I’m as big a geek as the next guy.....and I LUV anything mega-geeky like what THIS claims to be. But until I actually see one in operation I’ll classify it in the same category as the “3-D Printer” that has been making the rounds recently. If that thing is for real, I’m an eskimo brain surgeon! My Mama named me THOMAS, and I’ll believe BOTH of those crocks when I SEE them!
I don’t know what 3-D printer you are referring to, but there is a printer which can print out solid objects, one level at a time. They are used in industry to make models, etc.
I was using 3d printers back in 2005/2006 to make test models of surgical implants.
What is so unbelievable about 3D printers?? They've been around for quite a while. You can even find instructions on the net to build one for yourself. I watched one work on an interview with Jay Leno about his antique car collection. He uses it to duplicate no longer available pieces (not structural stuff.....decorative).
There’s a company about a block from here that does 3-d ‘printing’........It uses UV laser and a special liquid to create 3-D models of cad designs................the laser scans the surface of the liquid, turning on and off from a ‘slice’ of the object in memory. The liquid hardens when exposed to the UV. The platform then raises about 0.001 inch and then the next ‘layer’ is created. When it’s done, a complete 3-D model of your drawing is left standing on the platform..............
When you think about it, the old crystal radios did exactly this. The harnessed energy was the “demodulated” AM signal, which was used to drive headphones. It was indeed a radio that required no batteries.
All one has to do is 1) gather EM waves with an antenna (the more freqs the better - hence the broadband antenna, 2) rectify them (they’re AC), and 3) store them in a capacitor/battery of some sort.
The main problem (to me) is that normally available PN junctions (used to do the rectification) demand a few hundred millivolts potential to overcome the forward bias, whilst the signal available from the small antennae shown would not provide such a signal strength.
Perhaps he’s got rectification requiring only a few microvolts forward bias. If so, yup, he could pull this off.
“But until I actually see one in operation I’ll classify it in the same category as the “3-D Printer” that has been making the rounds recently”
3d printers exist. One type prints using plastic and will build up a model layer by layer.
I had a customer who could print on 3d objects. He could print pictures on things like footballs and hats.
I'm not sure if we're talking about the same thing, but "3D Modelers" have been in use by industries for a number of years, and these are sometimes called "3-D Printers." They create a 3D polymer model for prototyping, before actually creating the object on a CNC machine in metal.
Mark