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The Pentagon's two-year Replicator program to develop a stockpile of drones has its skeptics in the private sector, mostly because of the lack of direct funding for it. "It's just very disorganized and confusing," a tech company executive told Politico, because it is "not actually associated with any dollars to make things happen." The program intends to help the U.S. catch up with China on autonomous weapons and technology. "For the first time ever from a military hardware perspective, we are five to seven years behind our near-peer adversaries in a critical kinetic piece of technology," a former defense official...

Photo-activated 3D printing isn’t exactly new but unlike previous devices that harden resin layer by layer, Berkeley’s 3D printer prints an object “all at once.” This means that the resulting objects are much smoother because there is no “stair-step” effect along the edges. Structurally, the printer’s objects are also more versatile, accommodating bendable objects or shapes that would otherwise require support, such as an arch, to hold it together. The “replicator” can also print over an existing object — such as the handle onto a metal screwdriver shaft. According to the researchers, led by Hayden Taylor, assistant professor of mechanical...

One day 3D printers will be able to churn out working electronics and fully-functional machines, instead of just plastic parts. And that day is now slightly closer with MIT CSAIL’s MultiFab 3D printer that can use ten different materials to build working devices in a single print run. For 3D printers to fully realize their Star Trek ‘replicator’ potential they can’t just be one part of the manufacturing process, they need to do it all. The holy grail of 3D printing is to one day let anyone recreate any device with a simple button press. We want to be able...

--IMAGE HERE-- The lower receiver of the gun pictured at the top of this article was not purchased from a licensed dealer, nor was it purchased from an individual. This lower was ‘printed’ using a 3D printer and it may spell the beginning of the end for the gun control movement. 3D ‘printing’ is an emerging technology that has been commercially available for some time but is only now achieving inroads into the consumer market. 3D ‘printers’ are in fact computer controlled material handling systems that lay down successive layers of polymer or other material based upon a computer model...

Tea, Earl Grey, hot. Those are the words spoken by Capt. Picard to the computer when he wants his favorite beverage replicated. While we're still a long ways away from that becoming reality, we're taking steps toward it. NASA will be taking that step when it takes a 3D printer up to the International Space Station in June 2014. MORE: How 3D Printing Will Save You

A group of engineers working on a novel manufacturing technique at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., have come up with a new twist on the popular old saying about dreaming and doing: "If you can slice it, we can build it." That's because layers mean everything to the environmentally-friendly construction process called Electron Beam Freeform Fabrication, or EBF3, and its operation sounds like something straight out of science fiction. "You start with a drawing of the part you want to build, you push a button, and out comes the part," said Karen Taminger, the technology lead for the...