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?)
7 comments:
They'd make cool skateboard parks in Mad-Max world.
Alas, my brilliant comment has disappeared.
Screwed By The Publisher Editor Notes:
So far. It's still in gmail, if you need it reproduced.
They'd make cool skateboard parks in Mad-Max world.
Posted by Aunt Snow to Just Another Blog (From L.A.)™ at 12 May, 2011 07:46
See the cat? See the cradle?
Science Gone Too Far Editor Admits:
Thought 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.
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