013-04-01 12:26 · Score: 1
  
  Reddit has its uhh "achievements" which are annoying. I don't know what is the point of that since nothing happens?
  
  --
  Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
11. Re:ROT13 = Total Suckitude by Darinbob · 2013-04-02 06:47 · Score: 1
  
  As long as someone on the planet doesn't appreciate the joke, then it's April Fool's Day somewhere.
Grey Goo is coming by anastasd · 2013-04-01 09:46 · Score: 1

Save yourselves!
I BET ADVERTISERS LOVE THIS. by brainproxy · 2013-04-01 09:48 · Score: 1

eof
Would reverse psychology work? by Pluvius · 2013-04-01 09:48 · Score: 1

I mean, if we all got together at the end of the day and declared that Slashdot has given us the best April Fools' Day celebration ever and that they could never possibly top it in a million lifetimes, would it convince them to stop?
Rob
Rot proofing sentances by WaffleMonster · 2013-04-01 09:48 · Score: 2

Is it possible to create a coherent sentance which rot13's into a different equally coherent sentance?
I tried and failed miserably...
She try or envy tang abba one reef rat
Fur gel be rail gnat noon bar errs eng
1. Re:Rot proofing sentances by K.+S.+Kyosuke · 2013-04-01 09:50 · Score: 2
  
  Is it possible to create a coherent sentance which rot13's into a different equally coherent sentance?
  Only if you speak Welsh. (Or so I heard.)
  
  --
  Ezekiel 23:20
2. Re:Rot proofing sentances by khallow · 2013-04-01 10:14 · Score: 2
  
  Protip: it helps more if you can't.
3. Re:Rot proofing sentances by swilde23 · 2013-04-01 15:41 · Score: 2
  
  She nag nowhere!
  i.e. Fur ant abjurer
  I hate fur and abjurers
  
  --
  There are 10 types of people in the world. Those that understand this sig, and those that beat up people who do.
Idiots by Anonymous Coward · 2013-04-01 09:49 · Score: 1

Every year, Slashdot reminds me I'm better off with other reliable sources. This isn't even funny any more, it's childish and annoying.
Rep Rap by SaXisT4LiF · 2013-04-01 09:52 · Score: 4, Informative

I get that this is April Fools joke, but it might be worthwhile to mention that there is a real project aimed at accomplishing this goal: RepRap.

--
Fight or flight its all the same
Live to die another day

--Ryan
I, for one, welcome... by Alex+Belits · 2013-04-01 09:53 · Score: 1

I, for one, welcome our new 3d-printed overlords. I'd like to remind them that as an engineer I can be helpful in improving all aspects of their design from mechanical and electrical engineering to ASIC, FPGA and software development.

--
Contrary to the popular belief, there indeed is no God.
Re: i wasted 10 minutes this morning.. by DougOtto · 2013-04-01 10:22 · Score: 1

Maybe IT isn't for you?

--
Solving Unix problems since 1989...
not first, not funny by stenvar · 2013-04-01 10:36 · Score: 2

3D printing of 3D printers (i.e. self-replicating printers) is the goal of a number of projects, including the Reprap project. Most of the structural parts are printable. People are working on open source printable electronics. Chips and actuators can't be easily printed yet.
Powerless by Ken_g6 · 2013-04-01 10:40 · Score: 2

Even if a 3D printer were "outfitted with a built-in material re-processor that can convert virtually any carbon-based substance into filament for 3d-printing", it would need a power source too. I recall once seeing a plan for an automated wheeled vehicle that would collect and burn plants for fuel. (I searched but can't find the original source.) But it would have to roam far and wide to get enough to make a copy of itself.

--
(T>t && O(n)--) == sqrt(666)
Re: i wasted 10 minutes this morning.. by dwywit · 2013-04-01 11:10 · Score: 1

Indeed - someone who can't recognise ROT-13 at a glance probably needs to expand their education a bit.

BIT, geddit? I'm such a funny fellow.....

--
They sentenced me to twenty years of boredom
No problem by ChrisMaple · 2013-04-01 11:50 · Score: 1

It's limited by Zeno's Paradox.

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Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
Re:My Mac sucks by tehcyder · 2013-04-02 00:28 · Score: 1

This is a well known old slashdot troll.
It's also about 4 trillion times funnier than the crap here today.

--
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it