Sci-Fi Brain Pry -- 3D Printing & Far Future

A few years back the concept of 3D printing came to my attention. Maker's Faire 2008 really drove home some possibilities for use. There were Makerbots and large rapid prototypers on display. Since then other ways to use the technology have developed, food printing, house building, and flesh printing.

Printing out body parts on demand really makes my head explode. Bre Pettis, founder of Makerbot Industries, was on Makezine recently showing off his awesome low-cost invention. A few minutes into it a thought hit me, 'This is the first step to Star Trek replicators and transporters.'

A replicator is an obvious use. As it is right now some assembly would be required and not all materials are usable, but carbon nanotubes and similar innovations will probably be game changer for 3D printing. Scaled properly you may be able to print your next home or your next car.

If brain-taping, copying a person's brain/mind/personality/skills, becomes a reality think of the possibilities combined with 3D printing. Brain transferring is another technology benefited by 3D printing. Your body is horribly damaged, pop your brain into a freshly printed body. Your previous body could even be recycled to make the new body. This could be a form of immortality.

If you need a specialty body this opens up possibilities too. By this I mean a body better adapted for a harsh environment or for a specific task. I'd expect gender-swapping or gender-neutral and designer bodies to be the early uses. Clothing could be optional when what we hide under them aren't present in fashion bodies. Plastic surgeons could combine with 3D sculptors to add a new industry. Now you really can be that Klingon or orc you've always wanted to be.

A copy of your mind could be held in back-up in case of death or if your skill set is important. A colony on another planet could benefit from copied scientists and other successful terraformers. Where would physics be if Einsten was immortalized this way?

Inspirations: Star Trek the Next Generation, Brainstorm (movie) The Matrix (movie), Surrogates (movie), Judge Dredd (comic), The Thirteenth Floor (movie), and A World Out of Time (Larry Niven novel).