When describing the actual 3D printing process, a good analogy to use is that of an inkjet printer, which takes information and prints it onto paper, in two dimensions, line by line, from the top down. In a similar fashion, 3D printers take information and print it, in three dimensions, layer by layer, from the bottom up.
News
Why 3-D Printing Matters
On Star Trek: The Next Generation, crew members use a machine known as the replicator to make replacement parts for the ship, prepare food and fix Captain Picard’s usual: “Tea. Earl Grey. Hot.” Creating something out of nothing, the replicator is, sadly, pure science fiction. But using a newly emerging technology, we can design a wrench, a toy, a bike or a flying monkey, and with a click of the mouse, create it. This replicator is a printer, but what it makes is not a two-dimensional image of the design; not a paper model that folds into a 3-D one. This printer creates, quite literally, the object. Three-dimensional printing is here.
Letters to the Editor, Mar. 21-27
Our readers respond to locally produced cult film ‘Thrive,’ which recently screened in Santa Cruz, and to good ol’ Rush, who’s still on the radio.
City of Santa Cruz Poised to Ban Plastic Bags, Styrofoam Sales
Plastic bags and Styrofoam are going to be scarce sights around these parts soon. On Monday, March 19, the day before a plastic bag ban went into effect in unincorporated Santa Cruz County, the city of Santa Cruz proper took steps to outlaw single-use plastic bags and the sale of polystyrene cups, coolers and peanuts. The public works commission unanimously passed the measures, paving the way for city council to vote on them.
Coming Soon: Kalefest
Do you sometimes skip dessert just so you an have another serving of kale salad? Me too! Kale is truly an astonishing member of the brassica family, beloved for its deep green (sometimes purple) color and its wealth of antioxidants and healthy minerals. Its distinctive bitter flavor makes it a hit with savvy chefs all over the world. And it loves to grow right here on our windswept, fog-kissed coast.
The Hands-On Approach to Publicity
When Chicago-based mountain bike company SRAM was shopping around for a place to show off a new line of products, it came to Santa Cruz. It’s “a mountain biking destination and a year-round destination,” says Benny Cruickshank, brand communication manager. “There aren’t many of them, and Santa Cruz is definitely one of them.”
Save Our Shores’ Anti-Plastic Ambitions
It’s impossible to sit in a room with Save Our Shores’ tiny staff and stay morose about the future of the planet. They’ve become expert at pulling kung fu moves against ocean pollution, using the pressure points of local laws to change widespread and damaging human behaviors. Just five people strong, they’ve managed to get Styrofoam banned in all but one coastal city between Santa Cruz and Carmel, installed 24 cigarette butt dispensers around the bay and mobilized 10,000 volunteers a year for weekly beach cleanups from Big Sur to Half Moon Bay.
The Hidden Right-Wing Agenda at the Heart of ‘Thrive’
Dust off your tin foil hats! The locally produced film with the cult following claims the government is suppressing a mystical source of “free energy.” And that’s just the start of the wackiness. Thrive also lionizes radical libertarians, John Birchers and conspiracy theorists who believe a race of lizard people rule over us.
New Leaf Serves Up Fresh Cooking Tips
Are you as addicted to New Leaf as I am? Outstanding fresh coffee, vigorous green health drinks bursting with minerals that slap your immune system into shape, custom-made sandwiches and that life-saving dinner alternative, turkey chili. All this plus a butcher section and a bracing selection of local premium wines? It’s safe to say New Leaf offers everything (except perhaps a parking lot large enough for cars powered by gasoline).
COPA Plans to Fight Foreclosures
The regional community activist group COPA is gearing up to put lots of pressure this year on Monterey Bay candidates to do something about people losing their homes to banks. “There’s not enough trained people to deal with foreclosure,” says Jon Showalter of COPA, which stands for Communities Organized for Relational Power in Action. “The banks just kick you down the road.”
