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US Military Working On 3D Printing Exact Replicas of Bones & Limbs

Posted by samzenpus on from the brand-new-you dept.

ErnieKey writes The U.S. military is working with technology that will allow them to create exact virtual replicas of their soldiers. In case of an injury, these replicas could be used to 3D print exact medical models for rebuilding the injured patient's body and even exact replica implants. Could we all one day soon have virtual backups of ourselves that we can access and have new body parts 3D printed on demand?

80 comments

  1. that movie by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Hey I remember that movie!

    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt00...

    1. Re:that movie by newbie_fantod · · Score: 1

      ...or maybe http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RoboCop

    2. Re:that movie by davester666 · · Score: 3, Funny

      Yes. It really is scary seeing a soldier run towards you waving bones in the air. Obviously, he's finished with that person and looking for his next meal.

      --
      Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
    3. Re:that movie by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or Maybe http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fifth_Element. 3D printed Milla Jovovich sounds pretty good.

    4. Re:that movie by srmalloy · · Score: 1

      The overview of the movie has a typo in it. It should read "Politicians scheme to clone themselves, assuring immoral life."

    5. Re:that movie by BoogieChile · · Score: 2

      I have found this humerus!

  2. Exact replicas of Bones by rossdee · · Score: 4, Funny

    It will look so much like the real McCoy, they will be able to use it in the next Star Trek film

    1. Re:Exact replicas of Bones by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 1

      It will look so much like the real McCoy, they will be able to use it in the next Star Trek film

      I'm thinking that they are researching another type of "Bone", that some males experience in dreams or in the morning in Mom's basement.

      I was always suspicious over that children's song, where they sang "Give a dog a bone!"

      "I'm a doctor, Jim, not a bestiality fetishist!"

      --
      Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
    2. Re:Exact replicas of Bones by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm thinking that they are researching another type of "Bone", that some males experience in dreams or in the morning in Mom's basement.

      Nah. The sex toy industry is well past that one. They just use molds. Not limited to just the male subjects either.

    3. Re:Exact replicas of Bones by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I nearly shatnered my pants reading that.

    4. Re:Exact replicas of Bones by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I hope you're not allowed to have dogs or children...

    5. Re:Exact replicas of Bones by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "I was always suspicious over that children's song, where they sang "Give a dog a bone!""

      This old man
      He played one
      He played nick knack
      up my bum

    6. Re:Exact replicas of Bones by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I was hoping for some more Riker on Riker...

  3. Holy shit! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    Could we all one day soon have virtual backups of ourselves that we can access and have new body parts 3D printed on demand?

    This is the most retarded thing I've read on /. in a while and that's including the article that started with the premise that "everyone today needs to be an app developer". Ugggh...

    1. Re:Holy shit! by gweihir · · Score: 1

      Indeed. Convergence towards a stupidity-singularity seems to be in progress...

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    2. Re:Holy shit! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I expect nothing of substance when I see "3D printing". You should adjust your expectations likewise.

    3. Re:Holy shit! by drinkypoo · · Score: 0

      On one hand, it is dumb. On the other hand, it would be convenient to have scans of the skeletal structure ahead of time. On the gripping hand, if you're making a new part anyway, why not do better than the original? That is, base it on the one on the other side, then make it the ideal shape and size to balance the body? If it's a little different from the original, the patient will cope. Unless, of course, the other side is defective or damaged...

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    4. Re:Holy shit! by khallow · · Score: 1

      What makes it retarded as opposed to an interesting direction given the present and improving ability to print replacement body parts?

    5. Re:Holy shit! by TWX · · Score: 1

      Yep. This is not a 3d printing application, at least based on current 3d printing technology. This is an application for machining a negative mold on a mill, then hydroforming a hollow shape in that mold similar to how modern light truck frames are hydroformed, and filling the hollow core of that part with the correct material. Bones need to be both extremely strong and fairly light weight, and they need to be completely medically sanitary and built in such a way that the body will accept them.

      I'm mildly curious if the military would like to put repaired service personnel back into action if such six-million-dollar-man repairs prove practical in the long term.

      --
      Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
    6. Re:Holy shit! by ColdWetDog · · Score: 2

      The entire premise is ridiculous. The *bone* part isn't important. You can make a perfectly cromulent 'bone' with titanium pieces parts. The BIG issue is attaching the muscles and getting them to work, reattaching the nerves and blood vessels that presumably went missing when the IED popped off. Just filling up an arm or leg with a static printed / milled / molded whatever is going to be OK only if you are laying out a corpse for viewing.

      You are much better off spending the time and money to figure out how to regenerate everything. Of course, that's orders or magnitude harder than 3D printing something that low end factories in India have been churning out for centuries (anatomically correct skeletons, no not THAT anatomically correct).

      This is getting silly.

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
    7. Re:Holy shit! by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 1

      On one hand, it is dumb.

      Why is it dumb? Recruits are already given a physical exam, and doing a body scan and saving the result would cost little.

      On the other hand, it would be convenient to have scans of the skeletal structure ahead of time.

      So then, it is not dumb?

      The only problem I see, is that many recruits are not done growing. When I enlisted at 18, I was 5'9" and weighed 130 lbs. When I was discharged four years later, I was 6'0" and weighed 165 lbs.

    8. Re: Holy shit! by tysonedwards · · Score: 1

      Musculature shapes bone development. While very similar, the radius and ulna are not identical between two arms because people are not typically ambidextrious, and will naturally favor one over the other. Having a mirror is obviously a good place to start with, but not a great answer as the musculature will be slightly different lengths, strengths, and attachment ridges upon which they hang. Inferring what those differences should be and computing them is a non-trivial task. Having a known good sample that all are expected to participate in is a trivial task, comparitively as it can be completed during regularly scheduled physicals prior to deployment.

      --
      Thirty four characters live here.
    9. Re:Holy shit! by ColdWetDog · · Score: 1

      Yeah, it's dumb. Whole body MRIs take a long time and are expensive, even if you factor out the tendency to overcharge everything by a factor of ten in American Medicine. If you use CT as a medium, you are needlessly exposing people to radiation. Data storage isn't cheap. The infrastructure to get the data to the field (or even a different hospital) isn't cheap. It won't do anything useful. As has been noted several times already, bones aren't the big issue - it's the stuff that the bones are attached to.

      It's just a fantasy created by some idiot journalist and some other techno fetishists.

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
    10. Re:Holy shit! by Half-pint+HAL · · Score: 1

      I expect nothing of substance when I see "3D printing". You should adjust your expectations likewise.

      When I see 3D printing, I expect plenty of substance, just sadly in a globby mess splodged over the printer bed...

      --
      Got them moderator blues I blieve I walk out the do', With these mod-points I been gettin', I 'most never post no mo'
    11. Re:Holy shit! by Half-pint+HAL · · Score: 1

      What makes it retarded as opposed to an interesting direction given the present and improving ability to print replacement body parts?

      The fact that a bone is a living organ, not a lump of cheese.

      --
      Got them moderator blues I blieve I walk out the do', With these mod-points I been gettin', I 'most never post no mo'
    12. Re:Holy shit! by matfud · · Score: 1

      Bones are not living. They are host to lots of living stuff but they are dead. There is lots of research and practice into building 3D frameworks for your body to grow back into. Not all three D printing is little plastic doodahs.

    13. Re:Holy shit! by khallow · · Score: 1

      The fact that a bone is a living organ, not a lump of cheese.

      Wow, that does sound pretty stupid. But weren't they planning to replace bone with things like titanium rather than things like cheese?

    14. Re:Holy shit! by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      If bones are not living, why do they become stronger if you do weight lifting?
      Why is bone loss a problem in long term space missions.
      How do bones grow back together if they break?

      All that nice magic ...

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    15. Re:Holy shit! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Bones are not the be-all end-all, but they're very important. (Say, just as important as nerves and blood vessels and what-have-you.) If you want to find out how important *just* the bone is, find someone who has lost a sizable segment of a long bone due to injury and ask them what they had to go through to get over it.

    16. Re:Holy shit! by khallow · · Score: 1

      Yeah, it's dumb. Whole body MRIs take a long time and are expensive, even if you factor out the tendency to overcharge everything by a factor of ten in American Medicine. If you use CT as a medium, you are needlessly exposing people to radiation. Data storage isn't cheap. The infrastructure to get the data to the field (or even a different hospital) isn't cheap. It won't do anything useful. As has been noted several times already, bones aren't the big issue - it's the stuff that the bones are attached to.

      Ok, what makes it dumb? Whole body MRIs aren't that significant an issue either in time or cost. The argument that CTs expose people "needlessly" to radiation is incorrect simply because there is an obvious need. US soldiers get injured all the time and sometimes those injuries destroy bone and other parts of the body.

      Data storage might not be cheap, but it's not expensive either. Same goes for data delivery infrastructure.

      As to the claim that it won't do anything useful, that's already been dealt with since we're rebuilding human bodies which is already known to be an activity with considerable value.

      As has been noted several times already, bones aren't the big issue - it's the stuff that the bones are attached to.

      And once that is solved, there will no doubt be further obstacles which we will solve in a similar fashion to our past problems.

      To summarize, I don't see at all why this idea is supposed to be dumb.

    17. Re:Holy shit! by Half-pint+HAL · · Score: 1

      Oblique calcium reference for anyone familiar with anatomy and physiology.

      The problem, I suppose, was the headline, not the article. If there is no bone left to regrow from (bones are incredibly good at healing themselves, unlike many other parts of the body), you can be damn sure there won't be any soft-tissue worth talking about either, so there's no need for "a bone". Replacing joints, which is what the article seems to be pointing more towards, is a different matter entirely.

      --
      Got them moderator blues I blieve I walk out the do', With these mod-points I been gettin', I 'most never post no mo'
  4. Altered Carbon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Or as Takeshi Kovacs called them: sleeves

  5. Replica? by chocho99 · · Score: 2

    Bones and hard tissues = easy. Vessels, nerves, supporting tissue = nigh impossible. If technology ever got to the point where we could do this, we wouldn't be using soldiers to do our fighting.

    1. Re:Replica? by gweihir · · Score: 1

      Exactly. And you cannot just rip out a bone and put in another one either. All the other stuff needs to be attached and put into it.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    2. Re:Replica? by DrunkenTerror · · Score: 1

      So we just outsource surgeon jobs to the 5th dimension? Problem solved, and we can probably make a pretty penny in the process.

    3. Re:Replica? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, and even bone replacement has to be localized and limited only since bones create blood and tons of other stuff! So not enough real bones = death! Well, for the purpose of fixing up a damaged soldier it should be OK. I can even see many civilian applications such as knee and hip replacement for the elderly, and in my case with flat feet, feet replacement (a long held dream).

      Bones provide much more than structure. They are awesome! :D

    4. Re:Replica? by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 2

      and you still have to pay off that student loan

    5. Re:Replica? by BasilBrush · · Score: 1

      Sure other stuff needs to be attached. But this isn't an issue. Bone replacement is a routine everyday operation.

    6. Re:Replica? by ColdWetDog · · Score: 1

      Not on the scale that these people are envisioning. What is being replaced now are joints - with great care to avoid damaging muscles, tendons and nerves. There are limited bone grafts done, you typically make a metal scaffold and stuff bits of hip bone in there and there are some more advanced scaffolding technologies being worked on. None of these require detailed anatomical models of the patient.

      There are replacements for skull parts being made by 3D printing but that can be done using a generic head model with some custom changes to fit the patient's dimensions. And the 3D printing just replaces CNC milling (for better or worse). And again, these replacement bones aren't actually bone, just plastic or metal designed to support and protect the rest of skull or whatever.

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
    7. Re:Replica? by jandersen · · Score: 1

      Bones provide much more than structure. They are awesome! :D

      My dog would definitely agree with you on that.

      However, although the technique is still in its infancy, it does seem very promising; there is already work being done on using 3D printing to produce functioning organs like kidneys and lungs, using living cells instead of plastics. It does not seem unreasonable at all to extrapolate this to include an ever widening range of organs over time - the hardest part will be nerve cells, I expect, not least because the cells can be so incredibly long. I think we may see the first, simple replacement organs in the next decade or so; you could even say we're already seeing the first examples: skin grafts made from a combination of artificial material and the patient's own cells: http://www.technologyreview.co...

  6. Why stop at bones and limbs? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I think a 3-d printed brain would be rather handy.

    1. Re:Why stop at bones and limbs? by gweihir · · Score: 1

      You could use it to distract zombies, agreed.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    2. Re:Why stop at bones and limbs? by retroworks · · Score: 1

      I was thinking about what could be done with 3D printed stem cells, soft tissue "printed" around the bone.

      --
      Gently reply
    3. Re:Why stop at bones and limbs? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "I think a 3-d printed brain would be rather handy."

      RTFA this is for _soldiers_ no brain needed.

  7. Cranium reconstruction is not uncommon by See+Attached · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Have seen a few cranial reconstruction implants made from MRI/CT to replace cranial defects from trauma and cancer etc. Amazing technology for sure. Beats the alternative by a huge margin. Doing a MRI of a soldiers body at induction might be a good resource when bad things happen? We need to stand behind our soldiers that go into harms way, in the many ways ...

    --
    Time for a new Political party in the US (or two!) One is off the rails Other cant pony up a leader.
    1. Re:Cranium reconstruction is not uncommon by matfud · · Score: 1

      Also think of reducing the health care costs of older or retired soldiers. Hip/knee/shoulder replacements. They do not have to have been blown up of shot or anything violent.

  8. Warm standby by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Warm standby?

  9. Movie by PPH · · Score: 2

    The Island

    Someone keeps swiping all the Scarlett Johansson spare parts to build their own copy.

    --
    Have gnu, will travel.
    1. Re:Movie by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 2

      The Island
      Someone keeps swiping all the Scarlett Johansson spare parts to build their own copy.

      Or a sadder, non-action-movie version, Never Let Me Go - based on the book by Kazuo Ishiguro.

      --
      It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
    2. Re:Movie by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Scarlett is more famous for her soft parts, than her 3d-printable bones.

  10. Would rather see research: respawning health packs by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 1

    ...cause that technology is about as magical as this silly notion:

    >> Could we all one day soon have virtual backups of ourselves that we can access and have new body parts 3D printed on demand?

  11. Question... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Unrelated, but made me think about something: is it really that the military develops technologies, or they just take whatever the tinkerers/specialized communities do/imagine and then improve it, or a mix of both things?

  12. Huh. Priorities? by rogoshen1 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Is this the same military which decided that armor was too expensive for humvee's, and that body armor was too expensive for soldiers?

    (It's a great idea, I just wonder how they'd ever pull it off.. an ounce of Kevlar is apparently NOT cheaper than a pound of 3d printed skeleton.)

    1. Re:Huh. Priorities? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ...Because body armor covers extremities. riiiiiight.

    2. Re:Huh. Priorities? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You do know that those things happened during a time when congress was proposing cutting their budget right?

      1. Funding is threatened by congress
      2. Don't give troops what they need, blame expense
      3. Constituents get mad at congress
      4. Budget is not just maintained, but increased

      profit addendum
      3a. Brass invests in military contractors
      4a. Profit goes to mil-industry complex

    3. Re:Huh. Priorities? by nospam007 · · Score: 1

      "Is this the same military which decided that armor was too expensive for humvee's, and that body armor was too expensive for soldiers?"

      This method will print the kevlar right onto the body parts.

    4. Re:Huh. Priorities? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think the point is if they aren't willing to pay to protect the critical organs of a soldier, why the hell would they do so in order to protect the more expendable parts?

    5. Re:Huh. Priorities? by Richard+Elmore · · Score: 1

      I was in the Army back in the 80's when the first Humvees were being rolled out and they offer way better protection than the hold Jeep's and CUCV M1009s (essentially a tricked out Chevy K5 Blazer) that they replaced. They were designed for different a battlefield than the one we fought on in Iraq and Afghanistan, a battlefield were the threats were much more potent and a few pounds of Kevlar underbody armor was not going to make a bit of difference.

      The Army _should_ have acted more quickly to upgrade or replace them with something that offered better protection against IEDs but that was not the fault of the people who designed the Humvee in the first place.

    6. Re:Huh. Priorities? by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      Armor for Humvees means they use a certain deal more fuel, all the time. Regardless where they are, what they do. So yes, that might be really expensive.

      Body armor is nice in movies (and nice in case it safes your life), otherwise it is overrated. No body armor makes you survive a direct hit of an modern infantry weapon, a grenade or a mojour explosion by anything.

      It only helps you butchering third world peons in places where you had no business anyway.

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
  13. In the year 2525 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    In the year 2525 they will just print whole soldiers.

    1. Re:In the year 2525 by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

      or just 3d print the bombs just before dropping them.

    2. Re:In the year 2525 by Half-pint+HAL · · Score: 4, Funny

      And thus WWIII was lost due to a Hewlett Packard printer cartridge that reported itself empty when it was still half full....

      --
      Got them moderator blues I blieve I walk out the do', With these mod-points I been gettin', I 'most never post no mo'
    3. Re:In the year 2525 by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

      and the HP ceo will be in gitmo

  14. Move your butts, US Oligarchs. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How about oligarchs move their own butts instead sending kids out to lose limbs in some war.

  15. 3D printed zombies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I, for one, welcome our 3D printed, paramiltarized, zombie overlords!

  16. Glad to hear it but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I am glad to hear they are trying to help on the medical end. But at this point, I would also like for them to help on their disability end too.

    Finding out the hard way, if you are dealing strictly with the Department of Veteran Affairs over a spinal injury without any secondary injuries, you have to have their doctors actually step out and go out of their way to vouch for you above and beyond for them to retire over it.Regardless of if it prevents you from working or not.

    You literally have to have half your back physically locked into place for a 50% rating and it takes a minimum of 60% to apply for unemployability Without the doctors actually having to take extra time on you for paperwork just to vouch for you since their medical documentation isn't enough.

    Kinda sucks spending half your life depending on your family for a roof over your head because they would rather you homeless and/or dead then to actually retire you.

  17. Re:Move your butts, non americans by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    How about everyone else stand up for themselves instead of letting the USA do all the hard work of protecting them from each other?

  18. Skeleton army by ljw1004 · · Score: 1

    Why would the US want to build a skeleton army?

  19. Yeah by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Can we just add a few inches to that appendage please.

  20. Blueprints and um, bones by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... new body parts 3D printed ...

    I'm photo-shopping my blueprints: So that my boner is bigger. I see a new industry in 'instant' body modification: Bigger breasts, or younger eyes, liver and kidneys.

  21. Leeloo Dallas Canon MultiPASS by tepples · · Score: 1

    So that's why she kept saying MultiPASS.

  22. Why the United States Always Loses Its Wars by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Why the United States Always Loses Its Wars

    Veterans Today on February 11, 2015

    We are the global village bully that's hated by much of the world.

    America loses all its wars because it seems we've always been on the wrong side of history. Morally nor legally should any nation have the right to invade and occupy another sovereign nation, much less believe it can achieve victory in long, protracted wars.

    Yet in violation of all ethical precepts and all international laws, the sole global superpower citing its impunity through exceptionalism hypocritically insists it can maintain its moral high ground in its relentless pursuit of regime changes anywhere it so chooses on earth. We are the global village bully that's hated by much of the world.

    And it's pure self-aggrandizing bullshit to perpetrate the myth that America is hated because of our "freedom," another rhetorical brainwashing lie. We now live in a fascist totalitarian police state run by a globalized crime syndicate of the central banking cabal. As of last April per a Princeton-Northwestern study the US has officially been designated an oligarchy.

    Last year after a group of ethnic Russians living in Crimea voted to become part of Russia, the Russian military claimed control over its own naval base there that the US-NATO had been lusting to steal after the unlawful overthrow of Ukraine's democratically elected sovereign government.

    Ever since it's been nonstop lies and propaganda propagated to demonize Putin as the aggressor when in fact all along it's the American Empire that's been recklessly pushing what could end up World War III against nuclear powered Russia. With US-NATO missiles installed on Russia's doorstep in virtually every former Soviet eastern bloc nation, hemming Russia in, who's really the aggressor here?

    The WMD lie that was the repeated mantra used as prewar drum beating propaganda to launch a war against humanity in Iraq a dozen years earlier is now being replayed as deja vu all over again to amnesic, dumbed down Americans. Despite defeats in both Iraq and Afghanistan still being dragged out as America's longest running wars in its history, the US-NATO war machine is once again prepping for yet more war raging now in Eastern Ukraine.

    The US government's rush to war hit a minor snag the other day when various European nations like France and Germany announced their opposition and refusal to send arms to the Ukraine government, wanting to give peace talks with Russia a chance. Today's headlines state that Obama has been forced to pause in his arms rush, not unlike the world turning against his rush a year and a half ago for air strikes in Syria after the false flag chemical weapons attack that was actually launched by US backed rebels.

    So it may not be full speed ahead for US Empire to ship its heavy weaponry to the eastern warfront after all. It is being reported that mercenaries speaking American English, Polish, French and Flemish are fighting for the Kiev government in Eastern Ukraine against ethnic Russians who are fighting for their independence, their home and their very survival. And with their backs up against the wall, recently the eastern Ukrainians have beaten back the Ukrainian government forces. Again, the US has a knack for being on the wrong side of history.

    No true victor can emerge from any war on either side. The incessant US aggressor boasting superior firepower as the most deadly, expensive military force on the planet (spending more than the next ten nations combined), America has little to show for itself as it has not won a single war in seventy years!

    Neo-colonialism cloaked in imperialism, balkanization, economic exploitation, debtors' theft, indentured servitude and enslavement can never be justified as the spoils of war. It's a losing proposition in every imaginable way, not only for the aggressive American Empire that keeps starting and losing war aft

    1. Re:Why the United States Always Loses Its Wars by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      TL;DR.

  23. Re:Move your butts, non americans by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How about everyone else stand up for themselves instead of letting the USA do all the hard work of protecting them from each other?

    LOL, good one!

  24. Re:Move your butts, non americans by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How about everyone else stand up for themselves instead of letting the USA do all the hard work of protecting them from each other?

    LOL, good one!

    The U.S. did save the world through its involvement in WWII. That, and we contribute the largest amount of foreign aid of any country. Look at our efforts to stifle the development of AIDS in Africa, even (especially in that case) under Bush. Or relief efforts in Haiti after the Earthquake, Japan after the Fukushima reactors, search and rescue for the downed Malaysian airlines flight.

  25. blah blah blah by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    yeah, biggest foreign aid on paper, in front of cameras and flashes. After year they never materialize.
    Fuck you masters of empty promises.

  26. Just like sci-fi... by berchca · · Score: 1

    http://thedriftwars.com/

  27. Giant robots? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So, how large can the new robot overlords make their next generation of battle robots? /military will be all clones and drones....

  28. US Military Propaganda by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why the hell is the article refering the us military? This stuff is being done by civilians as well. 3D printed bones, 3D printed organs. No need to advertise the people who actually run a business in breaking things.

  29. Is it still a person? by barbariccow · · Score: 1

    If you reconstruct a soldier, replacing every body part one by one until all body parts have been replaced, is it still the original soldier?