[p2p-research] 100 dollar ink-jet printer modded (synergism)

[Paul D. Fernhout]

Ryan Lanham wrote:
> The lowly inkjet touches yet another major field.  Apparently their was a
> lot of value in that very simple design.
> 
> http://www.physorg.com/news173950754.html

People have been modding 2D printers (and the cartriges) for some time to do 
various bio things.
   "'Organ Printing' Could Drastically Change Medicine"
   http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=1603783&page=1
""What we do is we modify -- it's a regular ink-jet printer -- but we do not 
use the paper-feed mechanism, so basically we just have a cartridge moving 
back and forth and where the paper goes we put a petri dish," explained 
Thomas Boland, an associate professor at Clemson University."

But this idea is especially cool if you generalize it. Speculating, imagine 
you could create a multi-step material production pathway by altering a 
gradient of bacteria somehow across a surface. So, you might put in a 
solution of something at one end (maybe even a few solutions at different 
points) and the bacteria might modify it all one step at a time and pass it 
across the surface?

Anyway, the general issue here is "convergence".
  http://www.dougengelbart.org/colloquium/forum/discussion/0126.html
"Intersections may happen sooner: power chips, DNA computers, bio chips. "

We are seeing the intersections of different advanced technology ideas, 
where the ideas synergetically (Bucky Fuller) enhance each other.
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synergism

Regular biological evolution can happen that way too, when an adaptation for 
one thing (feathers for thermal control?) might suddenly be used for another 
  purpose (feathers for gliding).
   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feather#Evolution

A similar thing may be happening genetically. Huge chucks of our DNA may be 
"silent" and mutate in various ways with no detriment, and then may be 
turned on and all of a sudden there may be some big change (usually death in 
the case of biological organisms, but sometimes rarely it might be something 
that helps with survival). Also, especially with bacteria, organisms may be 
exchanging genes in various ways to gain new functions.

For another example, (mentioned on the OM list recently) consider how the 
internet is suddenly changing the economics of universities:
"College for $99 a Month: The next generation of online education could be 
great for students—and catastrophic for universities."
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/college_guide/feature/college_for_99_a_month.php 


So, there are all sorts of things happening. And our competitive 
income-via-jobs-based economic system needs to be restructured before this 
is a disaster for us all, IMHO.
   http://www.marshallbrain.com/manna1.htm

--Paul Fernhout
http://www.pdfernhout.net/