Technology

3D Scanners

Today access to a flatbed scanner is not new.
You may have one or know somebody that does.
You know how it works.
You put a sheet inside and press or click a button.
Then your image appears on the flat computer screen.
If you ever wanted to scan something in 3D then you were out of luck.
But now you can scan a 3D image.
O.K. Maybe not you but a large company could.
Minolta's Vivid 700 3-D is the scanner of the future
It's about the size of a small briefcase.
It can stitch multiple images together to create a 360 degree image.
Only downside: $37,000 price tag
Check it out at www.minolta3d.com
International Space Station

Remember MIR.
O.K.Now stop laughing.
In the years to come 16 nations will contribute to the ISS.
The ISS is destined to be the greatest orbiting object of all time.
The station may be the stepping of point for missions into space.
It will also bring a common relation between the worlds powers.
With hundreds of orbiting labs and without the restrictions of gravity we will have great technological breakthroughs.
It's the wave of the future.
Check it out at station.nasa.gov
Star Wars:The New Space Based Laser

When you see the words Star Wars what do you think?
Spaceship,robots and lasers - Lasers!
Back in the cold war President Regan started development on
a laser based antimissle battery in space.
It came to be known as Star Wars.
Funding was cut down in the late 80s but the project was still funded.
This year $168 million dollars is being set aside for the laser system.
Soon we may have lasers defending us from attack.
Just like in Star Wars.
Check it out at: www.popsci.com