Former world-renowned physicist Richard Feynman and grandfather of the renaissance age of particles and esteemed colleagues brought the concept that the universe is a “spooky” place to laboratories and college campuses in the middle of the irregular zany decade that was the 1970’s, freight train of thought that is still going.
The axiom that things are not always what they seem, at least on a cosmic level in the post-Vietnam era, transformed researchers and scholars into rock stars boasting legions of eager groupies, if there is such a thing, chasing pen pockets and calculators in the span of decade, their fame reaching into households and the universal vernacular of what was talked about at the dinner table in the average culmination of a day. Apparently, sub-atomic particles were discovered to explain the periodic voids and discrepancies in mathematics and in many instances were named after pets, girlfriends, or exes and not necessarily in that order providing clarity and a reference to the inexplicable vagueness of singularities.
Skip ahead 4.5 decades and “spooky” now headlines the feast or famine ramifications of innovation gone wild as a PC housed in a suburban along with a device can now be transformed into a meticulous manufacturing array catering to the needs of the industrialized world with no shame or disrespect to the tenets of the free market. Unleash the cottage industry of the lucratively boutique as 3D printers know no bounds in empirical ingenuity. Similar to conjuring components of the quantum fabric during the pre-disco craze of Feynman’s kingdom, the DIY marketplace of micro-industries has morphed into frenzied country buffet feast of nicknames, narratives, handles and inuendo in attempting to quantify the unknown of an uncertain future. Reputation has once again reached the forefront of ideas and concepts that are solid in theory, yet weak in application.
Recently, the 3D printer revolution based chiefly in the shadows of major metro areas has shown the capability to produce physical products and materials adding at least to the supply chain in cumulative sense. Those trained in forging materials and parts can simply log onto their computers and devices in creating parts and materials vital for humanity that are not readily available in the retail space or the Home Depot’s of the nation. This scope of products includes everything imaginable including guns and medical devices.
While the firearm manufacturing capability of the printers has been a point of controversy which prompted a landmark legal ruling favoring and protecting the first two amendments, the emphasis on producing healthcare supplies has recently gained momentum in potentially revolutionizing the supply chain and quality of artificial human interfaces in lengthening lifespans and improving the base expectations of existing in this modern world where technology is becoming indistinguishable from magic.
This intriguing narrative of innovation has apparently led to droves of Chinese engineering as well as entrepreneurs racing to prime the 3D presses to print everything from heart valves to veritable composites for esthetic enhancements. Word has it that this phenomenon has reached across the Pacific Ocean and herds of undergraduates on college campuses have developed a complex group of industrial mechanisms calibrated to satisfy the supply chain of a marketplace with unlimited potential. However, the fact remains that 3D printers are only feasible if the raw printed material is available, which has not yet come into fruition.
While the preseason competition is fierce for cornering the forthcoming lucrative fortunes, the postering between the average DIY hobbyist and PHD level experience will decide the next phase of the game one generation from commercially propagating human organs through biological hosts, a revoluti0n that is both horrific and enthralling for the sake of evolution.
As the quantum leap towards cybernetics continues, the vast legacy of Feynman through identifying in attempting to prove the theory of everything continues to yield dividends in all facets of innovation and hopefully the advancement of civilization if the latter perversion is still a plausibility considering the volatility of the “Information Age”.