電子雜誌-CNN互動英語雜誌 2013年7月號 第154期(PDF下載)
The Shape of Things to Come
是福？是禍？3D立體列印科技的兩難
3-D Printing Opens Brave New World of Manufacturing Possibilities
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN ANCHOR
Now, let’s take a closer look at 3-D printing technology.
Now, it’s made headlines this week after that shocking announcement from a Texas-based company called Defense Distributed. It claims that it has successfully fired the world’s first gun that was made using a 3-D printer. Now, this video posted on the group’s Web site appears to show the weapon being fired and a Forbes writer witnessed the event.
So, what exactly is 3-D printing? Well, instead of using ink like regular printers, 3-D printers use materials like plastic. They take a digital image that you can create using modeling software on a computer, and then print it out by building up layer on layer of material to create complex solid objects.
Now, car parts, prosthetic limbs, even human tissue had been 3-D printed by manufacturers and doctors who have been using this technique for decades.
And thanks to cheaper 3-D printer models, the technology is now available to anyone with around $1,000 to spare.
And for more, let’s bring in our regular contributor, a senior editor at the NewYorker.com, Nicolas Thompson, who joins us live from New York. And Nick, let’s back up a bit. For years now, product designers have been using 3-D printers for prototyping, right?
CNN 主播 克莉絲蒂?魯?史道
現在，且讓我們來進一步認識立體列印科技。
這項科技在本週登上了新聞頭條，因為一家名為分配防衛的德州公司發表了一項令人震驚的消息。該公司宣稱他們已成功擊發世界上第一把利用立體印表機印製而成的手槍。發布於該公司網站上的這段影片呈現了那把武器被擊發，一名《富比士》的撰稿人目睹了實況。
那麼，立體列印到底是什麼？立體印表機不像一般印表機使用墨水，而是使用像塑膠這樣的材料。立體印表機接收使用者利用電腦上的塑型軟體製作出來的數位影像，然後藉著堆疊一層層的材料印製出複雜的固體物件。
汽車零件、義肢乃至人體組織都曾用立體列印而成，製造商與醫生採用這種技術已有數十年之久。
多虧了較為平價的立體印表機機型，現在任何人只要花一千美元左右，即可取得這項科技。
接下來，請到我們的固定供稿記者尼可拉斯?湯普森。他是《紐約客》網站的資深編輯，在紐約與我們現場連線。尼可，讓我們回顧一下。產品設計師使用立體印表機製作產品原型已經行之有年了，對不對？
《 詳細內文請翻閱NO.154 7月號CNN互動英語雜誌 》
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