WIB: Wow. Would those curved surfaces allow you to “print” a hardened aircraft hangar?A slightly different mixture & all the soil could be turned to concrete, which will make the robotic Armageddon a lot more fun.
BK: Certainly. But you can do more. The Air Force has developed a geopolymer, a substance that when added to soil turns it into a concrete-like material. Now, it only requires a mixture of 5 percent geopolymer and 95 percent soil to create this material, and a basic Contour Crafting rig weighs only 500 pounds and can fit in a military aircraft. So rather than transport large amounts of cement, steel and other materials to a remote military outpost, they could carry only the Contour Crafting machine and a small amount of geopolymer, and quickly fabricate a secure, comfortable military fort.
(As a nihilist, we're not as interested in erecting structures as razing them, of course, but literally paving the entire planet seems a bit extreme. Or not. Really, who are we to judge?)
They'd make cool skateboard parks in Mad-Max world.
ReplyDeleteAlas, my brilliant comment has disappeared.
ReplyDeleteScrewed By The Publisher Editor Notes:
ReplyDeleteSo far. It's still in gmail, if you need it reproduced.
They'd make cool skateboard parks in Mad-Max world.
ReplyDeletePosted by Aunt Snow to Just Another Blog (From L.A.)™ at 12 May, 2011 07:46
See the cat? See the cradle?
ReplyDeleteScience Gone Too Far Editor Admits:
ReplyDeleteThought of ice-nine as we excerpted, but it's been so long we had to look up which book it was in.
You get nine points out of ten for catching the reference.
ReplyDelete