3D Printer

Science Fiction-style replications, as seen in TV shows like Star Trek¹, might be a step nearer to becoming reality. Digital technology means it's now possible to make 3D objects from downloaded designs.

Our reporter Li Dong has the details.

 These funky², scruffy-looking boxes don't look like much - but they could represent the future of manufacturing.

One small American group of inventors has come up with a digital device that will produce rigid³ objects, layer by layer, with extreme accuracy.

Brooklyn-based company MakerBot's prized invention, the Thing-O-Matic, "prints" objects in 3D. Once you have a design you want to copy, the process is simple, but ingenious, Chief Executive of MakerBot Industries, Bre Pettis explains:

"You put the design on an SD card or hook it up to your computer and then you press go on this interface⁴ board and then the material is here. This is ABS the same material Lego is made out of, so it's really strong. It goes down into the machine and gets heated up to 220 degrees Celsius⁵. It comes out like super, super fine angel hair spaghetti kind of like a glue gun, and it draws with it. When it's done drawing one layer, it lifts up and draws another layer. And just like that, layer-by-layer, your object begins to emerge until it's all done."

MakerBot creates objects that can measure up to 5 inches in width and diameter, with a hollow or solid interior depending on the design.

Bre Pettis says this high-tech⁶ gizmo allows users to print out anything from shower curtain rings or chess pieces or even busts⁷ of themselves.

"When people get a MakerBot, it's because they want to make something or they want to be part of the future where instead of buying things, you download them and so they print out a mix of practical objects, like coat hooks to wonderful things that give them satisfaction like puzzles and contraptions, gifts and busts of themselves. So it's a mix of practical and fanciful things."

The designer has taken some of his aspiring⁸ inventors and added them to the team. Marty McGuire is one of them. He used his computer skills to design the Thing-i-Verse, a site where users can share and download digital designs for their MakerBot.

"Thing-i-Verse is an online community where people from all over make digital designs for everything from 3D printable objects like bottle openers and my shower curtain rings up there all the way to laser-cut parts like book shelves and laptop stands and even to electronics. As these tools get better and as the community gets better with using them, we're seeing folks take things like, for instance when I uploaded my shower curtain rings within two days someone had taken that design and added spikes⁹ to it and said here is a spiky¹⁰ shower curtain ring - it looks really cool. But even beyond that, you know, one of the things that we've seen I think was a model uploaded that was called the 'Gangsta."

Some of the applications are playful, but McGuire says some companies use the technology to create prototypes - even NASA has a MakerBot.

The full potential of MakerBot lies in the future, as increasingly captivated clients devise new and previously¹¹ unimagined ways to use the device.

Pettis hopes that a new generation will use MakerBots to open their minds to the future.

For CRI, I am Li Dong.

1 trek   

vi.作长途艰辛的旅行；n.长途艰苦的旅行

参考例句：

• We often go pony-trek in the summer.夏季我们经常骑马旅行。
• It took us the whole day to trek across the rocky terrain.我们花了一整天的时间艰难地穿过那片遍布岩石的地带。

2 funky   

adj.畏缩的，怯懦的，霉臭的；adj.新式的，时髦的

参考例句：

• The kitchen smelled really funky.这个厨房有一股霉味。
• It is a funky restaurant with very interesting art on the walls.那是一家墙上挂着很有意思的绘画的新潮餐馆。

3 rigid   

adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的

参考例句：

• She became as rigid as adamant.她变得如顽石般的固执。
• The examination was so rigid that nearly all aspirants were ruled out.考试很严，几乎所有的考生都被淘汰了。

4 interface   

n.接合部位，分界面；v.(使)互相联系

参考例句：

• My computer has a network interface,which allows me to get to other computers.我的计算机有网络接口可以与其它计算机连在一起。
• This program has perspicuous interface and extensive application. 该程序界面明了，适用范围广。

5 Celsius   

adj.摄氏温度计的，摄氏的

参考例句：

• The temperature tonight will fall to seven degrees Celsius.今晚气温将下降到七摄氏度。
• The maximum temperature in July may be 36 degrees Celsius.七月份最高温度可能达到36摄氏度。

6 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。

7 busts   

半身雕塑像( bust的名词复数 )； 妇女的胸部； 胸围； 突击搜捕

参考例句：

• Dey bags swells up and busts. 那奶袋快胀破了。
• Marble busts all looked like a cemetery. 大理石的半身象，简直就象是坟山。

8 aspiring   

adj.有志气的；有抱负的；高耸的v.渴望；追求

参考例句：

• Aspiring musicians need hours of practice every day. 想当音乐家就要每天练许多小时。
• He came from an aspiring working-class background. 他出身于有抱负的工人阶级家庭。 来自辞典例句

9 spikes   

n.穗( spike的名词复数 )；跑鞋；（防滑）鞋钉；尖状物v.加烈酒于( spike的第三人称单数 )；偷偷地给某人的饮料加入（更多）酒精（ 或药物）；把尖状物钉入；打乱某人的计划

参考例句：

• a row of iron spikes on a wall 墙头的一排尖铁
• There is a row of spikes on top of the prison wall to prevent the prisoners escaping. 监狱墙头装有一排尖钉，以防犯人逃跑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 spiky   

adj.长而尖的，大钉似的

参考例句：

• Your hairbrush is too spiky for me.你的发刷，我觉得太尖了。
• The spiky handwriting on the airmail envelope from London was obviously hers.发自伦敦的航空信封上的尖长字迹分明是她的。

11 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。